Pathwardens turn knowledge of terrain, timing, and human movement into a martial art. They guide allies through danger, expose weak approaches, and make seemingly impossible routes usable. A Pathwarden is a mobile combatant and practical support specialist, less focused on raw damage than a Fighter and less dependent on magic than a Ranger.
Every danger has a way through.
Mobile martial support and terrain-savvy protector
At a glance
Hit die d10
Dexterity
WisdomYou gain proficiency with light armor, medium armor, shields, simple weapons, and martial weapons. Choose two skills from the class skill options.
You have a number of Bearings equal to your Proficiency Bonus, regained when you finish a Long Rest. When you or a creature you can see within 30 feet makes an ability check or saving throw to navigate, avoid a hazard, or resist being moved, you can expend one Bearing to add your Trail Die, a d6, to the roll; you can do so after seeing the d20 but before the outcome is announced.
As a Bonus Action, you can expend one Bearing to take the Dash or Disengage action. Until the end of the turn, you ignore nonmagical Difficult Terrain.
Choose a Pathwarden subclass. Your subclass grants features at levels 3, 6, 10, and 14.
Your Trail Die becomes a d8. You also gain an additional use of Trailcraft when you finish a Short or Long Rest.
Ability Score Improvement
You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
When a creature you can see within 30 feet is hit by an attack, you can use your Reaction and expend one Bearing to move up to half your Speed without provoking Opportunity Attacks. If you end this movement within 5 feet of that creature, reduce the attack's damage by your Trail Die + your Proficiency Bonus.
You gain proficiency in one additional skill from the class skill options. If you already have proficiency in it, you instead gain Expertise in that skill.
Ability Score Improvement
Your Trail Die becomes a d10. When you roll Initiative and have no Bearings remaining, you regain one.
You gain a subclass feature.
You and allies within 10 feet of you have Advantage on ability checks made to avoid becoming lost, and your group can travel at a Fast pace without taking the usual penalty to passive Wisdom (Perception) scores.
Ability Score Improvement
Your Trail Die becomes a d12. When you expend a Bearing to add it to a roll, you can also let one ally within 30 feet move 5 feet without provoking Opportunity Attacks.
You gain a subclass feature.
When you roll Initiative, you can choose yourself and up to five willing creatures you can see within 30 feet. Each chosen creature can move up to 10 feet immediately, without provoking Opportunity Attacks.
Ability Score Improvement
When you finish a Short Rest, you regain two expended Bearings. You can also use Trailcraft when a creature you can see within 30 feet makes a Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution saving throw against an effect that would move or knock it Prone.
When you roll Initiative and have fewer than two Bearings remaining, you regain Bearings until you have two. Your Speed increases by 10 feet while you aren't wearing Heavy armor.
You gain the Ability Score Improvement feat or another feat for which you qualify. You also gain an Epic Boon feat or another feat for which you qualify.
Once on each of your turns when you expend a Bearing, you can use the same feature without expending another Bearing. You can do so a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus per Long Rest.
DexterityWisdomHit points per Pathwarden level; 10 + your Constitution modifier at 1st level, and (or 6) + your Constitution modifier for each additional Pathwarden level.
Saving throwsStrength and Wisdom saving throw proficiencies.
Armorlight armor, medium armor, shields.
Weaponssimple and martial weapons.
Toolscartographer's tools. Choose two skills from Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Athletics, Insight, Investigation, Nature, Perception, Stealth, and Survival.
Skill choicesAcrobatics, Animal Handling, Athletics, Insight, Investigation, Nature, Perception, Stealth, Survival
ResourceBearings: a limited-use resource, normally equal to your Proficiency Bonus, spent on Trailcraft, Sure Passage, and Interposing Route. You regain uses on a Long Rest, with additional recovery from class features.
MulticlassingPrerequisite: Strength 13 or Dexterity 13. When you multiclass into Pathwarden, you gain proficiency with light armor, medium armor, shields, and simple weapons. You do not gain martial weapon proficiency from multiclassing into the class.
Make the safest ground impossible to take.
Find the unseen road—and the danger waiting along it.
Turn every landscape into an ally.
Pathwardens turn knowledge of terrain, timing, and human movement into a martial art.
They guide allies through danger, expose weak approaches, and make seemingly impossible routes usable. A Pathwarden is a mobile combatant and practical support specialist, less focused on raw damage than a Fighter and less dependent on magic than a Ranger.
Stay mobile and keep allies within reach.
Use Bearings when a crucial roll or an ally's survival is at stake, and remember that your movement and positioning can prevent trouble as effectively as damage can. You are at your best when you anticipate danger and help the whole group respond together.
Most Pathwardens begin as scouts, caravan guards, wilderness guides, or soldiers.
A mentor teaches them to read terrain, anticipate how people move through it, and guide others under pressure; initiation often requires leading a real group through a dangerous passage without abandoning anyone.
Travelers often regard Pathwardens as reassuring necessities, while rulers and generals prize or fear their ability to make a route safe—or to reveal how it can be attacked.
In isolated communities, one may be welcomed as a rescuer or suspected of scouting for outsiders.
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