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Message: <blockquote data-quote="fuindordm" data-source="post: 6662747" data-attributes="member: 5435">All the warrior types have a reliable way to do extra damage, and that is their main "schtick".  I think that Favored Enemy is the best translation of the ranger's schtick into D&D rules so far, but I also understand its problems as implemented in 3E.To me, the ranger is the thoughtful hunter.  A ranger is willing to spend days tracking and studying the foe, in order to learn its weak points.  From a story perspective, I see the ranger arriving in a new location, and getting better and better as they spend more time there and learn about the terrain, and the types of enemies to be found. So instead of a 1st-level ranger being a "dragon hunter" because that sounded cool to the player, I see a 1st-level ranger as an experienced hunter/tracker, who has the training to become more effective against the enemy of the moment, but takes time to get their full bonus.Mechanics-wise, I would model that as a FE bonus tied to level, and maybe limit the number of simultaneous enemies by Int. A simple bonus to hit, damage, and skills is fine--and has the advantage that rangers don't need to max out Str or Dex to be effective fighters.Example: Alice the ranger 6 has a maximum favored enemy bonus of +3, equal to their proficiency bonus.  Alice arrives by ship to an uncharted island, and does some scouting. She comes across of tribe of lizardfolk and manages to stay hidden, studying them from afar (+1). One the way back she is ambushed by two lizardfolk back from patrol, and fights them at +1 to hit and damage. However, the battle teaches her more about lizardfolk tactics and weaknesses (+2).  She goes back to the ship and leads the party past the village, giving everyone in the party +2 on their stealth checks.  Farther inland a dinosaur rushes out of the trees and attacks; her favored enemy bonus doesn't help, but since her Int is 14 she can learn from this battle and get a +1 FE bonus for dinosaurs (sustaining 2 FEs simuntaneously). As the party continues to explore the island, every significant interaction with a FE raises her bonus against that FE, to a maximum of +3.  After any long rest, she can drop a FE and start learning another.The hunter's mark spell is a cop-out to give them bonus damage with very little justification.If we're worried about quadratic scaling, give them their Int bonus to hit, and the FE bonus only on damage--but then be more generous with the FE bonus (1/2 levels for example).</blockquote>

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