NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Helldritch" data-source="post: 8121881" data-attributes="member: 6855114">The big problem with the exploration pillar in the wilderness is that it can be soooo easily bypassed. The various traveling spells make it so that a group, once a certain level is attained, can simply teleport right on the door step of the adventure area. A simple divination/scrying and voilà ! You have seen where you want to be so just teleport and the exploration pillar eats its shorts. By making the exploration pillar such a big deal in the ranger, they have cut a lot that could have helped the ranger in the other pillars.What should have been proficiency in three skills became a much more codified thing that helps in the first two tiers but becomes almost irrelevant (if not downright useless) in the last two tiers.  I know that even with all my years of experience, it is hard to actually keep the exploration feature of the ranger relevant up to 20th level. I can often manage it but at some points, some shenanigans become hard to justify and they also gimp the power of the casters that have the traveling spells that are normally used. Be they clerics or arcane caster, having a part of your spell selection off once in a while is acceptable. But if it happens too often, it becomes an irritation that can quickly become badwrongfun.The goal is using those shenanigans sparingly but in doing so, the ranger is having his main use on the backburner... It is all a matter of pacing and dosage. But one thing I often tell young DMs is that you can't track while flying. A fleeing villain is fun to track and make your ranger happy. And if the group has no rangers and no trackers, an escaped villain can always make a nice comeback. With a catch phrase such as:" Had you tracked me, I would not have had the chance to get your heads. " Is good to make rangers useful in the minds of the players.</blockquote>

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