D&D 5E Rangers in 5e

[The Shadow]

By "recent" you mean 2nd Edition and 1989. For D&D that's ancient. I think it's pretty much an iconic ability now.
Drizzt and Robin Hood are the go-to examples of everything rangery, and both tend to alternate between bows and swords. Plus an animal companion.

I have to say I don't remember a 2e rule tying rangers to dual-wielding. I'm willing to believe it's there, but my memory draws a blank.

I certainly don't think it was baked into class features until 3e? Or am I wrong.

 

[steeldragons]

I have to say I don't remember a 2e rule tying rangers to dual-wielding. I'm willing to believe it's there, but my memory draws a blank.

I certainly don't think it was baked into class features until 3e? Or am I wrong.

I do believe, much to my chargrin, that it was an actual rule in 2e (though I couldn't give you a page number even if I had the book).

As the legend goes, Salvatore had the inside scoop that dual-wielding was going to be introduced in 2e and thus, when writing/creating Drizzt incorporated it into his character. Whether this is fact or industry legend, I can not say.

What really confuses ME is how Drizzt having a Figurine of Wondrous Power all of the sudden translated into all rangers simply must have an animal companion!?!?! I suspect that was a 3e-ism. Drives. Me.Crazy.

 

[Minigiant]

I agree that classes shouldn't have specializations that cause their effectiveness to be too narrowly tied to a specific opponent. I think the designers recognize that this was a problem with many editions of D&D, and we probably won't see the 1-3e style of favored enemy in D&DN.

That said, it was pointed out in another thread that you can get the story of a specialist without the mechanical limitations of a specialist by giving that kind of character a range of more broadly applicable abilities that happen to all work with a favored enemy or terrain. For example, a giant hunter could have abilities that work well against large creatures, abilities that work well against humanoids and maybe some extra skill at climbing. I'm not sure how that interacts with "rangers as an organization", but I do think they will move away from pure specialists.

-KS

Exactly.

A while ago I suggest an alternate version of favored enemy that where the ranger gets skill training and offensive and defensive bonuses that they can apply to various situations.

So a forest ranger would get a bonus to stealth and detection, charm animals, and deal more damage with light weapons like bows and finesse weapons (promoting Dual Wielders and Archers). Where a giant slayer would have a bonus to Climb and Jump, bonus damage to large or greater creatures and something else.

---

This could apply to ranger organizations

Night's Watch eerrr... Arctic Ranger

+2 AC in medium armor.
Spot+3
Survival+3
Cold resistance
Some sort of power or whirlwind attack.

 

[Steely_Dan]

As the legend goes, Salvatore had the inside scoop that dual-wielding was going to be introduced in 2e and thus, when writing/creating Drizzt incorporated it into his character. Whether this is fact or industry legend, I can not say.

The dual-wielding thing was originally a drow trait (1st Ed Fiend Folio).

 

[steeldragons]

The dual-wielding thing was originally a drow trait (1st Ed Fiend Folio).

AH YES! I knew that!...didn't remember...but did know. But how it then translated into a ranger skill...?...and I am sure I've heard a story about Drizzt getting it because it was going to be in the 2e books...so guess that's legend, then. Cuz you're right, dual-wielding was a drow ability first.

Maybe the story has it backwards and Drizzt being a ranger (as opposed the reality of him being drow) is actually what caused the dual-wielding to come in in 2e for rangers...I honestly dunno.

 

[Steely_Dan]

AH YES! I knew that!...didn't remember...but did know. But how it then translated into a ranger skill...?...and I am sure I've heard a story about Drizzt getting it because it was going to be in the 2e books...so guess that's legend, then. Cuz you're right, dual-wielding was a drow ability first.

Maybe the story has it backwards and Drizzt being a ranger (as opposed the reality of him being drow) is actually what caused the dual-wielding to come in in 2e for rangers...I honestly dunno.

The editor (The Silver Shard) asked Salvatore about a companion for Wulfgar (the original main protagonist), off the top of his head he came up with a dual-wielding good drow ranger; due to the immense popularity of the Drizzt character, they stuffed dual-wielidng into the 2nd Ed ranger, which came out about 2 years after The Silver Shard.

At least that's how the story goes as I've read it.

 

[Remathilis]

The editor (The Silver Shard) asked Salvatore about a companion for Wulfgar (the original main protagonist), off the top of his head he came up with a dual-wielding good drow ranger; due to the immense popularity of the Drizzt character, they stuffed dual-wielidng into the 2nd Ed ranger, which came out about 2 years after The Silver Shard.

At least that's how the story goes as I've read it.

:Casts Dispel Legend:

David "Zeb" Cook, designer of 2e, said when asked where the two-weapon ranger came from,

"I'm not sure where the ranger took shape, though I know it wasn't an imposition because of Drizzt. (Frankly, I've never read more than bits of the Drizzt series.) It was more to make them distinct and it fit with the style and image."

 

[Steely_Dan]

:Casts Dispel Legend:

David "Zeb" Cook, designer of 2e, said when asked where the two-weapon ranger came from,

"I'm not sure where the ranger took shape, though I know it wasn't an imposition because of Drizzt. (Frankly, I've never read more than bits of the Drizzt series.) It was more to make them distinct and it fit with the style and image."

*counter-spells* (what I read about Salvatore cannot be denied); Drizzt and the dual-wielding ranger are a fluke.

 

[Remathilis]

Counter-spells (what I read about Salvatore cannot be denied); Drizzt and the dual-wielding ranger are a fluke.

Right.

Drizzt dual wields because he is a drow.
He also happened to be a ranger.
Zeb Cook designs a new ranger for 2e and independently gives it dual wielding to distinguish it from other warriors.
Both come out within a year of one another.
People assume A causes B or B causes A.

Correlation =/= causation.

 

[Steely_Dan]

Right.

Drizzt dual wields because he is a drow.
He also happened to be a ranger.
Zeb Cook designs a new ranger for 2e and independently gives it dual wielding to distinguish it from other warriors.
Both come out within a year of one another.
People assume A causes B or B causes A.

Corellation =/= causation.

In your opinion, I think David was just covering.