D&D 5E (2014) Convince me that the Ranger is a necessary Class.

[Micah Sweet]

A lot of them are magical too (Aragorn and Drizzt specifically), moreover as Cream alluded to most of the non-magical archetypes come from non-magical settings.

The Rangers/Regarders of Medieval England or the Scottish Rievers are probaly the best two examples of the non-magical Ranger Archetype, but that is specifically a historical/non-magical setting they come from.

So they would have magic if there was magic? That just leads back to wondering why every class doesn't feature spellcasting.

 

[Minigiant]

I play video games, and somehow I still don't see all that many magical rangers.

Seriously, you want a ranger who's big into spellcasting? Change the narrative in the books to feature spellcasting.

In video games rangers are shooting magic arrows, dropping magic traps, self buffing, and summoning animals from thin air. WoW. Most MOBAs, Many MMOs Witchers. Even the WOD Hunter game gives every hunter a overtly magic edge.

This is why many of the new fans of D&D don't mind spell casting rangers. Most are or were gamers.

 

[CreamCloud0]

So they would have magic if there was magic? That just leads back to wondering why every class doesn't feature spellcasting.

no, there are some classes that require magic for their concept, there are some classes that don't need magic for their concept, but there are also classes like ranger, who don't need magic for their concept, but would absolutely incorporate it into their abilities if it was available.

 

[ECMO3]

I mean, almost always more low magic than D&D is, as D&D (especially these days) is wildly high magic. But that exactly is the issue. It is really hard to do more grounded lower-magic with D&D and I think a lot of people would want to have that option. And ranger is one class that could easily conceptually work without magic.

D&D has been high magic since at least 1978 and in 1E it was more high magic than it is now. Pick up an official adventure from 1E and compare the magical loot to what you will find in a WOTC 5E adventure. I would guess on average there is around 5 times as much.

We are playing a remake of Bone Hill and Assasins Knot. The DM is using the loot in those original adventures and by level 4 all 5 PCs had every attunement slot filled and we have multiple attunement items in the random party loot that no one is using. Things we found include a Ring of Invisibility, Gauntlets of Ogre Power, a Wand of Fear, a cloak that lets you use the Etherealness spell, two sets of Bracers of defense, a helmet that grants true seeing, multiple +2 weapons and armors .....

 

[Rocker26a]

I see it mode as rangers know the fears, loves, sore spots, and curses of the favored enemy.

So if the party is using advanced interrogation techniques on the lone survivor, the ranger can get them talking.

Yeah as I say, I do get the thinking. Works better for the classifications that contain sapient/awakened creatures, naturally. Less so for, y'know. Plants. Oozes.

 

[ECMO3]

So they would have magic if there was magic? That just leads back to wondering why every class doesn't feature spellcasting.

I think it is wrong to conflate being magical and casting spells outside the D&D construct. Spells are to a large degree the mechanic for magic in D&D.

The archetypes for Druids outside of D&D might be magical, but they don't universally feature spells. Clerics likewise don't feature spells outside of D&D at all and even Wizards like Gandalf rarely actually cast spells in the fiction.

 

[Micah Sweet]

D&D has been high magic since at least 1978 and in 1E it was more high magic than it is now. Pick up an official adventure from 1E and compare the magical loot to what you will find in a WOTC 5E adventure. I would guess on average there is around 5 times as much.

We are playing a remake of Bone Hill and Assasins Knot. The DM is using the loot in those original adventures and by level 4 all 5 PCs had every attunement slot filled and we have multiple attunement items in the random party loot that no one is using. Things we found include a Ring of Invisibility, Gauntlets of Ogre Power, a Wand of Fear, a cloak that lets you use the Etherealness spell, two sets of Bracers of defense, a helmet that grants true seeing, multiple +2 weapons and armors .....

Having magic gear is not the same thing as having an array of magic powers personally, or regularly wiggling your fingers and spouting strange words to produce discrete effects x times a day.

 

[Minigiant]

no, there are some classes that require magic for their concept, there are some classes that don't need magic for their concept, but there are also classes like ranger, who don't need magic for their concept, but would absolutely incorporate it into their abilities if it was available.

And even then they'd only be using it since it's the best option.

I still thing the ranger crafting a bunch of special arrows GreenArrow/Hawkeye style is more thematic.

But Artificers and infusions aren't core and EVERY SINGLE edition required you to be a spell caster to craft magic equipment.

 

[Corinnguard]

A lot of them are magical too (Aragorn and Drizzt specifically), moreover as Cream alluded to most of the non-magical archetypes come from non-magical settings.

If Aragorn knew any magic as a Ranger in LoTR, it would have to be subtle to the point where you didn't know he cast a spell. A whisper here, a whisper there for the verbal component. A hand gesture that wouldn't seem too out of place for the somatic component. An item seemingly picked up at random for the material component. Stealth-casting?

 

[Corinnguard]

I still thing the ranger crafting a bunch of special arrows GreenArrow/Hawkeye style is more thematic

Well, there is A5e's Fantastic Fletcher archetype for the Ranger. They can augment their arrows in a number of ways.