D&D 5E Why are non-caster Ranger themes so popular?

[ECMO3]

I see a lot of people who want a non-casting Ranger. I am wondering what the draw is here and why people don't like a casting Ranger?

Specifically why do we see this with the Ranger but not with the Paladin?

Not saying it is right or wrong, just kind of curious about why the push for it.

 

[Scribe]

I'm not sure.

To me, both need to be half casters within their own domains.

Otherwise, they are fighters?

 

[Stalker0]

I see a lot of people who want a non-casting Ranger. I am wondering what the draw is here and why people don't like a casting Ranger?

Specifically why do we see this with the Ranger but not with the Paladin?

Not saying it is right or wrong, just kind of curious about why the push for it.

I think the paladin has implicitly in its flavor the idea of "drawing from a holy source of power". The paladin is not a "fighter" aka a veteran of war, that they are a holy warrior connected to the gods.

A paladin "holding his hands in a holy gesture and crying out to the gods for power to see their will done", aka casting a spell, is just perfectly in line with the flavor.

In contrast, I think the ranger flavor draws heavily on the self-reliant person motiff. This is the person who can live on their own by their own grit and whit, they need nothing but their own strength. So I think on the one hand, that flavor is less magical to begin with, and then the notion that you are drawing on a secondary source for your strength I think flies in the face of the core flavor.

 

[Charlaquin]

I'm not sure.

To me, both need to be half casters within their own domains.

Otherwise, they are fighters?

Fighters don’t get abilities focused on wilderness survival and exploration.

 

[Scribe]

Fighters don’t get abilities focused on wilderness survival and exploration.

No, but they could, just build out a Background or Feats.

 

[Charlaquin]

I think the paladin has implicitly in its flavor the idea of "drawing from a holy source of power". The paladin is not a "fighter" aka a veteran of war, that they are a holy warrior connected to the gods.

As such the idea of drawing forth this secondary power through "spells" is perfectly within the flavor.

In contrast, I think the ranger flavor draws heavily on the self-reliant person motiff. This is the person who can live on their own by their own grit and whit. So I think on the one hand, that flavor is less magical to begin with, and then the notion that you are drawing on a secondary source for your strength I think flies in the face of the core flavor.

Yep. People want a survivalist type character who relies on themselves and their knowledge of the natural world, not magic spells. A few preternatural tricks like being able to discern some weirdly specific details from looking at tracks or putting an ear to the ground is probably acceptable, but most spells are just too overtly magical to fit the concept well. The ranger’s abilities should be uncanny, but not outright supernatural, in my opinion,

 

[MarkB]

I see a lot of people who want a non-casting Ranger. I am wondering what the draw is here and why people don't like a casting Ranger?

Specifically why do we see this with the Ranger but not with the Paladin?

Not saying it is right or wrong, just kind of curious about why the push for it.

Probably because Aragorn. He's the archetypical Ranger, and he has no explicitly magical powers.

 

[kolya]

I want to be a non-casting ranger because the archetype of "guy who wanders around in the woods" isn't about spellcasting.

EDIT: Also I think WotC spent so much time focused on making the spellcasting system that they felt like any ability that wasn't 100% mundane should be modelled as spellcasting or something close to it.

 

[Charlaquin]

No, but they could, just build out a Background or Feats.

A background only gives you a couple of proficiencies and one mostly-fluff ribbon. Feats eat up a highly limited character building resource. But a class can trade in some of the fighter stuff that a survivalist character really doesn’t need (like heavy armor) for stuff that actually serves the archetype (like natural explorer and primeval awareness).

 

[Minigiant]

I see a lot of people who want a non-casting Ranger. I am wondering what the draw is here and why people don't like a casting Ranger?

Specifically why do we see this with the Ranger but not with the Paladin?

Not saying it is right or wrong, just kind of curious about why the push for it.

Because many fans see rangers as archers or TWF fighters with green hoods and better skills.
Few people actually read the ranger class description and realized that the class would need magic to do their stated jobs.