SailorNash
Explorer
My playtest Ranger experience, for anyone who's curious?
Running through Lost Mines. Got to the Goblin Castle. Just hit 3, so not a lot of Conclave feedback. Here there be spoilers, for at least the first little bit.
Travel never seemed to be an issue. Not sure if it was hand-waved because of a Ranger-led party, or because the module assumes you get where you're going (to keep things from grinding to a halt). Didn't "feel" like my woodland abilities really mattered for the first half. Later on it likely saved a token roll or two, which with Survival I'd have made anyway. Mostly it scared the party when I split off for a moment. More on that in a bit.
Correctly assumed the ambush at the horses, which still happened as planned. No surprise round, however, which was big. I was trying to out-flank the flankers, but that ended up as more of a stalemate. Saved a possible TPK, however, especially 4-on-3 at level 1.
Straight-up murderated anything I hit, if only I could connect? That part didn't feel "Ranger-ey"...more like a clumsy Barbarian. At the time, I would rather have a floating bonus to hit or damage...could then off mooks in one-shot, or make sure I tag someone in an important situation. OR when the dice are simply against me. #firstlevelproblems
Eventually taking the Archery style worked wonders here, however, to the point people were suspicious of my constantly-high numbers (forgetting about my massive +7 to hit). Sharpshooter at 4th would of course make any additional to-hit pretty disgusting, but that's more about a broken feat than anything else.
Found the tracks the gobbos left, but those were obvious enough to everyone. A deliberate clue to get us to the next scene - Ranger ability didn't kick in there. When I tried to get specifics, the flavor text went from "about a dozen or so" to "...twelve", with some light ribbing about how I'm the Special Snowflake(tm).
Cave was no problem...just straight combat, minus a tough time with the water trap. Murderhoboed a bar full of bandits much the same, though mostly due to help from a Wild Magic unicorn. In combat, the parts that I originally feared would be OP ended up being the most valuable/favorite parts of the new class. Initiative always matters, whereas things like tracks and terrain are often just fluff. Getting the drop on people who haven't acted upps accuracy and feels like a good niche. Though I wonder how badly this steps on Assassin toes.
Triboar trail had platemail hobgoblins chasing our cart for some reason. After suggesting they'd just get tired before our ox would, I'd try to pick them off at disad with my bow due to range but couldn't hit even with my bonuses. Ended up fighting them without too much trouble after we waited on them to close, but didn't get to use my Favored Enemy INT bonuses as the scholar of the group knew it's a short low-level campaign and specialized in Goblins, Orcs, and their assorted lore as his backstory. Can't blame him...I picked Humanoids after all.
Spotted a raiding party, and I slipped away to try a pincer attack with me flushing them towards the group. Or, their clumsy noise attracting the goblins while I jumped them from behind. Also to see how much difference it would make for the rest of the party now that the Ranger wasn't there...a little "before & after" test. Caster wanted to 5MWD and turn back (after the one previous Hobgob battle) to get his rest, and not knowing I almost dove in solo. Eventually when combat started everyone was there and attacking, so that test didn't exactly work out. DM did say that it'd be hard for the chickens to find their way back to the road without me, but that might have been as much to keep the story going forward as anything else.
Rubble at a ruined castle wall, so I chose that way to enter. Wanted to see if the movement parts helped...I should dance around everyone crawling up the rocks, or run away more quickly if cornered. We all took hits but otherwise mopped the floor with them, with me arrowing them as they approached. A few shots were traded, but without 5-foot adjustment steps everyone just stood and swung or disengaged and fled. Tactical turn-by-turn movement didn't really come up, especially in TotM.
Dinged level 3, which the DM gave us immediately as it was just a short filler campaign. Nice, though unless Harambe suddenly burst through the wall Kool-Aid style then 90% of my new abilities were unusuable. I did get Primeval Awareness, however, which let me ping every Gobbo in the whole keep. I could tell the fellas that they're in the next room, but when the Dragonborn Frenzy Barbarian burst in it was a surprise round just the same. Did use it again to check if we made enough noise to alert the other guards, by checking to see if they've moved. VERY cool ability, and potential to be powerful, but mechanically it didn't give us a whole lot here...with a high DEX and WIS, could have just Stealthed up to each door and put my ear to it just as easy. Did slow down the game a good bit as he fast-forwarded through several pages of material looking for every stat block or reference to an NPC. Wasn't a popular move.
Overall it felt pretty tough. On one hand, it plays like an Assassin with a bunch of green ribbons. On the other, I was capable of hanging in there with the others, and got almost as many kills as the Barb and more than the blaster Sorc. Never was in any significant danger. Power level felt fine, but after the first round it was mostly just Fighting Style keeping me in there. Of course, that would all change once my fuzzybuddy shows up, and out of combat I was pretty much king of everything except face-of-the-party stuff. Also, with Goblins, combat rarely lasted longer than two rounds...against more significant foes I'd have dropped off much faster, and it would be much more up to Beastmaster abilities to make up the difference.
Not sure how much it helps, but those are the first few levels. I know a lot of campaigns start off at 3rd or 5th, so maybe it's of use to someone curious.
