D&D General What is a Ranger? A miserable pile of secrets! (+)

[Stalker0]

But I don’t want it to be a fighter subclass, i want it to be the ranger

Honestly I think the true "core core" ranger would be a perfect fighter subclass. Gain some wilderness and stealth skills, and call it a day.

 

[Stalker0]

A list of characters that I identify as "rangers":

Legolas — Archery theme, and guide.
Aquaman — The aquatic Beastmaster.
Batman — The urban "Hunter" type.
Sam & Dean from Supernatural — Hunters/Monster Slayers.

All of these I would consider fighters or rogues. Legolas is pure fighter. Aquaman is a fighter with supernatural powers added on. Batman definitely a rogue. Sam and Dean, no real woodsmen there, the boys prefer the urban diner not the cabin in the woods. I would actually call them rogues more than fighters maybe, or fighter/rogues.

 

[nevin]

I think I'm one of 3 people on the planet that liked the original 1e ranger. I always ran them as an order that reported to a druidic circle so in effect they were the Druids marshal arm.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Bows, bows, bows... all I ever hear is bows.

My current ranger is a firbolg sword/shield build, and STR-based (18), not DEX (12), in breast plate for AC 17, picking up the gloom stalker subclass.

Frankly, I have found this to be a VERY refreshing take on the class!

I think I'm one of 3 people on the planet that liked the original 1e ranger. I always ran them as an order that reported to a druidic circle so in effect they were the Druids marshal arm.

Count me among them, 1E ranger is my favorite.

 

[lingual]

Saw a few minutes of this on Amazon. Don't subscribe to Amazon just for this.

 

[jmartkdr2]

All of the above, but not all at once. A well-designed ranger class would let you do any of those things, but probably not all of those things.

If I were building a new ranger class, though, I'd specifically start with the beastmaster. Get that to work. Then, take away the pet. The remaining design space is where all your other subclasses go.

 

[Shardstone]

A list of characters that I identify as "rangers":

Aragorn — Melee theme, and survival focus.
Legolas — Archery theme, and guide.
Aquaman — The aquatic Beastmaster.
Batman — The urban "Hunter" type.
Grizzly Adams — A Beastmaster living in the wilds.
Lone Ranger — Hunter/Bounty Hunter, with a spot of Beastmaster.
Sam & Dean from Supernatural — Hunters/Monster Slayers.
Drizzt — Mishmash of ranger subclasses.

There is no single poll option that fits all of them. Most of them could be described as living on the boundary between two worlds, including knowledge of the dark sides of their frontiers. Hunting is a common theme.

Weapons vary wildly. Nature is fairly common, if only because that's often part of the scope of "frontier", and includes being able to make good use of the environment. Magic is spotty.

I wouldn't classify any of them as "fighter". They can all fight, but fighting itself isn't their concept or theme. I also wouldn't classify them as "rogues", who I see as more selfish in behavior.

I love this! Particular, the "warrior who exists in two worlds" idea. Love love love!

 

[jmartkdr2]

Also, my personal favorite ranger class is the one in 13th Age. Pick three things off a list that mean 'ranger' to you.

 

[Oofta]

This ranger is more like a bow-rogue:light/med armour, ranged focused and using sneak attack(hunters mark/favoured foe) for situational damage boosts, while the fighter has more health, better armour and weapons, higher and non-situational base damage, more attacks, manoeuvres...

But other than hunter's mark what makes them that much different from rogue scout?

 

[Oofta]

If I had a mundane ranger, I'd look to Aragorn for inspiration. Yes, he can heal but it's because of his knowledge of plants. He has to go to the elves for magical healing. Instead give him something similar to the Healer feat but make it scale with level. As I stated before, give them advantage on stealth in wilderness areas. I'd also probably consider some sort of trap making ability, with a variety of traps that do things other than damage. If you want a bit of supernatural, make it a connection to wild animals and beasts. Again, if you have an animal companion, just make it so they can train it to attack don't just make it a puppet.

Beyond that and wearing medium or light armor? So many options if you want a bit of supernatural without explicitly going to spells. Make a "fury of the wild" feature that works similar to hunters mark or "wolf stride" to double speed so many times per day.