Scyther cuts vines in the jungle with his two blades. Because of his exceptional hunting skills, adventurers seek him out to assist in navigating them through the dense foliage.
The wildlife of Ancient Greece bows down to Artemis, the Huntress. For her worshippers, she provides protection from danger and the best game to hunt. Those who offend her, may find themselves a prey for her arrows. Tread carefully, and weigh your words when speaking to her.
Next Time: The 3-in-1 House special begins!
Now then, let's see what we need before the Hunt:
High Single Target Damage: Artemis's arrows seek out enemies one by one, sometimes in a rapid barrage, sometimes in a countless volley that darkens the skies.
My Trap Card: One of her signature skills is setting up a trap of living vines, that incapacitate enemies and deals damage.
Calydonian Boar: Artemis's Ultimate Ability summons her pet boar, Tusky, to aid her in battle and stun her foes.
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Artemis is an elf. What kind of elf, however, is another question. I was considering making her a Pallid Elf from Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, because of their connection to the Moon and Artemis being one of the lunar goddesses... but I've decided to Keep It Simple Stupid, and go with a Wood Elf. We get a +2 Dexterity and +1 Wisdom, 60 feet of Darkvision, proficiency in the Perception skill, and advantage on saving throws against being charmed because of our Fey Ancestry (also, magic cannot put us to sleep). Elves don't require as much sleep as other races, and thanks to their Trance feature, they only need 4 hours to gain the benefit of a long rest. We speak Common and Elvish, and thanks to our Elf Weapon Training we gain proficiency with longswords, shortswords, shortbows, and longbows. Our base walking speed is 35 feet, and Mask of the Wild lets us hide even in lightly obscured areas.
Since Artemis spends most of her time in the wilderness and visits Olympus very rarely, we're going to make her an Outlander. We gain proficiency in Athletics and Survival, we are proficient in one musical instrument (Apollo insisted), and we learn one language of our choice. Our Wanderer feature gives us exceptional memory when it comes to recalling geographical features and landmarks, and we have higher chances of foraging food and water for us and our party members.
ABILITY SCORES
Dexterity is obviously our highest stat, it will fuel the majority of our abilities. Constitution is next, we need Hit Points to draw a lot of fire and especially if we're the ambushing type. Wisdom follows, it's gonna be useful for spells and we're pretty street... err... forest-smart.
Intelligence is next, it's going to be useful for Investigation and Nature checks, but not much besides that, so it's in the bottom tier. Follow that up with Strength, our primary weapon uses Dexterity, but it's good to have a backup plan. Finally, we'll dump Charisma.
CLASS
I don't think there's anybody here who believes Artemis is anything other than a Ranger. We're going Revised Ranger start-to-finish. Rangers start with a d10 Hit Dice and [10 + Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points. We gain proficiency in light armour, medium armour, shields, simple weapons, and martial weapons. For Artemis, I think going with a longbow and studded leather armour is the best long-term bet. Maybe also a dagger or two, and a shortsword in case we're forced into melee combat. Our saving throws are Strength and Dexterity, and we get to pick three class skills (Animal Handling, Insight, and Stealth).
Level 1: We start by picking a Favoured Enemy. We choose one type of creature (beasts, fey, humanoids, monstrosities, or undead). We gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with weapon attacks against our chosen creature type and an advantage on Survival checks related to tracking these creatures. Unfortunately, 'men' is not an option here, so choose whatever fits your campaign.
We also get the Natural Explorer feature. As the master of navigating through wilderness, we now:
ignore the disadvantage of difficult terrain;
have an advantage on Initiative rolls;
have an advantage on the first attack roll against a creature that hadn't yet acted during combat (on our first turn).
This feature also benefits our party. If we travel for more than 1 hour:
difficult terrain doesn't slow us down;
the group cannot be lost safe for magical means;
we remain alert to danger, even if tracking, foraging, etc.
we can move stealthily at a normal pace;
we find twice as much food as we normally would while foraging;
we know the exact number and sizes of creatures we're tracking, plus we can tell how long ago they were in the area we're in.
