Monster Slayer

[BarbarianConan]

Hey

Looking for advice on making an Monster Slayer Ranger. Preferably a STRanger version if possible. Also trying to come up with a backstory.

He was going to be Lawful Evil but no evil PCs for this campaign so I'm going with Lawful Neutral.

[RogueJK]

Does it have to specifically be the Monster Slayer subclass? That subclass is... underwhelming. And any other Ranger could be flavored as a "monster hunter", without being saddled to that lackluster subclass.

Regardless of subclass, you'd build it like any other STR-based Ranger. Something like this:

Custom Lineage race with Darkvision trait
STR 15+2
DEX 10
CON 14
INT 8
WIS 15
CHA 8
ASIs: Heavily Armored (18 STR) at 1, Fey Touched (16 WIS, Gift of Alacrity) at 4, and then stuff like Great Weapon Master, 20 STR, and/or 18 WIS at 8+
Ranger Skills: Athletics, Survival, Perception (with Perception Expertise from Canny)
Background Skills: Whatever other two skills suit you
Fighting Style: Defense, or potentially Druidic Warrior if you wanted some cantrips instead
Wear heavy armor and use a 2H weapon (to use with GWM and keep a hand free for spellcasting)



Or since the Monster Slayer doesn't have any significant abilities that rely on WIS until Level 11, if you don't care as much about spellcasting and don't plan on getting to Tier 3 play, you could just leave WIS at 12ish and bump your other stats instead (especially CON). Even with just a middling WIS, you could still leverage defensive and utility spells like Absorb Elements, Fog Cloud, Zephyr Strike, Protection from Good/Evil, Goodberry, Longstrider, Aid, Enhance Ability, Lesser Restoration, Pass Without Trace, Plant Growth, Magic Circle, etc., since those don't care what your WIS score is.

You'd just be giving up the ability to use some of the better summoning/offensive Ranger spells that key off WIS.

That might look more like this:
Custom Lineage race with Darkvision trait
STR 15+2
DEX 10
CON 15
INT 10
WIS 12
CHA 9
ASIs: Heavily Armored (18 STR) at 1, Crusher (16 CON) at 4, and then Great Weapon Master or 20 STR at 8
Wear heavy armor and wield a maul