Rangers - leave them be!

[Wee Jas]

Am I the only person who likes the ranger class?

Yeah sure.. you can't wear heavy armor and get use of most of your 'free feats' but still...

A human ranger starts with 1 feat + human bonus feat + track + ambidexterity + two weapon fighting

That is a lot to play with! Also the Ranger is a great for multi-classing.

 

[Mort]

I think most people's complaints (at least recently) have not been toward the power level of the ranger.

Instead, the complaints have been that:

1. the ranger is front loaded and
2. Doesn't really fit peoples idea of "ranger" though no two people can really agree what that idea is.

And of course it's great for multiclassing. How else are you going to get ambidexterity, two-weapon fighting and tracking in one level? If you want a "lightly armored dual wielder" as a concept you can't go wrong - but is it a ranger?

 

[Sagan Darkside]

Salutations,

I have moved the class into an npc class until I find an acceptable replacement for a pc.

IIRC- Matt Colville had suggested the bare bones of one in a forum long ago. It had a lot of promise, but I don't know what came of it.

I can see why players like the class, but my players were just dipping into it for the feats- so I removed it as an option.

SD

 

[Wicht]

Wee Jas - I like the ranger just the way it is so you are not alone.

It is front loaded but not unbalancingly so. A Ranger fighting with two weapons at first level is still not as likely to hit as one fighting with one. IMO the Two-weapon fighting - while available at 1st level, does not become as useful until the BAB gets high enough to override the inherent -2 to hit.

 

[Wee Jas]

I hate to bring up LoTR here.. cause everyone will hijack the thread but Strider seems to be a pretty atypical DnD ranger. Light armor, fights a lot, tracks. The fact that you get Track for free and wilderness lore as a class skill make the ranger really useful! I love track. When I have it I use it ALL THE TIME! If you stik with the ranger class you can make crazy tracking rolls.

.. where the hobbits fell.. where they ran off too..

 

[Skullfyre]

Am I the only person who likes the ranger class?

Yeah sure.. you can't wear heavy armor and get use of most of your 'free feats' but still...

A human ranger starts with 1 feat + human bonus feat + track + ambidexterity + two weapon fighting

That is a lot to play with! Also the Ranger is a great for multi-classing.

Long live the original Ranger!!!

 

[Dinkeldog]

Anyone seen Monte's new ranger yet?

 

[Airwolf]

Anyone seen Monte's new ranger yet?

I have. I can't say that I'm impressed. I really don't have any problems with the ranger as written. Several people in my group have played rangers and we have not had any balance issues.

Long ago I was in a discussion about changing the ranger class. The only thing I could think that I would have liked to see was adjusting the spell casting to make it more like a bard. Starting at 1st level and going to 6th level spells. I currently play a bard. I see the bard and the ranger really as two sides of the same coin. I think the bard works for urban skills and abilities and the ranger for rural skills and abilities

 

[caudor]

1. the ranger is front loaded ...

By the way, what exactly does everyone mean by 'front loaded'? I see the term, but I'm not sure what it means.

If there is a thread that already discusses this, please shoot me a link.

Thanks!

 

[Benben]

By the way, what exactly does everyone mean by 'front loaded'? I see the term, but I'm not sure what it means.

Every class gets a certain amount of abilities distributed over levels. A front loaded class is one that gets all of its abilities at the lower (sometimes first) levels. This neatly removes any real benefit with continuing with the class.

Mages, Clerics, and Druids are the opposite since spell progression pushes them towards keeping a single class until they get 9th level spells.

Rogues could be viewed as front loaded, especially as a choice for a first level character with the wealth of skill points they get. However, gaining evasion, uncanny dodge, and sneak attack progression gives a good reason to continue with the class.

I've seen monks argued as front loaded since it's a quick way to get an AC boost and improved unarmed strike, but the class really supports single classed characters by giving a scooby snack at nearly every level.