Mythological Figures is headed back to Ancient Greece today with a huntress by the name of Atalanta!
This is one of Ancient Greece’s righteous ladies—both because she was a devout follower of Artemis and because she was a badass. This woman survived in the wilds as a baby after her father (Iasus the King of Argos) angrily abandoned her for not being a boy, she was the first to bleed the Calydonian Boar, the only female to sail with the Argonauts, and resisted a suitor by beating them all in footraces until Hippomenes distracted her with three enchanted golden apples. They have a son (Parthenopaios) but not long after are cursed by Zeus, transformed into lions for doing the dirty in one of his temples (note that the popular belief at the time was that lions could only mate with leopards, forever keeping them from having intercourse again).
Design Notes: This was a very straightforward character build—a talented archer and hunter raised in the wilds! I tried to keep her spell list on the more mundane side and I’m relatively sure that in future when I need a mysterious Aragorn-type character I’ll be turning to her.
Atalanta
Medium humanoid (any), neutral ranger (hunter) 8
Armor Class 14
Hit Points 68 (8d10+16)
Speed 30 ft.
Saving Throws Str +5, Dex +7
Skills Athletics +5, Nature +4, Perception +5, Stealth +7, Survival +5
Senses passive Perception 15
Languages Common
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
Background: Wildborn. Atalanta never forgets the geographic arrangement of terrain, settlements, and areas of wilderness. In addition, she can forage fresh water and food each day for as many as 6 people as long as the environment nearby can support it.
Defensive Tactics: Multiattack Defense. When a creature hits Atalanta with an attack, she gains a +4 bonus to AC against all subsequent attacks made by that creature for the rest of the turn.
Favored Enemy. Atalanta has advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track beasts and monsters, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them.
Feat: Superb Aim. Atalanta ignores half cover and three-quarters cover when making a ranged weapon attack, and she doesn’t have disadvantage when attacking at long range. When Atalanta makes her first ranged weapon attack in a turn, she can choose to take a -5 penalty to her ranged weapon attack rolls in exchange for a +10 bonus to ranged weapon damage.
Hunter’s Prey: Colossus Slayer (1d8, 1/Turn). When Atalanta hits a creature with a weapon attack, the creature takes an extra 1d8 damage if it’s below its hit point maximum.
Ranger Features. Atalanta has the Land’s Stride, Natural Explorer (forest or grassland), and Primeval Awareness ranger class features.
Spellcasting. Atalanta is an 8th-level spellcaster that uses Wisdom as her spellcasting ability (spell save DC 13; +5 to hit with spell attacks). She knows the following spells from the ranger’s spell list:
ACTIONS
Extra Attack. Atalanta can attack twice, instead of once, whenever she takes the Attack action on her turn.
Scimitar. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+4) slashing damage.
Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8+4) piercing damage.
This is one of Ancient Greece’s righteous ladies—both because she was a devout follower of Artemis and because she was a badass. This woman survived in the wilds as a baby after her father (Iasus the King of Argos) angrily abandoned her for not being a boy, she was the first to bleed the Calydonian Boar, the only female to sail with the Argonauts, and resisted a suitor by beating them all in footraces until Hippomenes distracted her with three enchanted golden apples. They have a son (Parthenopaios) but not long after are cursed by Zeus, transformed into lions for doing the dirty in one of his temples (note that the popular belief at the time was that lions could only mate with leopards, forever keeping them from having intercourse again).
Design Notes: This was a very straightforward character build—a talented archer and hunter raised in the wilds! I tried to keep her spell list on the more mundane side and I’m relatively sure that in future when I need a mysterious Aragorn-type character I’ll be turning to her.
Atalanta
Medium humanoid (any), neutral ranger (hunter) 8
Armor Class 14
Hit Points 68 (8d10+16)
Speed 30 ft.
STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
14 (+2) | 18 (+4) | 14 (+2) | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 10 (+0) |
Saving Throws Str +5, Dex +7
Skills Athletics +5, Nature +4, Perception +5, Stealth +7, Survival +5
Senses passive Perception 15
Languages Common
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
Background: Wildborn. Atalanta never forgets the geographic arrangement of terrain, settlements, and areas of wilderness. In addition, she can forage fresh water and food each day for as many as 6 people as long as the environment nearby can support it.
Defensive Tactics: Multiattack Defense. When a creature hits Atalanta with an attack, she gains a +4 bonus to AC against all subsequent attacks made by that creature for the rest of the turn.
Favored Enemy. Atalanta has advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track beasts and monsters, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them.
Feat: Superb Aim. Atalanta ignores half cover and three-quarters cover when making a ranged weapon attack, and she doesn’t have disadvantage when attacking at long range. When Atalanta makes her first ranged weapon attack in a turn, she can choose to take a -5 penalty to her ranged weapon attack rolls in exchange for a +10 bonus to ranged weapon damage.
Hunter’s Prey: Colossus Slayer (1d8, 1/Turn). When Atalanta hits a creature with a weapon attack, the creature takes an extra 1d8 damage if it’s below its hit point maximum.
Ranger Features. Atalanta has the Land’s Stride, Natural Explorer (forest or grassland), and Primeval Awareness ranger class features.
Spellcasting. Atalanta is an 8th-level spellcaster that uses Wisdom as her spellcasting ability (spell save DC 13; +5 to hit with spell attacks). She knows the following spells from the ranger’s spell list:
1st-level (4 slots): detect poison and disease, jump, longstrider
2nd-level (3 slots): darkvision, pass without trace
ACTIONS
Extra Attack. Atalanta can attack twice, instead of once, whenever she takes the Attack action on her turn.
Scimitar. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+4) slashing damage.
Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8+4) piercing damage.
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