scaramouche
Explorer
The A5E Ranger is, to my mind, superior to the O5E Ranger (admittedly a low bar to cross) but still has some weird oddities. Rangers seem to be a particularly difficult class to design for some reason.
And the most illustrative example of this is their level 12 class ability: Wilderness Lore, which offers Rangers two surprisingly anemic options. Even for ribbons / exploration pillar abilities, they're kind of shockingly miserable and I'm wondering if anyone can provide insight on them to help me understand why they're placed where they are.
The first option lets Rangers set traps that ... do 1d8+WIS (probably 2, maybe 3) damage? Or knock enemies over or into pits (which are both superior to the tiny trap damage, but still kind of meh). For a level 12 PC, this seems pretty trivial. Also, is the implication here that only Rangers can set traps? Can someone proficient in, say, Engineering, NOT build equivalent traps? This kind of feels like 'you gain the ability to do something that lots of people can do but with more text'.
The second option lets you skin/scavenge creatures you've killed. Again, is this not something that anyone can do? Is the implication that only L12+ Rangers can scavenge monster parts? Also, the value of what's scavenged feels really paltry. Breaking an ancient dragon down to parts would net 100gp - pocket change for someone in a position to handle an ancient dragon in the first place.
Am I somehow missing some value or cool factor in this feature that Rangers get well into their careers, when they're wielding flaming swords and fighting Beholders and the like?
And the most illustrative example of this is their level 12 class ability: Wilderness Lore, which offers Rangers two surprisingly anemic options. Even for ribbons / exploration pillar abilities, they're kind of shockingly miserable and I'm wondering if anyone can provide insight on them to help me understand why they're placed where they are.
The first option lets Rangers set traps that ... do 1d8+WIS (probably 2, maybe 3) damage? Or knock enemies over or into pits (which are both superior to the tiny trap damage, but still kind of meh). For a level 12 PC, this seems pretty trivial. Also, is the implication here that only Rangers can set traps? Can someone proficient in, say, Engineering, NOT build equivalent traps? This kind of feels like 'you gain the ability to do something that lots of people can do but with more text'.
The second option lets you skin/scavenge creatures you've killed. Again, is this not something that anyone can do? Is the implication that only L12+ Rangers can scavenge monster parts? Also, the value of what's scavenged feels really paltry. Breaking an ancient dragon down to parts would net 100gp - pocket change for someone in a position to handle an ancient dragon in the first place.
Am I somehow missing some value or cool factor in this feature that Rangers get well into their careers, when they're wielding flaming swords and fighting Beholders and the like?