D&D 5E Re-Revised Ranger

[ro]

My hesitation there isn't in the ability, but putting it at level 13. None of the other conclaves have abilities at 13, and I would like to keep things in the same format as the rest of the PHB.

Oh for sure. I just threw in the 13 as an example.

 

[Thurmas]

Nice upgrade. Again, I think Giant-named creatures should be allowed, and I would consider allowing non-beast creatures, too.

I'll have to look at giant beasts again and try to find why I excluded them. It's possible they could be allowed. I think also adding a line saying other creatures at DMs discretion.

I would not link hit points to ranger level, as otherwise multiclassing is a significant blow to your companion. I would change it to, "When you gain a level, your companion also gains a level, increasing its hit dice one per level and hit points accordingly.

I'd be hesitant to have it increase on character level. Very few things increase on character level instead of class level. I see that as one of the sacrifices of multiclassing.

With this, also, I wonder if ASIs should benefit any time you get them, not just through Ranger levels. All the other class features, of course, are linked to Ranger level only, but some basic scaling is important to keep your companion viable.

Same as above.

11th level seems late for this. Moon Druids get this at level 6.

It can easily be moved to 5th or 7th.

Cool beans. The Beast Master looks good!

Thanks!

This sounds a little too good to me. This is basically unlimited simultaneous 1st level spells which ordinarily have Concentration. It is similar to suggestions for changing the Sharpshooter feat to a straight +1d6 damage bonus, but goes up to +1d10, which is even stronger and applies to all weapons rather than only ranged weapons.

That said, I like the idea. What if you limited it to a certain number of creatures? "Starting at 5th level you may mark two creatures at a time with Hunter's Mark, at 11th level you may mark three creatures, and at 17th four creatures.

This was the one ability I thought might be overpowered. I toyed with two other options. "When you Hunter's Mark your target, any other creatures of the same type that you can see or hear are also marked." Or "When you mark a creature with your Hunter's Mark, all other creatures within 5 feet of that creature are also marked."

I like that you expanded this list to include the original Favored Enemy options.

It just made sense not to limit it.

One for range, one for melee. I like it. Maybe change Whirlwind Attack from "within 5 feet of you" to "within your reach" to allow for Reach weapons.

I would be afraid that might pigeon hole someone into a weapon that is clearly better with that ability.

You could add a third option to give a straight third attack.

Maybe. I think right now it balances well versus the paladin. Adding a third attack probably overpowers it because of the power of Hunter's Mark.

Why no extra language?

Is this replacing the original favored enemy, or adding a third one? If the former, it sounds kinda lame. If the latter, change the wording from "a new type of favored enemy" to "a third type of favored enemy".

I would change "replace this favored enemy" to "replace one of your favored enemies".

The purpose of the level 15 ability is to add another favored enemy that can be swapped on a long rest. You spend the evening studying your enemy to gain the benefits. Since you could have 7 different enemies in 7 different days, it doesn't make sense to allow you to learn the languages, and then forget them. You can't learn a language overnight. The wording changes make sense though.

 

[ro]

I'll have to look at giant beasts again and try to find why I excluded them. It's possible they could be allowed. I think also adding a line saying other creatures at DMs discretion.

I think it would be better to do it the other way around, allowing Giant creatures but saying the DM can prohibit certain creatures at their discretion. This way the player doesn't have to ask permission by default, from a possibly un-permissive DM, but the DM can still stop problems.

I'd be hesitant to have it increase on character level. Very few things increase on character level instead of class level. I see that as one of the sacrifices of multiclassing.

Same as above.

I see that, but we also don't want the companion to be wiped out super easily after a few levels. Even if you block ASIs, at least keep HP scaling. Otherwise, the companion will be mostly useless. This is a problem with the Find Familiar spell, also, that already-vulnerable-in-early-game familiars become nigh unusable near combat after a few levels. We need to find a balance between making the companion effective and making it a liability.

This was the one ability I thought might be overpowered. I toyed with two other options. "When you Hunter's Mark your target, any other creatures of the same type that you can see or hear are also marked." Or "When you mark a creature with your Hunter's Mark, all other creatures within 5 feet of that creature are also marked.

I think the first is too much, as creatures of the same type tend to keep together. The second is much more viable, and usually more limiting than the version I suggested.

The purpose of the level 15 ability is to add another favored enemy that can be swapped on a long rest. You spend the evening studying your enemy to gain the benefits. Since you could have 7 different enemies in 7 different days, it doesn't make sense to allow you to learn the languages, and then forget them. You can't learn a language overnight. The wording changes make sense though.

Ah, ok. Yeah, that makes sense on the languages. If you did give a language, you could just specify that the language doesn't change, only the favored enemy.