D&D 5E ranger getting caught all of time---What to do?

[crashtestdummy]

To me it sounds like that the DM doesn't want the party to be warned ahead of time. He's probably designed encounters so that the entire party meets the monsters at the same time. By having the ranger scouting ahead, that's messing things up for him, and his response is to have the ranger spotted. That's about all I can guess, based on the information supplied.

I've something similar happen to me, but in that case I understood (eventually) why the DM did what he did. It was a set adventure that had something occur as the party entered the room, and having my character scouting ahead messed that up. It meant I either got to see what was going on ahead of time (and possibly interrupting it), or I would trigger the special event, messing things up for everyone else as they would end up being too late to do anything about it.

 

[asjwolverine]

Ya. The ranger is usually miles ahead

 

[jodyjohnson]

He's splitting the party. A hundred yards ahead would be sufficient.

And when he finds someone he should rejoin the party, running if necessary. If he's trying to solo encounters, that would be a reason to capture him heavyhandedly.

I prefer the straightforward approach. "Don't do that, this is a group game." Spoken to the player.

 

[asjwolverine]

Sounds logical. Thanks

 

[Amatiel]

Also is he a wild elf ? If he is, he has a natural camouflage ability to hide in natural fiolage.. Most monsters would never see or hear him.

 

[asjwolverine]

He is half-elf

 

[ccs]

Ya. The ranger is usually miles ahead

Then he's no good at his chosen task. Even if he were completely invisible.

He's too far away to warn you of what he's found.
He's too far away for you to help if/when he is seen.
In the event of things going really wrong for him, he could be long dead by the time the rest of you stumble along.

Meanwhile, several miles behind the ranger....
The party could be encountering virtually anything - and the ranger will never know about it. Until he returns hours later.

 

[Hriston]

No. He was just seen. DM must be screwing the ranger. At 3rd level the ranger should pretty much be "invisible" if I'm right. Is that right?

Perhaps this is where you're running into problems. Before you can sneak up on, or sneak past creatures, you need to make sure they can't see you, and the only way you can do that is if the DM decides adequate conditions exist for concealment. Your son should ask the DM if the environment provides enough concealment to avoid being seen before attempting to sneak up on the monsters, otherwise the attempt is doomed to failure.

 

[Amatiel]

Yes., not being a wild elf, his ability to hide in a wilderness environment is seriously hampered.. Chances are your DM is saying the ogre "see's a figure dashing from tree-to-tree across the field as he moves toward the ogre" Everytime he leaves cover/concealment the Ogre (etc..) automatically sees the ranger. Always check beforehand to ensures the area is adequate to provide cover for a stealthy approach, otherwise its wasted effort and one skull crushed ranger laying on the forest floor.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Unless the ogre is actively searching for rangers and has rolled better.

The phrasing used here suggests that "actively searching" means rolling the check and the opposite (not searching) means using a passive check. That is not the case. If not searching the ogre gets no check, passive or otherwise. If searching, the ogre gets a check, but the DM can decide to make that a passive check rather than roll it because searching is a task done repeatedly or because the DM wants to determine success without rolling dice.

The "passive" in "passive check" refers to dice rolling - not whether the character in question is or isn't actually trying.