Ranger

Ranger: Ranger Conclave: Arcane Archer

An Arcane Archer practices marksmanship and arcane studies. While this conclave is often associated with the bow, its style of imbuing ammunition with magical properties has since found use with marksmen favouring different ranged weapon as well.

Arcane Archer Features

Enchanted Ammunition

At 3rd level, you learn two cantrips from the arcane spell list that requires an attack roll. These spells count as ranger spells for you.

When you cast a cantrip that normally requires a spell attack and targets only a single creature, you can instead cast the spell requiring an overdraw or loading weapon as a special material component, granting the spell the following benefits:

•          The spell requires you to make a ranged attack with the weapon used to cast the spell instead of a spell attack.

•          The spell uses the weapon’s range instead of the spell’s range.

Imbue Ammunition

Beginning at 3rd level, you can use 10 minutes and expend a spell slot to create magical piece of ammunition. When you use this ability, you can select a spell from any spell list and imbue it onto that piece of ammunition. Only certain spells can be imbued onto the ammunition:

•          The spell must be of a level you can cast, as shown on the ranger table and the spell counts as a ranger spell for you when you use it with this feature.

•          The spell must have an instantaneous duration, require a saving throw, and target a point in space (such as the fireball spell) or originate from the caster (such as the burning hands spell).

You can create a number of imbued pieces of ammunition up to your Wisdom modifier between long rests (expending spell slots for each piece of ammunition individually). The magic imbued into a piece of ammunition lasts until you use it to make an attack or until you finish a long rest.

You can fire the imbued ammunition in place of one of your attacks. When used, the spell’s effect is centred on where the ammunition lands instead of the spell’s normal range, even if the spell would normally originate from the caster such as the binding ice or lightning bolt spells). If you choose to target a creature with the ammunition, the attack does not deal damage on a hit. Instead, the spell originates from the creature’s space, and the target automatically fails its saving throw against the spell.

These pieces of ammunition work only for you and you can only fire one of these pieces of ammunition on each of your turns.

Arcane Missiles

Beginning at 9th level, when you cast a cantrip with your ‘enhanced ammunition’ feature, you can give the spell additional benefits:

•          Seeker Missile. When you use your enchant ammunition feature, the attack seeks out your target, allowing the attack to curve and twist its path in search of its prey. When you use this option, you don’t make an attack roll for the attack. Instead, choose one creature you have seen in the past minute. The ammunition flies toward that creature even if it is outside the cantrip’s range, moving around corners if necessary and ignoring cover. If there is a path large enough for the ammunition to travel to the target. The target must make a Dexterity saving throw or take damage as if it was hit by the cantrip.

•          Phase Missile. When you use your enchant ammunition feature, you don’t make an attack roll for the attack. Instead, the ammunition fires forward in a line, which is 1 foot wide and 60 feet long, before disappearing. The ammunition passes harmlessly through objects, ignoring cover and line of effect. Each creature in that line must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes damage as if it was hit by the cantrip.

•          Hail of Missiles. When you use your enhance ammunition feature, you can target any number of creatures within 10 feet of a point you can see within your weapon’s normal range. Each target must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes damage as if it was hit by the cantrip.

You can add one of these effects twice between short or long rests

Reed of Death

At 17th level, you can create a special magical piece of ammunition, a reed of death. It takes a full week to create a reed of death, and the piece of ammunition remains magical for up to a year or until it has been used to make an attack. You can only have one such piece of ammunition in existence at a time:

•          Reed of Death. When you hit one of your favoured enemies with this piece of ammunition, the target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take an additional 100 necrotic damage. On a successful saving throw, the creature takes 10d10 necrotic damage instead.