Waterborne Ranger and Barbarian

[WaywardWaffle]

I'm currently playing a pirate campaign with my group of players, and the barbarian felt that the Totem options didn't really fit with the setting, so I whipped up a couple of Barbarian Fish Totems.

Another character is a druid and wants to multiclass into ranger and felt the same problem, so I made a Ranger Waterborne Archtype.

Barbarian
Level 3 Totem Spirit
Shark: You gain a Swimming speed of 40ft. In addition, while Raging as a reaction you can allow any friendly creature to deal an additional weapon die of damage on a creature within 5ft of you. You must activate this feature after the attack has been confirmed as a hit, but before damage has been rolled. The spirit of the shark makes you a deadly blood-hunting predator.

Salmon: You gain a Swimming speed of 30ft. In addition, while Raging you have advantage on the Overrun action, you are able to climb at twice your movement speed, and can jump an additional 10ft. The spirit of the salmon makes you unshakable against the raging waters.

Piranha: You gain a Swimming speed of 35ft. In addition, while Raging any friendly creature you move past can use their reaction to move up to 10ft, this movement does not provoke opportunity attacks. The spirit of the piranha makes you a leader of a ferocious swarm.

Level 6 Aspect of the Beast
Shark: You gain the blood sense of shark. You instantly know the direction, distance, and type of any creature within 60ft that is below their maximum Hit Points.

Salmon: You gain the direction and drive of a salmon. You cannot get lost while travelling except by magical means. You always know what direction is north, and as long as you can see the sky you know how far you are from your destination.

Piranha: You gain the swarm instincts of the Piranha. You instantly know when another friendly creature within 30 feet notices something. For example, you cannot be surprised if at least one other person in your party is not surprised, or you instantly notice a trap or a stealthed creature that a member of your party notices.

Level 14: Totemic Attunement
Shark: While Raging you can use a bonus action to make a weapon attack with advantage on a target you are grappling, if you are using a two handed weapon you do not have advantage. If you hit, the target has disadvantage on it’s escape attempt until the start of your next turn.

Salmon: While Raging you cannot be knocked prone or forced to move against your will.

Piranha: While Raging you can add half your proficiency modifier to any roll you make that you do not already have proficiency in that another creature within 30ft is making at the same time.

Ranger

The Ocean Explorer archetype is the sailor that welcomes the touch of the depths of the ocean. A frontier survivalist that charts new paths through the dangerous seas of the world, expertly navigating through reefs, and bravely sailing through maelstroms or black waters. The Ocean Explorer has seen everything the water has to offer, and still craves more.

Natural Explorer: Sea
When you choose the Sea terrain of the Natural Explorer class feature you gain the following features, which completely replace the normal Natural Explorer features.

• You gain proficiency in Navigator’s Tools and Vehicles (water)
  
• Your group can’t become lost except by magical means
  
• You gain a swim speed of 30ft, or if you already have a swim speed, it increases by 10 feet
  
• You add proficiency on any roll to repair a ship, navigate a ship, man your station, or do rigging work
  
• When you fish or scavenge edible plants from the sea, you find twice as much food as you normally would
  
• You can see up to 1 mile away with no difficulty, able to discern even fine details as though looking at something no more than 100 feet away from you.

3: Oceanic Sidekick: At 3rd level you gain a representation of your bond to the sea in the form of a spirit companion that will travel with you on your adventures and fight beside you. Choose a non-humanoid aquatic creature with a CR value no higher than 1/2. Your Oceanic Sidekick manifests as a tiny creature in a bubble a foot in radius that floats behind you wherever you go. You can order the creature to move to an area within 100ft as an action, ordering the creature to stay in one spot costs no action. The bubble cannot be destroyed by any means. As long as you are on the same plane of existence you can use an action to teleport your Oceanic Sidekick to an adjacent square.
Once per day you can order your Oceanic Sidekick to exit the bubble and fight with you for 1 minute, or until you lose concentration. When fighting out of its bubble the creature has its swim speed as flight speed, but can go no higher than 10ft above the ground. The creature has a bonus to it’s attack rolls and saves equal to your Wisdom modifier, and uses the Hit Points in the creature’s Stat Block, or half of your Hit Points, whichever is higher.
The Oceanic Sidekick takes its turn immediately after yours. You control it’s actions even if you are unconscious or otherwise unable to act

3: Expanded Spell List At 3rd level you learn the shape water cantrip, and also gain additional spells at level 3, 5, 9, 13, 15, these spells are always prepared and do not count against your number of spells known

• 1: Create or Destroy Water
  
• 2: Gust of Wind
  
• 3: Tidal Wave
  
• 4: Watery Sphere
  
• 5: Maelstrom

7: Brawler On Deck: Your experience in fighting on deck puts you a step ahead of other creatures on the unstable waves, you have advantage on saves and checks to avoid being knocked prone, or forced to move. In addition, you can move through a hostile creature’s space as if it were difficult terrain.

