D&D 5E The Future of the Ranger

[ScuroNotte]

So what this this means is the new ranger won't be in the new Xanathar Guide. There will be ANOTHER crunch book coming out probably next spring that will add more sub classes...uh...I think?

Yes the "new ranger" is in the guide. It's called.........the Rogue Scout.

If the rogue scout resembles the UA version, you can have expertise in 6 skills in all terrains by level 6 versus 3 terrains by level 10 (in comparison to PHB version).

 

[Jester David]

So what this this means is the new ranger won't be in the new Xanathar Guide. There will be ANOTHER crunch book coming out probably next spring that will add more sub classes...uh...I think?

As mentioned, the ranger isn't planned for a book but instead a free product being a rules patch.

Even then, if the spring release IS something other than an adventure, it probably won't be more class crunch. That's highly unlikely twice in a row.

Even if it IS somehow a book with more class crunch, at this point it's probably too late to release a ranger, gather feedback, and let people actually see it in play in time to make the deadlines for that book.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I am very happy that they won't throw the baby out with the bathwater. The ranger subclasses are more lacking than any feature. And what is needed is just a way to train in more terrains and enemies. Since those are mainly ribbon abilities, downtime would be a good place to allow retraining or adding to terrains and favoured enemies.

 

[Li Shenron]

Crawford and Mearls have been saying for quite a while now that the final revised version of the ranger will not be in Xanathar's. They have also said that it will not be included in a new hardcover release because it is a part of Core and will be released in some format that is free.

To me it sounds like the new plan for the Ranger is clear: no variant classes, only variant features.

For people who wanted major changes such as removing spellcasting, it sounds like there would be no official support. They other find some workaround like playing a Scout, or use unofficial material like the UA articles. (That's at least for a while, who knows what they'll decide to do years from now...)

If they stick to the new plan, but take the opportunity to introduce variant features for other classes as well, IMO they will all be included in a new hardcover release if they want to make them official, otherwise they'd just linger in UA which is unofficial for example for use in AL.

Perhaps they might still release the Ranger ones in a free web enhancement just to keep the promise (and to make them legit for AL without counting towards the books limit), but they will also include them in a hardbook for those who'd like to have them in a book rather than in a digital document. Unless they only design Ranger variant features.

 

[CapnZapp]

The most recent variant Ranger class in UA already did a good job by being minimally different from the original PHB version, just enough to target those couple of things to give the impression of 'fixing' the class for those who thought it needed fixing, without making everybody else getting the shaft for using the PHB version.

Giving the pet its own action and not requiring you to sacrifice yours is not "the impression of fixing"

It is actually fixing.

And I can't see how you aren't shafted if you're forced to keep using the PHB Beastmaster.

So I guess I don't understand your post?


Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app

 

[Li Shenron]

Giving the pet its own action and not requiring you to sacrifice yours is not "the impression of fixing"

It is actually fixing.

And I can't see how you aren't shafted if you're forced to keep using the PHB Beastmaster.

So I guess I don't understand your post?


Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app

That's because I am talking about the Ranger and you are talking about the Beastmaster.

 

[OB1]

Given the popularity of the Ranger as shown in the Beyond numbers (5th out of all classes), the addition of the ranger like non-magical Rogue Scout, and the possibility that the new Ranger Subclasses may make the current version of the Ranger even more popular, I wouldn't be surprised if we never see an official release of the Alternate Ranger Rules.

 

[ScuroNotte]

Given the popularity of the Ranger as shown in the Beyond numbers (5th out of all classes), the addition of the ranger like non-magical Rogue Scout, and the possibility that the new Ranger Subclasses may make the current version of the Ranger even more popular, I wouldn't be surprised if we never see an official release of the Alternate Ranger Rules.

However that "popularity" could be due to multiclass or just character creation. It doesn't evaluate the play usage.

 

[ScuroNotte]

Giving the pet its own action and not requiring you to sacrifice yours is not "the impression of fixing"

It is actually fixing.

And I can't see how you aren't shafted if you're forced to keep using the PHB Beastmaster.

So I guess I don't understand your post?


Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app

Actually, in PHB, the ranger gives up an action, or one attack if extra attack, to use the beast.

In new version, ranger only gets one attack while beast gets other attack. So if beast dies, you still have only one attack. Its actually worse.

 

[BookBarbarian]

Yes the "new ranger" is in the guide. It's called.........the Rogue Scout.

If the rogue scout resembles the UA version, you can have expertise in 6 skills in all terrains by level 6 versus 3 terrains by level 10 (in comparison to PHB version).

Yay! It's what everybody wanted a Ranger with Thieve's Cant.