Tales and Chronicles
Jewel of the North, formerly know as vincegetorix
Here's a thought exercise for everyone.
Suppose I rolled up a bard in 5th Edition, and I name him Higgins. For his race, I chose Wood Elf (+2 Dex, keen senses, weapon proficiencies, mask of the wild). For his background I chose Outlander (proficient with Athletics and Survival). And I choose his three class proficiencies from the same list as the Ranger class. I outfit Higgins with studded leather armor, a longbow, and a set of daggers. At 3rd level he chooses the College of Swords to get the Two-Weapon Fighting combat style and the extra attack.
So is Higgins a ranger? Why or why not?
Suppose I rolled up a cleric named Sparrow (also wood elf, also Outlander background, also outfitted with studded leather and longbow and daggers. Sparrow chooses the Nature domain, and chooses as many of her proficiencies from the ranger class list as she can). So: is Sparrow a ranger? Why or why not?
How you answer the "why or why not" question will inform you about what truly "makes" the Ranger a stand-alone class according to you. Is it because they don't have a tracking bonuses against a particular creature, or while exploring a particular terrain? Is it because they can't cast hunter's mark? Is it just because the character sheet doesn't have the word "ranger" anywhere on it?
I must say, I just went over the whole list of backgrounds, feats and archetypes...and the things a ranger is supposed to be able to do, both mechanically and in-fiction, can be covered easily by a bunch of other mixed options.
Background: Outlander, yes, but also Fisher, Urchin (urban ranger), City Watch (urban ranger), Marine, Tribe member, Archeologist, Anthropologist.
Feat: Observant, Keen Mind, Alert, Delver, Mobile, Durable, Skulker
Archetypes:
- Nature, trickery, twilight cleric
- some druids
- sword, valor bards
- Fighters
- Dex-based ancient paladins
- totem barb (mix of wolf and eagle)
- scout rogue
- fey blade-lock.
Mix any of those options + proficiency in survival, perception and (maybe) nature, animal handling or stealth. You got yourself a potent ''ranger'' IMHO.