D&D 5E Revised Ranger - Attempt by a Newb

[Brendan Conway]

Hey Guys,

I am relatively new but have been reading a ton about the Ranger class (and its many attempted revisions). Below I was looking to attempt to combine from both Unearthed Arcana, PHB, and Homebrew materials to try and meet happily in the middle. Provided to some of the changes are notes as to reasoning. I do not think this is balanced necessarily and would need some math people to analyze it, but I like the idea of the theme of some of these changes if that could get worked out.

Revised Ranger – Homebrew:

Hit Points - Unchanged
Proficiencies - Unchanged
Equipment – Unchanged

LEVEL 1: Favored Enemy: Used Divine Smite as inspiration. This is a persistent increase in damage over the course of an encounter against a chosen enemy type after the first hit from the ranger. It requires spell slots like listed, so this is the limiting factor. It still may be too powerful and require a nerf (go down to the first hit on each of the ranger's turns, instead of the extra damage on each weapon attack) however overuse will burn the Ranger's spell slots similar to how a Paladin cannot constantly divine smite. The other complaint was that DM's had to tailor encounters to make use of Favored Enemy (either overusing an enemy type so the Ranger felt useful) or never at all so the Ranger felt the trait never was utilized. The DM with this is encouraged to use varying enemy types to limit the Ranger's use of this ability, making for fun and interesting battles. The Ranger will need to choose wisely which Favored Enemy they select or burn through tons of slots trying to shift to each one.

• Starting at 1^st Level, you have significant experience studying, tracking, and hunting creatures both common and legendary. After you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you gain knowledge of its weak spots and can line up other attacks to do more damage. After the initial attack, you can expend a spell slot to call out this enemy type as your Favored Enemy. For the next minute, any weapon damage you deal to this enemy type deals an extra 1d4 damage. You may only hold one Favored Enemy type at a time, and attempting to use this feature on another type drops the first.
• Enemy Types: Aberrations, Beasts, Celestials, Constructs, Dragons, Elementals, Fey, Fiends, Giants, Monstrosities, Oozes, Plants, or Undead. Humanoids are selected based on specific race (such as Humans or Orcs).
• This damage increases by 1d4 for every spell slot above 1^st that Favored Enemy is cast.

LEVEL 1: Natural Explorer: Removed Advantage on Initiative and against creatures in first round who have not yet acted. Kept ignoring difficult terrain and added proficient (or expertise) to Nature and Survival. Slight "Skill Monkey" boost that fits, while driving combat abilities later into the class (since Favored Enemy will account for some more damage at lower levels).

• You ignore difficult terrain.
• You gain proficiency in Nature and Survival. If you are already proficient, your bonus is doubled for any ability check that uses these traits.
• Difficult terrain doesn’t slow your group’s travel.
• Your group can’t become lost except by magical means.
• Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling, you remain alert to danger.
• If you are traveling alone, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.
• When you forage, you find twice as much food as you normally would.
• While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.

LEVEL 2: Fighting Style – Unchanged
LEVEL 2: Spellcasting – Unchanged
LEVEL 3: Primeval Awareness: Used PHB version, but got rid of spell slot requirement and instead added general direction/distance and hard cap use of 1+ Wisdom Modifier.

• Beginning at 3rd Level, you can use your action to focus your awareness on the region around you. Until the start of your next turn, you can sense whether one of the following types of creatures are present within 1 mile of you: aberrations, celestials, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead. This feature doesn't reveal the creatures' location or number, but does reveal their general direction and distance. You can use this feature a number of times equal to 1 + your Wisdom modifier. When you finish a long rest, you regain all expended uses.

LEVEL 4: Ability Score Improvement
LEVEL 5: Extra Attack – All Conclaves (2^nd Level Spells)
LEVEL 6: Fleet of Foot Moved this up to Level 6 (void of Greater Favored Enemy) and added advantage to Initiative Rolls here, thematically fitting into the Ranger being "quick and alert".

• Begging at 6^th Level, you can use the Dash action as a bonus action on your turn.
• You have advantage on initiative rolls.

LEVEL 7: Conclave Feature
LEVEL 8: Ability Score Improvement
LEVEL 9: Blank – Unchanged (3^rd Level Spells)
LEVEL 10: Vanish Moved Vanish up to 10 (getting close to a Cunning Action earlier for the class).

• Starting at 10^th Level, you can use the Hide action as a bonus action on your turn.
• You can’t be tracked by nonmagical means, unless you choose to leave a trail.

