Ranger UA Class Features update - spells, Awakened Companion?

[Monster Manuel]

It's possible this has come up in the big, huge thread about the Updated Class Features UA, and I've just missed it, but I have boon looking at the spell updates for the Ranger.

A lot of the attention has been paid to the addition of the Smite spells to the Ranger List, but I took a closer look at the new spells and how they might apply to a Bestmaster ranger.

The addition of Revivify gives them a built-in way to revive their companion if/when it dies. The new Beast of the X companions have this built-in, but if you're using a regular beast as a companion this is nice for the Ranger to have.

Warding Bond also makes a lot of sense as a spell to put on your companion to boost its' survivability, but maybe only if you plan to let it do the melee while you hold back with a bow or other ranged option.

But the big thing that I took away from the new list is that they get Awaken now. Can an Awakened beast still be a companion? I don't see anything that would prevent it...the companion has to be a Medium beast of CR1/4 or less, and Awaken doesn't change that. The Awakened creature's type seems like it stays as "beast".

How big a deal is it that the Ranger can Awaken their own companion now? It's a 5th level spell, so pretty late-game for the Ranger. But, what ramifications of this am I not thinking of?

[JackPhoenix]

It's not a big deal at all. Druids could cast Awaken on the companion before. There's little benefit to it: it doesn't get around the normal companion rules, so the beast is sill dependant on ranger's actions.

[Sindal]

It's possible this has come up in the big, huge thread about the Updated Class Features UA, and I've just missed it, but I have boon looking at the spell updates for the Ranger.

A lot of the attention has been paid to the addition of the Smite spells to the Ranger List, but I took a closer look at the new spells and how they might apply to a Bestmaster ranger.

The addition of Revivify gives them a built-in way to revive their companion if/when it dies. The new Beast of the X companions have this built-in, but if you're using a regular beast as a companion this is nice for the Ranger to have.

Warding Bond also makes a lot of sense as a spell to put on your companion to boost its' survivability, but maybe only if you plan to let it do the melee while you hold back with a bow or other ranged option.

But the big thing that I took away from the new list is that they get Awaken now. Can an Awakened beast still be a companion? I don't see anything that would prevent it...the companion has to be a Medium beast of CR1/4 or less, and Awaken doesn't change that. The Awakened creature's type seems like it stays as "beast".

How big a deal is it that the Ranger can Awaken their own companion now? It's a 5th level spell, so pretty late-game for the Ranger. But, what ramifications of this am I not thinking of?

It can talk now...

...That's it.

[Gignere]

It can talk now...

...That's it.

Couldn’t an awaken beast start gaining class levels?

[Damon_Tor]

It can talk now...

...That's it.

In theory it's better at passing Int saves, but it was probably immune to most of the worst effects that target int because those effects often have a clause where they can't effect creatures below a certain int threshold. So in practice it's probably worse off.

I mean, I guess you can expect to give it more complex directives and expect decent results. And it can report back to you verbally, which is nice. If you've got a hawk or something you could send it scouting and have it come back and report to you how many enemies there are, what they were talking about, how they're equipped, etc. And without the range limitations of a typical familiar.

[Dork_Forge]

In theory it's better at passing Int saves, but it was probably immune to most of the worst effects that target int because those effects often have a clause where they can't effect creatures below a certain int threshold. So in practice it's probably worse off.

I mean, I guess you can expect to give it more complex directives and expect decent results. And it can report back to you verbally, which is nice. If you've got a hawk or something you could send it scouting and have it come back and report to you how many enemies there are, what they were talking about, how they're equipped, etc. And without the range limitations of a typical familiar.

Couldn't you just do that with a familiar? The range is on how far away you can perceive through thema nd communicate telepathically but there's nothing to stop you sending them out further and having them report when in range.

[Damon_Tor]

Couldn't you just do that with a familiar? The range is on how far away you can perceive through thema nd communicate telepathically but there's nothing to stop you sending them out further and having them report when in range.

It's debatable how much it can "report" even with the telepathic link: familiars don't get an int boost from their basic forms, so an owl familiar gets an owl brain. It can't count, so it can't tell you how many of something there are. It can't communicate distances meaningfully. Maybe it can tell an orc from a goblin, but can it tell you what the quality of their weapons is? Are they bandits using old, stolen and scavenged gear or are they an elite well-equipped mercenary unit? Can it tell what's a wall and what's a door? Can it identify which structure likely houses the leader? It can't communicate the passage of time in any meaningful way: it can't tell you how long between guard shifts.

[ProsecutorGodot]

Couldn’t an awaken beast start gaining class levels?

Nothing that Awaken does grants them an immediate ability to gain class levels, I'm pretty sure that would land squarely in house ruling territory.

[Dork_Forge]

It's debatable how much it can "report" even with the telepathic link: familiars don't get an int boost from their basic forms, so an owl familiar gets an owl brain. It can't count, so it can't tell you how many of something there are. It can't communicate distances meaningfully. Maybe it can tell an orc from a goblin, but can it tell you what the quality of their weapons is? Are they bandits using old, stolen and scavenged gear or are they an elite well-equipped mercenary unit? Can it tell what's a wall and what's a door? Can it identify which structure likely houses the leader? It can't communicate the passage of time in any meaningful way: it can't tell you how long between guard shifts.

Seems more like a DM call, but certain birds can recognise faces, distinguish differences and be trained to varying degrees. Though if you want a more fantasy basis there's an excert from a novel in the Ranger section of SCAG where a Ranger is gaining information from an Owl. Both in real life and literature a bird/other animal neing intelligent enough to recognise and relay information has precedent (this obvious isn't even including Chain familiars).

[Dark.Revenant]

You can't awaken the new and improved beast companions because they have higher than 3 Int. Technically a Feeblemind can solve that, but that's not realistically obtainable by a Ranger. Probably the biggest issue is that you have to be 19th level to do this trick without leaning on a Druid party member.

[Damon_Tor]

Seems more like a DM call, but certain birds can recognise faces, distinguish differences and be trained to varying degrees. Though if you want a more fantasy basis there's an excert from a novel in the Ranger section of SCAG where a Ranger is gaining information from an Owl. Both in real life and literature a bird/other animal neing intelligent enough to recognise and relay information has precedent (this obvious isn't even including Chain familiars).

Ravens are quite clever IRL: we know they remember faces and can find novel solutions to problems including simple tool use. And in game, their ability to mimic sounds they've heard strongly implies they can remember the sounds they've heard, and can thus pass on that information (even if they don't understand 90% of it themselves: the wizard in question might have to sort through a lot of meaningless conversation to find anything relevant).

Owls, however are extremely stupid. Sub-chicken intelligence, and if you've ever interacted with chickens you know that is a really low bar.

So pick your scout accordingly.

[Dork_Forge]

Ravens are quite clever IRL: we know they remember faces and can find novel solutions to problems including simple tool use. And in game, their ability to mimic sounds they've heard strongly implies they can remember the sounds they've heard, and can thus pass on that information (even if they don't understand 90% of it themselves: the wizard in question might have to sort through a lot of meaningless conversation to find anything relevant).

Owls, however are extremely stupid. Sub-chicken intelligence, and if you've ever interacted with chickens you know that is a really low bar.

So pick your scout accordingly.

Of course you'd pick whatever familiar form was most mentally suitible, presumably after a little downtime you could become aware of the strengths of each form. Just another reason I wish the pact of the Raven Queen had been published, such wasted potential.