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Unearthed Arcana: Another New Ranger Variant
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<blockquote data-quote="Jester David" data-source="post: 7680399" data-attributes="member: 37579"><p>I just finished a reread of the 1e-3e rangers and I don't get the "rangers lost their flavour" argument. 3e spread out two-weapon fighting, stealth, and tracking but those weren't the only bits of flavour. They've had the ability to track and slay giants consistently through the editions, and the twin swords popped up in 2e, along with a wild empathy analogue. </p><p></p><p>So the major traits of the ranger seem to be: wild empathy, tracking, stealth, and being good at killing giants. </p><p></p><p><strong>So it's not that rangers lack an identity, it's that WotC doesn't want to use the identity they have. </strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>Favoured enemy is the "problem" in that it's inconsistant damage, making it awkward to balance. This is because it's dependent on the adventure and DM to place those monsters in adventures. But looking at 1e/2e, the category of enemy was super broad. Pretty much all evil humanoids were considered "giants". </p><p>So do something comparable and give rangers a small damage bonus to humanoids, giants, and beasts. Those foes are common enough that 75% of adventures will feature one. Just make it a small bonus, like an extra 1d4 dmg once per turn that might go up as you level. Bam. Fun and different. </p><p></p><p>Tracking is another major part of the ranger. Natural explorer covers that. Kinda. While in a favoured terrain that ability allows the ranger to "remain alert to danger" (whatever that means) and "While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area." But the wolf totem ranger can track while travelling at a fast pace, so the ranger isn't the fastest tracker in the game. Really, <em>unless the ranger is tracking a favoured enemy or in their favoured terrain, they are no better at tracking than any other character</em>. </p><p>Kinda a failure there.</p><p></p><p>There's also the wild empathy. Because the ranger is best with animals: that's their niche of the three wilderness classes. They can pick the best animal to buy, train animals quickly, and calm wild animals. This isn't in the 5e ranger at all. </p><p>They should have the ability to use Persuasion on animals. </p><p></p><p></p><p>How do you fix the ranger? Well, something akin to the rogue & bard expertise mechanic applied to Survival and Animal Handling would be nice. Or herbalists kits. And give favoured enemy as small damage boost, but have the enemy more set and less of a choice. </p><p>The poultice idea from an earlier UA was also neat. Maybe drop the range down to 1/3 caster rather than 1/2 and give it some poultices and similar abilities. </p><p>I'd also remove the fighting style choice and just give all rangers a small perk to two-weapon fighting and archery. They're good at both. </p><p>Plus, instead of taking an action to attack with a beast, just swapping out an attack for one of its attacks should suffice. Maybe slip in an extra attack with it at higher levels. Oh, and having animal companions automatically stabilize or have advantage on death saving throws would also be handy. So the animals go down, but can be revived after the fight. That's much simpler than making them magical spirits. </p><p></p><p>There. Simple. Not rocket science. You don't need to redesign the wheel and add spirits to the ranger or cast them into a role identical to the oath of ancients paladin.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jester David, post: 7680399, member: 37579"] I just finished a reread of the 1e-3e rangers and I don't get the "rangers lost their flavour" argument. 3e spread out two-weapon fighting, stealth, and tracking but those weren't the only bits of flavour. They've had the ability to track and slay giants consistently through the editions, and the twin swords popped up in 2e, along with a wild empathy analogue. So the major traits of the ranger seem to be: wild empathy, tracking, stealth, and being good at killing giants. [B]So it's not that rangers lack an identity, it's that WotC doesn't want to use the identity they have. [/B] Favoured enemy is the "problem" in that it's inconsistant damage, making it awkward to balance. This is because it's dependent on the adventure and DM to place those monsters in adventures. But looking at 1e/2e, the category of enemy was super broad. Pretty much all evil humanoids were considered "giants". So do something comparable and give rangers a small damage bonus to humanoids, giants, and beasts. Those foes are common enough that 75% of adventures will feature one. Just make it a small bonus, like an extra 1d4 dmg once per turn that might go up as you level. Bam. Fun and different. Tracking is another major part of the ranger. Natural explorer covers that. Kinda. While in a favoured terrain that ability allows the ranger to "remain alert to danger" (whatever that means) and "While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area." But the wolf totem ranger can track while travelling at a fast pace, so the ranger isn't the fastest tracker in the game. Really, [I]unless the ranger is tracking a favoured enemy or in their favoured terrain, they are no better at tracking than any other character[/I]. Kinda a failure there. There's also the wild empathy. Because the ranger is best with animals: that's their niche of the three wilderness classes. They can pick the best animal to buy, train animals quickly, and calm wild animals. This isn't in the 5e ranger at all. They should have the ability to use Persuasion on animals. How do you fix the ranger? Well, something akin to the rogue & bard expertise mechanic applied to Survival and Animal Handling would be nice. Or herbalists kits. And give favoured enemy as small damage boost, but have the enemy more set and less of a choice. The poultice idea from an earlier UA was also neat. Maybe drop the range down to 1/3 caster rather than 1/2 and give it some poultices and similar abilities. I'd also remove the fighting style choice and just give all rangers a small perk to two-weapon fighting and archery. They're good at both. Plus, instead of taking an action to attack with a beast, just swapping out an attack for one of its attacks should suffice. Maybe slip in an extra attack with it at higher levels. Oh, and having animal companions automatically stabilize or have advantage on death saving throws would also be handy. So the animals go down, but can be revived after the fight. That's much simpler than making them magical spirits. There. Simple. Not rocket science. You don't need to redesign the wheel and add spirits to the ranger or cast them into a role identical to the oath of ancients paladin. [/QUOTE]
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