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

[Gulogulo101]

Thanks for posting, you've answered some of the questions we had

Studded leather does not cause disadvantage on stealth rolls, you're correct about that.

How you got caught is a little vague, but essentially if you hide and are clearly seen by anyone that would consider you a threat (though this point is largely left up to the DM), you would lose hidden and be presumably caught automatically. Though really you should be able to run or something? Maybe you can give us more information on this point so that we can double check that everything is being run correctly.

Your build sounds good. Archery offsets the penalty from Sharpshooter pretty well and if you're hiding, you should be able to get advantage which will largely negate it completely. Opponents shouldn't have very high AC at the levels you're at. I would recommend getting some ability score bonuses next so that you can boost your character overall. Dexterity is especially amazing for you since it boosts everything you care about: Attack bonus, damage bonus, AC, Initiative, relevant skills, etc.. So that should be your next focus. OR you could go for a multiclass. Rogue being the obvious one for example. You could also go Fighter though because they get many interesting benefits. Action Surge for example. Self healing. You could grab the Defense fighting style for +1 AC. Once you get to level 3 fighter you grab Battle Master for the maneuvers and other things. Then I would just keep going in that to get the extra feats / Ability score improvements that only fighters get which will quickly offset not getting them as quickly as a pure Ranger. You get an extra one at 6 and 14th. That's something only the Fighter can do. Damage will be very solid and you get lots of attacks.

And yeah, a Ranger or Rogue using their skills to find poisons is totally par for the course. Rangers use their nature stuff, rogues use their connections. I would expect to be asked if I was your DM.

I am using a shield that has a +1 so my current AC is at 19 which I do think is pretty high but I still keep getting hit even with low challenge rating monsters. What I think is the problem over all is our DM. I don't think I get the chances to use my character as I am supposed to. I like being the idea in what I can be as a ranger. The only hard part is that I keep getting found when I am out scouting. Some of the decisions I have made arent good but I feel that I should be able to go scouting and be found. I don't know whether I am doing anything wrong or not. I don't really know about the full capabilities of what I could do with a ranger but I was hoping that I could do some really cool stuff with animals and not have to worry about how far the party is behind me; meaning that I would be able to take care of myself if I encounter something that wants to kill me.

 

[Noctem]

I am using a shield that has a +1 so my current AC is at 19 which I do think is pretty high but I still keep getting hit even with low challenge rating monsters. What I think is the problem over all is our DM. I don't think I get the chances to use my character as I am supposed to. I like being the idea in what I can be as a ranger. The only hard part is that I keep getting found when I am out scouting. Some of the decisions I have made arent good but I feel that I should be able to go scouting and be found. I don't know whether I am doing anything wrong or not. I don't really know about the full capabilities of what I could do with a ranger but I was hoping that I could do some really cool stuff with animals and not have to worry about how far the party is behind me; meaning that I would be able to take care of myself if I encounter something that wants to kill me.

With 19 AC you shouldn't be getting hit very much. Most monsters at the level range you're at have a +4 to hit. That would mean that the DM is rolling 15+ on most of his attacks against you.. Is the DM rolling behind a screen? Could he be simply fudging his rolls and just decide that you get hit? That's a common problem.

If you're using a shield, you can't use a bow at the same time. Putting a shield on and off requires an action. So it's actually inconvenient for a ranged character to use a shield. A bow needs two hands, a shield uses one. You can't have both at the same time.

That being said, you should always worry how far the party is behind you. This is a team game! You shouldn't be miles ahead of the party scouting. You should be maybe 100 feet away scouting. That's how you don't get killed on your own, you don't split up the party too badly, you work together as a team and so on. So please keep that in mind for next time. You can still do the scouting. Just do it in a way that makes sense in a TEAM game. You can't solo the game. You can't expect to be able to solo whatever you run into while scouting. That's an unrealistic expectation of a team game like DnD. So on this point I think your expectations aren't in sync with the DM or maybe even the rest of the group. You're not a lone wolf, you're part of a pack. Work as a pack to defeat obstacles.

So I think the problems are coming from both sides of this coin. The easiest solution is to talk together and come to a compromise. Be honest and solve the problem.

 

[Gulogulo101]

With 19 AC you shouldn't be getting very much. Most monsters at the level range you're at have a +4 to hit. That would mean that the DM is rolling 15+ on most of his attacks against you.. Is the DM rolling behind a screen? Could he be simply fudging his rolls and just decide that you get hit? That's a common problem.

