[Ranger] Frostheart Guardian Archetype

This ranger first appeared in December 2020's Santa All The Way compendium, an old first-attempt at homebrew. It was then called the Northern Guardian (aka Santa) but has now been updated to be theme-agnostic.

Frostheart Guardian Design

This ranger is primarily focused on surviving or excelling in icy conditions and generally benefits the ranger in small ways.

Frostheart Guardian Features Overview

• Frostheart Guardian Spells - Many of the spells gained target wisdom, but at least affect an area.
• Icy Steps - At 3rd level, the ranger gains some utility through mobility to excel at their environment. The swim speed helps with what we think of "arctic ocean" or "icy lake". Additionally, fighting on their favored terrain grants them a speed boost - situational yet flavorful.
• Freezing Strikes - This feature was changed from the previous iteration, which taxed a bonus action and did not much else. Instead, sticking to the theme of ice, this new version deals moderate damage and has a small chance to slow enemies.
• Rime Warden - At 7th level, the ranger gains a resistance, which is a standard 7th level defense feature, plus some extra utility in cold environments.
• Tundra's Call - This feature remains mostly unchanged, taxing the bonus action to deal small damage in a wide area against crowds. While not directly a damage boost, a ranger with good set-up  get extra damage out of it considering the size of the area. This helps in a few ways: the area does benefit from Icy Step's speed boost (good for any ranger), and the difficult terrain plus prone condition helps melee rangers do well or ranged rangers escape.
• Frigid Ward - At 15th level, this defensive feature allows the Frostheart Guardian to halt any approaching creatures, potentially avoiding an entire turn's worth of attacks. However, many monsters at this level tend to have ranged attacks or a 10-foot reach, so mileage may vary.