Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
It's official, WOTC hates Rangers (Tasha's version of Favored Foe is GARBAGE)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Helldritch" data-source="post: 8118836" data-attributes="member: 6855114"><p>Well... That is not how I run the ranger's wilderness abilities. This is an example from the Friday Night D&D a few months ago.</p><p></p><p>Travel time estimated: 5 days through a forest toward a mountain (10 days without a ranger) The DM (me) says it from the go to the players. A teenage girl (and a DM at that) asks why. We take time to explain.</p><p></p><p>Roll random encounters for 5 days (for a party of level 5, six players strong) in total before the actual session.</p><p>Take notes of the random encounters in our case it was 4.</p><p>Two groups of orcs (10 strong and 15 strong)</p><p>One displacer beast.</p><p>One Wyvern.</p><p></p><p>Day one through three nothing happens. We're a bit too close to civilization to have them.</p><p>Day four.</p><p>DM to Sneaky Ranger: You spot a group of 10 orcs. They are clearly looking for something. </p><p>Player: I avoid them. I don't want any fights. We'll give them a wide berth.</p><p></p><p>DM to Sneaky Ranger: A few hours later, you have the impression that something is amiss. But you don't see anything. (Failed perception roll) (Note: I use pre rolled skill checks before each sessions. About 20. And I check them in order and not what each roll was for. This is available to all players after session's end.)</p><p>Player: We stop and we search as to not be surprised. (all players roll, no luck) But now, the least sneaky characters can attract the attention of the displacer beast. Which does not attack. It decides to follow the group instead in the hopes of catching a straggler.</p><p></p><p>DM: It is the evening, you set camp to eat. To dark to walk anyways.</p><p>In camp, Rangers ability to avoid encounters are almost nullified. Ranger or no ranger, night encounters are there. Like it or not.</p><p>DM: During the watch of X you hear ruffles from the south. Maybe your fire attracted someone. (Perception roll of 20. I know that there are no crittical success in D&D but whenever a 20 happens, I like to give a lot of meaning).</p><p>Player: I wake up the others.</p><p>DM: You have a rain of arrows comming down from the south end of the small clearing you're in. 8 humanoids are running down towards you throwing spears. The fight is on. The displacer beasts is still there waiting for the spoils. The players win with no loss and no serious hurt. </p><p></p><p>In the morning, one orc body is missing. The ranger discover a set of tracks which suggest a six legged creature with claws not unlike those of a mountain lion. It clearly dragged the body of the orc away during the night. The players now know that a displacer beast is lurking around. They are wary. But...</p><p></p><p>DM: The body of the orcs must have attracted attention. (an other good perception roll, but passive perception would have worked anyways). A giant flying lizard with a sickening grey/green color with the tail of scorpion is flying directly towards you, barely grazing the tree tops. That such a beast be so silent is incredible but the wiff of a tree top caused by its passing warned you. </p><p></p><p>In this, the ranger's abilities were useful (less encounters because less days traveled.)</p><p>They enabled the ranger to avoid an encounter entirely.</p><p>They defused an other (the displacer beast). But not wanting that encounter to be wasted, I used it instead to show that the world is alive. They have an impact, but the world still work as normal. The displacer beast could've attacked. But I decided to follow instead. The players learned about the displacer beast and though they knew they could've beaten it, they were happy that a predator chose the easy way to get a snak. It also made them less cocky as the Displacer has been able to sneak a body without them noticing it.</p><p></p><p>Again, it is not because the ranger can avoid a lot of the dangers of traveling that the dangers are not present. With prepartion, it is easy to incorporate the avoided pitfalls and dangers into the narrative of the ranger's abilities. It makes the ranger shine and its usefulness is way more important than the players expects. Handwaving the dangers because a ranger is there and can avoid them is not the way to go. It is very sad that the PHB did not explained this a lot more. It would have make the exploration much more interesting and put the ranger in a more favourable light. By explaining and narrating the effectiveness of the ranger, it makes the class a lot more attractive. When you do not know what something does for you, you don't appreciate it. In the first encounter, the ranger could have decided to make an ambush or attack immediately. The power to avoid the fight was on its hands. And this is what is important. All of a sudden, a bland and boring ability became useful and interesting. </p><p></p><p>For the wyvern encounter. The orcs' bodies made for a nice bait for the wyvern and added even more believability to the world. The ranger asked me if he had hidden the body, would the wyvern encounter happened anyways. And right in front of everybody, I lied a no (I wanted it to happen. But if he had hidden the bodies, the wyvern would have attacked on the mountain slopes). But it made the ranger's player happy that it would not have happened if he had thought of it.</p><p></p><p>A bit of preparation can go a long way to both make the ranger's skill useful and impactful. Yet, it also helps the DM to create a believable narrative to the trek. I have nothing against improvisation. I do a lot myself. But improvisation on the go can be detrimental on the narrative if the DM does not take notes on his improvisations.