D&D 5E Out of the Abyss: Underdark as Favored Terrain

[CapnZapp]

The flaw in my opinion by the developers was allowing the ranger to have a broad category like the underdark, where instead you would just apply a subset of above ground terrains to underground, like coast (water), desert (barren caves), mountain (spelunking), or forest (underground vegetation).

Well, not really, since for most campaigns "Underdark" is a very niche terrain that gets used only in one or two scenarios during the mid levels of your character.

For Out of the Abyss it's a whole other ballgame. There your suggestion makes a lot of sense.

But that doesn't make the dev decision a flaw in general. If there is to be a flaw, it is how OotA neglects to make your suggestion a rule for that specific campaign!

 

[DMCF]

I find the benefits of Favored Terrain to be situational at best even if it's 'always on' so to speak.

I am currently playing a deep gnome ranger with the outlander background who has Underdark selected for Favoured Terrain in the current season of adventure league. I haven't found it to be too powerful in the slightest, in truth other than the: 'oh, we can move at a normal pace because the ranger has it covered' alertness-and-foraging-wise; the other features haven't actually come up much at all.

The only real consideration I worked out with the DM beforehand is that my PC was kidnapped from their home area and magically transported to the new area with no real idea of the intervening distance/locations; and is therefore just as lost as the rest of the PCs. Made sense to me and it was an easy fix that did not involve banning the combination.

I don't know what your DM shared with you or how close to the book he is staying so I won't spoil anything. As written; travel speed has a very large effect on a party's ability to survive in this module.

 

[The Myopic Sniper]

I just say let Natural Explorer applies to all terrains and let the Ranger be all Rangery... instead of "umm, guys, we have left the desert and are in the grasslands now, I can't help you forage as well since I am no longer in my preferred terrain" even if it has some basis in reality. I kind of wish the Favored Terrain concept had been used as a bonus or expanded spell concept instead like they did with Druids Circle of the Land, but I can see why they didn't want to reduplicate that feature in two classes. I think that more strongly represents differentiating an arctic ranger from a forest ranger more strongly than the Natural Explorer mechanic.

 

[pedro2112]

In one of the appendices of the book, there is a replacement background feature which does almost the same thing.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Tbh I always figured that the ranger would spend most of his time in his favored terrain and facing his favored enemy for the first few levels of a campaign. Because frankly if he isn't, then he's .

 

[Uchawi]

Well, not really, since for most campaigns "Underdark" is a very niche terrain that gets used only in one or two scenarios during the mid levels of your character.

For Out of the Abyss it's a whole other ballgame. There your suggestion makes a lot of sense.

But that doesn't make the dev decision a flaw in general. If there is to be a flaw, it is how OotA neglects to make your suggestion a rule for that specific campaign!

I agree that sub-categorizing underdark to specific terrains in OoTA would address it. But that also implies it could be addressed for the overall game. It is not like the entire concept was alien when going into 5E by reviewing each edition and what is presented as terrains. It would favor the mountain terrain overall, with does not get a lot of use on the surface with is dominated by forest in most instances.

 

[Neorealist]

I don't know what your DM shared with you or how close to the book he is staying so I won't spoil anything. As written; travel speed has a very large effect on a party's ability to survive in this module.

I appreciate the spoiler-free reply. In response to your comment however: Doesn't a DM 'want' his or her party to survive their module, so wouldn't something that assists with that be a 'good' thing?

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

I don't see a problem with a class that most consider on the weak end of the power curve, which was explicitly designed to trade combat prowess for exploration utility, actually gaining use out of said utility. This might be the one game where a ranger actually shines.

 

[Gimul]

One of my players is an Underdark ranger.

What effect is it having?

1. They can move at a fast speed with no Perception problems since the ranger is always alert.

2. He casts goodberry to keep them nourished. They still have to find water, which is relatively easy given two of the characters have Outlander and the ranger can forage well in his favored terrain.

3. Difficult terrain doesn't have much of an effect on them. The party can generally move across spider webs and such at full speed. Not sure the rule was ever intended for this, but by the rule for terrain the ranger negates difficult terrain after spending an hour in the area.

Life is much easier with an Underdark ranger. I imagine it all depends on how important it is to you as a DM to create the feeling of being stranded in the Underdark. I didn't feel it was very important. I like the idea of having characters tied to the Underdark with reasons for being there other than imprisonment. Most of my party is drow. They have business in Menzoberanzzan other than what is listed in the module.

I'd say you are being overly generous if you allowing the party to traverse spiderwebs without penalty. Favored terrain doesn't grant webwalk (party wide no less); similarly a mountainous ranger isn't granted a climb speed, nor a coastal ranger a swimspeed.

It's one thing for knowledge of terrain to aid the party (follow this path, don't step here, mind the potholes, etc) it's quite another for it to grant what are essentially special physical abilities (webs don't stick to you, your feet/boots grip smooth surfaces, etc).

The baseline I use is normal, but difficult (wet, contains obstacles, uneven grading, etc) is affected; but terrain that requires an all together different mode of travel (climbing, web walking, swimming, flying, etc) are not. The existence of a specific trait/speed rule for something is a strong indicator favored terrain shouldn't handwave it away. #IMO #YMMV

 

[discosoc]

If I end up playing OotA, which I really don't want to because I think the theme is boring for a long-term campaign, I'd either want to do an underdark ranger or a demon warlock for the sake of making the best of that kind of setting. I sure as hell don't want to waste some of my more interesting character concepts on a campaign that won't care about them.