A new twist on the Ranger's favoured enemy

[BarkingDeathSquirrel]

But the hate rule was removed in recent incarnations... as now you can take your own race as a favored enemy without being evil or psychopathic.

That doesn't mean you can't describe it as that now. I mean, the Urban Ranger is allowed to take favored enemies that are oragnizations... their anatomy is no different than ones not in the group (well, even that might not be true, what with all the freaky cults and all that exist in game worlds )

 

[Nifft]

You could also rule that the damage is supernatural, due to Nature's hate of unnatural god-bothering meddlers in the natural order of things, or whatnot.

-- N

 

[Quickbeam]

You could also rule that the damage is supernatural, due to Nature's hate of unnatural god-bothering meddlers in the natural order of things, or whatnot.

-- N

That just sounds hilarious...and very much like how Josh would rationalize his PC's ability to inflict extra damage on clerics.

 

[Stockdale]

While I hadn't thought about tracking a cleric when we discussed this, I had considered that rangers ought to have studied their favored enemies. In this Clerics. I see no reason why the shifter ranger in this case couldn't identify a holy roller on the spot (after all, and drawing from my own background, preists and nuns are pretty easily identified by their habits) - could be the extra large holy symbol, the language used by the devote, whatever.

Further, I never considered that Favored Enemy has anything to do with Nature per se. IRL, one group can hate another group any number of real or perceived differences or wrongs. I think of Favored Enemy as just ethnic cleansing embodied.

 

[Terwox]

Sounds pretty mechanically sound.
And that's all that matters, right?
Sounds like you can throw some good flavor behind it, too.
Maybe he studies clerics and knows how to them right square in their cleric parts! That shows them good.
chuckle... cool idea, though. nature's wrath against the heathen scum.
selecting favored enemy: fighter is a bit more problematic, though.

 

[Quickbeam]

Sounds pretty mechanically sound.
And that's all that matters, right?
Sounds like you can throw some good flavor behind it, too.

That's how we saw things, despite a few possible (and initially unconsidered) flaws in our logic. There's nothing in this concept which is unbalancing, and it has great roleplaying potential.

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

While I hadn't thought about tracking a cleric when we discussed this, I had considered that rangers ought to have studied their favored enemies. In this Clerics. I see no reason why the shifter ranger in this case couldn't identify a holy roller on the spot (after all, and drawing from my own background, preists and nuns are pretty easily identified by their habits) - could be the extra large holy symbol, the language used by the devote, whatever.

Further, I never considered that Favored Enemy has anything to do with Nature per se. IRL, one group can hate another group any number of real or perceived differences or wrongs. I think of Favored Enemy as just ethnic cleansing embodied.

*Ba-dup Ba!*




Such things as sneak attacks and death attacks also come in whole or in part from studying your opponent. Watch them, predict their movements, then strike while they are open. One could argue that a Cleric would hold himself and fight differently in battle than a Fighter. The damage could come from knowing WHEN an opponent is more vulnerable, not just where.

 

[Steverooo]

Just Do It!

The physiology of a Ranger's Favored Enemies makes no nevermind. He has to study each one, individually, anyway!

You want proof? Aberrations can be taken, as can Outsiders (Evil). Aberrations are classified as having unusual physiology, and most of them are unlike any of the others. Demons & Devils of various types don't even have the same body PARTS as others of their kinds...

So if a Ranger can know when & where to hit an Undead (Human Zombies, Gnoll Skeletons, Ogre Vampires, Dracoliches, etc) for extra damage, when they all have very different physiology, and even when they're so rotted that they have little of it left, I see no good reason why a Ranger can't take FE (Favored Enemy) Humanoids (Evil), or FE:Clerics.

One is just as non-sensical as the others. Aberrations, certainly, have little enough in common... Which is why they are abberrations!

 

[Nifft]

That just sounds hilarious...and very much like how Josh would rationalize his PC's ability to inflict extra damage on clerics.

Glad you like. Of course, the same basic logic could apply to Wizards & Sorcerers, too.

-- N, goes off to make an evil Ranger with Favored Enemy: Paladins

 

[Quickbeam]

Glad you like. Of course, the same basic logic could apply to Wizards & Sorcerers, too.

-- N, goes off to make an evil Ranger with Favored Enemy: Paladins

Yep. Enjoy your new, nasty Ranger .


And Steverooo, I totally agree!! Thanks for supporting our logic -- or lack thereof as the case may be.