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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kinematics" data-source="post: 9392746" data-attributes="member: 6932123">Every single attempt to homebrew a new ranger that I have seen has struggled with the idea of the class identity.  That WotC also struggles with this is therefore not surprising.However they have shown that they can come up with creative new ideas. Primal Knowledge and Brutal Strike for Barbarian, Tactical Mind and Tactical Shift for Fighter, Cunning Strike for Rogue... They've found ways to add something new and interesting to spice up a number of different classes, even if some people are still disappointed with them.I think the main issue with Ranger is that they didn't manage to find something to really do that for them. The first of the playtest Rangers was really well received, but that seems to be more that they fixed some of the issues with subclasses, and got rid of Natural Explorer.The other class improvements expanded on part of the core elements of the classes — Rage for Barbarian, Sneak Attack for Rogue, and both Weapon Mastery and Second Wind for Fighter. Even Smites for Paladin, even if it got somewhat nerfed.  But Ranger doesn't really have that core functionality to draw on. They got rid of Favored Enemy and Natural Explorer (both of which had significant issues), but they just replaced it with Hunter's Mark, which, even if you accept it being a reasonable spell, is nothing more than a single spell.In one particular Ranger homebrew I was a part of, my attempt to find some generalized concept for the class ended up with the idea that "Ranger is to searching as Rogue is to hiding". Hunter's Mark is vaguely adjacent to that idea, but I'd prefer a broader feature that Hunter's Mark was a part of, rather than Hunter's Mark being basically the entire feature.Further, trading damage for effect (like Cunning Strike or Brutal Strike do), or charges (free castings or spell slots, like Smite) for effect, might also be a way to help expand on the flavor of the class in various ways. Rather than "just" a spell, have a spell that can unlock various other flavorful effects.</blockquote>

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