Changes to the 3.5 ranger?
- Thread starter mooby
- Start date
Jack Daniel
Legend
What will be changing?
-Rangers at 1st level will have a special ability that lets them interact with animals more readily. Analysis? Good idea, the ranger has always been a "friend to animals" type.
-Combat paths, either archery or two-weapon fighting, start at level 2 and kick in again at level 6... and then there are no details about high levels. But in any event, IMHO, bad idea for two reasons. First, paths shoehorn the ranger, and second, the ranger will no longer be basically proficient in melee, sword & board, archery and two weapons like his now: he's either specialized in arhcery (stealing the fighter's thunder) to the exclusion of two-weapon proficiency, or specialized in two-weapon style (also really a fighter thing).
-Skill points seem to be going up to 6. I can't say good or bad here without seeing the whole book, but I'm nervous, since the ranger has never been a skillmonger before... and seeing the ranger with as many skill points as a 6-SP bard, or more than a 4-SP monk, just sort of flies in the face of it all, where balance is concerned.
-Rangers become able to (and here I quote Ed Stark) "more dramatically affect their favored enemies." This can only be good, because it means they haven't lost sight of the ranger's classic niche, the profiessional monster slayer.
What won't be changing?
-As near as anyone can tell, hit die, attack bonus, and saving throws will stay the same (breakdown from a recent Dungeon/Poly magazine, if memory serves). Again, I defer to the wisdom of WotC here, rangers will still be dedicated warrior types and not pansy fighter-rogue hybrids.
-Spellcasting isn't going anywhere, reaffirming the ranger's class construction as the druidic counterpart to the paladin class. Thumbs up and all's groovy here.
I'm sure more details will come to light as time marches on.
-Rangers at 1st level will have a special ability that lets them interact with animals more readily. Analysis? Good idea, the ranger has always been a "friend to animals" type.
-Combat paths, either archery or two-weapon fighting, start at level 2 and kick in again at level 6... and then there are no details about high levels. But in any event, IMHO, bad idea for two reasons. First, paths shoehorn the ranger, and second, the ranger will no longer be basically proficient in melee, sword & board, archery and two weapons like his now: he's either specialized in arhcery (stealing the fighter's thunder) to the exclusion of two-weapon proficiency, or specialized in two-weapon style (also really a fighter thing).
-Skill points seem to be going up to 6. I can't say good or bad here without seeing the whole book, but I'm nervous, since the ranger has never been a skillmonger before... and seeing the ranger with as many skill points as a 6-SP bard, or more than a 4-SP monk, just sort of flies in the face of it all, where balance is concerned.
-Rangers become able to (and here I quote Ed Stark) "more dramatically affect their favored enemies." This can only be good, because it means they haven't lost sight of the ranger's classic niche, the profiessional monster slayer.
What won't be changing?
-As near as anyone can tell, hit die, attack bonus, and saving throws will stay the same (breakdown from a recent Dungeon/Poly magazine, if memory serves). Again, I defer to the wisdom of WotC here, rangers will still be dedicated warrior types and not pansy fighter-rogue hybrids.
-Spellcasting isn't going anywhere, reaffirming the ranger's class construction as the druidic counterpart to the paladin class. Thumbs up and all's groovy here.
I'm sure more details will come to light as time marches on.