If you're using a shield, you can't use a bow at the same time. Putting a shield on and off requires an action. So it's actually inconvenient for a ranged character to use a shield. A bow needs two hands, a shield uses one. You can't have both at the same time.

That being said, you should always worry how far the party is behind you. This is a team game! You shouldn't be miles ahead of the party scouting. You should be maybe 100 feet away scouting. That's how you don't get killed on your own, you don't split up the party too badly, you work together as a team and so on. So please keep that in mind for next time. You can still do the scouting. Just do it in a way that makes sense in a TEAM game. You can't solo the game. You can't expect to be able to solo whatever you run into while scouting. That's an unrealistic expectation of a team game like DnD. So on this point I think your expectations aren't in sync with the DM or maybe even the rest of the group. You're not a lone wolf, you're part of a pack. Work as a pack to defeat obstacles.

So I think the problems are coming from both sides of this coin. The easiest solution is to talk together and come to a compromise. Be honest and solve the problem.

That makes more sense in scouting. Should I dual wield then instead of using a shield? I'm using a rapier as my main weapon because it uses a d8 and is a finesse weapon.

 

[Gulogulo101]

Trying to figure out still in how to play my character as best I can. Still new to the game and DMing (play with a group of friends at college)

 

[Koloth]

Having an after or before game time conversation with a DM shouldn't be a problem. If it is, may be time to find a new DM, family status not withstanding. Keep it friendly and professional. It could be something as simple as the DM is frustrated by having to essentially run two parties when you are ranging miles away from the main group and this is his way of discouraging that. Keep in mind that if your character gets into trouble that far out, the rest of the party has to make some kind of good perception roll to even know that something is amiss. Now figure out how many rounds it will take them at a dead run to get to you to help out.

Explain what you thought your character concept was going to let you do and then ask if that is going to work in his game. You may have to rethink the character you want to play. And the DM may need to adjust his style a bit as well. Make sure your are both on the same page on the type of game he wants to DM.

 

[Gulogulo101]

Having an after or before game time conversation with a DM shouldn't be a problem. If it is, may be time to find a new DM, family status not withstanding. Keep it friendly and professional. It could be something as simple as the DM is frustrated by having to essentially run two parties when you are ranging miles away from the main group and this is his way of discouraging that. Keep in mind that if your character gets into trouble that far out, the rest of the party has to make some kind of good perception roll to even know that something is amiss. Now figure out how many rounds it will take them at a dead run to get to you to help out.

Explain what you thought your character concept was going to let you do and then ask if that is going to work in his game. You may have to rethink the character you want to play. And the DM may need to adjust his style a bit as well. Make sure your are both on the same page on the type of game he wants to DM.

Its hard sometimes to talk to him but I will try. He seems to play favorites with our rouges. I think that he is frustrated with what has been happening because even though everyone in the party is all level 3 there is 7 of us total so its hard to find something for us to fight.

 

[MostlyDm]

You may have a chance to spot the goblin if you're alert for danger. If laundry is at least as distracting as navigating, drawing a map, tracking, or foraging, you are not alert for danger. Being alert for danger and doing laundry might mean you don't do such a great job and will be beaten by your liege ("No...more...wire...hangers!"), but at least you won't certainly get surprised by the lurking goblin.

This seems ridiculous.

People sometimes notice things even when they are not alert to them. Even if I am very engrossed in a task, I might hear someone sneaking up behind me.

How do you model such phenomena? Passive perception seems to be a really elegant method, so if you rule it out... Such things just can't happen?

 

[MostlyDm]

"How humans work" is irrelevant when we're discussing how the rules of the game apply to a fictional situation. You're not alert for danger if you're doing something sufficiently distracting in D&D. You're free to rule that doing laundry isn't as distracting as navigating, drawing a map, foraging, or tracking, however.

Ah, I should have just kept reading.

This view is just so alien to me, not sure where to find common ground to begin a discussion.

The idea that you have *no* chance to notice hazards around you *while foraging* specifically... that is, engaging in an activity where you are carefully searching the wilderness around you?The mind boggles.

 

[NotActuallyTim]

People also become so distracted that they never have a chance, regardless of how observant they are. Someone who's currently on fire is likely to fail Perception checks, even with a very high score. As such, denying people a chance to perceive things is on some occasions necessary to properly model peoples' behaviors.

 

[MostlyDm]

Sure.