Beast Ranger help

[Wasp]

Hi everyone!

Good news - I found another player for our 3 character group! Bad news - they want to play a character with a big pet. And I have to generate it.

Sooo... We'll probably have a group with a

- Changeling Arcane Trickster / maybe Bard
- High Elf Knowledge Cleric 1 / Divination Wizard
- Warforged EK3? / Forge Cleric

and now a new player with no D&D experience who could be convinced to try it out.

They would like to play a "beast-like" type (like a Half-Orc, Goliath, Bugbear or similar) who either has an animal companion (something larger than the familar options, although maybe a hawk could work) that can participate in fights (preferably wolf) or who can change form during battle. As druid seems a bit too complex for someone new, that kind of leaves me with ranger as the only option it seems (without this restriction I would actually feel the player would love to play a barbarian)

So what character would you create in the group constellation above?

All sources are open including UAs but Variant Humans are not allowed
Starting Level is 3 and I don't think the campaign will last past lvl 15 (when we are finally getting started!)
Standard Array
The campaign will have combat but was not supposed to be combat heavy

Edit: Clarified that they are not really looking for the kind of pet a familiar would be...

[nickl_2000]

Isn't a familiar a pet? I mean they are all animals.

So a chain warlock or wizard would do the trick to

[Wasp]

Isn't a familiar a pet? I mean they are all animals.

So a chain warlock or wizard would do the trick to
You are totally right but they want something bigger - like a wolf. I'll edit the original post.

Edit: I'll check if a hawk would fit the bill.

[Xihirli]

Goblin or Kobold Beast Conclave for Revised Ranger?
Bugbears can also be totally serviceable Rangers, just put the 15 in DEX.

Proposed Goblin stats (with racial mods):
STR 10
DEX 16
CON 16
WIS 14
INT 12
CHA 8

[Solunaris]

If UA is allowed and they want to play a beast-like character why not the Shifter from the Ebberron UA?

And for the class, the Revised Ranger would probably fit with what he wants in a companion but the combination of playing 2 characters in combat, spells, and favored enemies is quite a bit complex for a new player. If you are confident that he can handle that it'd probably be the best route to take.

[Blood of Gaea]

Druid could perhaps work, take a look at the Animal Friendship and Planar Binding spells.

[ImproperJustice]

Funnily enough we have has two new players in our group in the past month, and they both chose as their first character: The Beastmaster.

There is a definite appeal to the concept of the class. We used the Revised Ranger version and it seems to work well. Their pets are buffed well enough and seem to contribute well in battle.

What if he plaued a Tabaxi or Goliath Beastmaster with a Wolf as a pet?
Sems like it would work just fine.

[Wasp]

Goblin or Kobold Beast Conclave for Revised Ranger?
Bugbears can also be totally serviceable Rangers, just put the 15 in DEX.

Good ideas! I would think though that small races are not really what they had in mind with "beastly" (younger sibling complex). I got more the impression they wanted something big and intimidating.


If UA is allowed and they want to play a beast-like character why not the Shifter from the Ebberron UA?
I think you struck gold here with the Shifter (we already have two Eberron races why didn't I think of it). Maybe the Shifter's shifting ability is even enough transformation so we don't need the pet and can go barbarian or something completely different...


And for the class, the Revised Ranger would probably fit with what he wants in a companion but the combination of playing 2 characters in combat, spells, and favored enemies is quite a bit complex for a new player. If you are confident that he can handle that it'd probably be the best route to take.

Yeah, Revised Ranger is better than standard Ranger. Where do you see the complexity of the ranger compared to the druid? Would you say if someoine can handle the druid they can handle the ranger?


Druid could perhaps work, take a look at the Animal Friendship and Planar Binding spells.
Good point. Although I got the impression the beast pet wasn't necessary if they could transform into a beast themselves, so I think Moon Druid work in any case. Do you think a newbie can handle a Moon druid?


Funnily enough we have has two new players in our group in the past month, and they both chose as their first character: The Beastmaster.

There is a definite appeal to the concept of the class. We used the Revised Ranger version and it seems to work well. Their pets are buffed well enough and seem to contribute well in battle.

