D&D (2024) 2024 Player's Handbook reveal: "New Ranger"

"More than any other class, the ranger is a new class."

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It has been a year (less a day) since we last saw the Ranger in UA Playtest 6. There still could be a lot of change. My sense is that they are more or less happy with three of the subclasses (Fey Wanderer, Beastmaster, and Gloom Stalker), but many questions remain: Will anyone be happy with the favored enemy/relation to the land abilities? Will Hunter's Mark be foregrounded in multiple abilities? Will rangers at least get a free casting of the Barrage/Volley spells? For the Hunter, will the "Superior" abilties at levels 11 and 15 continue to be things you didn't choose at lower levels? For the Gloom Stalker, will they pull out 3rd level invisibility from "Umbral Sight"? Any chance for a surprise substitution of the Horizon Walker? Let's find out.

OVERVIEW

• "widely played, but ... one of the lowest rated"
• Spellcasting and Weapon Mastery at 1 (as with Paladin). Spellcasting can change spells after long rest (not every level)
• NEW: Favored Enemy: Hunters Mark always prepared, and X castings per day. (was level 2 in PT6, where it was WIS times/day)
• NEW: Fighting Style at 2 (no limits on choice). or you may choose two cantrips (again, like Paladin).
• NEW: Deft Explorer at 3: expertise in a proficient skill, +2 languages. NO INTERACTION WITH LAND TYPES. This is a nerf from PT6, where at least you got a bonus to Intelligence (Nature) checks.
• Extra attack at 5, Roving at 6 (+10' move, Climb Speed, Swim speed).
• Two more expertise options, at 9, presumably. Compared to the playtest, this is a nerf: PT6 gave 1 expertise, the spell Conjure Barrage always prepared, and +2 land types for Explorer. These had problems, but it's a lot to lose for one additional expertise.
• At 10, Tireless (as in PT6) -- THP and reduced Exhaustion.
• NEW: At 13, Damage no longer breaks concentration with Hunter's Mark.
• At 14, Nature's Veil -- invisibility. At 18, Blindsight.
• NEW: At 17, advantage vs person marked with Hunter's Mark.
• NEW: Damage of Hunter's mark increases to d10, not d6. (This too is a nerf from the playtest, which gave +WIS to hit, and +WIS to damage.)

The clear expectation is you are using Hunter's Mark, occupying your concentration and taking your first Bonus action every combat, from levels 1-20.

SUBCLASSES
Beastmaster

• command Primal Beast as a bonus action, and higher level abilities as in PT6, apparently.
• stat blocks level up with you (as in Tasha's and PT6). Beast gets Hunter's Mark benefits at 11.

Fey Wanderer

• vague on specifics; apparently just as in Tasha's.

Gloom Stalker

• as in PT6, Psychic damage bonus a limited number of times per day. +WIS to initiative (cf. Assassin and Barbarian)
• Umbral Sight, darkvision bonus, and invisible in the dark.
• NEW: psychic damage goes up at level 11. Mass fear option of Sudden Strike mentioned, nothing about Sudden Strike.

Hunter.

• Hunter's Lore at 3: know if there are immunities/resistances of creature marked by Hunter's Mark.
• NEW: Hunter's Prey at 3: you have a choice and can change your choice every short/long rest.
• NEW: Defensive Tactics at 7: you have a choice, and again can choose after a rest. The choices are Escape the Horde, Multiattack defense (not Evasion, Uncanny Dodge, and Hunter's Leap, as in PT6).
• NEW: At 11, Hunter's mark now "splashes" damage onto another target.
• NEW: you can choose to take resistance to damage, until the end of your turn.

 

[Rocker26a]

Honestly, most Bards don't get the appeal either, but everyone is always very upset that Bards can get it.

See I'd have thought Divine Smite with full caster spell slots to throw at it would be pretty attractive. Even on a Bard. They can have a more melee skew somtimes. Maybe there's some specific reason why it's no good for that, but. That would be my assumption.

Honestly, I don't get the problem. Hunter's Mark was a unique ranger spell. It was clearly inspired by the 4e ability and the 3.5 Spell "Mark of the Hunter", so the idea of it being a "pre-existing spell" just doesn't come into my calculations.

I don't have any of that context, I came in at 5E, where Hunter's Mark is underwhelming but also just what you're expected to be doing in combat as Ranger, even before they tried to put it directly on the levelling table.

Like, the Abjurer wizard is getting free dispel and counterspell. The paladin is getting free Find Steed. The Cleric domains and Warlock patrons give free spells, like the Archfey Warlock getting Misty step for free. Arcane Trickster gets Mage Hand for free. I give Artficers Mending and Identify for free.

It is just a common thing in the design.

It does seem to be the prevailing design trend with this release, I'll grant you. It's just for Ranger, it's got that thread extending back into post-release 5E. That's just the lens I'm viewing it through. It bugged me when some flavour of that was all they had to offer then, I wish they would've tried something even slightly different this time.

Well, to be fair to the designers, most of the alternative abilities that have been proposed in this thread are... Hunter's Mark but not a spell. Which they tried, and wasn't as popular as free Hunter's Mark.

