D&D General What is appropriate Ranger Magic

[Corinnguard]

you have to find a DM willing to run that version of Ranger.

True. There are a couple of posters on the EN World forums that I wouldn't mind having as a DM. Some of whom do run sessions of Level Up.

 

[Micah Sweet]

And that's the crux of the issue....

What issue? The material is available. Who cares where it comes from?

 

[Horwath]

Why is it better for a subclass to be a half-caster rather than a third caster?

because being a 1/3rd caster really sucks.

you have to pick spells very carefully as spells come too late and you need spells that work at every levels similar:
Shield, Absorb elements, Silvery barbs, blur, invisibility, teleports,
you can forget about damage spells completely, Summons also.

A faster 1/3 caster, like the faster 1/2 caster houserule:

little more value in Spellpoints, but it's so few slots, it should not matter.

 

[Corinnguard]

because being a 1/3rd caster really sucks.

you have to pick spells very carefully as spells come too late and you need spells that work at every levels similar:

And how is this not the same case for the 1/2 caster or the full caster? All casters have to pick their spells very carefully.

 

[Horwath]

And how is this not the same case for the 1/2 caster or the full caster? All casters have to pick their spells very carefully.

full caster can expect that 3rd level spells are very good at 5th level. ALL of them. or most of them. Depending on quality of game balance.
not all 3rd level spells are good at 9th level and even fewer of them are good at 13th level.
8d6 is decent damage at 5th level, not so much at 9th and certainly not at 13th.

 

[Minigiant]

What issue? The material is available. Who cares where it comes from?

The DM chooses what material is available not the player.

And how is this not the same case for the 1/2 caster or the full caster? All casters have to pick their spells very carefully.

Full casters use spells for their primary damage and buffs.
Half casters use spells for secondary damage and buffs.

There is no such thing as tertiary damage or tertiary buffs for third casters.

 

[Corinnguard]

Full casters use spells for their primary damage and buffs.
Half casters use spells for secondary damage and buffs.

There is no such thing as tertiary damage or tertiary buffs for third casters.

Let me see if I got this right, the Fireball is a spell that deals just primary damage whereas a spell such as Ensnaring Strike does secondary damage (because its' primary effect is to tie up an opponent with vines). There are no spells in D&D AFAIK that does tertiary damage or buffs after inflicting a primary or secondary effect on an opponent. So, your mention that there is no such thing as tertiary damage or tertiary buffs for third casters is moot as casters (full, half and third) can use any spell that does primary or secondary damage/buffs.

I am still not seeing how Third casters suck, but that may be because I have yet to role-play one. I am currently playing a Half-Caster Ranger. And as someone new to role-playing a caster, I think the spell list for the Ranger sucks because there are very few gems in the first two spellcasting levels of the class. As a result, I like a spell-less Ranger like the one in Level Up better.

 

[Minigiant]

Let me see if I got this right, the Fireball is a spell that deals just primary damage whereas a spell such as Ensnaring Strike does secondary damage (because its' primary effect is to tie up an opponent with vines). There are no spells in D&D AFAIK that does tertiary damage or buffs after inflicting a primary or secondary effect on an opponent. So, your mention that there is no such thing as tertiary damage or tertiary buffs for third casters is moot as casters (full, half and third) can use any spell that does primary or secondary damage/buffs.

I am still not seeing how Third casters suck, but that may be because I have yet to role-play one. I am currently playing a Half-Caster Ranger. And as someone new to role-playing a caster, I think the spell list for the Ranger sucks because there are very few gems in the first two spellcasting levels of the class. As a result, I like a spell-less Ranger like the one in Level Up better.

Didn't get it right.

Primary caster- Casts their top spell Fireball for damage and control at level 5 for Primary of their damage.

Secondary caster- Casts their lesser spell Ensnaring Strike or Hunter's Mark or top spells of Summon Beast or Spike growth for Secondary damage and control after Attacking twice at level 5 for Primary of their damage.


Tertiary caster- Casts their only spells of Shield and Magic Missile as as a full Tertiary option at level 5. Attacking twice at level 5 for Primary of their damage.

Basically, a 1/3 caster lacks the number and quality of slots for spells to enter their main combat routine.

At level 5

A Full caster has 4 1st level slots, 3 2nd level slots and 2 3rd level slots. 4/3/2


A 1/2 caster has 4 1st level slots and 2 2nd level slots. 0/4/2

A 1/3 caster has 3 1st level slots. 0/0/3

 

[Micah Sweet]

The DM chooses what material is available not the player.

So talk to your DM and advocate for what you want. Come to my game. I'll let you play any ranger you like.

 

[Horwath]

So far favorite ranger spell is NONE,
for spells is favorite is exploding arrow(which is more alchemy than magic), guess everyone watched Rambo 2.
and in 3rd place is again NONE but with some supernatural connection to nature.