Ranger Conclave - Outrider
While some rangers take on beasts as companions to fight alongside in the thick of battle, others choose to use their connection to nature to become master of the saddle, becoming dangerous mounted combatants who maneuver seamlessly through the battlefield while picking off key targets, always astride their loyal steed. These rangers - dubbed Outriders - often form groups to protect areas, harrying their foes with carefully crafted attacks. Halflings especially seem drawn to the way of the Outrider, and often their hamlets are guarded by groups of Outriders who patrol the borders.
Rider's Bond
At 3rd level you form a bond with a warhorse, a pony, a camel, an elk, or a mastiff which serves you as a mount. Your steed can understand any language you speak, but only when you speak it, instead of someone else. While mounted on your steed, you can make any spell you cast that targets only you also target your steed. The steed gains additional hit dice equal to half your ranger level, rounded up.
If your steed has died within the last hour, you can use your action to touch it and expend a spell slot of 1st level or higher. The beast returns to life after 1 minute with all its hit points restored. If your steed is dead for longer, you can form a new bond as part of a long rest, calling a beast from the wild to serve you.
Saddle Adept
At 3rd level you have advantage on saving throws made to avoid falling off your mount. If you fall off your mount and descend no more than 10 feet, you can land on your feet if you’re not incapacitated.
Finally, mounting or dismounting a creature costs you only 5 feet of movement, rather than half your speed.
Bonus Proficiency
At 3rd level you gain proficiency in one of the following skills: Animal Handling, Nature, Insight, Survival, Perception.
Deflect Blow
From 7th level when a creature within 5ft of you (not including yourself) is hit with an attack, you may use your reaction to add an additional +2 to the creature's armour class, potentially turning a hit into a miss.
Counter Shot
Outriders were often called upon to intercept enemy spellcasters before they could wreak havoc on the battlefield. From 7th level when a creature within your weapon's normal attack range casts a spell, you can use your reaction to make a weapon attack against the caster. If this hits, they must succeed on a Concentration save against the damage dealt or the spell fizzles and they lose the spell slot. The DC for this is increased by 2 if you're mounted.
Counter Shot can be used a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, refreshing on a long rest. When you have no uses of this available you can expend a spell slot to use this instead.
Outrider's Haste
Striking hard and fast is part and parcel of being an Outrider. From 11th level you add your wisdom modifier to your initiative rolls. On the first round of combat your attacks have advantage. If you are mounted while making these attacks, they deal an additional 1d8 damage.
Heightened Rider's Bond
From 11th level your mount from Rider's Bond adds your proficiency bonus to its armour class, ability checks and saving throws while you are mounted on it. They also ignore difficult terrain.
Spirit Herd
At 15th level the strength of your Rider's Bond allows your steed to manifest spectral versions of itself for your allies to ride. By performing a ten minute ritual, you may summon up to 5 copies of your steed, which function as the Phantom Steed spell, except with a duration of 8 hours. These steeds only serve as mounts, and if not mounted take no actions and obey no commands. Performing the ritual while some steeds are still manifested causes all old ones to immediately vanish.
While your Spirit Herd is summoned, your steed's speed is increased to match that of their herd.
Pin Down
Replaces Feral Senses
Once per turn from 18th level when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can choose to hobble them, reducing their movement speeds by half until the end of their next turn. You cannot have disadvantage on an attack against a creature you hobbled. Finally, if the creature uses a teleport effect while hobbled by Pin Down they must succeed on a spellcasting ability check with a DC equal to DC10 or half of the damage the attack that pinned them dealt, whichever is higher. If they fail the check, the teleport fails, the ability or spell slot used is wasted, and the creature is Stunned until the start of their next turn.
Master Rider's Bond
Replaces Foe Slayer
While you are mounted on your Rider's Bond steed, you gain the following benefits:
- While below half health and conscious, you gain hit points equal to your constitution modifier at the start of your turn.
- Your steed cannot be reduced below 1 hit point and can only be killed by death effects such as Power Word: Kill.
- As a bonus action you can command your steed to teleport to a point it can see within a distance equal to twice its movement speed. Doing so expends all of your steed's movement this turn.
- Your weapon damage dice is increased by one step (eg. 1d8 to 1d10).