5E Ranger Beastmaster Improved, Balanced and Way More FUN!

[Karma Dragon]

Ranger's Companion
3rd lvl: CR 1/4 Medium sized beast; add the ranger's proficiency bonus to the beast's Armor Class, replace the beast's proficiency bonus with the ranger's; you must spend an action to verbally command your beast, but once your beast is performing an action (guarding the ranger, attacking a designated target, running away) it only requires a bonus action by the ranger to maintain (see Bigby's Hand). It's hit point maximum equals its normal maximum or five times your ranger level, whichever is higher. Damage bonus removed.

Exceptional Training
7th lvl: CR 1 Medium sized beast; the ranger only needs to spend a bonus action to command their beast to attack, dash, disengage, dodge, or help; the beast companion may maintain an action without a command or bonus action from the ranger; share spells.

Improved Companion
11th lvl: CR 2 Large sized beast (mounted combat anyone?)

Monstrous Companion
15th lvl: CR 3 Large sized beast or monstrosity; your ranger's alignment must be within one step of your monstrous companion's alignment.

You mean at 15th level my drow elf ranger can ride a displacer beast or winter wolf into combat? Hell Yes!

My wood elf ranger can fight from the back of an owlbeast? Why not?

A manticore you say? At 15th level your fellow full caster characters are dropping 8th level spell bombs, so don't feel too bad. They are still more powerful than you.

Does this mean I can have a Minotaur or yeti companion? Yes, but they may not be very good company and you still have to feed them.

Wait, I can have a basilisk or rust monster? See above. Your party members may come to despise you.

Keep in mind whatever companion you have under these rules you must still find and befriend them, and then somehow convince them to become and remain your loyal pet.

Good luck and happy hunting!

 

[Quartz]

CR 3 at 15th level seems a little low. It means that you can't have an elephant (CR 4), or a giant elk (CR 4), or a unicorn (CR 5), or a triceratops (CR 5). Speaking of the elephant, you might want to allow Huge beasts.

Actually, you might like to recast the whole in terms of relative size - compare the companions of a cloud giant ranger and a halfling ranger.

 

[Xeviat]

I have found that the only flaw of the existing beast master is that it's abilities only seek to keep par, they don't really function as abilities. Also, the HP is too low, which you have fixed. I don't like the idea of having to scale the animal companion's CR; I'd like to keep my wolf forever.

I have my own changes up here; I should probably leave them in my signature. My changes were giving the companion a full action EXCEPT the ability to attack (just like a familiar), and have the ranger give up a single attack (including a TWFing granted attack) to let the pet attack with it's action. This does mean I allow the pet to use the help action on its own from level 3, but I think that balances just fine against Colossus Slayer. I also grant "speak with animals" between the ranger and the companion at all times, and share spells like a familiar/summon mount.

At level 7, I give the pet evasion or uncanny dodge. At level 11, I let the pet upgrade to large OR get 2 attacks. At level 14(?) I give the pet a few more choices for defensive abilities.

I also give both ranger archetypes additional spells known, just like the new Ranger path in UA gets; the paladins all get additional spells known, so it's only fair.

My biggest change is that I rebalanced the animals. A few are very weak for CR 1/4, and a few are too strong for CR 1/4 (giant poisonous snake, I'm looking at you).