7: Emergency Raft: You are now able to build a raft that can hold 1 person per hour you spend building it, as long as you have a source of any kind of wood, including driftwood from shipwrecks. The raft has 5 hit points per ranger level, is immune to psychic damage, and has resistance to all other damage types except for fire. It can float for 1 week + 1 day per hour you spend building it up to a maximum of 8, after which it begins to sink from wear and tear. After 12 hours the raft will be completely submerged and unsalvageable. After 1 week you can spend time per day up to a maximum of 1 hour per person on the raft maintaining it to last 1 more day.

13: Aquatic Adaptation: You have spent enough time in water to have attuned yourself to the conditions, gaining the following benefits.

• You can tolerate swimming in water as cold as 0 degrees celsius/32 degrees fahrenheit.
  
• You can hold your breath twice as long as normal.
  
• You can see through darkness and heavily obscured areas, such as caused by a fog cloud spell, as if it were dim light
  
• You no longer take falling damage if you land in water, as long as the water is deeper than 5ft
  
• You can stand high pressures underwater, being able to dive unaided down to 500ft below the surface
  
• You have advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks made to swim against a current
  
• You can talk to aquatic creatures as if you share a language
  
• You can drink salt water as if it were fresh water

13: Local Forecast: Once per short or long rest you can use your action to make an area in a 10ft radius around your Sidekick’s bubble take on the effect of various weather conditions for 1 minute, or until you cancel the effect as a bonus action. The effect travels with the bubble wherever you choose to move it, and you can move through the area freely without being subject to the effect. If you order your Oceanic Sidekick to exit the bubble and fight with you, the weather effect immediately ends. You can pick from one of the following effects.

• The air around the bubble becomes incredibly humid, becoming difficult terrain and reaching temperatures of 100 degrees fahrenheit / 40 degrees celsius
  
• The ground around the bubble becomes slick with thick ice, any creature that enters the area or starts their turn there must make a Dexterity save or fall prone
  
• The area around the bubble fills with powerful winds that suck in objects towards the bubble. Creatures that enter the area must make a Strength save or be sucked into the center of the winds. They can repeat this save every turn to attempt to escape the winds. If the bubble moves far enough that a creature inside would no longer be in the area the creature can make the save immediately with advantage, on a failure they are dragged along with the movement. You can also choose to have the winds push creatures away, in which case a creature that fails the Strength save is pushed back 10ft.
  
• The area around the bubble becomes filled with a dense fog, becoming heavily obscured.
  
• The area around the bubble becomes filled with the sense of clear skies, calm oceans, and peaceful winds. Any creature that enters the area must make a Wisdom save or become charmed. They can repeat this save every turn. Once a creature saves against this effect they are immune to it for the next 24 hours.
  
• The area is buffeted with a torrential downpour of rain and hail, any creature entering the area or starting their turn there takes 2d6 bludgeon damage.

18: Champion of the Sea: You have become such a force of nature among the oceans that you have become a mediator between the depths and dry land, a last line of defense for those both above and below. As an action you and your Oceanic Sidekick can combine to take on the form of the Champions of the Sea for 1 minute, altering your appearance in a way that you choose. Your hair might turn into seaweed, your skin may take on the appearance and texture of coral, or you could turn blue and misty, or take on physical traits of your Oceanic Sidekick. You cannot use Weather Forecast while in this form. While in this form you gain the following benefits.

• You add your Wisdom modifier to your attack and damage rolls
  
• A spherical area around you with a radius of 30ft becomes dark and cold and tinted blue, a creature that enters the area or starts its turn there must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become feared. Creatures in the aura take an extra 1d6 damage from your weapon attacks.
  