Level 2: We start by picking our Fighting Style, and it shall come as a surprise to nobody that we're going with Archery, which gives us a +2 bonus to attack rolls we make with our ranged weapons.
Rangers also get access to Spellcasting. Wisdom is our spellcasting ability, and we do not learn cantrips or rituals. We also have a limited number of spells we can learn. We start with two 1st-level spell slots and two spells:
Hunter's Mark is a Ranger's staple. The spell puts a brand on one creature within 90 feet of us for 1 hour (concentration). Until the spell ends, we deal extra 1d6 damage whenever we successfully hit the creature with a weapon attack. We also have an advantage on Perception and Survival checks related to tracking the marked creature. If the branded target dies before the spell ends, we can use a bonus action to mark another creature.
Snare consumes 25 feet of rope to create a concealed trap on the floor. It lasts for 8 hours. A successful Investigation check against our Spell DC reveals the trap. Creature that walks into the trap's space must make a Dexterity saving throw or be restrained until the spell ends. No concentration means we can set up multiple traps, as long as we have the spell slots (and rope) for it.
Level 3: Thanks to Primeval Awareness, we can now communicate with beasts using some basic emotions and simple ideas. We can learn the beast's emotional state and whether it's under any magical effect, it's needs (such as food and shelter), and actions we need to take for it to not attack us. Additionally, we can meditate for 1 minute to determine the location of our favoured enemy type within 5 miles of us. We learn their exact number and a general direction and distance from us.
At this level, we also get to pick our subclass, our Ranger Conclave. Once again, I am very predictable and nobody is going to be surprised when Artemis joins the Hunter Conclave. Our starting feature is Hunter's Prey, which lets us choose one of three options for fighting a specific type of foes: Horde Breaker is useful for swarms and large numbers of enemies. Once per turn, whenever we successfully hit a target with a weapon attack, we can make another attack (with the same weapon) against another creature that is within 5 feet of the first target.
We also learn another 1st-level spell: Zephyr Strike is a useful thing when enemies get a little too close for our liking. We use a bonus action and our movement doesn't provoke opportunity attacks for 1 minute (concentration). Once before the spell ends, we can give ourselves an advantage on a weapon attack roll, and the successful hit deals extra 1d8 force damage. Whether we hit or miss, our movement speed increases by 30 feet until the end of that turn.
Level 4: First Ability Score Improvement of the build! Let's put one point into Dexterity and one into Strength. More AC, better attacks, and better damage!
Level 5: We get a subclass upgrade. For this Conclave, it's Extra Attack. Now, whenever we use our action to Attack, we can make two attacks instead of one.
We also unlock 2nd-level spells: Animal Messenger lets us charm a Tiny beast within 30 feet of us (a squirrel, a bird, etc.) for 24 hours. Until the spell ends, the animal can deliver a short message (up to 25 words) to a specific location (which we've previously visited) and a specific person we describe to the messenger. The animal travels about 50 miles per 24 hours (if it's a flying creature) or 25 miles (for other animals).
Level 6: Our Favoured Enemy feature gets an upgrade. We can choose another type of creature (aberrations, celestials, constructs, dragons, elementals, fiends, or giants) to be especially effective against. Our attack bonus against both favoured types is now a +4, and we get an advantage on saving throws against spells and abilities used by those enemies.
Level 7: Another Conclave feature! Defensive Tactics lets us choose one of three defensive options. Many of the stronger monsters use Multiattack, so the Multiattack Defence option is going to be useful for us. When we're hit by an attack, we get a +4 AC to all subsequent attacks dealt to us made by the creature until the end of the turn.
We can also get another 2nd-level spell: Magic Weapon turns a non-magical weapon into a magical one for the purpose of overcoming resistances, and grants it a +1 bonus to both attack and damage rolls for 1 hour (concentration).
Level 8: We get one more ASI. Time to cap our Dexterity to 20 with those two points.
We also get the Fleet of Foot feature. We can now use the Dash action as a bonus action on our turn.
