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<blockquote data-quote="Spatzimaus" data-source="post: 518136" data-attributes="member: 3051"><p>It'd help if you just said "Here's how it differs from the PHB Ranger".</p><p></p><p>As far as I can see:</p><p>> More skill points (6 instead of 4)</p><p>> Will save becomes good</p><p>> Favored Enemy adds to both attack and damage (PHB is only damage)</p><p>> Favored Enemy also gives you a language (err, how exactly does that work for something like Magical Beast? Even assuming I count Blink Dogs, etc, there'd be a lot of languages)</p><p>> Favored Enemy damage works on things immune to crits once you hit level 6, then there's that free Improved Critical-like thing.</p><p>> You get some Druid abilities at 12 and 18</p><p></p><p>The downsides I can see:</p><p>> Lower BAB (3/4 instead of 1)</p><p>> No 2-weapon or Ambidexterity pseudofeats</p><p></p><p>Powerwise, I think you've added too much power to the class. The problems with the PHB Ranger have never been about power. It's got plenty of power as a class. Its failings were:</p><p>> Your key ability, FE, always depended more on the DM's campaign design than on your actions. If he gave you the enemies you wanted, you were really powerful, if he didn't it was a wasted ability.</p><p>> Too tied to the 2-weapon archetype, and if you didn't take that path you would get better mileage out of a Fighter/Cleric (nature/animal domains) multiclass.</p><p>> FE progresses in a bad way, forcing you to metagame; that is, pick Dragon at level 1 simply so that at high levels it's the +5 instead of Goblin.</p><p></p><p>The class design you have here is far more offensively dependent on Favored Enemy than the PHB version is (No 2-weapon, the lower BAB, extra FE-related Feats, and increased abilities of FE), but you haven't changed the accumulation of Favored Enemy in a way that'd solve the other problems I mentioned.</p><p></p><p>Suggestions:</p><p></p><p>> First, drop the HD to a d8 if you're going to give 6 skill points. The better Will save balances the lower BAB pretty well, so that doesn't need adjusting, although personally I'd prefer it the other way. Leaving it as d10 HD with mid BAB is very strange, since it turns what was an offensive class into a semi-defensive one.</p><p></p><p>> Change the FE-related abilities. For example, you could to a Monte Cook-style system where they get bonus Feats every 4 levels, taken from a short list that includes those Druid abilities, FE-related Feats, and maybe some archery stuff. The ability to do FE damage to things immune to criticals is a Feat from MotW, so it goes here too.</p><p></p><p>> Overhaul FE altogether. There have been some good suggestions on this board in the past. The one I like is give the Ranger a FE "point" at levels 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11-20 inclusive, allowing them to put each new point into whatever category they want (with some limits), instead of this "increment each one you already had and start a new one at +1" system.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Spatzimaus, post: 518136, member: 3051"] It'd help if you just said "Here's how it differs from the PHB Ranger". As far as I can see: > More skill points (6 instead of 4) > Will save becomes good > Favored Enemy adds to both attack and damage (PHB is only damage) > Favored Enemy also gives you a language (err, how exactly does that work for something like Magical Beast? Even assuming I count Blink Dogs, etc, there'd be a lot of languages) > Favored Enemy damage works on things immune to crits once you hit level 6, then there's that free Improved Critical-like thing. > You get some Druid abilities at 12 and 18 The downsides I can see: > Lower BAB (3/4 instead of 1) > No 2-weapon or Ambidexterity pseudofeats Powerwise, I think you've added too much power to the class. The problems with the PHB Ranger have never been about power. It's got plenty of power as a class. Its failings were: > Your key ability, FE, always depended more on the DM's campaign design than on your actions. If he gave you the enemies you wanted, you were really powerful, if he didn't it was a wasted ability. > Too tied to the 2-weapon archetype, and if you didn't take that path you would get better mileage out of a Fighter/Cleric (nature/animal domains) multiclass. > FE progresses in a bad way, forcing you to metagame; that is, pick Dragon at level 1 simply so that at high levels it's the +5 instead of Goblin. The class design you have here is far more offensively dependent on Favored Enemy than the PHB version is (No 2-weapon, the lower BAB, extra FE-related Feats, and increased abilities of FE), but you haven't changed the accumulation of Favored Enemy in a way that'd solve the other problems I mentioned. Suggestions: > First, drop the HD to a d8 if you're going to give 6 skill points. The better Will save balances the lower BAB pretty well, so that doesn't need adjusting, although personally I'd prefer it the other way. Leaving it as d10 HD with mid BAB is very strange, since it turns what was an offensive class into a semi-defensive one. > Change the FE-related abilities. For example, you could to a Monte Cook-style system where they get bonus Feats every 4 levels, taken from a short list that includes those Druid abilities, FE-related Feats, and maybe some archery stuff. The ability to do FE damage to things immune to criticals is a Feat from MotW, so it goes here too. > Overhaul FE altogether. There have been some good suggestions on this board in the past. The one I like is give the Ranger a FE "point" at levels 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11-20 inclusive, allowing them to put each new point into whatever category they want (with some limits), instead of this "increment each one you already had and start a new one at +1" system. [/QUOTE]
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