D&D 5E Fictional examples of Rangers

[jmartkdr2]

It's more that D&D

• has a high magic setting as base assumption
• doesn't have a proper item crafting system that scales to match it.
• doesn't have a proper shopping and gathering system

The "where do you find forest herbs in the desert" was the nonmagical ranger problem.

So D&D used spells as a substitute for a lack of system for scaling craftable healing herbs, posions, crystal balls, and ointments. Now we have infusions and invocations as core assmptions which could eleviate this but many will balk.

The problem they run in to is that people have been playing DnD for years with wildly different amounts of downtime. In some campaigns you'll get years of downtime by level 8, in others you'll get maybe a week of downtime by level 20.

Without the ability to predict within a couple orders of magnitude how much downtime a player will have to spend, how much downtime should it cost to make a magic sword? What a fair number?

And they couldn't add an expectation without pissing of the grognards since the majority have been playing with a set of expectations already, just one that has nothing to do with how anyone else is playing the game. Since 5e initially had 'don't piss off the grognards too much' as a design goal (for good reasons, actually) they didn't include downtime rules at the base. Meaning that adding them later disrupts people's games (although it went over fairly well overall.)

 

[Undrave]

Really, the only Magic I can see a (base) Ranger get is utility cantrips and rituals, with Hunter's Mark just being a class feature like in 4e. The different subclasses would grant varying degrees of additional spells or spell-like abilities, with at least one or two having proper caster progressions.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Indeed.

I think one of the best example for this is the Snare spell from XGtE. Okay, yeah, the spell is on the Ranger's list, but it shares the same slot level as their other main spell that replicate a feature that use to be a non-spell.

How in the Nine Hells do we get a spell that create a ''trap'' before we have a single, almost workable, rule to create basic snares? Why couldnt they just create a ''Trapper Tool'' kit, then takes the same description as for the spell and make it mundane. Then a few more lines to explain how to a character with said tools prof. can buff the DC of the bear trap in the equipment list?

Same for poisons I guess. For now, my rules for poison crafting use the same rules as for potion making using Poisoner kit, and they are mostly ''On the first hit after applying the poison or if ingested, a creature is affected by X spells and must make the save against a DC 8+prof+Int (for roguish) or Wis (for nature-ish). Its crap, but it works.

If you compile a list of all poisons in the game you can get an idea of efficacy by cost for each poison, which can be compared to cost per rarity of magic items to get an idea of what level of consumable item they are equivalent to, it that helps.

 

[Minigiant]

The problem they run in to is that people have been playing DnD for years with wildly different amounts of downtime. In some campaigns you'll get years of downtime by level 8, in others you'll get maybe a week of downtime by level 20.

Without the ability to predict within a couple orders of magnitude how much downtime a player will have to spend, how much downtime should it cost to make a magic sword? What a fair number?

And they couldn't add an expectation without pissing of the grognards since the majority have been playing with a set of expectations already, just one that has nothing to do with how anyone else is playing the game. Since 5e initially had 'don't piss off the grognards too much' as a design goal (for good reasons, actually) they didn't include downtime rules at the base. Meaning that adding them later disrupts people's games (although it went over fairly well overall.)

Technically there are downtime rules for crafting a magic sword.

The problem is the items a ranger would be crafting is more like a potion than a magic sword. Examples of ranger items are either gathered consumables (kingsfoil, snake venom, animal bait) or wonderous items (seeing stones, crystal balls, totems, teleporters).

The game assumes that you DM will eventually give your fighter, paladin, and ranger each a magic sword. So crafting your own is your choice in using your treasure. Only the original ranger assumed your ranger got regular healing scrolls and a palantir. So a ranger crafting his own magic items out of his treasure was usual and expensive.

Then you get into downtime. You spend a week resting torecover hp. "Okay my ranger Maragorn has 26 magic snares now."

 

[Asisreo]

Indeed.

I think one of the best example for this is the Snare spell from XGtE. Okay, yeah, the spell is on the Ranger's list, but it shares the same slot level as their other main spell that replicate a feature that use to be a non-spell.

How in the Nine Hells do we get a spell that create a ''trap'' before we have a single, almost workable, rule to create basic snares? Why couldnt they just create a ''Trapper Tool'' kit, then takes the same description as for the spell and make it mundane. Then a few more lines to explain how to a character with said tools prof. can buff the DC of the bear trap in the equipment list?

Same for poisons I guess. For now, my rules for poison crafting use the same rules as for potion making using Poisoner kit, and they are mostly ''On the first hit after applying the poison or if ingested, a creature is affected by X spells and must make the save against a DC 8+prof+Int (for roguish) or Wis (for nature-ish). Its crap, but it works.

You can create Hunting Traps in a day if that's anything. 4 days of downtime equals one snare spell scroll as to not waste slots.

Now that I think of it, a Ranger constantly making low-level spell scrolls and potions during downtime and crafting traps is perfectly in-line with how I imagine Rangers.

It's also how I play Rangers whenever I have downtime (most DM's forget that travel time is also downtime, so I'm able to usually make 1-2 scrolls).

 

[GreyLord]

Here's a version a Ranger that I think many have missed (Actually, I think he was based on a psionic Ranger/Monk Hybrid).

Pretty famous several decades ago.

Lone Wolf.

 

[Mercurius]