D&D 5E (2014) Need the Ranger revised, spell-less

[Lanliss]

I am sure someone has this already. Player wants a spell-less ranger, and he is playing Revised UA beast master. Thanks for the help.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Try this. Simple and pretty official.

 

[Lanliss]

Try this. Simple and pretty official.

I knew of that, but was not sure it would apply to the balance of the Revised ranger. I am not the best at the math part of this.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

I knew of that, but was not sure it would apply to the balance of the Revised ranger. I am not the best at the math part of this.

The revision didn't change spellcasting, so it wouldn't change anything that's a substitute for spellcasting.

The only thing is that Call Natural Allies references favored terrain, so you have to decide whether you want your ranger to pick a terrain when they get that ability or just let them use it anywhere.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

I don't think there is a good answer yet. You could swap out spells for martial superiority dice (borrowing from the scout and the spell less ranger), but the ranger's spell list is pretty evenly split between utility and damage, and I think you would be losing a lot of utility. I think the ranger doing this would end up being more a fighter wearing camouflage then the scout is.

For a minimal spell ranger, you could change hunter's mark to be more like divine smite and have it do more damage at higher levels, but only last 1 attack. In combat, you would basically use hunter's mark over and over again, and any slots left over would be available for utility spells. If you wanted to be even more minimal, let hunter's mark do more damage (like divine smite) and last longer (like it currently does), but give the ranger the warlock's # of spells that can be cast per short rest (pushed back to start when rangers get spells) and scaling like warlock spells do (no mystic Arcanum).

 

[Sacrosanct]

You can try this version. It's a spell-less core class, as opposed to a spell-less subclass of the ranger, so you could still do BM with it.

 

[jaelis]

If you're really desperate, let him play a fighter but give him the ranger skill list and beastmaster subclass abilities (in place of a fighter subclass). You'll have to remove extra attack at level 5 though since for the ranger that's in the subclass.

 

[ccs]

Tell your player to just not choose/cast any spells. No extra rules needed.

This essentially worked for many years & many levels back in 1e & 2e. Rangers gained so few spells, so late that it was practically a spell-less class.
And yet the Ranger remained a beloved class.

No reason simply NOT casting a spell won't work here in 2016.

 

[ccs]

I knew of that, but was not sure it would apply to the balance of the Revised ranger. I am not the best at the math part of this.

You don't need "the math part" to run good D&D games. Your imaginations & working with your players to create cool/fun/interesting things will suffice.
Now if you lack imaginations.....

 

[DEFCON 1]

The next option is to have the Ranger just select the spells that are most easily defined as "non-magical", and treat them as Ranger class features rather than spells. These are the special skills a Ranger gets for being the best at what he does-- no magic involved.

Longstrider. Ranger gains +10 feet in speed. No reason to consider that a magical effect-- other classes like the Rogue that can Dash as a Bonus action move much faster over the course of an entire round (90' when you add Action, Bonus and Move) and there's no magic involved. So the Ranger's speed being 40' (which ends up being 80' for Action and Move) is right there as a natural speed of a character.

Hunter's Mark. Ranger does more damage against foes they are focused on. Just like the Rogue and his Sneak Attack. Extra damage need not be magical.

Goodberry. There are plants out there with medicinal purposes and the Ranger can find them so easily that he always has a supply on hand.

Locate Animals and Plants. Rangers are so good at finding those things out in nature that they don't need to make the same typical Perception and Investigation checks that other characters do. No magic involved. They're just that good.

Protection From Poison. Just like with Goodberry, the Ranger knows so much about herbalism that he's concocted natural antidotes to remedy all the typical poisons and has them on hand.

If your Ranger just sticks with ones like these... there's no need to invoke the idea of "magic" at all. They are just natural abilities the Ranger can do a certain number of times before needing a Long Rest... just like Fighters, Rogues, and Barbarians have.