I have seen a lot of talk about the Ranger Beast Master, but I hadn't seen any characters actually made. For me to understand the character I have to see it on a character sheet, so I figured I would share mine in case anyone else was like me. Keep in mind this is a build and not a full guide.
After building the character I think the main problem with the Beast Master is the animal companion autonomy and survivability. The animal companion should be able to act on it’s own when necessary and it doesn’t quite make sense how a Beast Master ranger can get more attacks off when the companion isn’t around. As for it’s defenses, it is definitely lower than a regular character, but if the bad guys focus on taking out the animal companion every time that is damage that is not going towards the rest of the party.
As for damage, it remains to be seen. I will discuss some of the decisions I made and why I made them. I didn’t go for hardcore optimization, but tried to pick options that were effective, but still felt right for the character and from a role-playing perspective.
The character concept is for Bethiana, a female Wood Elf that is the survivor of a raid on an Elven caravan. After the raid the young (60s or so) Elf lived on the outskirts of a human town. She dealt with the generally friendly townsfolk when needed, but was otherwise out in the forest. She learned the ways of the wild and became something of a protector for the town.
Since the beast master relies heavily on her pet for damage, anything that boosts her personal damage are of limited use. I chose Dexterity as her primary combat stat so she could switch between ranged (bow) and melee (rapier) combat with little change in effectiveness, in addition to adding to her defense. I assume she will stick as close to her animal companion as she can at all times.
Stats. Using 27 point buy I put her highest ability scores in Wisdom and Dexterity to give her 16 in each with her Wood Elf bonuses. A 13 in Constitution which was raised to 14 with the Resilient feat at 4th level. After that stat bumps went into Dex to raise her to 20. The rest of her stats are at 10 because I didn’t want to dump any of them. Bethiana is not weak, dumb or unlikeable, but not especially strong, smart or likeable either.
Skills. Bethiana has great skills. Elves are naturally proficient in Perception (awesome!), and I picked the Folk Hero background because it provided skills that the Ranger was already proficient with. This allowed me to pick up Acrobatics as an alternative for one of the skills. I could have just gone with Athletics, but her Strength score doesn’t really support it. Otherwise I stuck with the Ranger skills as they are thematically appropriate and generally useful.
Fighting style. I went with Defensive as it will always be useful to her. Bethiana switches between ranged weapons, spells and melee, so Archery and Dueling would be unused half the time and only be added to one attack when it was used. Two-Weapon Fighting is as bad as Dueling and also competes with her beast master abilities.
Spell casting. Rangers have always been a casting class in D&D and I don’t know why people have a problem with it or think they shouldn’t as a default. Anyway, for spells I tried to find spells that would work with the animal companion, and it wasn’t easy. Nothing really screams, “This is for your animal companion!” but there is plenty of things that say, “I’m for a Hunter Archer!”
So what did Bethiana get? For 1st level I picked up Cure Wounds (to heal her pet and herself), Ensnaring Strike (works with melee and ranged attacks) and Speak with Animals (she has an animal she can speak to all the time and allows the wolf to actually do some scouting). 2nd level is Pass without Trace (good for the whole party) and Silence (more group stealth and anti-caster). Finally 3rd level is Conjure Animals (battlefield control and thematic) and Lightning Arrow (A good opener and some AoE).
Ranger’s Companion. A wolf. It is pretty classic and a pretty darn good choice. The panther and giant badger are good, but I don’t see them getting all of their attacks twice once they get beastial fury. Other options I have seen thrown around are downright silly. How long is your giant crab going to last out of water or in a desert? Just because it has a land speed doesn’t make it a land animal. And are you really going to take it into town? I guess a giant poisonous snake works, but again... in a town?
A wolf gets one good attack with a chance to trip. The trip DC doesn’t scale (and it really should), but it is something. Pack Tactics is just awesome for landing a hit. Permanent advantage on hearing and smell perception rolls means that my ranger can expect to hear a growl anytime an enemy is near (a passive perception of 22!), even if they are invisible! Not to mention the bonus to tracking, which is a classic ranger role.
