Blog (A5E) Level Up Class Preview: Ranger

The Kickstarter is halfway through! Last week we shared the adept with you. Today, it’s the most frequently requested class of them all — the ranger!

With the ranger, our initial surveys showed a lot of interest in a spell-less class. While the Level Up ranger can do fantastic things in the wilderness — think of Aragorn leading Legolas and Gimli as they chased the orcs in The Two Towers — those things are a product of skill, experience, and knowledge. Their abilities may even sometimes look like magic to the uninitiated, but they are not. The Level Up ranger is the undisputed master of the exploration pillar, with exploration knacks and other features which interact with the journey rules and other aspects of the game.

But we know some people like the spellcasting ranger, and so we have included an archetype (subclass) for that, as well as a rule which enables you to use existing spell-casting ranger subclasses with our new version of the class.

Class Preview: Ranger — Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E)

The Kickstarter is halfway through! Last week we shared the adept with you. Today, it’s the most frequently requested class of them all — the ranger!

www.levelup5e.com

 

[Garmel]

Is there at any point where a pet's attacks are considered magical? I can't seem to find it.

 

[niklinna]

Is there at any point where a pet's attacks are considered magical? I can't seem to find it.

I couldn't find it either, and it's in my big list of things above, and it's a problem.

 

[tetrasodium]

I couldn't find it either, and it's in my big list of things above, and it's a problem.

There is a whole book of magic items that might include the solution too. Also maybe a ribbon in some feats could be involved as an option.

 

[niklinna]

There is a whole book of magic items that might include the solution too. Also maybe a ribbon in some feats could be involved as an option.

Now you've got me picturing a ranger's panther snarling and flashing a set of big glowing golden grills on its fangs.

 

[Horwath]

This is really one of the features of the ranger that I find off, by a lot.
The devastating hit is crazy OP. Heck with a 16 wis, a level 2 ranger can do 6d6+weapon damage+str/dex bonus, and that's without a crit? Are we serious?
And regarding the flat bonuses... well, they clash against bounded accuracy. No class has anything similar for attacks, and for good reason.
If the two features are cumulative, and then the ranger has also a +1 weapon, it could easily outmatch characters with several levels more than him....

Finally something to combine with Assassin subclass, haha.

It's once per day, but lets say you're an elf, longbow+2d6 sneak attack + 6d6 accuracy.
5th level; it's a crit for 2d8+16d6+6, 71 damage on average.

 

[lichmaster]

Finally something to combine with Assassin subclass, haha.

It's once per day, but lets say you're an elf, longbow+2d6 sneak attack + 6d6 accuracy.
5th level; it's a crit for 2d8+16d6+6, 71 damage on average.

AKA you can pretty much one shot every other character of the same level, or even a couple of levels above (barring some very unlikely deflect arrow attempts). And this is also without using any combat maneuver. If you add in doubleshot you can roll an additional d8 for the normal damage. It's not so crazy op at high levels, but is the potential damage at level 2 that I really find jarring

 

[niklinna]

Well I've gone and filed official bugs for most of what I listed here earlier. On my most recent readthrough of the ranger, I've come to appreciate Beastmaster a lot more. I still think the 7th level feature is a bit on the weak side. The beast's attacks should count as magical by then, and since a creature only has one bonus action per turn, why let them have only one of Dash, Dodge, or Hide. I could be wrong though—being able to do any of Dash, Dodge, or Hide and also attacking is pretty darn powerful.