What is favored enemy worth?

[Slaved]

How about letting him gain Spells Per Day as though he was 2 levels higher in Ranger and have a +2 Caster Level Bonus as well? That is a Constant Bonus that the Player can play with as they like and it is minor enough to not cause any problems.

 

[roguerouge]

I agree. This feature is a prime feature in this kind of campaign. Offer to take the responsibility on yourself. It should not be hard for you to write up an index card that says "Orc Opponent: +4 to damage" and hand it to him during a combat with orcs.

 

[ardentmoth]

Hmm, i forgot about the favored organization stuff. It would make for a nice backstory if he was just especially good at slaying members of a certain cult (from intimate knowledge of them), or thieves guild. Nice RP stuff too.

 

[NightCrawler]

Favoured enemy Arcanists is a great choise too along with humans.

 

[Derro]

You could give him sneak attack. It's a bit limp compared to a rogue of equal level but more versatile than favored enemy as far as combat is concerned. I'd only do this if he really can't remember the extra bonus. Favored enemy vs. thieves guild members, evil cultists, or any other setting prevalent villain type (geez, even city guard if your players are like that) is HUGE in an urban campaign.

The index card method sounds alright. If you gotta hold a players hand a little for a better gaming experience then as a responsible GM that's what you do.

 

[Whimsical]

In one of my games, I allowed a player to dump favored enemy and choose fighter feats for those levels where he would gain favored enemy. He also dumped ranger spells in exchange for counting ranger levels for fighter levels so he can take the fighter-exclusive feats.

Was it balanced? Probably not. But we were both happy with the character.

 

[Thanael]

How about the Favored Environment variant ? You could make a new environment : Urban.

Or use an organization instead of a race.

Favored Enemy

At the game master's discretion, an urban ranger may select an organization instead of a creature type as his favored enemy. For example, a character might select a particular thieves' guild, merchant house, or even the city guard. The favored enemy bonuses would apply to all members of the chosen organization, regardless of their creature type or subtype.

 

[moritheil]

Its an urban game the party (currently a monk, a bard, an illusionist and the urban hunter) have gone with some level of ability with stealth. Which is why the hunter went with hunter instead of fighter as he traditionally does. The lack of any stealth ability for a fighter put him in a bad spot.

So why didn't he play a Sneaky Fighter or Thug variant?

The thing is he forgets to add in circumstantial modifiers, so for him favored enemy is pretty useless. He realizes that and wants something he actively chooses to do or that is a constant.

This shows that he doesn't think of his character as a ranger. A ranger is someone dedicated to killing certain creatures . . . when he's in-character he should always be looking for those creatures.

 

[Darklone]

In one of my games, I allowed a player to dump favored enemy and choose fighter feats for those levels where he would gain favored enemy. He also dumped ranger spells in exchange for counting ranger levels for fighter levels so he can take the fighter-exclusive feats.

Was it balanced? Probably not. But we were both happy with the character.

Given the new Ranger spells in SC and some pearls of power, he's actually lots weaker than a ranger

 

[fett527]

The thing is he forgets to add in circumstantial modifiers, so for him favored enemy is pretty useless. He realizes that and wants something he actively chooses to do or that is a constant.

So he's just being lazy. There are many ways to set reminders.

But hey. Change it for him if he likes. It was said again that human (again, as long as it is the prevailing race) as favored enemy is huge and that's what I was getting at. Just make sure he realizes what he's giving up.

Oh, and NO way he gets sneak attack IMO.