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]

And what about Druidic or Thives Cant?

Those are effectively language that have been on the level table for several editions.

I don't really think of either of them at all, but I especially don't really think of either of them as true languages. They're more like secret codes.

 

[mellored]

I don't really think of either of them at all, but I especially don't really think of either of them as true languages. They're more like secret codes.

Secret code like talking French in front of someone who only speaks English.

But yea, I don't really think of language either. Scratch it out and Ranger 1 is still gets weapon mastery, expertise, and spells.

 

[Rocker26a]

Secret code like talking French in front of someone who only speaks English.

Bit of an over-simplification. Your DM ever sent you to a country where they all speak Thieves Cant? (Moderately interesting a notion as it may be.)

 

[Cassa]

I'm a little concerned with Ranger 2024. Because for two reasons:

1 - The Ranger's evolution revolves around the Hunter's Mark magic then what happens if a wizard casts the dispel magic or silence spellon the Ranger?

2 - What happens if a player wants to use another spell that uses concentration, for example Swift Quiver?

For my game sessions I made small changes to Ranger that I personally found more effective than the versions of d&d 5e and d&d 5e 2024

 

[mellored]

I'm a little concerned with Ranger 2024. Because for two reasons:

1 - The Ranger's evolution revolves around the Hunter's Mark magic then what happens if a wizard casts the dispel magic or silence spellon the Ranger?

You go up and stab them untill they lose concentration. Then you use one of your free castings to use it again.

The wizard is better off casting Blind on you than dispell magic.

2 - What happens if a player wants to use another spell that uses concentration, for example Swift Quiver?

I expect swift quiver will loose concentration.

Otherwise the same thing that has happened in the past 10 years.

 

[Gammadoodler]

Otherwise the same thing that has happened in the past 10 years.

Here's hoping you are right about the other legacy Ranger concentration spells..

Because, otherwise, it would be different than what has happened for the last 10 years..since one spell would be carrying along your class and subclass features, and the other would not.

Demonstrably and obviously different. Enough so, that I'm curious where your conclusion even came from, and wondering if there was something I misread.

 

[Chaosmancer]

And, again, I'd argue it's a reach. A reach for any class to get languages from their base levelling table, though Ranger getting them is especially weird. I'd put Wizard above that, then probably Bard, if anyone. I would not be content having things like languages dictated by class choice. It's weird. Especially when it's not even a 1st level feature, like just overnight after clearing a dungeon the day before you learn two languages? Dumb. Ridiculous. Imposes on sensical roleplay for the most minute of benefits.

No dumber than them leveling up at level 4 and getting the linguist feat and learning three languages. Sure, you can remove learning languages from classes, subclasses, and feats because it doesn't make sense that you learned a language after clearing a Kruthik hive, but at that point you might as well remove languages from the game because no one has a way to learn any new ones after character creation.

 

[Chaosmancer]

well, we can link ALL armor with min STR, starting with 10 for leather and 18 for fullplate.

Still doesn't make Athletics equal to stealth, sleight of hand and acrobatics. Which is where the real issue is laying.

 

[Chaosmancer]

rather than being actual languages i feel like language proficiencies would be more useful in DnD as like, vocabularies used for specific purposes, as an offshoot of social mechanics, rather than elven, dwarvish and draconic you presume everyone is already able to communicate and have aristocratic, merchant, arcane and military, which provide bonuses/advantages for using/knowing them in applicable situations.

Eh, I think that would get weird with everyone having the same military jargon.

 

[Rocker26a]

No dumber than them leveling up at level 4 and getting the linguist feat and learning three languages.

It is dumber, because you choose to take Feats. Not to mention they come a bit later in the levelling table. If learning additional languages is direly important for some reason, you can account for that in your roleplay if you take the feat, or ask your DM to learn them on your down-time, or whatever. Being railroaded into it as a part of the classes' early levels, "hey, you better come up with some reason to need languages and an excuse to learn them sharpish or this'll seem extremely strange", is dumber.

Sure, you can remove learning languages from classes, subclasses, and feats

I wasn't advocating for removing them from subclasses and feats. I gave a theoretical example that I thought made adequate sense. I don't think this thing they've foisted onto Ranger, perhaps because they'd do anything rather than give Ranger a more straightforwardly strong feature at an early level, makes much sense at all.