Ranger sub class- Tactician scout

[peterka99]

Ranger sub-class

I just re-wrote my december 2014 scout sub-class . This is non-magical scout that rely on dexterity, wisdom and intelligence. Intelligence is only useful for wizards eldritch knights and skill lovers so i'll give more dept. My scout is skilled in intelligence analysis, mobility and tactics. He is a ranger used to artificial environments as well as natural. The scout is more defensive than an hunter; he specializes in higher damage rather than mutiattacks.



The Scout archetype represents a consummate explorer or spy, perceptive and a nimble warrior who fights with intelligence. Their favored terrain may be wilderness, dungeons or cities, everywhere their sponsor or officer ask them to perform reconnaissance. the Scout mission briefing grants her advantages and she adopts an intelligent and mobile style of fighting. The myriad dangers of their terrain– monsters, invading armies and calamities- are well known to the Scout, who can handle anything Mother Nature or humanoids throws on her way.

Defensive tactics : There is Always Cover (level 3)

While in a favored terrain you are familiar with as a natural explorer, if you take a round analyze the surroundings and success on a dc 15 investigation roll, you and intelligence bonus allies may find cover within move range, using a dash action. Half cover in featureless environments like plains and desert, three-quarter cover in terrain with natural cover, like forest, hills, crags, etc.

Your Armor Class without cover bonus never can be lower than 10 + your Dexterity modifier + intelligence modifier, as you can analyze opponents attacks patterns and react.


Expanded Natural Explorer (level 6)

The scout gets an extra favored terrain to her list. The Scout can add Cities and Dungeons areas as favored terrain.


Superior scout defense : Maneuvers Analysis (level 7)
Humanoids attacks are still unpredictable, but your found a pattern in maneuvers. Your checks against being Disarmed, Grappled, Overrun, Shoved, Tumbled past, or Pushed Aside are advantaged, as are your saving throws against Battle Master maneuvers.
Evasion : The scout get evasion in favored terrain


Offensive scout tactics : Analyzing Defense Patterns (level 11)
For the next hour, you get a damage bonus against a specific race equal to your intelligence modifier, as you can analyze defense patterns You should observe the creature in advance for at least one minute or success perception roll of dc 15 if only taking one action), All allies hearing your instructions get half your intelligence bonus, round down, against the same creature. More than one race can be analyzed at the same time.


Evasion (level 15)
Evasion as per the rogue ability, without terrain restriction.

 

[Ezel]

I think it would be best to always work on homebrewed archetypes and classes considering the vanilla rules. If the scout is supposed to be non-magical, then it can be a little bit of a problem to apply its features to a class variant.
It could be an interesting concept for any ranger really, and it's not necessary to force the non-caster ranger variant, however the "favored terrain" and "favored enemy" features are between the weirdest choices in 5e design-wise. They give the character more options than the others in certain situations and a sitting-duck in others (and it was especially true in 3.5, which is why they decided not to apply these bonuses to combat). Adding even more power to them seems like an annoyance more than anything. Classes and archetypes should have strengths and weaknesses depending on "how" to work within the party and fill in certain strengths and weaknesses of the group, not on "when" they are strong. Which is why the hunter is as broad as possible in defining "when" it's strong.
I can see a scout being a very interesting archetype for a ranger in a completely different way: additional movement like a monk, mobile-style features, more damage when spreading attacks between different enemies and when moving before each attack, climbing speed, enhanced jumps, more damage when firing with disadvantage from long range and etc. All of this would be fairly interesting to see for a tactical ranger.
If you really want it to be a martial-only choice, the other way around it would be to make a Fighter archetype that adds ranger-ish features to the fighter in order to make it basically a martial ranger based on tactical use of the surroundings.
Another way around the whole "you are only strong in the terrain types you chose" is to make it so that you don't choose the type of terrain, you just get some benefits after you explored around an area for a day or so (it was one of the best ideas from the guy that made the assassin core class homebrew). Similar way around the favored enemy would be to get some benefits after observing any specific enemy for a round or two.

 

[BRKNdevil]

If this is being thrown on the standard Ranger, then the intelligence addition only makes the ranger MAD, which seems like what 5e was moving away from

 

[peterka99]

A paladin needs strenght, charisma and constitution...

 

[Ezel]

And a spellcasting ranger with int requirements would need: dexterity, constitution, wisdom, intelligence.
Constitution doesn't really count as a MAD requirement since it's always needed, except for the barbarian that gets AC out of it.
There's a bit of work to do, but your archetype is not a bad idea in and of itself, every design creation needs reworking at first. If you need to have a dex-based martial class to which you can add intelligence requirements, I would go with dex-based fighter.

 

[peterka99]

Maybe i'll need to add the little flavor perks from then... And nerf a little the class. Well, I did it already. I made it a recon expert in 2014. I created a multi-sub-class system then and got no replies concerning balance... 4 hours of work... http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?398399-Scout-Meta-archetype

I would rather remove spells and get these tricks instead (it will end the MAD debate!):


The Scout archetype represents a consummate explorer or spy, perceptive and a nimble warrior who fights with intelligence. Their favored terrain may be wilderness, dungeons or cities, everywhere their sponsor or officer ask them to perform reconnaissance. the Scout mission briefing grants her advantages and she adopts an intelligent and mobile style of fighting. The myriad dangers of their terrain– monsters, invading armies and calamities- are well known to the Scout, who can handle anything Mother Nature or humanoids throws on her way.

