Comments from the writer: This werewolf-themed subclass for Ranger is one of the best subclasses we curated for Valda’s Spire of Secrets, and one of the best ways to werewolf in 5th edition. It’s only fitting it should be the first core subclass we post to the blog for the 2024 ruleset, now featuring bespoke art by Lucas Ferreira CM!
Click here for the 2014 version of this same class. Since then the features have sharpened a little to provide more clarity and a smoother experience at the table.
Beastborne
Ranger subclass: Channel Lycanthropic Fury
Whether by infected bite or insidious curse, your blood was marked by the indelible stain of beasthood, a curse of lycanthropy. A new form, a primal, bestial self, lies just beneath your skin, awaiting the allure of blood and the thrill of a hunt to emerge in a terrible spectacle. Perhaps, if you can avoid the violence of combat or the siren call of moonlight, you can resist the lycanthropic urge. Or perhaps you see the infection as a blessing, a fearsome weapon, with claws that rend and teeth that bite.
Level 3: Shapechanger
Your true form is a ghastly hybrid of beast and man, granting the following benefits.
Darkvision. You gain Darkvision with a range of 60 feet. If you already have Darkvision, its range increases by 60 feet.
Climb Speed. You gain a Climb Speed equal to your Speed.
Level 3: Bestial Aspect
As blood is shed, you gradually lose control and slip into a beastlike form, ravenous and hungry for carnage.
Damage Pool. Whenever you take damage from an enemy or deal damage to an enemy with an attack made with a weapon or Unarmed Strike, add the total together; this is your damage pool. You gain benefits and a bonus to your damage rolls according to your total damage pool, as shown on the Bestial Aspect table.
Resetting Your Damage Pool. If you don’t take or receive damage for 1 minute, your damage pool resets to 0.
Bestial Aspect
| Damage Pool |
Damage Bonus |
Benefits |
| 0 | — | — |
| 5 | +2 | Claws. You sprout a set of vicious claws that you can use to make Unarmed Strikes. You can use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier for the attack and damage rolls of your Unarmed Strikes. When you deal damage with an Unarmed Strike, you can deal Slashing damage equal to 1d6 plus your Strength or Dexterity modifier instead of the strike’s normal damage. |
| 10 | +2 | Bonus Unarmed Strike. You can make an Unarmed Strike as a Bonus Action. |
| 20 | +2 | Fast Movement. Your Speed increases by 10 feet. |
| 30 | +2 | Damage Resistance. You gain Resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage. |
| 40 | +3 | Agile Movement. Opportunity Attacks have Disadvantage against you. |
| 50 | +3 | Pack Tactics. You have Advantage on attack rolls made using an Unarmed Strike against a creature if at least one of your allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally doesn’t have the Incapacitated condition. |
| 70 | +3 | Thick Hide. If you aren’t wielding a shield, you gain a +2 bonus to AC. |
| 100 | +4 | Bloodthirsty Retaliation. When you take damage from a creature that is within 5 feet of you, you can take a Reaction to make one melee attack against a random creature within reach. |
Level 7: Wolfbane Fury
As a Bonus Action, you can roll 2d6 + your Ranger level and add the total to your damage pool. This counts as taking damage for the purpose of resetting your damage pool.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.
Level 11: Razor Claws
Your claws deal an extra 1d6 Slashing damage on a hit.
Level 15: Relentless Bloodlust
When you are reduced to 0 Hit Points but not killed outright, you can choose to drop to 1 Hit Point instead. Add twice the total damage you would have taken to your damage pool.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
Find more innovative subclasses* in Valda’s Spire of Secrets
*For 5th edition 2014, a 2024 rules update is pending.
