D&D 5E Ranger on a Warlock frame?

[Ancalagon]

If you used the Hexblade as the template to maintain some of the combat ability I think this could work really well. At least for the more magical flavors of Ranger. I like it for the same reason I like the Warlock as a chassis for the Warlord.

Yup - and maybe have the patron some ancient forest spirit. One that demands blood sometimes. Take the outlander background for skills and voila!

 

[Minigiant]

One of the odd things about rangers is that the abilities they get negate certain obstacles. It does so without a check. I feel that this is a disservice to the concept of rangers being at their best in the wilderness. Forgive the hyperbole but it would be like not having to fight enemies because you have a fighter in the party. ( and they automatically handled it )

I think the mechanics of the warlock might make more sense for the ranger class. Features being:
*spell recovery on a short rest
*reskinned invocations that grant ranger-y boons like favored enemy bonus or (insert spell effect here) when in terrain.
*some invocations would not need any change at all (beast speech)

What do you think?

Sure.
Not for nothing, D&D has be notoriously afraid to completely explain where the ranger's make came from. Part of thatis due to the original range rrole model from the LOTR got his powers from racial traits and magic items.

Long time ago ranger was a sub class of fighter.
using a full caster frame is pushing it another step farther.

Long time ago a ranger was a master of the wild but dealing crazy high damage to everything in the wild.

If people want to revive the old edition ranger and his 4e successor that mastered the wilderness by one shotting everything in the forest that looked at him funny, we need to start a poll.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

One of the odd things about rangers is that the abilities they get negate certain obstacles. It does so without a check. I feel that this is a disservice to the concept of rangers being at their best in the wilderness. Forgive the hyperbole but it would be like not having to fight enemies because you have a fighter in the party. ( and they automatically handled it )

This. Instead of having the Ranger simply skip the wilderness exploration phase, let's have him "find" some things that make things easier: game, herbs, good terrain, good weather, allies, shelter, etc... It would make the exploring phase much more fun for everyone. "Well, somewhere on these hills, there must be a cave where we can spend the night... yes, there it is."

I'm not sure that basing this on a Warlock chassis makes things better, though.

 

[Ancalagon]

You are correct @The Mirrorball Man that it may not "fix" things, but it would make for an interesting character at the very least.

 

[Todd Roybark]

Well D8 HD is 1e approved for the Ranger, (though admittedly the Ranger got 2d8 at 1st level, and rolled HD at level gain, longer than most classes, before getting stock hp advances during level up).

If a Warlock takes the Improved Pact Weapon feat from XGE, the ‘lock could use the bow as their spellcasting focus for Eldritch Blast. Sprinkle in the Push/Pull Invocations and you have a good approximation of Hank, from the Dungeons and Dragon Cartoon.

In 5e Hank is a Warlock

I have to share this... great if you loved the old cartoon.

 

[Charlaquin]

I like it. In fact, let’s put every class on a Warlock frame, since it’s basically AEDU by another name.

 

[Todd Roybark]

4E's emphasis was heavily on combat options.

What?!. We must have played very different style games, because the 4e I remember was full of open ended text that encouraged the player to creatively change things on the fly, Scrying Magic, and exploration....and almost no combat.

Spock also has a beard in my world.

 

[Horwath]

Problem with ranger is that his "survival" features are mostly binary. They do not work at all or work 100% by default.

Ranger should be better that any class in survival in wilderness(all terrain) but not omnipotent, and that ability should be also available to some classes if they focus on it.

Best way to get this is to give expertise in Survival and Nature to rangers at 1st level.
Expertise in Stealth and Perception at some later levels

Advantage on Survival for tracking, movin stealthy at normal pace, Perception and Survival at fast pace could all be ribbon abilities spread along several levels.

Favored enemy can be replaced by latest UA features. Extra Hunters mark is soo much simpler and more reliable than favored enemy.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Spock also has a beard in my world.

I did it! I found the other Discovery fan!

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

I did it! I found the other Discovery fan!

We are everywhere.