D&D 5E Companion thread to 5E Survivor - Subclasses (Part XI: Rangers)

[Vaalingrade]

Hm… I guess you guys are right about Counterspell. I still think Anti-Magic Zones being a thing feels silly. Especially in a setting where magic is so badly defined as in D&D. Maybe if ‘The Arcane’ was properly defined it would work better for me, but spells are just barely holding to their veneer of not just being game elements.

No, you're absolutely right about anti-magic.

It's worse now that everything supernatural and fantastic is being slowly consumed by 'is a the result of spells and magic', so casting AMF should just delete a chunk out of the world.

 

[CreamCloud0]

It just feels very arbitrary. Like the DM decides 'no magic here!' and that's why there's no magic there. It doesn't feel like a natural part of the world, just a game construct that exists to counter a specific game construct.

I feel like it can be both, GMs can arbitrarily of placed an antimagic field in this small village town hall as a ‘solve this the right way without magic’ enforcement but it also feels like a very natural result of a world where magic exists, “im a wizard, I know how powerful magic can be and i want to protect myself and my domain from other spellcasters, i know I’ll establish an antimagic field around everything to keep them all out”

 

[Undrave]

I feel like it can be both, GMs can arbitrarily of placed an antimagic field in this small village town hall as a ‘solve this the right way without magic’ enforcement but it also feels like a very natural result of a world where magic exists, “im a wizard, I know how powerful magic can be and i want to protect myself and my domain from other spellcasters, i know I’ll establish an antimagic field around everything to keep them all out”

Yeah but like... what even IS Magic that you can just neutralize ALL of it? Even when it comes from Nature or the gods? Is 'Abjuration' the strongest school because it can do this thing? Are school of magics an inherent property of magic the same way wavelength of light have different color? Or is it just a philosophical distinction, in which case what's stopping every magic user from learning how to creat Anti-Magic zone even if Abjuration isn't their specialty?

Magic in D&D is generally solid enough to stand on its own but in certain corner like this, the loose lore rubs against the game system and creates irritation, like an itchy tag in a cheap t-shirt.

 

[CreamCloud0]

Yeah but like... what even IS Magic that you can just neutralize ALL of it? Even when it comes from Nature or the gods? Is 'Abjuration' the strongest school because it can do this thing? Are school of magics an inherent property of magic the same way wavelength of light have different color? Or is it just a philosophical distinction, in which case what's stopping every magic user from learning how to creat Anti-Magic zone even if Abjuration isn't their specialty?

Magic in D&D is generally solid enough to stand on its own but in certain corner like this, the loose lore rubs against the game system and creates irritation, like an itchy tag in a cheap t-shirt.

All magic is powered from the same source: the weave, just because different types of magic perhaps requires different ways of manipulating the raw magic doesn’t mean one type is stronger than another, they might not even be that different, maybe spellcasters just categorised them in the groupings they did because that’s what people tend to do when trying to understand something.

Look at it like electricity, kitchen electricals, medical machines and construction tools all require electricity, but you can use your construction tools to disconnect the mains power and all of them turn off, that doesn’t mean the construction tools are more powerful/useful, they’re just the ones designed to interact with the power source, but if you try messing with the power lines when you’re only trained in using x-ray machines and heart monitors you’re not going to know what you’re meant to be doing.

 

[Vaalingrade]

All magic is powered from the same source: the weave

Only in FR, which, I pray to god stops being the only setting WotC actually cares about.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

It just feels very arbitrary. Like the DM decides 'no magic here!' and that's why there's no magic there. It doesn't feel like a natural part of the world, just a game construct that exists to counter a specific game construct.

Yeah I definitely recommend careful and judicious usage. Beyond beholders and special “mage Hunter” enemies (and homebrew pc options if anyone ever wanted to), I generally use them as either a constructed trap, like a wizard protecting access to something by making no magic work around it unless you can figure out the “device”, and the lock requires magic to be opened.
Lastly, I’ve used it as an indicator that something deeper is wrong. An upcoming plot thread in my Eberron game will feature essentially dead magic manifest zones that may be a result of the big magic thing the party is working toward currently. In the past, I’ve done this as a “something killed this 60ft circle of land, draining it of everything. Magic, life, even colors are muted and washed out. Being here feels so fundamentally wrong that your stomach turns and you can feel pressure building in the backs of your skulls and behind your eyes.”

Even better idea!

Thanks! It’s incredible to me that they aren’t even toying with the idea, at this point.

It’s literally “combat favored enemy”, and adding it to the exploration/knowledge stuff would make favored enemy cool without having to even reference a spell. Especially if you could gain an additional tactic at a later level when you pick a second and third favored enemy.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Huh I missed this thread when it was created.

So, back in the day, Ranger was popular as a sort-of wilderness-Thief. Ranger-Thieves were one of the more popular multi-class combos at our tables, because it gave you all possible skill sets for both wilderness and urban play. I played a Ranger in 3.0/3.5, and had a lot of fun with him, focusing on the Archery. I actually think several subclasses are pretty good thematically and narratively, although the Ranger is a weird class to begin with -- as opposed to all of EGG's other classes in the basic book, the Ranger wasn't based on historical characters, but on Tolkien.

Anyway, I really like the theme of Brandes Stoddard's Lantern-Bearer Ranger conclave. I like getting rid of Darkvision in my games, replacing it with Low-Light Vision (which does not work in absolute darkness) so that light sources are a thing you have to worry about. I generally only give Darkvision to things like Vampires and actual supernatural Creatures of the Night -- everybody else has to worry about light on the battlefield. Enter the Lantern-Bearer, who actually gets Lantern-based powers. And they feel good, like an ancient remnant of an Order that has faded with time.

Plus, you know, Brass Lanterns have a long history in gaming...

 

[niklinna]

Anyway, I really like the theme of Brandes Stoddard's Lantern-Bearer Ranger conclave. I like getting rid of Darkvision in my games, replacing it with Low-Light Vision (which does not work in absolute darkness) so that light sources are a thing you have to worry about. I generally only give Darkvision to things like Vampires and actual supernatural Creatures of the Night -- everybody else has to worry about light on the battlefield. Enter the Lantern-Bearer, who actually gets Lantern-based powers. And they feel good, like an ancient remnant of an Order that has faded with time.

Hm, that's kind of interesting! Doesn't quite hit the flavor I'd want, but it's a solid core idea. Reminds me of how Rangers in Guild Wars 2 can use torches as an off-hand weapon. Also reminds me of the Pathfinder 2 Thaumaturge, one of their implement choices is a lantern that reveals hidden things.

I kinda miss MMOs, but whenever I think of going back, I mostly remember the sucky parts now. Lucky for me Guild Wars 2 doesn't run on macos any more. (They got mounts so, so right, but their main story was so, so painful. I hate main story in any MMO, the principal reason I used to play was the freedom to run around and do whatever, whenever.)

 

[Ancalagon]

I knew at this point that the gloomstalker would be doing very well, but I am a bit surprised that hunter and horizon walker are doing so well - the first was for long seen as meh (I think it's solid) and the second has a very narrow theme...

 

[niklinna]

I knew at this point that the gloomstalker would be doing very well, but I am a bit surprised that hunter and horizon walker are doing so well - the first was for long seen as meh (I think it's solid) and the second has a very narrow theme...

Somebody please explain to me the appeal of Horizon Walker. It just seems so niche! How often are you gonna be needing to find planar gates, especially at low levels?