Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="NotAYakk" data-source="post: 8241461" data-attributes="member: 72555">+1/2 level to every attack's damage goes from ignorable to very strong at higher levels.  Is it ranger class levels?The ranger class has so many issues that if you had a campaign only against favored enemies a pure class ranger they wouldn't be overpowered, but they'd continue to be relatively incompetent outside of those fights.So I'd be careful about baking too much into it.If you are open to wider changes...An additional class feature.Hunted FoeAt level 1 they can cast Hunter's Mark as a bonus action once per long rest.  They do not have to see their target, they can even cast it on their tracks or based off of hearing them, and this Hunter's Mark duration is indefinite; it lasts until the Ranger's concentration ends, or the creature is reduced to 0 HP.  The creature they use this on counts as your Foe.Favored EnemyWhen you it a favored enemy with a weapon attack, you can apply Hunter's Mark (either casting it with a spell slot, transferring hunter's mark they have active, or via the Hunted Foe class feature) before you deal damage without using a bonus action.Widen the NetAt level 5, Hunter's Mark no longer requires concentration, but the spell still ends if you are rendered incapacitated.  You can have up to your proficiency bonus Hunter's Mark (or Hunted Foe) spells active at any one time, but no more than one on any one target.  When you use your Hunted Foe class feature, you can apply it to up to your proficiency bonus targets at once; when it passes this limit, choose enough creatures to dismiss Hunter's Mark from to keep you below it.You can go further, giving Rangers "back 10" level support:Hunter's DanceStarting at level 11, the damage dice of your Hunter's Mark spell increases to 1d8.  Whenever a creature under the effects of your Hunter's Mark deals damage to you, you can roll your Hunter's Mark damage dice to reduce the damage you take by that amount.Canny HunterStarting at level 13, when a creature subject to your Hunter's Mark forces you to make a save, you may roll your Hunter's Mark damage dice to add to your saving throw roll.Apex PredatorStarting at level 17, the damage dice of your Hunter's Mark increases to 1d12.Non-pure casters are all, in my experience, missing meaty features from 11 to 20.The core of this is that I baked in the combat competence features into the baseline class, then tweaked Favored Enemy to apply HM without expending that bonus action.  I then make HM scale a bit better -- more damage, defensive features, and stripping concentration requirements if you go 5 levels into Ranger.Having that free bonus action isn't going to make a difference between competent and incompetent in a fight, but it will make you feel more competent when fighting your favored foe.  In a fight not against them, you'd open with a HM then attack.  In a fight against them, you can toss a bonus action lightning arrow, ensnaring strike, zephyr strike, swift quiver, guardian of nature, etc.It is only 1 round faster ramp, but it is a nice boost.  (Also, note that if you scout, you can use Hunted Foe to drop HM on a foe you can only hear or see tracks of.  And that foe stays hunted forever -- in effect, adding them to you foe list -- until you choose to drop it.)Bumping HM down to level 1 lets FE interact with it.  A 1/day HM is not going to make a Ranger dip insanely attractive; it is nice, but not crazy.  A 5 level "dip" gets you the concentration-free HM, but that is a serious investment.  By putting that in, we boost FE another little bit, because many of the ranger bonus action spells are concentration required; allowing level 5+ rangers to stack them doesn't break game balance (it is strong, but not divine-smite strong), but does open up the ranger's book of tactics a bunch.</blockquote>

Verification