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Helldritch, post: 8118836, member: 6855114"] Well... That is not how I run the ranger's wilderness abilities. This is an example from the Friday Night D&D a few months ago. Travel time estimated: 5 days through a forest toward a mountain (10 days without a ranger) The DM (me) says it from the go to the players. A teenage girl (and a DM at that) asks why. We take time to explain. Roll random encounters for 5 days (for a party of level 5, six players strong) in total before the actual session. Take notes of the random encounters in our case it was 4. Two groups of orcs (10 strong and 15 strong) One displacer beast. One Wyvern. Day one through three nothing happens. We're a bit too close to civilization to have them. Day four. DM to Sneaky Ranger: You spot a group of 10 orcs. They are clearly looking for something. Player: I avoid them. I don't want any fights. We'll give them a wide berth. DM to Sneaky Ranger: A few hours later, you have the impression that something is amiss. But you don't see anything. (Failed perception roll) (Note: I use pre rolled skill checks before each sessions. About 20. And I check them in order and not what each roll was for. This is available to all players after session's end.) Player: We stop and we search as to not be surprised. (all players roll, no luck) But now, the least sneaky characters can attract the attention of the displacer beast. Which does not attack. It decides to follow the group instead in the hopes of catching a straggler. DM: It is the evening, you set camp to eat. To dark to walk anyways. In camp, Rangers ability to avoid encounters are almost nullified. Ranger or no ranger, night encounters are there. Like it or not. DM: During the watch of X you hear ruffles from the south. Maybe your fire attracted someone. (Perception roll of 20. I know that there are no crittical success in D&D but whenever a 20 happens, I like to give a lot of meaning). Player: I wake up the others. DM: You have a rain of arrows comming down from the south end of the small clearing you're in. 8 humanoids are running down towards you throwing spears. The fight is on. The displacer beasts is still there waiting for the spoils. The players win with no loss and no serious hurt. In the morning, one orc body is missing. The ranger discover a set of tracks which suggest a six legged creature with claws not unlike those of a mountain lion. It clearly dragged the body of the orc away during the night. The players now know that a displacer beast is lurking around. They are wary. But... DM: The body of the orcs must have attracted attention. (an other good perception roll, but passive perception would have worked anyways). A giant flying lizard with a sickening grey/green color with the tail of scorpion is flying directly towards you, barely grazing the tree tops. That such a beast be so silent is incredible but the wiff of a tree top caused by its passing warned you. In this, the ranger's abilities were useful (less encounters because less days traveled.) They enabled the ranger to avoid an encounter entirely. They defused an other (the displacer beast). But not wanting that encounter to be wasted, I used it instead to show that the world is alive. They have an impact, but the world still work as normal. The displacer beast could've attacked. But I decided to follow instead. The players learned about the displacer beast and though they knew they could've beaten it, they were happy that a predator chose the easy way to get a snak. It also made them less cocky as the Displacer has been able to sneak a body without them noticing it. Again, it is not because the ranger can avoid a lot of the dangers of traveling that the dangers are not present. With prepartion, it is easy to incorporate the avoided pitfalls and dangers into the narrative of the ranger's abilities. It makes the ranger shine and its usefulness is way more important than the players expects. Handwaving the dangers because a ranger is there and can avoid them is not the way to go. It is very sad that the PHB did not explained this a lot more. It would have make the exploration much more interesting and put the ranger in a more favourable light. By explaining and narrating the effectiveness of the ranger, it makes the class a lot more attractive. When you do not know what something does for you, you don't appreciate it. In the first encounter, the ranger could have decided to make an ambush or attack immediately. The power to avoid the fight was on its hands. And this is what is important. All of a sudden, a bland and boring ability became useful and interesting. For the wyvern encounter. The orcs' bodies made for a nice bait for the wyvern and added even more believability to the world. The ranger asked me if he had hidden the body, would the wyvern encounter happened anyways. And right in front of everybody, I lied a no (I wanted it to happen. But if he had hidden the bodies, the wyvern would have attacked on the mountain slopes). But it made the ranger's player happy that it would not have happened if he had thought of it. A bit of preparation can go a long way to both make the ranger's skill useful and impactful. Yet, it also helps the DM to create a believable narrative to the trek. I have nothing against improvisation. I do a lot myself. But improvisation on the go can be detrimental on the narrative if the DM does not take notes on his improvisations. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
It's official, WOTC hates Rangers (Tasha's version of Favored Foe is GARBAGE)
Top