D&D (2024) What type of ranger would your prefer for 2024?

[Reef]

The things that get players into other adventure settings are:
• Monsters
• Treasures
• Encounters with the strange and wondrous
• Social encounters
• Fulfilling personal ambitions

The wilderness has plenty of monsters but scarcity of story plot.

The treasures are lacking, but questing for rare resources to make valuable stuff can happen, possibly mining for precious gems or metals.

The wilderness can have strange and wondrous.

The wilderness can have social encounters, with nature beings, remote communities, perhaps even animals if one can speak with them.

Perhaps fulfilling personal ambitions is the most pertinent question. What do players want to accomplish while out "in the middle of nowhere"?

Hmmm. Good points. I guess looking at it that way, a Wilderness encounter in a lot of ways is just the set-dressing for one of the other standard encounter types (social, combat, etc). Maybe that's why I've never been good at setting them up in a satisfying way...I keep thinking about them as their own thing.

Something I'll need to think about.

 

[Yaarel]

Sure. But buying stuff doesn't build your gathering skills, and you need those to build up your attributes and energies, and you'd have to go adventuring to get gold to buy stuff, and ergo you'll already be travelling, so why not gather? Why spend the time traveling doing nothing to continue building your character?

The point isn't to force people to always do it in one very specific way. The point is to give a lot of good reasons to engage with all of these mechanics and no shortage of dials and knobs to emphasize more of one thing over the other. If you want to spend more time looting rather than crafting, you can trade that time pretty close to 1:1.

It won't be optimal, by any means, but such players that care about that aren't likely to be that concerned with a lot of streamlined mechanics that aren't abrasive to the gameplay. Everybody wins.

At the lowest tier (1-4), money can be a challenge. But after that, money is no longer a challenge, and soon after that, characters have too much money and "nothing to spend it on".

There is no point to learn how to gather, if everything can be purchased effortlessly.

The problem with nonmagical classes, their features often seem built for obsolescence at higher tiers.

 

[Yaarel]

a Wilderness encounter in a lot of ways is just the set-dressing for one of the other standard encounter types (social, combat, etc).

Well said. Thinking of the wilderness as "set-dressing", helps me think more clearly about encounters there too.

One might be able to go thru any popular adventure, translate it into a wilderness setting, and with part of the fun making it make sense, it will probably turn out to be a great wilderness adventure.

 

[Emberashh]

At the lowest tier (1-4), money can be a challenge. But after that, money is no longer a challenge, and soon after that, characters have too much money and "nothing to spend it on".

In DND. A poor economy is not a given in a particular ruleset.

There is no point to learn how to gather, if everything can be purchased effortlessly.

There is a point, because Mining is just as critical to building your Strength as being skilled at Heavy Weapons or Wrestling is.

And thats before you get into the combat applications, especially for Mining, which will have substantive uses in single combat and very elaborate uses in sieges (namely Sapping, but theres others Im exploring)

This same design philosophy extends across every single skill, and all of it, among a great deal of other things contributes not just to the Wilderness being a more substantive part of the game (rather than just pointless paint) but Dungeons and cities and all the rest too.

Has to be said again that simple isn't a virtue, and Ill say further that one shouldn't make the mistake of treating minimalism and good game design as though they're the same thing. They're not.

 

[Reef]

Well said. Thinking of the wilderness as "set-dressing", helps me think more clearly about encounters there too.

One might be able to go thru any popular adventure, translate it into a wilderness setting, and with part of the fun making it make sense, it will probably turn out to be a great wilderness adventure.

Now, that, is an excellent idea! Reskinning an existing adventure into a wilderness romp could be a lot of fun. My big issue is always trying to come up with a scene interesting enough to catch the players attention (as opposed to them just reaching for their dice as a way to skirt past it). Building on an existing chassis could be a neat way to handle that.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

A spelless wizard would just be a book nerd...

Spelless or slot-less?

Because all rituals and cantrips, I’m all for. Maybe the ability to ritual cast a spell and hold onto it until you need it, type of thing.

 

[Yaarel]

In DND. A poor economy is not a given in a particular ruleset.

The DMs Guide treasure tables, despite the randomness and multiplicity obfuscating it, result in a defacto official economy at each tier. The official adventures reinforce these economic expectations.

There is a point, because Mining is just as critical to building your Strength as being skilled at Heavy Weapons or Wrestling is.

Not sure where you are going with this. A background as a Miner, makes sense to boost Strength. Not sure how that relates to the rest of the level advancement of an adventurer.

And thats before you get into the combat applications, especially for Mining, which will have substantive uses in single combat and very elaborate uses in sieges (namely Sapping, but theres others Im exploring)

You mean monsters attacking while mining? Or do you mean statting mining challenges with monster stats?

Has to be said again that simple isn't a virtue, and Ill say further that one shouldn't make the mistake of treating minimalism and good game design as though they're the same thing. They're not.

As simple as possible but not simpler, is the best game design. Elegance is a virtue. Minimalism that is versatile for various situations, and that is enough mechanically to actualize a narrative in a satisfying way, is ideal.

 

[nevin]

never read anything in the DMG that reinforces a poor economic state in any game.

 

[Vaalingrade]

As simple as possible but not simpler, is the best game design. Elegance is a virtue. Minimalism that is versatile for various situations, and that is enough mechanically to actualize a narrative in a satisfying way, is ideal.

That's how we got in this mess in the first place.

 

[Yaarel]

That's how we got in this mess in the first place.

Which mess?