- So the Swarmkeeper is
a ranger who has bonded
with a swarm of nature's spirits.
And because of that bond,
the ranger is able to
harness these spirits
to bolster the ranger's attacks,
gain new movement modes,
bedevil foes,
scout areas out,
and the ranger also knows a
number of additional spells
because of their connection
to these primal beings.
Now the swarm that this ranger
gathers around themself,
could look like bunnies,
but it could also look like bats
or spiders
or centipedes
or a mix of all of these things.
The bottom line is:
this is a ranger who has
bonded with a group of nature's spirits
that take on the form of
various types of animals,
again it's up to the ranger to decide,
and the ranger then is able to
harness their spirit friends
to do various things.
This includes bolstering their attacks,
it can include, at points,
gaining the ability
to climb up on the ceiling,
as the ranger adopts different,
sort of, movement modes
represented by the spirits.
The ranger has the option at higher levels
of having the spirits
actually lift the ranger
up into the air and hover around a bit.
So this is, again, could
either be a spooky ranger,
depending again if it's a
swarm of ravens or bats.
- [Todd] Yeah.
- But again, if it's
butterflies around the ranger--
- [Todd] Right.
- This also could be a ranger
that feels very Fey, in theme.
And we really wanted ranger
players to be able to dig in
and decide what is,
what's the feel of my swarm?
And we describe the swarm as having
a symbiotic relationship with the ranger.
Dan Dillon, who did the initial
writing on this subclass,
even has a nice little bit about
the swarm potentially even,
you've seen it crawling
under the ranger's clothes
and whatnot.
(laughs)
Whereas, this ranger
feels completely at home
with these spirit critters
and is able to use them
to scout out areas,
'cause they get higher levels also,
the ranger can send some of them out.
The ranger can even use
them to create a large area
of swarming spirits that can
bedevil the ranger's foes.
So really if anyone has ever
wanted to play the ranger,
who doesn't just befriend a
creature in the wilderness,
but befriends an entire
swarm of nature's spirits,
well this is the subclass for you.
- [Todd] Yeah, what's the capstone?
So you can literally walk on your swarm
at some point right?
- So that is a mid-level
ability for the ranger,
being able to adopt a
different movement mode
and you get to choose, actually,
there's a menu of options
and that's mid-range.
The capstone for this subclass
is being able to actually
launch the spirits out
and create this sort of swirling vortex--
- [Todd] Oh, wow.
- Of spirits.
And what's nice too for this ranger
is the ranger's two capstone abilities.
One is sort of like almost
a scrying-like ability
to be able to send the spirits out.
Or again, this big vortex of the spirits.
The ranger has the option
of burning spell slots
to use these abilities
more than the one time
they can use them normally.
So, basically, each of these
abilities the ranger can use
once per day for free,
but if the ranger wants
to keep using them,
the ranger can pour spell slots into them.
So it gives the Swarmkeeper
some really nice flexibility
at high-level.
Along with the versatility
the Swarmkeeper has
at the lower levels,
again with the movement mode options
and also just the fun
thing of being able to have
your attacks deal extra
damage because your spirits
are basically swarming with your strike.
And this works whether the
ranger is making melee attacks
or ranged attacks.
The way we describe it
is that the spirits like,
you can imagine if the
ranger is slashing with,
doing two-weapon fighting,
that there might be spirits
sort of skittering along the blade
and biting the person.
Or if you fire an arrow,
there could be spirits sort
of swirling around the arrow
as it hits a person.
Whatever's going on,
whatever the manner of your attack,
those spirits are gonna make
people's days worse (laughs)
as they come plowing in.
And again,
the ranger gets to decide
what those look like.
So it could be, again,
scary centipedes sort of winding
their way down your blade
as you strike--
- [Todd] Horrifying. (laughs)
- (laughs) Or it could be sort of
beautiful glimmering fireflies.
- [Todd] Oh. (laughs)
- (laughs) Yeah, see?
That's again,
I love the Swarmkeeper,
because of not only the fun abilities,
but the--
- [Todd] Flavor.
- The range of aesthetic options.
And also, you get to decide,
is this ranger,
personality wise?
Self-sufficient,
because of your swarm?
I mean, in a way this ranger
is a community walking around.
- [Todd] Right.
- Or is this a ranger who
wants to connect with others
because of this strong sense of connection
they have with their swarm
and they want a similar sense
of connection with others?
So there also are these
different personality types
that, I think,
are begging to be
explored in the subclass.
The ranger gains gaseous forms,
so you can almost imagine the ranger
turning into a cloud with their swarm--
- [Todd] Yeah.
- Buzzing around in their midst.
Web is another one of the options.
Giant insect,
all things that are perfect
for the theme of this subclass.
