D&D General What is appropriate Ranger Magic

[Tales and Chronicles]

I think a dex-based paladin dual-wielding nick weapons and the Druid ritual or Druid magic iniate as background feat can be a better ranger than the ranger itself.

Go with either ancient or vengeance depending of your taste in terms of ranger themes.

With Bless and their auras, they fill the ideal of leading a group through the dangerous wilderness much more than the ranger.

 

[Minigiant]

Meh. The fact that Druids were defined as Divine casters in AD&D and 2E with no definitions as to why, and then morphed into a Primal caster in 4E and a whole new explanation being created for Druids, Barbarians, Wardens, and Shaman belies your sentiment in my opinion. There's been very little rhyme or reason to any of it, and adding new classes to 5E would not clear things up as far as I'm concerned. We'd still have the hodge-podge of Artificer, Bard, Warlock, Sorcerer, and Wizard as Arcane casters for some reason, not to mention a non-god-granted Paladin falling under the Divine heading.

But as is usually the case for narrative issues (rather than mechanical ones)... a person's mileage may vary.

There was rhyme to it back in the day.

In the old days, any granted spell was considered Divine be it from a god, an archdevil, a titan, or nature itself.

Only in 4e was God-Divine, Patron-Divine, and Nature-Divine were all separated and further differentiated.

But Rangers started as Arcane for divination and enhancement and Divinefor healing and nature. As Arcane, Divine, and Primal were further defined, both TSR and WOTC focused on other classes over the ranger magic-wise.

 

[CreamCloud0]

I do not think adding classes would help define anything. Rather, they would need to make decisions about where each type of magic comes from to define things.

my own personal categorisations for what the sources would be and where the power hypothetically comes from for each of the various sources
arcane - control from knowledge and understanding
divine - belief
primal - 'organic' power of nature and spirits
martial - physical skill and training
psionic - the mind and the 'absence' of magic
elemental - the planes
shadow - the unknown, hidden and unidentified
i would also add 'eldritch' as an eighth source for non-divine extraplanar entities

 

[Vaalingrade]

The Magic is modeled because you have multiple spell and subclasses bridging from the same classes while the lore stays cage on all three.

Whereas in 1e-4e, these concepts would be their own classes and thus require a more explaned definition of how it works because of roleplay requirements.

Starting with 4e Essentially everything got muddled as vastly different concepts spawned from the same class.

Assuming the last 4e you meant '5e', I think the issue is a fundamental misunderstanding of subclass even by the designers. They're a variant of the class, but also prestige class and they're treated as if they fundamentally change the class when they don't. The class chassis can't be fixed by a subclass because the chassis gets in the way.

Subclasses don't really replace elements of classes, which is shown as a flaw very much in the 5.5 Ranger where you are just saddled with the Hunter's Mark no matter what variant of archer / pet class / sad druid you are trying to be.

 

[Corinnguard]

Pathfinder 2nd edition presents each source this way:

Arcane spellcasters use logic and rationality to categorize the magic inherent in the world around them. Because of its far-reaching approach, the arcane tradition has the broadest spell list, though it’s generally poor at affecting the spirit or the soul. Wizards are the most iconic arcane spellcasters, poring over tomes and grimoires, though arcane sorcerers study the secrets of their blood to unlock the power within themselves.

The power of the divine is steeped in faith, the unseen, and belief in a power source from beyond the Material Plane. Clerics are the most iconic divine spellcasters, beseeching the gods to grant them their magic. Divine sorcerers can use the blood of their celestial or fiendish ancestors as a divine conduit, and champions call upon their gods to grant them martial prowess through divine guidance.

The practitioners of occult traditions seek to understand the unexplainable, categorize the bizarre, and otherwise access the ephemeral in a systematic way. Bards are the most iconic occult spellcasters, collecting strange esoterica and using their performances to influence the mind or elevate the soul, and occult sorcerers strive to understand the mysterious power in their blood.

An instinctual connection to and faith in the world, the cycle of day and night, the turning of the seasons, and the natural selection of predator and prey drive the primal tradition. Druids are the most iconic primal spellcasters, calling upon the magic of nature through deep faith and a connection to the plants and animals around them, and primal sorcerers call upon their fey or beast blood to harness the same natural energies.

 

[Minigiant]

Looking back at some 3e spells, I think an issue with Ranger magic is that it has to be more cerebral than default Druidic or Primal magic.

Because Druidic/Primal magic is "dumb".

Ranger at creation had divination assigned to it because Aragorn. And tracking magic stayed a bit too mental for druidic or primal magic.

It wasn't until 5e until Druidic got decent tracking magic. And that's after druids were expanded back to having mental aspects back in 4e

And that's a strange aspect of Rangers. Rangers are "too smart/human/civilized" to be purely druidic.

 

[Corinnguard]

And that's a strange aspect of Rangers. Rangers are "too smart/human/civilized" to be purely druidic.

Yet, they live and operate far from the creature comforts of civilization. Strange indeed.

 

[Minigiant]

Yet, they live and operate far from the creature comforts of civilization. Strange indeed.

Because they bring it with them.

The only plumbing in the forest is at the ranger's stronghold.

How else the class powered by hate and/or racism get a beautiful fey boy/girlfriend

 

[James Gasik]

I'd bring Bards into the conversation (as in 1e, they were also "druidic"), but it'd probably make Snarf break out into hives or something.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Based on the number of players who were ever able to get a character able to qualify for psionics in AD&D times... pretty much nobody was mentioning it.

I made a lot of 1e PCs. It happened once or twice.