LEVEL 11: Conclave Feature
LEVEL 12: Ability Score Improvement
LEVEL 13: Blank – Unchanged (4^th Level Spells)
LEVEL 14: Hide in Plain Sight Still situational (which class doesn't have a step child ability) but simplified it for mechanics sake. Still achieves a strong stealth boost if used with Pass without a Trace.

• Starting at 14^th Level, you can remain perfectly still for long periods of time to set up ambushes. When you attempt to hide on your turn, you can opt to not move on that turn. If you avoid moving, you gain advantage on the stealth check. You can continue to remain motionless and gain this benefit until you are detected.

LEVEL 15: Conclave Feature
LEVEL 16: Ability Score Improvement
LEVEL 17: Blank – Unchanged (5^th Level Spells)
LEVEL 18: Feral Senses - Unchanged
LEVEL 19: Ability Score Improvement
LEVL 20: Apex Predator Dependent upon the frequency of Favored Enemy damage (every weapon attack or just once per turn) on its potency. Would need a math wiz to analyze that.

• At 20^th Level , you become an unparalleled hunter. When you activate the Favored Enemy feature, the extra damage dealt by the ability becomes 1d6 instead of 1d4.

HUNTER CONCLAVE:
Add Spell List (Open to Ideas on Specifics)

BEAST CONCLAVE:
Add Spell List (Open to Ideas on Specifics)
LEVEL 3:

• At 3^rd Level, you learn to use your magic to create a powerful bond with a creature of the natural world.
• With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 50GP worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth an animal from the wilderness to serve as your faithful companion. Your companion should be a beast that is no larger than Medium and that has a challenge rating of ¼ or lower (the DM might choose to expand the options to the animal companion). At the end of the 8 hours, your animal companion gains all the benefits of your Companion’s Bond ability. You can have only one animal companion at a time.
• If your animal companion is ever slain, the magical bond you share allows you to return it to life. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 25GP worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth your companion’s spirit to use your magic to create a new body for it. You can return an animal companion to life in this manner even if you do not possess any part of its body.
• If you use this ability to return a former animal companion to life while you have a current animal companion, your current companion leaves you and is replaced by the restored companion.

LEVEL 3: Companion’s Bond Unearthed Arcana companion stats (health, AC, prof) but takes attack as the Ranger's Bonus Action. I figured this would fit balance wise with the Horizon Walker and Monster Slayer who use their bonus actions to deal extra damage on attacks with Planar Warrior or Slayer's Eye. Their action economy is competitive with bonus actions so the beast conclave would fit that (dealing an average of 1d4-1d8 damage). In addition, this helps thematically feel like the ranger and beast are fighting together. The Ranger still has the option to allow the Beast to make an attack as part of the extra attack trait and limited storm of fang and claws to just this ability (so the bonus action is not exploitable to do more damage).

• Your animal companion loses its Multi-Attack action, if it has one.
• The companion obeys your commands as best it can. It takes its turn on your initiative, though it doesn't take an action unless you command it to. On your turn, you can verbally command the beast where to move (no action required by you).
• You can use your bonus action to verbally command it to take the Attack, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, or Help action. Once you have the Extra Attack feature, your beast companion may make the extra attack instead of you in addition to the bonus action attack granted by this feature.
• When using your Natural Explorer feature, you and your animal companion can both move stealthily at a normal pace.
• Your animal companion has abilities and game statistics determined in part by your level. Your companion uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own. In addition to the areas where it normally uses its proficiency bonus, an animal companion also adds its proficiency bonus to its AC and to its damage rolls.
• Your animal companion gains proficiency in any two skills of your choice. It also becomes proficient in all saving throws.
• For each level you gain after 3^rd, your animal companion gains an additional hit die and increases its hit points accordingly.
• Whenever you gain the Ability Score Improvement class feature, your companion’s abilities also improve. Your companion can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or it can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, your companion can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature unless its description specifies otherwise.
• Your companion shares your alignment, and has a personality trait and a flaw that you can roll for or select from the tables below. Your companion shares your ideal, and its bond is always, “The ranger who travels with me is a beloved companion for whom I would gladly give me life.”
• Your animal companion gains the benefits of your Favored Enemy feature when it is activated.

LEVEL 7: Beast’s Defense

• At 7^th Level, while your companion can see you, it has advantage on all saving throws.

LEVEL 11: Storm of Claws and Fangs

• At 11^th Level, when your companion makes an attack as part of your Attack Action, it can make a melee attack against each creature of its choice within 5 feet of it, with a separate attack roll for each target.

LEVEL 15: Superior Beast’s Defense

• At 15^th Level, whenever an attacker that your companion can see hits it with an attack, it can use its reaction to halve the attack’s damage against it.

