The Beast Tamer archetype embodies a friendship between the civilized races and the beasts of the world. United in focus, beast and ranger work as one to fight the monstrous foes that threaten civilization and the wilderness alike. Emulating the Beast Tamer archetype means committing yourself to this ideal, working in partnership with an animal as its companion and friend.
Source: I Made It the Fuck Up
Animal Companion
At 3rd level, you learn to use your magic to create a powerful bond with a creature of the natural world.
With 8 hours of work, you call forth an animal from the wilderness to serve as your faithful companion. You normally select your companion from among the following animals: an ape, a black bear, a boar, a giant badger, a giant weasel, a mule, a panther, or a wolf. However, your DM might pick one of these animals for you, based on the surrounding terrain and on what types of creatures would logically be present in the area.
At the end of the 8 hours, your animal companion appears and gains all the benefits of your Companion’s Bond ability. You can have only one animal companion at a time.
If the beast dies, you can obtain another one by spending 8 hours magically bonding with another beast that isn’t hostile to you, either the same type of beast as before or a different one.
Companion's Bond
Your animal companion gains a variety of benefits while it is linked to you.
The animal companion loses its Multiattack action, if it has one.
The beast obeys your commands as best as it can. In combat, the beast acts during your turn. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action. You can also sacrifice one of your attacks when you take the Attack action to command the beast to take the Attack action. If you are incapacitated, the beast can take any action of its choice, not just Dodge. While traveling with only the beast, you count as travelling alone for the purposes of Natural Explorer.
If you are incapacitated or absent, the beast acts on its own, focusing on protecting you and itself. The beast never requires your command to use its reaction, such as when making an opportunity attack.
When using your Natural Explorer feature, you and your animal companion can both move stealthily at a normal pace.
Your animal companion has abilities and game statistics determined in part by your level. Your companion uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own. In addition to the areas where it normally uses its proficiency bonus, an animal companion also adds its proficiency bonus to its AC and to its damage rolls.
Your animal companion gains proficiency in two skills of your choice. It also becomes proficient with all saving throws.
For each level you gain after 3rd, your animal companion gains an additional hit die and increases its hit points accordingly.
Whenever you gain the Ability Score Improvement class feature, your companion’s abilities also improve. Your companion can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or it can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, your companion can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature unless its description specifies otherwise.
Your companion shares your alignment, and has a personality trait and a flaw that you can roll for or select from the tables below. Your companion shares your ideal, and its bond is always, “The ranger who travels with me is a beloved companion for whom I would gladly give my life.”
Your animal companion gains the benefits of your Favored Enemy feature, and of your Greater Favored Enemy feature when you gain that feature at 6th level. It uses the favored enemies you selected for those features.
| d6 | Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I’m dauntless in the face of adversity. |
| 2 | Threaten my friends, threaten me. |
| 3 | I stay on alert so others can rest. |
| 4 | People see an animal and underestimate me. I use that to my advantage. |
| 5 | I have a knack for showing up in the nick of time. |
| 6 | I put my friends’ needs before my own in all things. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | If there’s food left unattended, I’ll eat it. |
| 2 | I growl at strangers, and all people except my ranger are strangers to me. |
| 3 | Any time is a good time for a belly rub. |
| 4 | I’m deathly afraid of water. |
| 5 | My idea of hello is a flurry of licks to the face. |
| 6 | I jump on creatures to tell them how much I love them. |
Beast's Defense
Beginning at 7th level, while your companion can see you, it has advantage on all saving throws. In addition, the beast’s attacks now count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
Storm of Claws and Fangs
At 11th level, you can use your action to command your companion to make a melee attack against each creature of its choice within 5 feet of it, with a separate attack roll for each target.
Superior Beast's Defense
At 15th level, whenever an attacker that your companion can see hits it with an attack, it can use its reaction to halve the attack’s damage against it.
See also: Beast Master, Revised Beast