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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Indaarys" data-source="post: 9059588" data-attributes="member: 7040941">The issue with the Ranger historically is that the OG design for it was a kitbash of whatever game mechanics existed that could deliver the sorts of things Aragorn could be said to do. Rangers weren't made spellcasters because thats part of the fantasy (Aragorn is not magic, and what you could point that thats "may be" magic comes from his race/background, not his Class) but because the game was just shallow in the areas Rangers needed. But the problem is by just sticking with spellcasting they inadvertently created a whole new trope that sucks up all the air in the room when it comes to Ranger design; you suggest Rangers shouldn't be spellcasters and theres a dozen people coming out of the woodwork to just say that makes them a Fighter. Ranger has a core identity from literature, but DND has never been primed to deliver on it, and neither Gygax, TSR, or WOTC have ever really sat down and tried to deliver a bespoke mechanical identity for the Ranger that isn't just a refined form of kitbashing. WOTC ironically got very close with 5e's Natural Explorer, but of course WOTC being WOTC refuse to this day to iterate on the design and have since effectively scrapped it entirely. Ive talked about it before, but it was learning that history that drove me to design my own Ranger in the way that I did, resulting in a specific fantasy of AOE Martialing, Martial Healing, and (newly as Ive had even better ideas) the wielding of mundane nature as a weapon and shield unto themselves. A level 5 Ranger can disperse the parties trail and lead their foes astray, and in need engage them all to keep the party safe. They can heal wounds and forge new paths through the wild. A level 30 Ranger throws a pebble into the woods and 20 stampeding Dragons come barreling out of the trees while the Ranger engages the 9 Legions of Hellspawn by themselves. Master Healers and an uncanny skill in the wilderness lets them wield even the most hostile environments as a cloak against evil or a blade to smite it. Thats what Rangers should look like imo, and its what mine will when the time comes to sit and work through it properly. No silly incantations or wand waving in this class.</blockquote>

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