Wildpath Warden

Wildpath Wardens are Rangers who have bound their lives to the living routes of the world—the game trails, mountain passes, riverbanks, and shadowed forest paths that stitch civilization together. To them, a road is not just a way from one place to another; it is a vein through which life, trade, and stories flow. They walk those lines endlessly, learning every bend and hollow, and they treat any who travel there as their charges… or their prey.   Where a Wildpath Warden walks, the land itself seems to lean in their favor. They can read a track at a glance, slip a whole party through thickets without leaving a trace, and turn a narrow ravine or tangled copse into a killing ground for those who would despoil it. Their Hunter’s Mark does more than single out a quarry—it lays claim to the ground around it, making that patch of earth softer under an Ally’s step and treacherous under an intruder’s boot.   Through the spell Nature's Sting, these Rangers carry the judgment of the wild on every arrow and every blade. With a whispered invocation, they lace a strike with venom, frost, crackling stormlight, choking fumes, or thunderous force, choosing the element that best fits the foe and the crime. At the height of their power, they can drive that magic outward in sudden bursts that rake through clustered enemies or call on the full mantle of the wilds, becoming swift, relentless avatars of the hunt who harry their quarry step by step until it falls.

Level 3: Wildpath Warden Spells

When you reach a Ranger level specified in the Wildpath Warden Spells table, you thereafter always have the listed spells prepared.

Ranger Level	Spells
3	Grasp of Thorns
5	Elemental Strike
9	Hunger of the Deep Forest
13	Greater Invisibility
17	Elemental Wrath

Level 3: Elemental Sentence

You learn to channel nature’s judgment through the spell Nature's Sting.   You learn the Nature's Sting spell, and it is always prepared. It doesn’t count against the number of Ranger spells you can prepare.   You can cast Nature's Sting without expending a spell slot a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.   Whenever you cast Nature's Sting and the target is also affected by your Hunter’s Mark spell, the target has Disadvantage on the saving throw to resist the effects of your Nature's Sting.

Level 3: Marked Ground

When you mark a creature as your quarry, you also lay claim to the ground it walks upon.   Whenever you cast Hunter’s Mark, you can choose to establish a zone of territory around the marked creature, called your Marked Ground (no action required). The Marked Ground is a 15-foot-radius Emanation that radiates from the target of your Hunter’s Mark when you cast it until that creature dies or the spell ends.   All creatures you designate as an Ally within the Emanation ignore nonmagical Difficult Terrain. Hostile creatures, including the marked target, in the Emanation treat the area as Difficult Terrain.

Level 7: Boundary Stalker

You specialize in guiding others along safe paths and punishing those who cross your borders.   While you are in a natural environment, you and the creatures who travel with you (up to a number of creatures equal to your Proficiency Bonus, excluding yourself) ignore nonmagical Difficult Terrain while you are not Incapacitated, and you can’t become lost by nonmagical means. You can choose whether you and those creatures leave tracks and other signs of passage. In addition, while you are in natural terrain, you have Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.   Your mastery of borders also sharpens your responses during a fight. When a creature you can see enters your Marked Ground, leaves it, or moves more than 10 feet while inside it, you can use your Reaction to move up to half your Speed without provoking Opportunity Attacks. If this movement ends with you within 5 feet of the triggering creature, you can make one melee weapon attack against that creature as part of the same Reaction.

Level 11: Relentless Sting

Your mastery of Nature's Sting deepens, allowing you to strike harder and unleash its power in a sudden burst.   Elemental Burst. When you cast Nature's Sting, you can cast it at one level higher than the spell slot expended. When you do, the spell’s energy bursts outward. Each creature of your choice within a 10-foot-radius Sphere centered on the target, but excluding the target, must make the same kind of saving throw that Nature's Sting required from the original target. On a failed save, a creature takes damage equal to the spells damage but no other effects. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage.   You can use the bursting effect of this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.   Improved Nature's Sting. The first time on each of your turns that you hit a creature affected by your Hunter’s Mark spell and cast Nature's Sting on that hit, you add your Wisdom modifier to the extra damage rolled for Nature's Sting.

Level 15: Avatar of the Wilds

In moments of greatest need, you call on the full majesty and terror of the untamed world, becoming a stalking avatar of the wild hunt.   When you cast Hunter’s Mark, you can choose to assume your Avatar of the Wilds form. This transformation lasts until for up to 1 minute. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Long Rest, unless you expend a level 4 or higher spell slot to use it again.   While you are in Avatar of the Wilds form, you gain the following benefits:

• Your Speed increases by 10 feet.
• You radiate an aura of thorny judgment in a 15-foot Emanation That counts as Difficult Terrain for hostile creatures. In addition, hostile creatures in the Emanation have Disadvantage on saving throws against your Nature's Sting.
• When you assume this form, you attune your flesh to an elemental aspect. Choose Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison, or Thunder. You gain Resistance to the chosen damage type while the form lasts. If you deal the chosen damage type with Nature's Sting, the extra damage from that casting of Nature's Sting increases by 1d6.
• The first time on each of your turns that you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can apply Nature’s Sting at level 1 as part of the same attack without expending a spell slot or using a Bonus Action. You still choose the damage type and apply all normal effects of the spell. This does not count as casting a spell for the purposes of how many spells you can cast on your turn.