CleverNickName
Limit Break Dancing
The Ranger class has been through a lot over the years. Like every other aspect of our Favorite Fantasy Role-Playing Game(TM), it has grown and evolved over time...and not entirely for the better in some cases. With all of the discussion about the Ranger class in the forums these days, it got me to wondering--which edition did the best job with the Ranger class? Which one came closest to the ideal in your head when you think "I'm going to be a Ranger"?
THE OPTIONS:
Original D&D: I never played this edition and I don't have a printed copy of it, so I can't say for sure if the Ranger even existed in OD&D. I'm including it in the poll just in case I'm wrong.
AD&D 1E: in this edition, the Ranger was a subclass of Fighter. They could use any weapon and wear any armor, but they gained extra attacks more slowly than Fighters and Paladins (which were also a subclass). It had tracking abilities using percentile dice, and its 'trick' was that it could surprise foes 50% of the time. They started getting spells at 8th level, from the Druid and Magic-User lists. And at high levels, they got followers--which could be playable characters, special mounts, or animal companions. They got combat bonuses against giants and...orcs, I think?
Basic D&D/BECM: there was no such thing as a Ranger class in this edition. I could have sworn there was a variant rule for it somewhere, maybe in the Rules Cyclopedia? I'm including it in this poll just in case someone remembers. I don't have the energy to get up and look for myself...my books are all in storage at the moment.
AD&D 2E: The Ranger was upgraded to a core class, and had the same hit dice as fighters. Certain abilities of theirs required light armor (like two-weapon fighting), and they got a bunch of the thief abilities for moving silently and hiding in shadows in addition to their tracking abilities. They also had the ability to calm animals, and they had a combat ability that let them focus on one specific monster. They gained spells, but they were restricted to 1st thru 3rd level spells. And at higher levels, they could recruit animals, fey, and druids as followers. They could choose any species that they wanted to have combat bonuses against; they were no longer restricted to just giants and humanoids.
D&D 3.X/Pathfinder 1E: In this edition, the Ranger had a number of changes. They could specialize in either two-weapon fighting or archery. They kept their spellcasting ability, but got access to magic much sooner and had their own spell list. Their followers went away, and were replaced with a single Animal Companion that became more powerful as the ranger gained levels. Race and alignment restrictions from other editions were dropped, allowing us to make evil rangers for the first time. The skill system was robust (some would even say bloated), allowing the ranger to shift skill focus and combat abilities around more easily, and a ton of prestige classes allowed for even more versatility.
D&D 4E: the 4E Ranger kept many of their abilities from 3rd Edition: they could still specialize in archery or two-weapon fighting, for example. They had the "striker" role, which meant they specialized in single-target damage. They were more mobile. They had the martial power source, and their powers were called "exploits". There were other abilities as well, but for the most part the Ranger was meant to be best suited for skirmishes against a single target.
D&D Essentials: Not sure if this is appropriate to list as a separate "edition," but I included it for the sake of completeness. The Essentials presented two different "flavors" of ranger (Hunter and Scout). The hunter was archery-focused, and the scout was melee-focused.
D&D 5E: The ranger is included as one of the 11 core classes, and has the two subclasses to choose from (hunter and beast master). The hunter gains combat ability, while the beast master gains an animal companion. Other supplements added the gloom stalker, horizon walker, and monster slayer subclasses.
UA Revised Ranger: In 2016, Wizards of the Coast released "Unearthed Arcana: The Ranger Revised" as an option for the 5th Edition ranger. It's getting a lot of discussion over in the other thread, so I'm breaking it out here for a little more granularity in the discussion. It isn't an official version yet, but it might be presented "as a revised ranger in a future D&D sourcebook." And it sounds like that sourcebook will be the new Tasha's book. Anyway, the UA Ranger has the Favored Enemy and Natural Explorer abilities from earlier editions, as well as the hit dice, fighting style, and spellcasting abilities of the 3rd Edition ranger (sort of). This version also has a couple of revised subclasses (called "conclaves"), like Beast, Hunter, and Deep Stalker.
Other: I'm not a very good historian, so I probably missed a version or edition or something. If I missed one, and it was your favorite, this is the option you should vote for. Tell us all about it!
I Can't Choose Just One: Choose this option if you feel every iteration of the Ranger class has been equally good (or equally bad) and you cannot choose a favorite among them. Then tell us all about it! But also...
This is not meant to be a Ranger Bash. It's easy to hate on the Ranger, I know. But let's try to focus on the parts that were good, the parts that the game designers got right. It's easy to take the low road and just dump on other peoples' work...let's take the higher ground and discuss the merits instead. Pretend you are back in kindergarten: for every negative thing you say about a particular edition's version of the Ranger, try to say one good thing as well.