GLOOM STALKER: Unchanged

HORIZON WALKER: Unchanged

MONSTER SLAYER: Unchanged

 

[jaelis]

Might be helpful to explain what you don't like about the latest UA ranger that you are trying to address?

 

[Brendan Conway]

Might be helpful to explain what you don't like about the latest UA ranger that you are trying to address?

What might be easier is to discuss what a solution would look like for the Ranger (and then maybe explain how the UA does not fit that).

First, a Revised Ranger needs to address the player concerns WHILE not being disruptive to a majority of the game. I have seen solutions being submitted that require the removal of Hunter's Mark (as an example), and this would potentially require rethinking on the side of the DM when they introduce a Revised Ranger but there is a Vengeance Paladin in the party with the Hunter's Mark spell. It also should not disrupt Xanathar's Guide to Everything conclaves, as it was very recently released and shouldn't require revision.

Second, the Revised Ranger should address the lack of a Ranger's defining lower level abilities. Where classes get Divine Smite, Bardic Inspiration, Channel Divinity etc. The Ranger gets Favored Enemy, Favored Terrain (or Natural Explorer), and Primeval Awareness. While some combination of these abilities can be satisfying to a player, they generally keep up in combat only because of the front-loaded Natural Explorer (a multi-classing exploit) and their spell-casting (Hunter's Mark) along with any magic items the DM throws their way. The Hunter Conclave is viable with those things included.

Favored Enemy, specifically, seems to be the cause of greatest concern. It generally requires a DM to tailor encounters too often or not enough for the Ranger to feel they get satisfactory use of one of their major abilities. Adding +DMG to the trait helps when the ability comes up, but it suffers from the same problems Favored Terrain did (and hence why the UA changed it to Natural Explorer). I am suggesting a way for Favored Enemy to be applicable in more situations, but at a reasonable cost (which I am not sure my suggestion achieves, but am willing to discuss) while losing the Natural Explorer abilities to later in the class as a trade off. Spell Slots are also very competitive to a Ranger, so using those (similar to a Paladin) seems to be a way to keep it in check.

The rest of the changes are meant to even out the class and its progression. It goes a long time before getting just 1/3rd of Cunning Action, so I attempted to move them up. I also am trying to get a capstone worth taking 20lvls of Ranger for (because I would multiclass every time as it stands now without blinking).

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Have you or any player at your table tried to play a ranger as written or is all this revision attempt is from reading stuff on the internet? Rangers do well at what they are supposed to do: travel and explore their homeland, protecting the inhabitants of it from the un-natural. The problem with the ranger is that people have many ideals they want to recreate with it: Aragorn, special-ops, Witchers, Van Helsing etc. What do you want from your ranger? I usually just suggest a downtime investment (research, tracking, poultices preparation ala Witcher depending on the skills/tools of the players) to allow the ranger to ''attune'' to a new terrain or favored enemy. This keep the feel of the class without going into heavy revision.

 

[Brendan Conway]

Have you or any player at your table tried to play a ranger as written or is all this revision attempt is from reading stuff on the internet? Rangers do well at what they are supposed to do: travel and explore their homeland, protecting the inhabitants of it from the un-natural. The problem with the ranger is that people have many ideals they want to recreate with it: Aragorn, special-ops, Witchers, Van Helsing etc. What do you want from your ranger? I usually just suggest a downtime investment (research, tracking, poultices preparation ala Witcher depending on the skills/tools of the players) to allow the ranger to ''attune'' to a new terrain or favored enemy. This keep the feel of the class without going into heavy revision.

My character the last 8 months has been a Ranger... thanks for your concern on my conspiracy theories.

Again, the problem is that Natural Explorer and Primeval Awareness pretty well cover the “tracking and traveling” flavor. Favored Enemy is their one real combat ability, and it’s a specific boost to two types of enemies. I agree that your idea to switch them is a valid solution, and I am offering another. Even if the rest of the revision is ignored, Favored Enemy needs some sort of attention as it stands.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

No need to get all worked up, its only that I see so much white room theorycrafting with people reading stuff all-over the net and getting the idea that some class are ''broken'' or ''non-viable'' without even playing it that when you said you were new it led me to think you just started 5e and did not play the said ranger yet. My bad.

Now, Adventures in Middle-Earth, witch is the LotR setting for 5e gave a new capstone at level 20: Deadly foe. You no longer roll for damage for a successful attack.
They also have a feature where they regain an HD when they kill a Favored enemy and one where, when you track a foe for 1 full day, you make it gain Exhaustion levels. You may want to check it out.