Running through Lost Mines. Got to the Goblin Castle. Just hit 3, so not a lot of Conclave feedback. Here there be spoilers, for at least the first little bit.
Travel never seemed to be an issue. Not sure if it was hand-waved because of a Ranger-led party, or because the module assumes you get where you're going (to keep things from grinding to a halt). Didn't "feel" like my woodland abilities really mattered for the first half. Later on it likely saved a token roll or two, which with Survival I'd have made anyway. Mostly it scared the party when I split off for a moment. More on that in a bit.
Correctly assumed the ambush at the horses, which still happened as planned. No surprise round, however, which was big. I was trying to out-flank the flankers, but that ended up as more of a stalemate. Saved a possible TPK, however, especially 4-on-3 at level 1.
Straight-up murderated anything I hit, if only I could connect? That part didn't feel "Ranger-ey"...more like a clumsy Barbarian. At the time, I would rather have a floating bonus to hit or damage...could then off mooks in one-shot, or make sure I tag someone in an important situation. OR when the dice are simply against me. #firstlevelproblems
Eventually taking the Archery style worked wonders here, however, to the point people were suspicious of my constantly-high numbers (forgetting about my massive +7 to hit). Sharpshooter at 4th would of course make any additional to-hit pretty disgusting, but that's more about a broken feat than anything else.
Found the tracks the gobbos left, but those were obvious enough to everyone. A deliberate clue to get us to the next scene - Ranger ability didn't kick in there. When I tried to get specifics, the flavor text went from "about a dozen or so" to "...twelve", with some light ribbing about how I'm the Special Snowflake(tm).
Cave was no problem...just straight combat, minus a tough time with the water trap. Murderhoboed a bar full of bandits much the same, though mostly due to help from a Wild Magic unicorn. In combat, the parts that I originally feared would be OP ended up being the most valuable/favorite parts of the new class. Initiative always matters, whereas things like tracks and terrain are often just fluff. Getting the drop on people who haven't acted upps accuracy and feels like a good niche. Though I wonder how badly this steps on Assassin toes.
Triboar trail had platemail hobgoblins chasing our cart for some reason. After suggesting they'd just get tired before our ox would, I'd try to pick them off at disad with my bow due to range but couldn't hit even with my bonuses. Ended up fighting them without too much trouble after we waited on them to close, but didn't get to use my Favored Enemy INT bonuses as the scholar of the group knew it's a short low-level campaign and specialized in Goblins, Orcs, and their assorted lore as his backstory. Can't blame him...I picked Humanoids after all.
Spotted a raiding party, and I slipped away to try a pincer attack with me flushing them towards the group. Or, their clumsy noise attracting the goblins while I jumped them from behind. Also to see how much difference it would make for the rest of the party now that the Ranger wasn't there...a little "before & after" test. Caster wanted to 5MWD and turn back (after the one previous Hobgob battle) to get his rest, and not knowing I almost dove in solo. Eventually when combat started everyone was there and attacking, so that test didn't exactly work out. DM did say that it'd be hard for the chickens to find their way back to the road without me, but that might have been as much to keep the story going forward as anything else.
Rubble at a ruined castle wall, so I chose that way to enter. Wanted to see if the movement parts helped...I should dance around everyone crawling up the rocks, or run away more quickly if cornered. We all took hits but otherwise mopped the floor with them, with me arrowing them as they approached. A few shots were traded, but without 5-foot adjustment steps everyone just stood and swung or disengaged and fled. Tactical turn-by-turn movement didn't really come up, especially in TotM.
Dinged level 3, which the DM gave us immediately as it was just a short filler campaign. Nice, though unless Harambe suddenly burst through the wall Kool-Aid style then 90% of my new abilities were unusuable. I did get Primeval Awareness, however, which let me ping every Gobbo in the whole keep. I could tell the fellas that they're in the next room, but when the Dragonborn Frenzy Barbarian burst in it was a surprise round just the same. Did use it again to check if we made enough noise to alert the other guards, by checking to see if they've moved. VERY cool ability, and potential to be powerful, but mechanically it didn't give us a whole lot here...with a high DEX and WIS, could have just Stealthed up to each door and put my ear to it just as easy. Did slow down the game a good bit as he fast-forwarded through several pages of material looking for every stat block or reference to an NPC. Wasn't a popular move.
Overall it felt pretty tough. On one hand, it plays like an Assassin with a bunch of green ribbons. On the other, I was capable of hanging in there with the others, and got almost as many kills as the Barb and more than the blaster Sorc. Never was in any significant danger. Power level felt fine, but after the first round it was mostly just Fighting Style keeping me in there. Of course, that would all change once my fuzzybuddy shows up, and out of combat I was pretty much king of everything except face-of-the-party stuff. Also, with Goblins, combat rarely lasted longer than two rounds...against more significant foes I'd have dropped off much faster, and it would be much more up to Beastmaster abilities to make up the difference.
Not sure how much it helps, but those are the first few levels. I know a lot of campaigns start off at 3rd or 5th, so maybe it's of use to someone curious.