Level 9: We don't get new class features here, but we do unlock 3rd-level spells: Conjure Animals lets us summon fey spirits that take a corporeal form of animals of our choice. We get several options, but to get Tusky, we only need the "One beast of CR 2 or lower" option, which a Giant Boar fits under. The summoned beast is friendly to us and our allies and it is summoned for 1 hour (concentration).
Level 10: Halfway through the build, and we get the Hide in Plain Sight feature, to reach Drax levels of stealth. When we want to hide on our turn, we can choose to sacrifice our movement for this turn. If we do so, creatures attempting to locate us receive a -10 penalty to their Perception checks until the start of our next turn. We lose this benefit if we move, attack, or fall prone. On our next turn, we can choose to keep hiding without moving and use the feature again.
Level 11: We get another subclass feature. Multiattack lets us choose one option to deal with many enemies. Volley lets us make a ranged attack against all creatures within 10 feet of us, as long as we have the ammunition to do so. We roll separate attacks for each creature.
We also learn another 3rd-level spell: Protection from Energy gives a creature we touch resistance to one damage type of our choice from the following: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder for 1 hour (concentration).
Level 12: Time for another ASI. Let's put two points into Charisma to eliminate the negative modifiers.
Level 13: We unlock 4th-level spells here: Freedom of Movement lets us give one creature we touch immunity to magic-induced paralysis and restraint, ability to ignore difficult terrain, and magic cannot reduce their speed for 1 hour. The target can also sacrifice 5 feet of movement to automatically escape non-magical restraints.
Level 14: At this level, we get the Vanish feature. We can now use our Hide action as a bonus action. Additionally, we cannot be tracked by non-magical means, unless we choose to leave a trail.
Level 15: For our final subclass upgrade of the build, we get Superior Hunter's Defence. We get to pick one of three available defensive options: thanks to Evasion, if we're subjected to a saving throw that would result in us taking half damage on a successful save, we instead take no damage.
We get another 4th-level spell: Locate Creature gives us direction and distance from one creature familiar to us that we name, as long as it's within 1,000 feet of us. The spell lasts for 1 hour (concentration) and fails if there's running water at least 10 feet wide separating us from the target.
Level 16: Another ASI! Let's raise our Wisdom by 2, to get a little bit better with our spells.
Level 17: We unlock 5th-level spells here. Swift Quiver grants us unlimited ammunition for 1 minute (concentration). On each of our turns, we can use a bonus action to make two attacks with the ammunition stored in the quiver (crossbow if it's crossbow bolts, arrows for bows, etc.). The ammunition lost is immediately replenished.
Level 18: We get Feral Senses. We are now aware of any invisible creature within 30 feet of us (if we're not incapacitated/blinded/deafened and the creature isn't hiding) and our attempts to attack an invisible creature do not impose a disadvantage on the attack.
Level 19: For our final ASI of the build, we shall raise our Constitution by two points for those tasty Hit Points.
As for the final 5th-level spell, Conjure Volley lets us multiply a single piece of ammunition we fire in the air. Hundreds of copies fall in a volley from above in a 40-foot-radius 20-feet-high cylinder at a point within 150 feet of us. All creatures within the cylinder must make a Dexterity saving throw or take 8d8 damage (half damage on a successful save)
Level 20: The Ranger's capstone ability is Foe Slayer. Once per turn we can choose to add our Wisdom modifier to one attack roll or damage roll that we make. We can choose to add it before or after we roll, but not before any effects of the roll are applied.
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And that is Artemis, the Huntress. Let's see what we got:
Well, first of all, we're an absolute powerhouse of archery. We got many bonuses to our attack and damage rolls, hinder the enemy's movement, and track them to the ends of the earth. We're a great ambusher that can get around the battlefield quickly (35 feet of movement... or 65 if we use Zephyr Strike) and support our party members.
Our AC is 17, we have a +5 to our Initiative, and we have 168 Hit Points on average.
Unfortunately, we had to sacrifice Strength, Intelligence, and Charisma, which are very common saving throws, so we might have a problem with shaking those off. Better hope there are some healers in our group of hunters.
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And that is it, you guys! We'll take a little break from the gods next time, as we get... well, back to school ;) I'll see you for the next one, hope you're having a great day!