Magic Items. I only assumed a +1 weapon and +1 armor. I couldn’t find any magic items that would obviously work with an animal companion. Can you shove a ring of protection on a wolf’s toe? That would help. Barding for a wolf just doesn’t fit my RP idea of a wolf companion, but if it works for you, feel free.
Tactics. Bethiana will open up with ranged attacks and keep her companion at her side. If melee is called for she will keep her bow in her left hand and close with her companion while drawing her rapier. The wolf will attack twice at +8 to hit with Advantage both times and do 2d4+6 damage and force two DC11 Strength saves or the target is knocked prone. Bethiana will cast Ensnaring Strike as a bonus action and attack for +10 to hit and 1d8+6 damage. If the wolf has already knocked the target prone she will also have advantage on her attack. The opponent then needs to make a third Strength save, this time at DC15, or start taking 1d6 damage a round, or waste a turn trying to get out of it.
See the full character below…
Bethiana “Bel” Amastacia (Starflower)
Race: Wood Elf Class: Ranger (Beast Master) 12
Background: Folk Hero (Woodland Protector) Alignment: Chaotic Good
Sex: Female Age: 101 Height: 5' Weight: 90lbs. Size: Medium
Senses: passive perception 17
Speed: 35 ft
Abilities
Str 10 +0
Dex 20 +5 (14 base, +2 Elf, +4 Ability Score Improvement)
Con 14 +2 (13 base, +1 Resilient)
Int 10 +0
Wis 16 +3 (15 base, +1 Wood Elf)
Cha 10 +0
Proficiency: (+4)
Saving Throws: Strength +4, Dexterity +9, Constitution +6
Skills: Acrobatics +9, Animal Handling +7, Nature +4, Perception +7, Stealth +9, Survival +7
Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
Tools: Artisan’s tools (Leatherworking), Vehicles (land)
Languages: common, elvish, orcish, abyssal
Combat
Initiative: +5
Defense
Armor Class: 19 (13 armor, +5 Dex, +1 Defensive)
Hit Points: 100 (12d10+24)
Attacks
Rapier: +10 to hit (reach 5 ft.)
Damage: 1d8+6 piercing damage
Longbow: +9 to hit (range 150/600 ft.)
Damage: 1d8+5 piercing damage
Features and Traits
Darkvision: 60’
Fay Ancestry: Have advantage on saving throws vs. charmed, immune to magic sleep.
Mask of the Wild: Can hide when lightly obscured by natural phenomena.
Trance: Meditate for 4 hours a day and gain the same benefit as 8 hours of sleep.
Favored Enemy: Orcs, Goblins and Fiends.
Natural Explorer: Forest, grassland and swamp.
Fighting Style: Defense, +1 to AC when wearing armor.
Ranger’s Companion: Wolf
Primeval Awareness: Spend spell slot to locate unnatural creatures.
Extra Attack: Can attack twice with the attack Action or can also attack when animal companion is ordered to attack.
Exceptional Training: Can use bonus action to command animal companion to Dash, Disengage, Dodge or Help.
Land’s Stride: Ignore non-magical difficult terrain and plants. Advantage on saves vs. magical plants impairing movement.
Hide in Plain Sight: Spend 1 minute to gain +10 to stealth even with no cover. Movement or actions break stealth.
Bestial Fury: Animal companion can make two attacks when commanded to take Attack action.
Known Spells
DC: 15
Level 1 (4 slots): Cure Wounds, Ensnaring Strike, Speak with Animals
Level 2 (3 slots): Pass without Trace, Silence
Level 3 (3 slots): Conjure Animals, Lightning Arrow
Equipment
+1 studded leather armor, +1 rapier, longbow, quiver, 40 arrows, leatherworking tools, iron pot, shovel, explorer’s pack.
Personal Characteristics
Defining Event: A lord rescinded an unpopular decree after I led a symbolic act of protest against it.
Trait: When I set my mind to something, I follow through no matter what gets in my way.
Trait: I get bored easily. When am I going to get on with my destiny?
