Adventurers League Urban Ranger 5E D&D Character Build

I know many people have complaints about the 5E D&D ranger, especially the beast master ranger archetype. My complaint is a different one. I’d like there to be an urban terrain to be able to choose it as a favored terrain. I took advantage of this desire when we got a request for us to do a Gloom Stalker ranger/Assassin rogue multiclass D&D character build. You can check out the D&D Beyond character sheet, and if you are interested the pay what you want D&D character build guide is up on the Dungeon Master’s Guild.

The urban ranger rogue in your game

A less Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle version of this D&D character build

We got stuck picking Underdark as our favored terrain, thinking it’s closest to a city or urban environment, or at least the sewers below them. The ranger rogue version we came up with in the video was a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun. On a more serious note there are plenty of ways we could use this build in a D&D campaign. Several scenarios come to mind.

• Sewer Cleaners Guild — Charged with keeping threats from coming up from beneath the city. Guild members patrol the sewers defending its inhabitants from monsters. This is sometimes a thankless job. The citizens of the city above have a slang term for the guild members: stink knights. Few would ever say this to one’s face though. [NERDITOR’S NOTE: The Cellarers’ and Plumbers’ Guild of Waterdeep is the perfect analog for this in a Forgotten Realms campaign too, like Waterdeep: Dragon Heist perhaps?]
• Blades from Below — An assassin’s guild that specializes in striking their targets from below. They’ve mastered running the tunnels that run below the world of sun and sky.
• Dwarven Tunnel Runners — Unlike most of their fellow dwarves, tunnel runners don’t face their enemies head on. They prefer subterfuge, laying traps and ambushes. They go out ahead of dwarven armies scouting out ambushes and traps. They silently move among the rocks eliminating high value enemy targets. Most dwarves try to pretend these special soldiers don’t even exist.

A paladin, ranger, rogue and warlock as seen in the fourth edition Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook. [Images in composite courtesy Wizards of the Coast]

Factions and hooks from our D&D character

Just a couple of ideas off the top my head for incorporating organizations based off this D&D character build. These organizations could be plopped into a game as opposition to the adventuring party or allies.

• The player’s character might get briefed by a curious dwarf not wearing metal armor. Where other dwarves are dour, this one is down right grim. A heavy crossbow strapped to their back and assortment of bladed weapons strapped all overs their body — hand axes, daggers, and a pair of short swords all blackened. This is the perfect NPC to introduce during a war between a clan of dwarves and a duergar hold — the dwarven company’s tunnel runner scout.
• There has been rash of murders in the city of political leaders. The city watch is posting more patrols on the streets and even on the rooftops, but murders are still happening. The adventuring party must uncover who is behind the murders. Maybe they discover a bit of the sewer muck at the scene of one of the murders. Now the players are seeking danger below the city in it’s sewers.
• Finally, the party could be hired by the Sewer Cleaners Guild for help with a special mission. Maybe the whole guild has come down with a psychic sickness from something they uncovered beneath the city. Will it spread? Is there a cure?

Just some thoughts on how you might might use this character build as a NPC or organization. Feel free to drop your ideas how you might use this idea in the comments below.

For an alternative to the Assassin rogue archetype think about substituting the Thief or Scout archetype for a less grim, murder-heavy NPC or organization.