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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Frostmarrow" data-source="post: 86228" data-attributes="member: 1122">I was thinking about how uninteresting the ranger ability Favored Enemy is. It gives the ranger increased ability to harm his enemies and to some extent it makes it easier for the ranger to dupe them. I find it pretty meaningless. Most of the time you are more than likely to forget about the bonus or sometimes you don't even know that it is an aberration you are fighting in the first place. "Hey, DM, is that we are fighting an aberration or a magical beast?""Sorry, you don't know.""But... If it's an aberration I hate it *sob*"So I asked myself what does the ability tell the ranger about his enemies?In D&D there is no ability or skill that let the character know something about monsters encountered. However there are several abilities that sort of works that way. Bardic Knowledge and Knowledge (Undead) comes to mind. So either the skill is missing or the above mentioned abilities are broken.Now what if Favored Enemy gave you clues on how to defeat the enemies in lieu of handing out a damage bonus? Let's say that a ranger with Favored Enemy (Magical beasts) could make a Wilderness Lore check against the monsters CR. If the ranger is successful the DM gives him information that could be useful for the ranger in a fight ...or friendly debate. The DM can chose what information to give the player but typically a successful check should reveal either the monster's special attack or special qualities. If the ranger scores a critical success the DM could let the player read the entire entry in Monster Manual. If the ranger scores a critical failure the DM would supply the ranger with false information. "Yes, vampires are extra suceptible to damage from silver weapons."Of course an experienced player or avid reader of the MM is likely to know these things anyway so it might not be much of a bonus, one might argue. However,  the constant flow of new monsters from WotC and third party publishers pretty much ensures the ability's usefulness for years to come. All monsters fit one of the types of monsters the ranger can favor readily."You have never seen anything like this before but it reminds you of all those constructs you've destroyed in your days. It's probably immune to electricity. Moreover it's nostrils smell of sulphur."Every time you get a new Favored Enemy you can roll to see if you know it's strengths or weaknesses. In this version of the Favored Enemy-ability Humanoids is considered one category. (There is not much to be known about a human enemy. "Yeah, your enemy has lots of skill points and one extra feat.""Great."Using Favored Enemy in this way might also grant the ranger player some attention around the games table. I mean most classes have something they excel at. The bard for example excel at attention. The ranger works silently and efficiently but he doesn't supply the party with anything the party doesn't already have. If the ranger knew the secrets of the monsters you wouldn't venture into the wilderness without one. Additionally the wilderness lore check (which the DM makes) ensures that the players don't know stuff the DM doesn't want them to.I think that knowledge about his enemies is a much more efficient weapon against his hated foe than a measly +1-+5 to damage. Provided the player knows how to use the information, that is. What do you think?</blockquote>

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