• Whenever a creature leaves your Aura you can use your reaction to force the creature to make a Dexterity Save against your spellsave DC as a geyser erupts beneath their feet. On a failed save the creature is flung 30ft into the air. You can also choose to use this ability as a regular opportunity attack.
  
• As a bonus action you can teleport up to 60ft while in water, or from one body of water to another.
  
• As an Action tendrils of water can move up to 4 friendly creatures from one spot within 30ft of you to any other spot within 30ft of you.

Once you transform with this feature you cannot do so again until you complete a long rest.

 

[Macv12]

Sorry for length, I tried to be as efficient as I could

The first Shark feature applies after a hit is confirmed, but before rolling damage. The only effect of that, as far as I can tell, is that occasionally the attack's damage would have been enough to kill the target by itself, so the barbarian wasted their reaction adding unneeded damage. I would get rid of that restriction, and allow them to add the damage after seeing if the target is still standing. I assume, after all, that this represents the barbarian lashing out in unison with their ally, or something similar? No need to do that if the target's dead.

Climbing at twice your speed is crazy fast. Climb speed equal to normal speed, plus the jump bonus, seems fine to me.

The lvl6 Salmon bonus seems wonky. How does the sky help judge distance? I would think "unable to get lost" and "know where north is" would depend on that, if anything. Knowing approximate distance seems like it would come naturally with not being lost, as well as knowing the geography of the area.

Lvl14 Shark, you can't wield a two-handed weapon and grapple at the same time, AFAIK, so the extra note there seems unnecessary.

What situation did you have in mind when making the Piranha feature? Raging is combat-only, so that eliminates most instances of "everyone make a STR check to hang on to the collapsing bridge" and whatnot, Stealth is out, and Perception is already handled by the lvl6 feature. I can't think of any scenario common enough to warrant dedicating this feature to it.


The ranger feels really bloated. You've got a little bit of everything, multiple features per level, and multiple features that are lists of sub-features. None of it is bad in itself, but it needs trimming.

Natural Explorer needs some reformatting. The way you've written it, either there's no bonus to INT or WIS checks related to the ocean for this ranger, or they only get their swim speed after being around the ocean for an hour. (The bonus to checks is in the paragraph above the list in the PHB, and the listed stuff is all only when in your favored terrain for a long time.) It's true that some of Natural Explorer's benefits don't fit the ocean, so I see the need to edit Natural Explorer even if it's inelegant, but I would split off the "always-on" stuff and put it in a different feature.

On that note, I would leave Navigator's Tools and Vehicles (water) to a background. Sailor already offers them, and if the character is spiritually tied to the ocean but has no experience sailing, I don't see why they'd know how to use sailing instruments. Proficiency with repairs and such also seems superfluous, as I assume that Vehicles (water), if anything, would cover that. But I guess that's up to the DM, so, meh.

No ranger gets an Expanded Spell List, nor any cantrips (that I've seen, unless there was something in the newer campaign books). I would especially not offer this as a "ribbon" feature alongside the Oceanic Sidekick that gives you an indestructible spy/scout that's also better than the Beast Master. I would just cut it.

Emergency Raft could definitely be cut. Nothing stops anyone else from building a raft in exactly the same way, and it's incredibly situational. I would probably count this as a Survival check, so Natural Explorer already gives the ranger a bonus to this sort of thing, if a check is even required.

Does Brawler on Deck apply at all times, or just when to prone/movement related to moving ships? If it's the former I'd say something more like "your experience fighting on moving ships makes your stance incredibly sturdy; blah blah generalized bonuses."

Most of Aquatic Adaptation can probably be dropped. A lot of it addresses really specific scenarios that aren't in the rules, like whether you take fall damage when falling into water and how much atmospheric pressure you can withstand. In the interest of trimming down the features, I would put anything you really want here into the same feature that gives swim speed earlier on, then drop Aquatic Adaptation.

A one-minute duration for Local Forecast, plus the sidekick's indestructibility, alongside spells the ranger already has, make that feature much too strong for me. I would make the sidekick destructible, and/or make the ranger maintain concentration on the effect. I would further get rid of the feature that drags creatures along when the wind effect moves away from them, and either halve the hail's damage or add a save to resist it.

Adding WIS and 1d6 to the Champion's attacks is double-dipping, you don't need both. There also doesn't seem to be a limit on the frighten effect, should probably not work for 24 hours if a creature resists.