Scout Tricks (level 2)

Gain 2 Scout (athletic and/or recon expert) Tricks of your choice, (see below). Gain 1 additional Scout Tricks at levels 5,9,13,17 (note: ranger higher level spells first appearance)

[SBLOCK]

Athletics:

Adept Climber. You can climb at your normal movement speed, you climb unimpeded while holding something in one hand, and you don't grant advantage to attackers while you're climbing or balancing.

Cliffhanger. (prerequisite: Acrobatics proficiency) When you fall and there is some object nearby on which you could conceivably slow your fall, you can use your reaction to reduce your failing damage by an amount equal to five times your character level.

Hicker Difficult terrain doesn’t slow your group’s travel in any environment.

Night Raid. (prerequisite: Stealth proficiency) You can organize a night raid, using your own Dexterity (Stealth) check to travel in silence and hidden from lookouts. The party can move at up to one-quarter speed. In order to make a night raid, you must invest in some kind of preparation first; for example, using muffled oars, darkening your party's faces with lamp black, painting the ship with camouflage, learning of a secret passage thru the sea caves, arranging for a distraction, drugging the lookouts, sabotaging the spotlight, etc.

Reconnaissance Expert:

Dead Reckoning. (prerequisite: Perception proficiency) Under a clear sky, whether night or day, you always know the direction of true north and cannot get lost. You can also precisely intuit distances with your naked eye, do not suffer disadvantage to Wisdom (Perception) checks in dim light, and when traveling at fast pace on a mount you do not suffer the -5 penalty to your passive Wisdom (Perception). Also, when using a spyglass, you have advantage on your Wisdom (Perception) checks to identify features of a army host (standards, officers, etc).

Intelligence Analysis You are proficient with cartographer’s tool and siphering and deciphering of crypted script in your language. You can understand the main ideas from scripts in other languages.You don’t have the knack to create your own encryption. Others can decipher your code if teached or if they succeed on an Intelligence check (DC equal to your Intelligence score + your proficiency bonus) with an advantage, or if they use magic to decipher it.

Able Imitator You can mimic the speech of an animal . You must have heard the creature speaking, or heard the creature make the sound, for at least 1 minute. A successful Wisdom (Insight) check contested by your Charisma (Deception) check allows a listener to determine that the effect is faked.

Favored Countryside. Select a particular countryside in your campaign world. When at that area, you gain three benefits. First, you can traverse the area using passages that allow you to avoid detection, and you have some kind of secret safe cottage. Second, you have advantage on any Charisma checks to gather information in the countryside, thanks to a network of contacts there. Third, you can secure free passage aboard any land vehicule departing from the area hamlets for yourself and your companions, though you must be flexible about being hidden among refuse or the like.

Favored City. Select a particular city in your campaign world. When at that city, you gain Four benefits. First, you can traverse the city using secret alleys and passages that allow you to avoid detection, and you have some kind of secret safe house. Second, you have advantage on any Charisma checks to gather information in the port, thanks to a network of contacts there. Third, you can secure free passage aboard any land vehicule departing from that city for yourself and your companions, though you must be flexible about being hidden among refuse or the like. Fourth, this City is a favored terrain as per Nature Explorer ability.

Briefing Reckoning You have advantage and proficiencies on Intelligence checks to recall lore about monsters, legends, hidden treasures, dungeons and cities, and natural wonders and other details given on a briefing before one reconnaissance mission.

Perfect Memory You can accurately recall anything you have seen or heard within the past month about your last scouting mission(s) details. [/SBLOCK]

 

[Ezel]

I think you might have received no feedback in the past because an archetype working for many classes is a very odd idea that can raise eyebrows. To say the truth 4 hours of work is not much, I spend easily an entire weekend to make a homebrew and then work on it for an hour or two in the days following if I receive any sort of feedback on how to tweak it. Anyway you are receiving some feedback now and your concept is pretty cool.

I guess that might work, adding the tricks instead of the spells, but that would make it something in the middle between a variant and an archetype, which is a rather odd thing. All I'm saying is choose if it's a variant or an archetype, they are two very different things, then choose wisely what class to apply it to in order to achieve the required effect.

 

[peterka99]

I don't think a multi-class archetype is so odd. A scout may be a rogue, fighter barb or ranger and still be a scout, like an archer may be a, well ranger or fighter based on d&d 5e rules...

And as you point out It can't be a spellcaster archetype because of the MAD issue...

 

[Ezel]

Well, actually that wasn't me, I just pointed out that there was MAD as BRKNdevil complained. But that's easy to solve by changing the required ability from int to wis.

Archer is not an archetype by 5e rules. Archetypes are extremely tied to classes in 5e and while you CAN present a multi-class archetype, you have to consider that way less players will actually think that your homebrew is playable after skewing it, because it's too different to vanilla rulings. Making your homebrew FEEL like vanilla is the most important thing if you want it to be used by others (which is the main point).

 

[peterka99]

True. But intelligence is under-used... Well, a fighter/rogue/barb-based scout has no such issue. But the sub-class is too powerful as is (see my december 2014 post)... So you think ranger is not the best class frame ?