Sacred Keepers have dedicated themselves to protecting the sanctity of the natural world. Often working alongside druids or in communities where nature is revered, they draw strength from either their primal connection to the natural world or a divine connection to the nature deity that they serve.
These rangers are often outcasts from their homes who find a place for themselves living harmoniously with nature. They are typically found in large forests, where they serve as guardians and protectors—watching vigilantly for outside influences that seek to encroach into their protected lands.
Sacred Keepers express their reverence and respect for nature through their connection to and understanding of the cycle of seasons through which nature grows, withers, lives, dies, and is born again. For the Sacred Keeper, this endless cycle of metamorphosis and rebirth reveals the eternal grandeur of nature and puts the brief life known to mortals into perspective as something to be treasured while it exists but not held on to past its time.
This attitude reveals itself in the relationship that Sacred Keepers have to the hunt. To these rangers, hunting is a sacred act that embodies the relationship mortal creatures have with the natural world. To the Sacred Keeper, it is a ritual that expresses gratitude for the gift of life. However, when performed to excess, it is a crime that Sacred Keepers will gladly punish.
Ranger Features
| Ranger Features |
Feature |
| 3 |
Sacred Keeper Magic, Divine Mark,
Blessed Armaments |
| 7 |
Devoted Mind |
| 11 |
Nature’s Mantle |
| 15 |
Avatar of the Hunt |
Sacred Keeper Magic
Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Sacred Keeper Spells table. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of ranger spells you know.
| Ranger Level |
Spell |
| 3 |
hunter’s mark |
| 5 |
find steed |
| 9 |
conjure animals |
| 13 |
mordenkainen’s faithful hound |
| 17 |
commune |
Divine Mark
Starting at 3rd level, your regard for the sanctity of the hunt empowers your ability to mark your targets.
When you make an initiative roll you can immediately cast hunter’s mark without using a bonus action.
In addition, when you roll a 1 on a damage die for your hunter’s mark, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1. Any damage dealt by your hunter’s mark is radiant damage.
Blessed Armaments
Also at 3rd level, your dedication to the hunt is reflected in your equipment. Either by the blessing of a patron or your own efforts, the natural world supports your dedication to the hunt and you will never go without weapons or ammunition.
As a bonus action, you can touch a natural material, such as a tree, log, or rock and conjure a nonmagical simple weapon or piece of ammunition from it that is made of that material. You can use this ability a number of times equal to your Wisdom bonus (minimum 1).
Alternatively, you can expend all uses of this feature to duplicate one magical piece of ammunition in your possession. You can only have a number of conjured pieces of ammunition equal to your ranger level. If you create a piece of ammunition once you have reached this limit, your oldest existing conjured piece of ammunition is dispelled and disappears. You can dispel your conjured ammunition at any time.
You regain all expended uses of this feature after a long rest.
Devoted Mind
Beginning at 7th level, you learn to clear your mind of all distractions while in pursuit of your prey. You have advantage on Constitution saving throws to maintain your concentration. In addition, when you cast hunter’s mark, it does not require concentration.
Nature’s Mantle
At 11th level, your pursuit of the hunt has deepened your connection to the natural world, earning you its favor. Choose one of the blessings below. A mantle forms around you that carries the essence of the season you choose.
Spring - The Endless Cycle. The blessing of spring allows you to draw strength from your victories. When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points with a weapon attack, you regain hit points equal to your Constitution modifier + ranger level.
Summer - The Light of the Sun. The blessing of summer fills you with strength. Whenever you deal radiant damage, you add your Wisdom modifier to your damage.
Fall - The Darkening Days. The blessing of fall enables you to invite others to your hunt. When an ally makes an attack targeting a creature marked with your hunter’s mark, you can use your reaction to give them the benefits of the hunter’s mark as if they had cast the spell.
Winter - The Still and Quiet. The blessing of winter coats your weapons with a thin layer of frost. The first time each turn you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can force the creature to make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, reduce the creature’s speed by 10 feet for the next minute. If you reduce a creature’s speed to 0 using this feature, the creature also becomes restrained. On a successful save, the creature’s speed is not reduced and it has advantage on saving throws to resist this effect for the next 24 hours. A creature affected by this feature can try to break free by taking an action on their turn to make a Strength check against your spell saving throw DC. If the affected creature’s speed is already 0, the creature has disadvantage on the saving throw to break free.
At the end of each long rest, you can choose a different blessing. When you do so, you lose the benefits associated with the previous season and gain the benefits associated with the new season.
Avatar of the Hunt
At 15th level, your deepened connection to the forces of nature allows you to manifest a divine aspect of the hunt, enhancing your appearance. This change to your appearance can be unique, but it should reflect your connection to the source of your power—plant life near you may grow subtly towards you, a silhouetted shadow may appear over you, or your weapons and armor might be blessed with divine power and markings.
Using your action, you undergo a transformation. For 1 minute, you gain the following benefits:
- You can use a bonus action to change the blessing you receive from Nature’s Mantle
- While in your Favored Terrain, your ranged weapon attacks ignore half-cover.
- You know the location and number of any creatures of creature types you have chosen as your Favored Enemies within a radius of 120 feet.
- When you roll damage for a critical hit scored against any of your Favoured Enemies you can choose to deal all your damage as radiant damage instead. When you do so and roll a 1 on any of the damage dice, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
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