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

[Chaosmancer]

Definitely agree, I liked Roving from Deft Explorer for just that reason. Except in TCE they made it so you had to take it at 6th level, which is pretty late I think. As opposed to in the original UA, where you could take it at 1st if you wanted.

In the Ranger revision I've been tinkering with on-and-off, I combined Roving's benefits with the "you have an innate ability to communicate with beasts and they recognize you as kindred" thing from the Revised Ranger's Primeval Awareness, as one of the 1st level features. And then the equivalent of Favoured Enemy works more like Rage. It's a state you enter, and it enhances your abilities. Two benefits being, you can skip the ability check when climbing difficult surfaces, and a doubled jump height.

Yep, that basically aligns with what I did as well

 

[Chaosmancer]

Sigh you still don't get it. Okay.Here's my example.


STRIDER
As a strider, you gain the following class features.

Hit Points​

Hit Dice: 1d10 per strider level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per ranger level after 1st

Proficiencies​

Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Strength, Dexterity
Skills: Choose three from Animal Handling, Athletics, Insight, Investigation, Nature, Perception, Stealth, and Survival

​

Adept Tracker​

You are particularly familiar with one type of natural environment and are adept at tracking in such regions. You have advantage on any Wisdom (Perception) or Wisdom (Survival) to find or track a creature.

In addition, choose one type of favored terrain: arctic, coast, desert, forest, grassland, mountain, swamp, or the Underdark. If you are in your favored terrain, your proficiency modifier is doubled if you are making a Wisdom check using skill that you’re proficient.

You choose additional favored terrain types at 6th, 10th, 16th, and 20th level.

LEVEL 2 FEATURE​

???

Strider Archetype​

At 3rd level, you choose an archetype that you strive to emulate such as as the Battlefield Archer, Beast Stalker, Pathfinder, or Stormwarden. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 11th, and 15th level

Ability Score Improvement​

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.

​

Extra Attack​

Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Deft Tracker​

At the 5th level, you can Search as bonus action.

Expert Tracker​

At the 9th level, whenever you make an ability check Wisdom (Perception) or Wisdom (Survival), you can treat a d20 roll of 9 or lower as a 10

​

LEVEL 11 FEATURE​

????

Tracking Ace​

At the 14th level, whenever you make an ability check Wisdom (Perception) or Wisdom (Survival), you can ignore any penalties due to the natural environment such as rain, brush, or fog.

Master Tracker​

At the 17th level, if you fail a check Wisdom (Perception) or Wisdom (Survival) you can treat the d20 roll as a 20.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

​

CAPSTONE​

????

Those 14th and 17th level abilities are not high level abilities. Heck, the rules don't include any penalties to survival based on the natural environment, so it is solely being able to avoid disadvantage in dim light (stalker feat, level 4) or just getting a blind sense, which rangers already get at high levels.

And the level 9 ability is just a MASSIVELY worse version of Reliable talent.

I really hope I misunderstand and this is not your idea of high level play for nature.

 

[Minigiant]

Those 14th and 17th level abilities are not high level abilities. Heck, the rules don't include any penalties to survival based on the natural environment, so it is solely being able to avoid disadvantage in dim light (stalker feat, level 4) or just getting a blind sense, which rangers already get at high levels.

And the level 9 ability is just a MASSIVELY worse version of Reliable talent.

I really hope I misunderstand and this is not your idea of high level play for nature.

That's my point.

I asked for a Tier 3 or 4 spell-less ranger feature for days now. No one responds. They only mentioned Tier 1 stuff.

So I deigned a spell-less ranger with only Tier 1 and Tier 2 ranger features as an example of what everyone is expressing.

 

[Incenjucar]

Martial classes in 5E generally just get better at their competencies, though granted that's part of why they lag behind.

You can lean into the hunting aspect and give them increasingly nasty ways to dominate prey, like being able to hobble them, blind them, confuse them, anticipate and interrupt their actions, deal massive damage, shut down their powers, etc. Much of this would just be "borrow from 4E".

You can lean into the naturalist wilderness guide aspect and give them increasingly useful mastery of their environment, being able to create difficult terrain, guide allies around obstacles ("step on the left branch, not the right!"), get rogue-like extra actions for skills, share their abilities with allies or disrupt those abilities in enemies, etc.

