D&D General Ranger Identity Patch (+)

[doctorbadwolf]

I really liked the DnD Next play test version of favored foe.
Choosing Dragons as your ff have you fearless (immune to fear, perfect for dealing with frightful presence and other foes) as well as evasion at later levels.

Choosing Giants as your ff let you reduce damage from a bit when the attached was large out larger. At higher levels, melee attacks that weren't within 5ft had disadvantage.

This version is both more thematic and less all or nothing.

I agree. It's wild that they abandoned that.

I listed a spell, skill, and fighting style for each.



The warrior who traveled from Elfland, Dwarven Hold, Human Empire, Dragonberg and everything in between. Speaking all those language, knowing all those cultures, having the trust that people follow him on the roads and through the wilderness.

"You know who walked Edmunds Pass? Ranger Pete. He is tough for a human. He can escor

That sounds like a fighter or a kensei monk. Could it be a ranger? Sure, just like it could be a paladin. Or even a Rogue. But it isnt something that is deeply tied to the ranger of all classes.

 

[Minigiant]

That sounds like a fighter or a kensei monk. Could it be a ranger? Sure, just like it could be a paladin. Or even a Rogue. But it isnt something that is deeply tied to the ranger of all classes

The point is the wandering the wild and learning the culture and language of the people and enemies there.


But to me

The key aspect of rangers is how they use the knowledge of nature, aninals, plants, elements, survival, their favored terrains, and favored enemies to aid the party.

Like rangers should be decent healers because in the wild there are few healers.
They are good at stealth and perception to choose their battles.
Traps work on game and foe.
Talking to neighborhood animals. plants, and fey can work elsewhere.

My idea would be to take every ranger skill.

1. Animal Handling
2. Athletics
3. Insight
4. Investigation
5. Nature
6. Perception
7. Stealth
8. Survival

And make a perk tree from each.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The point is the wandering the wild and learning the culture and language of the people and enemies there.


But to me

The key aspect of rangers is how they use the knowledge of nature, aninals, plants, elements, survival, their favored terrains, and favored enemies to aid the party.

Like rangers should be decent healers because in the wild there are few healers.
They are good at stealth and perception to choose their battles.
Traps work on game and foe.
Talking to neighborhood animals. plants, and fey can work elsewhere.

My idea would be to take every ranger skill.

1. Animal Handling
2. Athletics
3. Insight
4. Investigation
5. Nature
6. Perception
7. Stealth
8. Survival

And make a perk tree from each.

That sounds like a very complex class. Might be cool, but i do personally prefer simpler classes than that.

 

[Minigiant]

That sounds like a very complex class. Might be cool, but i do personally prefer simpler classes than that.

Thats the problem.

The identity of the Ranger is they know a lot.

Rangers by definition cannot be simple and on identity.

 

[Xeviat]

I'd like Hunter's Mark to be a class feature, and to have their equivalent of smite spells be expanded upon (like hail of thorns and entangling strike). My ideal would be them having an animal companion as a core feature, but I understand that enough people don't like that (so maybe it could be a 1st level spell, like find familiar and find steed).

I also think the subclasses could have been where favored enemy/terrain went. We're almost there, just a few things need to be changed.

The troubles with the Ranger is that we all have different ideas for what they should be, and that WotC built the class mostly out of things the other classes get.

As for fixes, here's my simple fixes for Foe Slayer and Favored Enemy:

Favored Enemy: damage only procs once per round, but it doesn't have concentration and the damage and duration scale with level.

Foe Slayer: Instead of raising the damage of Hunter's Mark, Foe Slayer turns a hit into a critical hit when you make an attack with advantage and would hit with both attacks. This ends up being pretty comparable to a fighter having their 3rd Extra Attack or the Barbarian and Monk getting +4 to their Str or Dex.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Thats the problem.

The identity of the Ranger is they know a lot.

Rangers by definition cannot be simple and on identity.

They really can. Lots of homebrew and 3pp have managed.

 

[Corinnguard]

The Ranger is one skill proficiency behind the Rogue in terms of initial skill proficiencies. That would make the Rogue, the #1 Know It All in 5e.

 

[CreamCloud0]

And make a perk tree from each.

calling it a perk tree is perhaps making me imagine something more complicated/feat-chainy than what you intend but i agree with the rest of your post otherwise.

 

[Minigiant]

They really can. Lots of homebrew and 3pp have managed.

Not to the point that it both

1) solidifies the class identity

and

2) satisfied most of the customer base


You cant make a good Beastmaster, Mystic Warrior, and Specialized Fighting style Warrior (Both Archer and TWF) in the same class and be simple.

Most 3PP and homebrew rangers either cut out rangery aspects or get complex.

 

[Corinnguard]

Not to the point that it both

1) solidifies the class identity

and

2) satisfied most of the customer base


You cant make a good Beastmaster, Mystic Warrior, and Specialized Fighting style Warrior (Both Archer and TWF) in the same class and be simple.

Most 3PP and homebrew rangers either cut out rangery aspects or get complex.

Are any of the other classes in D&D really solid in their identity or have satisfied most of the customer base? Class identity and satisfaction are subjective terms. They mean different things to different people.