Ideal: Freedom. Tyrants must not be allowed to oppress the people. (Chaotic)
Bond: I have a family, but I have no idea where they are. One day, I hope to see them again.
Flaw: I have a weakness for the vices of the city, especially hard drink.
Animal Companion
Size: Medium
Senses: passive perception 17 (22 hearing or smell)
Speed: 40 ft
Abilities
Str 12 +1
Dex 15 +2
Con 12 +1
Int 3 +0 -4
Wis 12 +1
Cha 6 -2
Saving Throws:
Skills: Perception +7, Stealth +8
Combat
Initiative: +2
Defense
Armor Class: 17 (13 natural armor, +4 Ranger’s Companion)
Hit Points: 48
Attacks
Bite: +8 to hit (reach 5 ft.)
Damage: 2d4+6 piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 11 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Features and Traits
Keen Hearing and Smell: Advantage on Perception checks that rely on hearing or smell.
Pack Tactics: Advantage on attack rolls against a creature if at least one of the wolf’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.
Nice writeup. Thanks!
I'm glad you liked it. I was kinda hoping someone would post about how I did it wrong so I could argue about it. 
I also wanted to hear other people's opinion on how it compares to a hunter or other characters.
LordTwig wrote:
Leugren wrote:
I think the idea that an animal gets attacked and will just take it is problematic. I would adjudicate that the companion keeps fighting and defends itself with not action on the part of the ranger past an initial "attack" command.
You don't have to justify what companion you choose, but a wolf is not a dog. You write off a couple animals because you can't bring them into town, well a wolf is likely to make people just as uncomfortable as a poisonous snake... at least the snake could coil up in a backpack or something.
Also I don't think your armor was calculated correctly, I don't think you can get +5 from DEX unless you're a monk or barbarian.
slumgum wrote:
True, a wolf might make people uneasy, but I would imagine a giant crab walking around town would send people screaming. Same with giant poisonous snakes. And where did they get these animal companions anyway? Are they native to the location? If I were the DM I would allow the character to take whatever animal companion I they want, no matter how stupid I think it is. I want them to play the character they want. I will come up with some kind of excuse as to why that creature ended up their friend. But I'm not going to do it for my own character.
As etcetera said, in light armor you can add your Dex bonus to AC, medium armor only allows up to +2 Dex, and heavy armor doesn't allow any Dex at all.
I went ahead and made a version of my above character as a hunter to compare. I will post it up as soon as I get a chance.
The most competitive Beast master build is a stout halfing riding a pteranodon, so you have the advantage of a permanant flying from as early as level 3, and then at level 4 you take the mounted combatant feat. You can then fly at will, ride a dinosaur and it has great survivability as you fire arrows from the air at your enemies, and if it does get hit you can take the damage instead.
Thats assuming your DM would allow you to ride one in the first place. I mean, just check out this estimated comparison of one of the larger species of pteranodon compared to a modern day human. I strongly doubt that thing would be massive enough to keep a halfling aloft for any significant period of time, let alone an armed and armored halfling.
The Monster Manuel says they are strong enough, they have the right build, the right size and are trained being a beast master companion, so RAW says you can ride them (if you have an exotic saddle). The dm must never watched Dinotopia, and halfings ride dinosaurs (or use to in an ancient empire) in the eberron setting of D&D. So Pteranodon riding Halfings has some fluff basis.
ShinQuickMan wrote:
I'm pretty disappointed that the ranger doesn't have a protection fighting style available to it like the Fighter and Paladin do. A beast master punishing those that attack his buddy seems pretty legit.
I think the flying snake is actually the optimal pet based on some napkin math I did. The interesting thing that spreadsheet demonstrates is that CR has very little to do with effectiveness, which is surprising and pretty neat. Giant poisonous snake is also a nice choice because of reach and poison, as is giant crab for control and high AC.
It would have been nice if the beast's HP scaled with character level instead of class level, and if its hit dice scaled as well. Somewhere in the past I believe I posted some houserules I was shopping around, but I cannot find them.