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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 6669833" data-attributes="member: 20323">I was just looking back over the AD&D Ranger, and it seems there were 3 *unique* class features:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tracking</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Improved Surprise (and, in turn, harder to be surprised)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Favored Enemy (bonus damage vs. "giant class" creatures)</li> </ul>So, I would argue that Favored Enemy is not the SOLE uniquely defining characteristic of the Ranger.Interestingly, in AD&D the "giant class" creatures included a whole mess of "humanoids" and "giants" including: bugbear, hobgoblin, kaolinth, goblin, tasloi, kobold, cyclops, cyclops-kin, ettin, ogre, ogre mage, orc, orog, ogrillion, norker, meazel, dune stalker, all giants & giant-kin, gibberling, quaggoth, gnoll, spriggan, grimlock, troll, and xvart.These monsters embodied the "invading armies of Mordor" type threat to civilized lands. And it's a wise spread at 1st level! But, of course, the players doesn't get any choice in the matter.Modern incarnations of this class feature have tried to present the player with greater choice about the nature of their Favored Enemy. So now there is greater adaptability during character creation.However, in play it remains just as rigid as the AD&D Ranger, perhaps even more so. Because the AD&D Ranger had such a wide spread of favored enemies from common D&D foes, a player probably wasn't going to pass more than a session or three before encountering one of the monsters on their list. Whereas the 5e Ranger might have Aberrations or Dragons as a favored enemy and go maybe 5-10 sessions without encountering an aberration or dragon. That 5e Ranger player is potentially going to feel like they're missing a chance to shine for a much longer period than the AD&D Ranger player.Now, requiring player-DM communication about what favored enemies are suited to the DM's campaign before the game makes sense in home play, but what about organized play? What about D&D school clubs? What about convention games? D&D is played in a lot of ways and that sort of communication isn't always possible.An interesting design test would be to implement a version of Favored Enemy that is adaptable in play, say after researching, tracking, or fighting a particular monster, the ranger would gain their Favored Enemy bonus against that monster. So the vibe would be more a "studied enemy" than being specifically a dragon slayer, giant slayer, or orc hunter.</blockquote>

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