Ghost Dragon
2015-05-05, 06:48 PM
Hey guys. Using the 3.5 PrC of the same name as the basis for this subclass. Am transferring an old 3.5 game into 5E where a player of mine was a bloodhound, and the first session is in 2 days time so want to get some feedback on balance and fluff from you all.
I put some damage capability in at 7th & 11th level features, but apart from that its mostly flavour and utility. Hopefully it will stand up well against the other RAW archetypes. Please give suggestions if you don't think something fits or is unbalanced. Thanks all!
Bloodhound
A bandit king raids caravans on the road. An ogre pillages farms to the north. A sorcerer has kidnapped the mayor’s son and hidden him somewhere in the marsh—and the soldiers of the king cannot seem to stem the tide. The terrified citizens have only one choice, and it isn’t cheap. They call you, they call a bloodhound.
Bloodhound Spells
When you take the Bloodhound archetype at 3rd level, you learn new spells at the levels specified in the table below. These spells are in addition to the spells you know from your ranger spellcasting feature. If you gain a spell that doesn’t appear on the ranger spell list, the spell is nonetheless a ranger spell for you. You gain the following blood hound spells at the ranger level listed.
Bloodhound Spells Table
3rd: Detect Evil and Good, Disguise Self
5th: Detect Thoughts, Knock
9th: Speak with Dead, Tongues
13th: Arcane Eye, Greater Invisibility
17th: Hold Monster, Rary’s Telepathic Bond
Urban Tracker
When you take this archetype at 3rd level, you gain urban as a favoured terrain for your natural explorer class feature, and from now on you can choose an organisation such as “The Red Sashes” or “The Zhentarim” as a type of favoured enemy, and your Land’s Stride and Hide in Plain Sight class features function in an urban environment.
Mark
Starting at 7th level, you can mark an individual creature to better hunt that enemy. To do so, you must use a bonus action to focus on a foe that is present and visible, or on the depiction or description of one who is not for 1 minute. Any interruption ruins the attempt and forces you to start the process again. Once this study is complete, that target is called a mark. You may end a mark on a creature as an action.
You gain advantage on all Investigation, Insight, Intimidate and Perception checks made when interacting with or determining the whereabouts of a mark. The mark also counts as one of your favoured enemies, and when you hit your mark with a weapon attack you deal an extra 1d8 damage to it.
This feature allows you to mark up to 2 creatures at one time and you cannot mark again until you complete a short or a long rest. If a bloodhound chooses a new mark before apprehending or dispatching existing ones, a latter mark becomes unmarked (ranger’s choice). The number of marks you can have at a time increase by 1 when you reach 11th level (3), and 17th level (4).
Bloodhound's Resolve
Starting at 11th level, while you are in your favoured terrain you do not have disadvantage on passive perception checks while traveling at a fast pace, and you have advantage on Constitution saving throws to resist exhaustion during a forced march.
In addition, you gain advantage on saving throws against spells from your mark, and if you have advantage when you strike your mark with a melee attack or ranged attack that is within 30 feet, you can critically strike your mark dealing an extra 1d8 damage and imposing one of the following effects on the target:
>It can’t take reactions until the end of your next turn
>It’s speed is halved until the end of your next turn
>It has disadvantage on all ability checks it makes until the end of your next turn
Ultimate Tracker
At 15th level, you are able to track creatures even in the face of extreme environmental difficulties or magic. You can track using scent, and you can track a creature moving under the influence of pass without trace spell or a similar effect, though you have disadvantage on the Survival checks when doing so.
In addition, you can cast the True Seeing spell on yourself without using any material components. Once you use this feature, you must complete a long rest before using it again.
I put some damage capability in at 7th & 11th level features, but apart from that its mostly flavour and utility. Hopefully it will stand up well against the other RAW archetypes. Please give suggestions if you don't think something fits or is unbalanced. Thanks all!
Bloodhound
A bandit king raids caravans on the road. An ogre pillages farms to the north. A sorcerer has kidnapped the mayor’s son and hidden him somewhere in the marsh—and the soldiers of the king cannot seem to stem the tide. The terrified citizens have only one choice, and it isn’t cheap. They call you, they call a bloodhound.
Bloodhound Spells
When you take the Bloodhound archetype at 3rd level, you learn new spells at the levels specified in the table below. These spells are in addition to the spells you know from your ranger spellcasting feature. If you gain a spell that doesn’t appear on the ranger spell list, the spell is nonetheless a ranger spell for you. You gain the following blood hound spells at the ranger level listed.
Bloodhound Spells Table
3rd: Detect Evil and Good, Disguise Self
5th: Detect Thoughts, Knock
9th: Speak with Dead, Tongues
13th: Arcane Eye, Greater Invisibility
17th: Hold Monster, Rary’s Telepathic Bond
Urban Tracker
When you take this archetype at 3rd level, you gain urban as a favoured terrain for your natural explorer class feature, and from now on you can choose an organisation such as “The Red Sashes” or “The Zhentarim” as a type of favoured enemy, and your Land’s Stride and Hide in Plain Sight class features function in an urban environment.
Mark
Starting at 7th level, you can mark an individual creature to better hunt that enemy. To do so, you must use a bonus action to focus on a foe that is present and visible, or on the depiction or description of one who is not for 1 minute. Any interruption ruins the attempt and forces you to start the process again. Once this study is complete, that target is called a mark. You may end a mark on a creature as an action.
You gain advantage on all Investigation, Insight, Intimidate and Perception checks made when interacting with or determining the whereabouts of a mark. The mark also counts as one of your favoured enemies, and when you hit your mark with a weapon attack you deal an extra 1d8 damage to it.
This feature allows you to mark up to 2 creatures at one time and you cannot mark again until you complete a short or a long rest. If a bloodhound chooses a new mark before apprehending or dispatching existing ones, a latter mark becomes unmarked (ranger’s choice). The number of marks you can have at a time increase by 1 when you reach 11th level (3), and 17th level (4).
Bloodhound's Resolve
Starting at 11th level, while you are in your favoured terrain you do not have disadvantage on passive perception checks while traveling at a fast pace, and you have advantage on Constitution saving throws to resist exhaustion during a forced march.
In addition, you gain advantage on saving throws against spells from your mark, and if you have advantage when you strike your mark with a melee attack or ranged attack that is within 30 feet, you can critically strike your mark dealing an extra 1d8 damage and imposing one of the following effects on the target:
>It can’t take reactions until the end of your next turn
>It’s speed is halved until the end of your next turn
>It has disadvantage on all ability checks it makes until the end of your next turn
Ultimate Tracker
At 15th level, you are able to track creatures even in the face of extreme environmental difficulties or magic. You can track using scent, and you can track a creature moving under the influence of pass without trace spell or a similar effect, though you have disadvantage on the Survival checks when doing so.
In addition, you can cast the True Seeing spell on yourself without using any material components. Once you use this feature, you must complete a long rest before using it again.