D&D General What spells should be on the rangers list?

[Shades of Eternity]

Hunter's Mark should be an ability, not a spell.

It's basically target lock (which I always imagine looks like Reboot's Enzo Matrix's ability).

And it should be followed up by the Rangers' "Death Blossom" (which should be a spell).

 

[Horwath]

Hunter's Mark should be an ability, not a spell.

It's basically target lock (which I always imagine looks like Reboot's Enzo Matrix's ability).

And it should be followed up by the Rangers' "Death Blossom" (which should be a spell).

Star Wars 5e

sw5e.com

they should just copy Ranger's quarry from this version of the class;

RANGER’S QUARRY​

Scout: 1st, 5th, 9th, and 17th level
You learn how to effectively read and track your prey. Once on each of your turns, you can choose a creature you can see within 120 feet and mark it as your quarry (no action required). For the next hour, you gain the following benefits:

• Once per turn, when you hit the target with a weapon attack, you can deal 1d4 additional damage to it of the same type as the weapon’s damage. This die changes as you gain scout levels, as shown in the Ranger’s Quarry column of the scout table.
• You have advantage on any Wisdom (Perception) or Wisdom (Survival) check you make to find it while it’s on the same planet as you.

You can only have one creature marked in this way at a time. Beginning at 5th level, you can use your reaction to mark a creature when it enters your line of sight, provided it is within range of your Ranger’s Quarry.

The duration increases to 8 hours at 9th level and 24 hours at 17th level.

 

[Corinnguard]

Star Wars 5e

sw5e.com

they should just copy Ranger's quarry from this version of the class;

RANGER’S QUARRY​

Scout: 1st, 5th, 9th, and 17th level
You learn how to effectively read and track your prey. Once on each of your turns, you can choose a creature you can see within 120 feet and mark it as your quarry (no action required). For the next hour, you gain the following benefits:

• Once per turn, when you hit the target with a weapon attack, you can deal 1d4 additional damage to it of the same type as the weapon’s damage. This die changes as you gain scout levels, as shown in the Ranger’s Quarry column of the scout table.
• You have advantage on any Wisdom (Perception) or Wisdom (Survival) check you make to find it while it’s on the same planet as you.

You can only have one creature marked in this way at a time. Beginning at 5th level, you can use your reaction to mark a creature when it enters your line of sight, provided it is within range of your Ranger’s Quarry.

The duration increases to 8 hours at 9th level and 24 hours at 17th level.

I am guessing that Laser Llama borrowed this class feature when he was designing his version of the Ranger class back in 2022.

Ranger's Quarry​

You focus your senses to hunt as a predator of the wild. Also at 2nd level, you can use a bonus action to mark one creature you can see as your Quarry, gaining the benefits below:

• Whenever you damage it with an attack, you deal bonus damage equal to a roll of your Quarry Die, which is a d4.
• Whenever you make an ability check to track or locate it, you can add one roll of your Quarry Die to your d20 roll.
  

These benefits last for 1 hour but end early if your Quarry is slain or if you mark another creature as your Quarry. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (a minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. When you have no uses left, you can expend a spell slot to use this feature again.

When you reach 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th levels in this class, both the duration of Ranger's Quarry and the size of your Quarry Die increase, as indicated in the Ranger table.

He even has a couple of Knacks that rely on his Ranger's Quarry ability:

Slayer I​

Prerequisite: 3rd-level Ranger
When you hit a creature with a weapon attack you can mark it as your Quarry as part of the attack, applying your Quarry damage bonus and other benefits to the damage roll.

Slayer II​

Prerequisite: 6th-level Ranger, Slayer I
Your tracking abilities have become supernaturally accurate. You can mark a creature as your Quarry by studying signs of its passing, such as tracks, that were left within 24 hours.

Moreover, whenever you make a Wisdom (Perception) or a Wisdom (Survival) check to locate or track your Quarry, you can treat a roll of 7 or lower on the d20 as an 8.

Slayer III​

Prerequisite: 14th-level Ranger, Slayer I, II
When you hit a Quarry with a weapon attack, you can force it to make a Constitution saving throw against your Spell save DC. On a failed save, it is blinded, cannot speak, deafened, or restrained (your choice) until the start of your next turn. You can only use this feature on your Quarry once per turn.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

For me, the notion of a "spell-less ranger" only works in a mundane world. Experts at surviving in the wilderness of magical, fantasy environments are going to learn about the magic of that environment; and do you expect a hardcore survivalist to turn their nose up at a magic trick or two that would save their life? These guys willing drink their own piss! If the ranger is of the forest, and the forest is magical, ipso facto the ranger is magical.

The ranger's spell list should be themed around "practicality" in the same way that the bard's spell list is themed around sensation and art. To separate it from the druid list, it should focus more on buffing and defense with the expectation that the ranger's offense comes from their weaponry.

 

[CreamCloud0]

For me, the notion of a "spell-less ranger" only works in a mundane world. Experts at surviving in the wilderness of magical, fantasy environments are going to learn about the magic of that environment; and do you expect a hardcore survivalist to turn their nose up at a magic trick or two that would save their life? These guys willing drink their own piss! If the ranger is of the forest, and the forest is magical, ipso facto the ranger is magical.

The ranger's spell list should be themed around "practicality" in the same way that the bard's spell list is themed around sensation and art. To separate it from the druid list, it should focus more on buffing and defense with the expectation that the ranger's offense comes from their weaponry.

exactly, the ranger is focused on survivability and practicality, they will absolutely pick up any new useful tool that could be at their disposal, and in worlds with magic, especially such consistent and reliable magic, it's basically the king of tools available.

 

[Corinnguard]

For me, the notion of a "spell-less ranger" only works in a mundane world. Experts at surviving in the wilderness of magical, fantasy environments are going to learn about the magic of that environment; and do you expect a hardcore survivalist to turn their nose up at a magic trick or two that would save their life? These guys willing drink their own piss! If the ranger is of the forest, and the forest is magical, ipso facto the ranger is magical.

The ranger's spell list should be themed around "practicality" in the same way that the bard's spell list is themed around sensation and art. To separate it from the druid list, it should focus more on buffing and defense with the expectation that the ranger's offense comes from their weaponry.

Just out of curiosity, but what about the spell-less Fighter? Shouldn't they know magic as well? They're combat experts who will find themselves dealing with magical opponents at some point in their adventuring after all.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Just out of curiosity, but what about the spell-less Fighter? Shouldn't they know magic as well? They're combat experts who will find themselves dealing with magical opponents at some point in their adventuring after all.

Yeah, that philosophy really leads to, "why isn't everybody casting spells"?

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Just out of curiosity, but what about the spell-less Fighter? Shouldn't they know magic as well? They're combat experts who will find themselves dealing with magical opponents at some point in their adventuring after all.

That depends on what is being fought. You don't need magic to kill a human. You might need magic to kill a dragon: I'd say in most D&D games any fighter killing a dragon has some degree of magic, even if it doesn't come from class features.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Yeah, that philosophy really leads to, "why isn't everybody casting spells"?

Unless we're talking about a setting like Dark Sun where there are downsides to casting spells, or Forgotten Realms where the ability to do magic is only bestowed on a select few; that is a question worth asking.

 

[Corinnguard]

Unless we're talking about a setting like Dark Sun where there are downsides to casting spells, or Forgotten Realms where the ability to do magic is only bestowed on a select few; that is a question worth asking.

It might also depend on whether the setting is a Low Magic setting or a High Magic setting. If you were role-playing in a low magic setting, the Ranger would be spell-less and rely more on their skills and wilderness training.