Favored Terrain & Favored Enemy

[Xendria]

You could let them for a rounds a day, change your FE to anoyther type.
Hunter's Quarry: At level 4, as a swift action, you can add a FE to your list of FE. This lasts for Ranger lv in rounds each day (does not need be consecutive). Can be ended as a swift action.
The new temporary FE gets bonuses as the highest FE bonus you currently have.
Example, Frodo the halfing Ranger has a Favored Enemy of Orcs (granting +2 hit/damage to them). His party encounters a group of Gnolls.

He activates as a swift action, his Hunter's Quarry. It last for up to 4 rounds that day. His adds Gnolls to his favored Enemies (granting +2 hit/damage to them).
The battle ends after 3 rounds so he ends the ability as a swift action. He has 1 rd left that day. But he is glad he had that bonus even temporarily.

You could grant this instead of Hunter's Bond or in addition.

They added a spell in the APG that basically does this, which I think fixed the entire problem (not that I even thought there was one, but anyways ...).

School enchantment; Level ranger 3
Casting Time 1 swift action
Components V, S
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target one creature that is not your favored enemy.
Duration 1 minute/level
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no

With this spell you designate the target as your favored enemy
for the remainder of its duration. Select one of your favored
enemy types. For the duration of the spell, you treat the target
as if it were that type of favored enemy for all purposes.

Granted a ranger doesn't get this ability until 10th level assuming he has a decent wisdom, 11th level otherwise. But I honestly don't see the problem. A Paladin isn't always 100% effective, and that's ok. Because even without Evil Outsiders or Favored Enemies Rangers and Paladins can still do damage. Without them they are subpar to the Fighter, with them they are better than a fighter, and I think that is perfectly fair. If you want to play something that always shines in combat, play a Fighter. Class skills only give a +3 so you could even play a Fighter almost exactly like a Ranger.

Overall, I think the Ranger is fine the way it is. He is similar to the paladin but can specialize himself into anything as opposed to just Evil Outsiders and Undead. I completely agree with the previous posters that players should be informed based on the region as they are in the player's guide for the AP's. This isn't meta gaming at all because you're just giving them information they should already know. Anyone can tell you there are no Tigers in NYC (apart from zoo's) but if you go to Africa there are Lions. No metagaming, just informing.

/endrant

 

[Voadam]

Favored enemy is like lots of class powers in being very target specific. D&D classes are full of them.

Its like sneak attack doesn't work against constructs or undead or elementals or plants . . . oh wait they changed that in pathfinder for rogues' sneak attack powers to work more broadly.

Its like turning undead only affecting undead and nothing else . . . oh wait they changed that to being able to heal people as well which is a combat ability always useful in combat.

Its a lot like smite evil which only affects things with an evil alignment which still leaves out most summoned creatures, brute beasts, and constructs plus all the good people and angels and dragons heroic D&D types keep fighting. Smite evil also has the even narrower extra bonus against [Evil], undead, and evil dragons. So yeah, its sort of like the paladin's smite evil.

Its also similar to some spells being target specific like mind-affecting spells not affecting creatures immune to mind-affecting effects. Or person spells working only on all humanoids.