Building a huntsman

[MrStabby]

I am joining a nature/outdoorsy themed part in a couple of weeks to run a few levels with the part whilst one of their regular players is out of town (two druids and a ranger).

I was thinking of playing a kind of brush huntsman with Totem Barbarian/Thief using spears and nets.

I was hoping to be able to get the DM to agree to thieves cant as being some kind of hunting sign language.

Crunch Wise I would be starting at level 8. I was thinking 5 levels of barbarian to get two attacks, 3 rages per day (and rage is a little easier to keep going when your can use ranged attacks). Reckless attack is somewhat better if i can stay off the front lines. Unarmoured defence is nice but less worried about maxing stats as only Str will be crucial (useful as i will want to take sharpshooter rather than an ASI as some pretty early stage - good for nets as well as spear throwing). Danger sense is going to be good as i want to be a respectable scout. Fast movement will be important to hunt down my prey.

Three levels into thief will get me fast hands to let me use cunning action to draw a javalin and will give me a couple of sneak attack dice. If I am a race like wood elf cunning action will let me move 135 ft per round maxed out. Expertise will go into perception and stealth to boost my stalking credentials. I would like to get to rogue 5 for more damage, and uncanny dodge - I don't see many ways to use my reaction other than some very rare opportunity attacks.

I am expecting the campaign to end there but if it continues I might look to add a spot of fighter (archery style would be good for a level) or go further with rogue (what would be best?) - champion could be good as I would be getting a lot of advantage. An odd class I was thinking of adding was warlock - 2 levels for hex (for when I don't have rage) and invocations - (beast speech, devils sight both sounds good for RP reasons), pact might be to some kind of nature spirit or minor god of the hunt.


Does anyone have familiarity playing a character like this? Will it look silly compared to druids at levels 8 through 12? Have you enjoyed it? Any thoughts on what I could add to make it more fun?

[EvilAnagram]

The biggest problem I see with this build is that you don't seem to be using any weapons that can be used with Sneak Attack.

Aside from that, you're spreading out your resources quite a bit. You seem to be trying to build a Ranger without building a Ranger, but you could just make a Str-based Ranger. Hunter's Mark and Colossus Slayer would do better than your Rogue dip in damage, and you'd have access to all those nature spells that seem to interest you. Honestly, a StRanger seems like the best fit.

[Gwendol]

You could take a look at the UA articles concerning the spell-less ranger or the scout fighter. Both provide excellent wilderness-type class options.

[ruy343]

I was about to suggest the same: you're looking to make a ranger without making a ranger. Remember: although Rangers get a lot of (somewhat deserved) flak, most campaigns don't go all the way to level 20, and rangers aren't a terrible choice (they're pretty durable, and capable of some neat stuff).

If you want a slight mystical feel to your ranger, you might consider a warlock/ranger hybrid (a pact with the woodlands themselves - great old one?) or something to give yourself more spell slots on a regular basis with which to cast hunter's mark or other useful ranger/warlock spells (perhaps invisibility to improve your stalking ability?). I could see that being pretty fun to play...

[eastmabl]

If you want a slight mystical feel to your ranger, you might consider a warlock/ranger hybrid (a pact with the woodlands themselves - great old one?)

I think that the fey pact would be a better option for "woods pact" than the great old ones.

[Temperjoke]

You're kind of all over the place at the moment. I think you need to settle on a couple of things first before you start trying to shoe-horn every class into your character. Bear in mind, you're just filling in for a few levels with an established group, you don't want to be too crazy with this character.

1. What role are you filling in the group? It sounds like melee damage, but you're mixing in ranged damage too.

2. You said you want a huntsman. In my mind, a huntsman is more along the lines of a Ranger, although this also pops into my head https://youtu.be/73Wb14NZ01E. What is your definition of "huntsman"?

[MrStabby]

Well I was thinking that thrown spears would count as a ranged weapon attack. I wanted to be someone close to the front lines and pretty tough but not a melee character.

My vision was the kind of person who sneaks through the brush, quietly stalking their prey till they are within range then throwing a spear into the neck of their prey.

I thought that a ranged weapon attack from the spear + advantage from reckless attack + sneak attack would be both good and flavourful.

[ruy343]

I thought that a ranged weapon attack from the spear + advantage from reckless attack + sneak attack would be both good and flavourful.

You bring up an interesting point here, and that is that you want to use a Spear and similar weapons (which aren't DEX-based) but want to use Sneak Attack (which requires that the weapon be finesse, at least in melee combat). I'm not sure how the Thrown property fits in there... probably up to the DM.

The reason everyone's recommending the Ranger is that it gives you the sneakiness you're been describing, the woodland lore that's pre-requisite, and you've got the Hunter's Mark spell, which is like Sneak attack, but applied to every attack while you can keep the spell active. That adds up over time quite nicely to give the impact you're looking for.

[Temperjoke]

Well I was thinking that thrown spears would count as a ranged weapon attack. I wanted to be someone close to the front lines and pretty tough but not a melee character.

My vision was the kind of person who sneaks through the brush, quietly stalking their prey till they are within range then throwing a spear into the neck of their prey.

I thought that a ranged weapon attack from the spear + advantage from reckless attack + sneak attack would be both good and flavourful.

Well, I believe that thrown weapons are not considered ranged weapons. In any case, unless you're carrying a lot of spears, it's not a sustainable mode of attack. I think a good setup for what you want would actually be a Dexterity-based Champion Fighter 5 / Hunter Ranger 3 mix. That gives you an extra attack, two different fighting styles, improved crits, a favored enemy type to give you some advantages with (probably beasts if you're a woodsperson), a favored terrain to have advantages in (probably forest would be the most fitting terrain), 3 ranger 1st level spells, awareness of the terrain around you, Hunter's prey feature. I also recommend the Crossbow feature so you can use a ranged weapon in melee range without disadvantage.

Weapons, I recommend a longbow and medium armor, and a pair of shortswords for when you have to fight hand-to-hand. I'd also take the Outlander background for your character.