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How situational was the Ranger's Favored Enemy intended to be?
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<blockquote data-quote="Arrowhawk" data-source="post: 5742410" data-attributes="member: 6679551"><p>Conceptually, the Ranger has a home a turf. A stretch of wilderness that she grew up in, patrols and has come familiar with. The monsters in the area should be her de facto Favored Enemies.</p><p></p><p>In play, this is often untenable because the DM will have you travel far and wide. Add to the fact that 3.5 places essentially zero plausibility requirements on characters. The consequence of this is that it's up to the player to essentially choose monsters that he thinks are most likely to come up in any campaign. </p><p></p><p>I have read articles on choosing your Favored Enemy. The rationale is based on a couple trade offs:</p><p></p><p>1) Choose a type that has powerful creatures so that when you encounter them at high level, the bonuses are useful. e.g. Dragon, Evil Outsider</p><p></p><p>2) Choose something you will gain benefit from early on. e.g. Orc, Goblin, humans (if you're evil)</p><p></p><p>3) Choose something that has the most members. e.g. Undead, Giant</p><p></p><p>4) Avoid subtypes for which the bonuses won't apply; Plant, Undead (sense motive, bluff, etc aren't really useful against these guys).</p><p></p><p>5) Choose animals that are popular for encounters. e.g. Aberrations, Undead, Magical Beasts.</p><p></p><p>All this is largely self evident, so the upshot is that there is no easy answer on what to choose, which means there is no solid answer on how often you'll encounter them. </p><p></p><p>StreamoS offers good advice in that it doesn't hurt to ask your DM. You may get lucky and the DM may have decided that you'll be living in the Gnoll infested part of the world, or, your entire campaign will be spent fighting off a Drow invasion. </p><p></p><p>So the upshot is, "depends" and in honesty there is no avoiding that. You're not going to fight Dragons as a level 1 Ranger and you certainly don't want to be fighting Orcs as a level 20.</p><p></p><p>Here is something that I would argue. The DM should make an effort to bring your FE into play. The DM has a responsibility to warn you if a type you choose would be a bad choice for the campaign.</p><p></p><p>The point of D&D is to have fun. Crucial to that endeavor is for each player to have a purpose and a sense of meaningful contribution to the effort. It is without questions, the DM's job to create a world where players can draw upon their chosen abilities to succeed. If there is a Fighter in the group, it would be in poor form for the DM to throw nothing but stealth adventures at the party. Likewise with regards to your FE. They should show up from time to time (within the context of the story, obviously). The exact %, who can say, but as SoS states, the higher level you go, the more often you should encounter them.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Arrowhawk, post: 5742410, member: 6679551"] Conceptually, the Ranger has a home a turf. A stretch of wilderness that she grew up in, patrols and has come familiar with. The monsters in the area should be her de facto Favored Enemies. In play, this is often untenable because the DM will have you travel far and wide. Add to the fact that 3.5 places essentially zero plausibility requirements on characters. The consequence of this is that it's up to the player to essentially choose monsters that he thinks are most likely to come up in any campaign. I have read articles on choosing your Favored Enemy. The rationale is based on a couple trade offs: 1) Choose a type that has powerful creatures so that when you encounter them at high level, the bonuses are useful. e.g. Dragon, Evil Outsider 2) Choose something you will gain benefit from early on. e.g. Orc, Goblin, humans (if you're evil) 3) Choose something that has the most members. e.g. Undead, Giant 4) Avoid subtypes for which the bonuses won't apply; Plant, Undead (sense motive, bluff, etc aren't really useful against these guys). 5) Choose animals that are popular for encounters. e.g. Aberrations, Undead, Magical Beasts. All this is largely self evident, so the upshot is that there is no easy answer on what to choose, which means there is no solid answer on how often you'll encounter them. StreamoS offers good advice in that it doesn't hurt to ask your DM. You may get lucky and the DM may have decided that you'll be living in the Gnoll infested part of the world, or, your entire campaign will be spent fighting off a Drow invasion. So the upshot is, "depends" and in honesty there is no avoiding that. You're not going to fight Dragons as a level 1 Ranger and you certainly don't want to be fighting Orcs as a level 20. Here is something that I would argue. The DM should make an effort to bring your FE into play. The DM has a responsibility to warn you if a type you choose would be a bad choice for the campaign. The point of D&D is to have fun. Crucial to that endeavor is for each player to have a purpose and a sense of meaningful contribution to the effort. It is without questions, the DM's job to create a world where players can draw upon their chosen abilities to succeed. If there is a Fighter in the group, it would be in poor form for the DM to throw nothing but stealth adventures at the party. Likewise with regards to your FE. They should show up from time to time (within the context of the story, obviously). The exact %, who can say, but as SoS states, the higher level you go, the more often you should encounter them. [/QUOTE]
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How situational was the Ranger's Favored Enemy intended to be?
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