Please don't turn this thread into an edition war. Stay on target, folks. This thread is for discussing the Ranger class, how it has changed over time, and how the past versions of the Ranger might be used as a guide for future versions. This isn't the thread for venting your spleen over your favorite and least-favorite editions of D&D in general. We get it--you no longer play certain editions of D&D, and you have your reasons, and that's fine.
THE OPTIONS:
Original D&D: I never played this edition and I don't have a printed copy of it, so I can't say for sure if the Ranger even existed in OD&D. I'm including it in the poll just in case I'm wrong.
AD&D 1E: in this edition, the Ranger was a subclass of Fighter. They could use any weapon and wear any armor, but they gained extra attacks more slowly than Fighters and Paladins (which were also a subclass). It had tracking abilities using percentile dice, and its 'trick' was that it could surprise foes 50% of the time. They started getting spells at 8th level, from the Druid and Magic-User lists. And at high levels, they got followers--which could be playable characters, special mounts, or animal companions. They got combat bonuses against giants and...orcs, I think?
Basic D&D/BECM: there was no such thing as a Ranger class in this edition. I could have sworn there was a variant rule for it somewhere, maybe in the Rules Cyclopedia? I'm including it in this poll just in case someone remembers. I don't have the energy to get up and look for myself...my books are all in storage at the moment.
AD&D 2E: The Ranger was upgraded to a core class, and had the same hit dice as fighters. Certain abilities of theirs required light armor (like two-weapon fighting), and they got a bunch of the thief abilities for moving silently and hiding in shadows in addition to their tracking abilities. They also had the ability to calm animals, and they had a combat ability that let them focus on one specific monster. They gained spells, but they were restricted to 1st thru 3rd level spells. And at higher levels, they could recruit animals, fey, and druids as followers. They could choose any species that they wanted to have combat bonuses against; they were no longer restricted to just giants and humanoids.
D&D 3.X/Pathfinder 1E: In this edition, the Ranger had a number of changes. They could specialize in either two-weapon fighting or archery. They kept their spellcasting ability, but got access to magic much sooner and had their own spell list. Their followers went away, and were replaced with a single Animal Companion that became more powerful as the ranger gained levels. Race and alignment restrictions from other editions were dropped, allowing us to make evil rangers for the first time. The skill system was robust (some would even say bloated), allowing the ranger to shift skill focus and combat abilities around more easily, and a ton of prestige classes allowed for even more versatility.
D&D 4E: the 4E Ranger kept many of their abilities from 3rd Edition: they could still specialize in archery or two-weapon fighting, for example. They had the "striker" role, which meant they specialized in single-target damage. They were more mobile. They had the martial power source, and their powers were called "exploits". There were other abilities as well, but for the most part the Ranger was meant to be best suited for skirmishes against a single target.
D&D Essentials: Not sure if this is appropriate to list as a separate "edition," but I included it for the sake of completeness. The Essentials presented two different "flavors" of ranger (Hunter and Scout). The hunter was archery-focused, and the scout was melee-focused.
D&D 5E: The ranger is included as one of the 11 core classes, and has the two subclasses to choose from (hunter and beast master). The hunter gains combat ability, while the beast master gains an animal companion. Other supplements added the gloom stalker, horizon walker, and monster slayer subclasses.
UA Revised Ranger: In 2016, Wizards of the Coast released "Unearthed Arcana: The Ranger Revised" as an option for the 5th Edition ranger. It's getting a lot of discussion over in the other thread, so I'm breaking it out here for a little more granularity in the discussion. It isn't an official version yet, but it might be presented "as a revised ranger in a future D&D sourcebook." And it sounds like that sourcebook will be the new Tasha's book. Anyway, the UA Ranger has the Favored Enemy and Natural Explorer abilities from earlier editions, as well as the hit dice, fighting style, and spellcasting abilities of the 3rd Edition ranger (sort of). This version also has a couple of revised subclasses (called "conclaves"), like Beast, Hunter, and Deep Stalker.
Other: I'm not a very good historian, so I probably missed a version or edition or something. If I missed one, and it was your favorite, this is the option you should vote for. Tell us all about it!
I Can't Choose Just One: Choose this option if you feel every iteration of the Ranger class has been equally good (or equally bad) and you cannot choose a favorite among them. Then tell us all about it! But also...
This is not meant to be a Ranger Bash. It's easy to hate on the Ranger, I know. But let's try to focus on the parts that were good, the parts that the game designers got right. It's easy to take the low road and just dump on other peoples' work...let's take the higher ground and discuss the merits instead. Pretend you are back in kindergarten: for every negative thing you say about a particular edition's version of the Ranger, try to say one good thing as well.
Please don't turn this thread into an edition war. Stay on target, folks. This thread is for discussing the Ranger class, how it has changed over time, and how the past versions of the Ranger might be used as a guide for future versions. This isn't the thread for venting your spleen over your favorite and least-favorite editions of D&D in general. We get it--you no longer play certain editions of D&D, and you have your reasons, and that's fine.
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