What if he plaued a Tabaxi or Goliath Beastmaster with a Wolf as a pet?
Sems like it would work just fine.
It's good to hear that this may actually work for a new player. So, yeah, a Tabaxi or Goliath Beast Conclave Ranger sounds like a good fit...

[kardar233]

Ranger is much simpler than Druid in gameplay, with a much smaller range of choices it can make at any given time. However, the bookkeeping for a Ranger’s pet can be a little daunting for new players.

The big issues with playing a Druid as a new player are spellcasting and wild shape. For both, I’d strongly recommend the ForgedAnvil character sheet tool (http://www.enworld.org/forum/rpgdownloads.php?do=download&downloadid=1234) which makes keeping track of wild shape forms very easy, and gives you short descriptions of spells to choose from.

[CTurbo]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a UA Revised Beastmaster Ranger with a Wolf or Panther.

I think it would be a fun class for a beginner.

The only thing I wish I could change about it is the 5th Level Coordinated Attack. I think it should be a feature that grants the option of the Ranger making a second attack OR the beast making an extra attack.

[CTurbo]

Was this the group that MUST multiclass? If so Wolf Totem Barb 3/ UA Beast Ranger from there on out with a Wolf companion. Houserule that the Wolf levels up on character level and not just Ranger level to prevent it from being way more behind the curve that it already would be. You could possibly even go unarmored.

A Str Ranger is viable. Just don't completely dump Dex. You could easily get 16 Str, 14 Dex, 14 Con from any of the Str races.

[Wasp]

Was this the group that MUST multiclass? If so Wolf Totem Barb 3/ UA Beast Ranger from there on out with a Wolf companion. Houserule that the Wolf levels up on character level and not just Ranger level to prevent it from being way more behind the curve that it already would be. You could possibly even go unarmored.

A Str Ranger is viable. Just don't completely dump Dex. You could easily get 16 Str, 14 Dex, 14 Con from any of the Str races.
No we don't need to multiclass, we just get easily lured there by promises of being cool :smallbiggrin:

OK then. I'll present the UA Revised Beastmaster Ranger with a Wolf companion as one idea (with a list of beastly race options) and a Shifter Barbarian that would simulate being a were creature* as another one.

Which races would you put on the list for the Ranger?
Half-Orc, Firebolg, Goliath, Tabaxi, Bugbear, Hobgoblin, Orc, Shifter, Minotaur?

*) BTW Does anyone know if the Werelion from Kobold Press' Southlands Heroes is a balanced race? I don't have the book but could borrow it.

[Xihirli]

Goblin honestly tops my list for any DEX character other than a Rogue.
Kobold works well with Beastmaster because of Pack Tactics.
Kenku ups your caster stat and your main stat.

Does your player want to be big and strong?

[CTurbo]

No we don't need to multiclass, we just get easily lured there by promises of being cool :smallbiggrin:

OK then. I'll present the UA Revised Beastmaster Ranger with a Wolf companion as one idea (with a list of beastly race options) and a Shifter Barbarian that would simulate being a were creature* as another one.

Which races would you put on the list for the Ranger?
Half-Orc, Firebolg, Goliath, Tabaxi, Bugbear, Hobgoblin, Orc, Shifter, Minotaur?

*) BTW Does anyone know if the Werelion from Kobold Press' Southlands Heroes is a balanced race? I don't have the book but could borrow it.

I like Half-Orc, Goliath, Firbolg, Bugbear, and Minotaur for Str races. Aaracokra, Tabaxi, and Goblin are interesting Dex race choices. A Tabaxi with a Panther companion makes much more sense than having a Wolf though.

I think an Earth Genasi would make a great ranger too.

I think a Firbolg with a Blink Dog would be cool as would a Goblin with a Worg

I checked out the Werelion and it seems reasonable to me. Not that impressed actually.

[Wasp]

I like Half-Orc, Goliath, Firbolg, Bugbear, and Minotaur for Str races. Aaracokra, Tabaxi, and Goblin are interesting Dex race choices. A Tabaxi with a Panther companion makes much more sense than having a Wolf though.

I think an Earth Genasi would make a great ranger too.

I think a Firbolg with a Blink Dog would be cool as would a Goblin with a Worg

I checked out the Werelion and it seems reasonable to me. Not that impressed actually.

Thanks! I am waiting for feedback, but I think the options are all quite interesting