You can lean into the nature crafty part and let them make various items at increasingly higher quality and speed with less cost, until they're literally able to hop into a bush and turn it into a deadly poison snare mid-combat.

Etc. etc. etc.

 

[ECMO3]

You realize we've been moving mountains without magic longer than we've had writing.

But individual people haven't been and that is largely because we don't have magic.

 

[ECMO3]

Other way around.
Ranger was the official 1e class.
Barbarian was the UA 1e class.

Both Ranger and Barbarian are official 1E subclasses of Fighter.

Ranger was published in the PHB. Barbarian was published in the Unearthed Arcana book.

It is important to note that "Unearthed Arcana" was official content in 1E. It was published in a hardcover book like Tasha's or Xanathars in 5E and 1E Unearth Arcana even says "official Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" on the cover.

The term Unearthed Arcana became associated with playtest material later.

 

[ECMO3]

Edit: Overall what WotC needs to do to make spell-free ranger fans happy is to stop trying to force everything interesting into being a spell and allowing space for things other than magic.

I am totally against this for things that are supernatural or out of the ordinary. I am OK with that stuff not being "a spell", I am not ok with it being "non-magical".

If you are playing something that is non-magical and mundane you should expect abilities that are non-magical and very, very limited compared to what is possible with magic.

A non-magical Ranger is simple to do. Take the current Ranger class and take away the following abilities:
Favored Foe
Natural Explorer
Tireless
Drudic Warrior Fighting Style
All Spell casting
Primeval Awareness
Primal Awareness
Most current Ranger subclass features
Land's Stride
Nature's Veil
The second part of Vanish that prevents tracking

If you simply deleted all these Ranger features you would have your non-magic Ranger.

 

[Minigiant]

Both Ranger and Barbarian are official 1E subclasses of Fighter.

Ranger was published in the PHB. Barbarian was published in the Unearthed Arcana book.

It is important to note that "Unearthed Arcana" was official content in 1E. It was published in a hardcover book like Tasha's or Xanathars in 5E and 1E Unearth Arcana even says "official Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" on the cover.

The term Unearthed Arcana became associated with playtest material later.

My point was the Ranger was designed and printed before the Barbarian.

So TSR always intended for the Ranger to be a caster who uses magic to heal and track.
If they wanted to give the Ranger more "skills" like the Barbarian, they could have. The Ranger had 2 already.

 

[ECMO3]

If I had a choice, I'd make rangers better at climbing and swimming (gives a good hunter feel) and have ROGUES be the trap masters. Cause, ya know, that's a major part of the rogue identity. Meanwhile rangers cross tons of terrain.

They already have a alimb speed and swim speed and this makes them really good at these already. RAW, the swim speed in particular lets them use any melee weapon without disadvange.

 

[Minigiant]

Martial classes in 5E generally just get better at their competencies, though granted that's part of why they lag behind.

Martials lag behind because WOTC lacks a clear idea what a martial is after level 10.

You can lean into the hunting aspect and give them increasingly nasty ways to dominate prey, like being able to hobble them, blind them, confuse them, anticipate and interrupt their actions, deal massive damage, shut down their powers, etc. Much of this would just be "borrow from 4E".

Finally some specifics.
Unfortunately that's all Fighter stuff in 5e. The 4e Ranger is a 5e Fighter.
Disruption otherwise is magic or ki.

You can lean into the naturalist wilderness guide aspect and give them increasingly useful mastery of their environment, being able to create difficult terrain, guide allies around obstacles ("step on the left branch, not the right!"), get rogue-like extra actions for skills, share their abilities with allies or disrupt those abilities in enemies, etc.

You can't create difficult terrain in less than a minute with magic or DM help.
Navigation is already in the DMG. The DMG is poorly organized.
And again, dirsruption is in fighter, magic or psuedo-magic like ki.

You can lean into the nature crafty part and let them make various items at increasingly higher quality and speed with less cost, until they're literally able to hop into a bush and turn it into a deadly poison snare mid-combat.

D&D and D&D-likes would never let you turn a bush into a trap as an action without magic

There are high level martial features I'd love to see in D&D. But you'd be hard-pressed to find a DM who allows you to turn a bush into. a deadly poison snare mid-combat without magic before high epic levels.