But when they tried it, they always made it worse! Like cutting the damage die, or making it once per round, or enforcing concentration, etc. When you're moving away from the spell, I would hope for/expect something better than the spell.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

While having features that meet the other two pillars in role-playing- exploration and social interaction. The classes in 5e need to focus more on those two pillars.

I am looking forward to see the ranger spells.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I again point you to Level Up's spell-less (unless you take an archetype that has spells) ranger.

The LevelUp's spell-less ranger does a lot of "not-spells"-ing. Heck, it basically reprints Hunter's Mark.

 

[Horwath]

Spell optional ranger would never work for core D&D as it would be redundant and blatantly so.

Spell optional ranger literally only works for Advanced D&D.

funny,

we dropped A5E ranger into "normal" D&D game and it works great.

with one tweak:
Studied adversary removed and it's 6th level improvement for extra 1+1 knack known and faster access to fighter, rogue and druid exploration features.

 

[Corinnguard]

From TV Tropes:

Forest Ranger

No, we aren't talking about the kind fellow at the national park who wears the snazzy uniform (but there's more of a connection than you might think - see below).

We are talking about the forest-dwelling recluse who serves as a self-appointed guardian for their ancient and enchanted home. They may wear green in an attempt to blend in to their forest surroundings. They guard their forest with their bow slung across their back, and would rather take your hat off with an arrow than post a polite notice to please put out your campfire before you leave. In a Standard Fantasy Setting, expect at least one elf to be this trope.

As a character who maintains a close affinity with and protects unspoiled natural landscapes, this is a subtrope of Nature Hero. Related tropes include the Druid, for nature-hero wizards who use magic themed around plants, animals, and natural phenomena, and the Jungle Princess, who lives within a tropical forest and protects its inhabitants.

Primarily meshes with Aloof Archer, but Rangers wielding an axe or spear are also common. If they are more civilized, they might use Bow and Sword in Accord. Lesser known fact — the word "ranger" does not mean "one who fights from range", but "one who watches over a range". Like modern-day Park Rangers. So they are not at all limited to the Aloof Archer. Not to be confused with bushranger, a term for a 19th-century Australian outlaw. Compare Roguish Poacher, another character archetype associated with woodlands, elusiveness, and ranged weapons.

Supernatural variants, be they The Fair Folk, tree-creatures or Nature Spirits, may also be a Genius Loci. Compare Nature Hero, Mountain Man and Classical Hunter. Contrast City Guards.

 

[Gammadoodler]

Ok @Gammadoodler, here is the short version.

Look at Ranger spells. Here are the 1st level ones.

• Absorb Elements
• Alarm
• Animal Friendship
• Beast Bond
• Cure Wounds
• Detect Magic
• Detect Poison and Disease
• Ensnaring Strike
• Entangle
• Fog Cloud
• Goodberry
• Hail of Thorns
• Hunter's Mark
• Jump
• Longstrider
• Searing Smite
• Snare
• Speak with Animals
• Zephyr Strike

Abilities of different disciplines and skills
Many Abilities that only work if magic
Abilities that would be very wordy and need to be shoved in a separate chapter

And most of them are iconic ranger stuff.

And that's just level 1 spells and 5e is missing a few old ranger spells and some made by new media.

That's the problem I keep mentioning. Ranger is a nebulous pile of slightly related tropey abilities, many of which are only fun or possible if magic. And the iconic trope abilities are so different you can't get a consensus of which ones are most important or iconic.

What is the logic here? That there is a variety in the types of spells they have received? Therefore the class lacks a specific identity? And it is impossible to construct such a class?

That's a long way to go based on not much of anything.

 

[Minigiant]

What is the logic here? That there is a variety in the types of spells they have received? Therefore the class lacks a specific identity? And it is impossible to construct such a class?

That's a long way to go based on not much of anything.

No, it's what I said.

Ranging and hunting is 30-50 different mini-rules.

Its not like the Paladin which is just 3 things: Smite, Heal, Aura.

The Rangers spell list contains abilities you'd expect most rangers to be able to do.

The Paladin spell list contains bonus cool stuff that is nice for the paladin to have.

funny,

we dropped A5E ranger into "normal" D&D game and it works great.

with one tweak:
Studied adversary removed and it's 6th level improvement for extra 1+1 knack known and faster access to fighter, rogue and druid exploration features.

Yes

As a fighter.

Without A5e's exploration rules, the A5e ranger stinks at surviving magical environments, dealing with wondrous nature, and hunting fantastical creatures.

 

[Corinnguard]

Without A5e's exploration rules, the A5e ranger stinks at surviving magical environments, dealing with wondrous nature, and hunting fantastical creatures.

Whereas a 5e Ranger or the 2024 Ranger would do better because of magic, which they happen to have limited access to.

 

[Incenjucar]

While the ranger remains a prime example of why I don't find 5E compelling, I am curious to see if people will actually like playing it.

 

[Minigiant]

Whereas a 5e Ranger or the 2024 Ranger would do better because of magic, which they happen to have limited access to.

Still will do better.
A lot better.

The A5e ranger can surely beat up all the monsters, but without a very nice DM who is lenient of Survival and Nature checks , it will fail to find the monsters and die trying.

This is because, as usual, the A5e ranger had its combat ability turned up but had is exploration ability turned down.

The A5e ranger relies heavily on the A5e DM book.