a spell-free Ranger

[LazerPointer]

I'm thinking of making all classes more powerful. Bad Idea? I think it'll work fine if I can balance them well. All this tinkering stems from wanting to give the rage ability to dwarves, but make it be a rage that can rarely be invoked.

I just sat down and wrote out a new Ranger, so I thought I'd put it to ENworld.


To compare, here's what I've come up with for the Barbarian:

(edit: this will be changed, but I'll leave this here so you can see where the criticism came from)
Barbarians lose Rage, Improved Uncanny Dodge, and all Trap Sense.
HD d10, gain Track and EWP or Weapon Specialization (no pre-req needed) depending on tribe's traditional weapons. Also gain bonus fighter feat at levels 3, 5, and 7.



Ranger of the Spear, Bow, or Sword path
Ditched: wild empathy, Animal Companion, and All Spells

Lvl 1: Favored Enemy, Track
Lvl 2: WF: Longspear, Pt. Blank Shot, or Combat Expertise
Lvl 3: WF: Shortspear, Far Shot, or Two Weapon Defense
Lvl 4: Endurance
Lvl 5: 2nd Favored Enemy
Lvl 6: a Modified Woodland Stride* -ranger speed only half-impeded by undergrowth, thorns still hurt, gets to add half ranger level to Move Silently checks in full forest.
Lvl 7: Point Blank Shot, Quick Draw, or Blind Fight;
Lvl 8: Swift Track
Lvl 9: Evasion
Lvl 10: 3rd Favored Enemy
Lvl 11: (nothing)
Lvl 12: Combat Reflexes, Arrow Awareness, or Cleave. (if They already have Cleave, gain Great Cleave, Instead.)
Lvl 13: (nothing)
Lvl 14: Gain all Ranger abilities in a well-fitted suit of Med armor. Still lose them with heavy armors or loads.
Lvl 15: 4th Favored Enemy
Lvl 16: (nothing)
Lvl 17: Weapon Specialization in chosen path
Lvl 18: (nothing)
Lvl 19: (nothing)
Lvl 20: 5th Favored Enemy

1st Q: Is this something you'd like to play?
2nd Q: Is retooling all classes to be more powerful a bad idea?

Thanks for feedback!

 

[LazerPointer]

Oh yeah, and here's Arrow Awareness. It's Deflect and Snatch Arrows put together, with a different mechanic.

Arrow Awareness: you can sometimes deflect incoming arrows and spears (not x-bow bolts, they're harder to see), and occasionally catch them.
Prereqs: Archery Combat Path, Dex 16.
Benefit: you can use an object or weapon to deflect an incoming shaft; make an attack roll (using dex modifier) against the attack roll coming at you. If successful, you deflect it; if you're holding one one-handed weapon, you can catch it on a natural 20. 90% of the time you must drop your melee weapon to catch the arrow.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

I wouldn't play a barbarian in your game. You took away everything that is unique about them and make them generic and underpowered. The only thing they get that fighters don't is more skills, DR and a lot less feats.

 

[LazerPointer]

I wouldn't play a barbarian in your game. You took away everything that is unique about them and make them generic and underpowered. The only thing they get that fighters don't is more skills, DR and a lot less feats.

fair enough. For the Bbn, the only thing set in stone is the abilities they lose. I'll have to put more thought into it.

So.....would you play a Ranger in my game?