D&D (2024) What type of ranger would your prefer for 2024?

[Minigiant]

The

1. Ranger who protects civilization from nature
2. Ranger who protects civilization with nature
3. Ranger who protects nature from civilization
4. Ranger who protects nature with civilization

are 4 different class fantasy, have 4 different mechanics, and need different support.

And the ranger from 0e to 5e is 1.

 

[Starfox]

In 5E terms I think ranger spellcasting should be part of subclasses. I want spellcasting to be an option for rangers, not mandatory. The obvious comparison is the Eldritch Knight, but spellcasting rangers could have more variety and possibly be more powerful spellcasters - such as the ranger is now.

 

[le Redoutable]

Euuh Knight ?
I would prefer Rangers to pertain to the order of the merchants
( While Hunters ===> thieves )

 

[Neonchameleon]

I would rather my primal types (ranger, druid, barbarian) be liminal - not actually wiggling their fingers and saying magic words other than for ritual but still being various degrees of overtly supernatural. Abilities like Wild Shape, various of the rages, and Warlock Invoations are more of what I'd want.

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

Fantasy should be what the game should be about. Not just the one fantasy being the only one allowed because of lazy design goals and a fan base so unwilling to accept anything but magic being reliable they accepted Bounded Accuracy that makes it absolutely certain any and all skills are markedly unreliable.

Niche RPGs based on IPs can do well if they have decent mechanics and lean into the IP to capture the essence of it. D&D needs to do that better, not try to make it generic.

D&D isn't a generic universal role-playing system and shouldn't be designed that way. D&D's niche is the D&D universe itself, with fantasy heroes striving against dungeons, dragons, magic, and supernatural threats, on top of any mundane threats. Magic is part of the fabric of the game (a "weave" of fabric, if you will), even for "non-magical" races and classes in the form of magic items, boons, and enemies to face.

I strongly believe that Rangers in D&D are cooler because they lean into the primal magic. The Seeker class in 4E has some of that primal feel that I think Rangers deserve to lean into if they want.

Most non-magical abilities based on crafting (traps, poultices, poisons, etc.) should be subsystems that take time and money to invest in and implement. (Yes, this means they deserve better rules for implementing them.) They shouldn't be siloed "class abilities" because they shouldn't all belong to one class. I can see a rogue, artificer, or druid being able to set traps before a fight as much as a non-magical Ranger can. Poultices shouldn't belong to one class. IMO, Primal magic is the best way to create an in-world reason to make the Ranger unique in D&D, especially if mundane abilities can become part of a more general subsystem that others can get into.

 

[Vaalingrade]

What primal magic?

I just went over the level 1 list in its entirety and it's cleric spells and basic woodcraft written as spells except for esnaring arrow.

 

[Minigiant]

I would rather my primal types (ranger, druid, barbarian) be liminal - not actually wiggling their fingers and saying magic words other than for ritual but still being various degrees of overtly supernatural. Abilities like Wild Shape, various of the rages, and Warlock Invoations are more of what I'd want.

I wonder if this is just a 30+ page discussion just because Rangers don't automatically have Subtle Spell.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The

1. Ranger who protects civilization from nature
2. Ranger who protects civilization with nature
3. Ranger who protects nature from civilization
4. Ranger who protects nature with civilization

are 4 different class fantasy, have 4 different mechanics, and need different support.

And the ranger from 0e to 5e is 1.

Nah.

The ranger has always been the people who protect the borderlands (wild and civil) from things outside either, or protect goodly folk from evil humanoids (but that is less and less part of D&D now) and it works just fine when no one is trying to force it to be some other thing.

And those 4 things are not even contradictory. Protecting the borderlands of civilization in a D&D world requires keeping civilization in check as it interacts with nature.
Hell, in D&D some of civilization exists inside of wilderness areas like undeveloped forests, and those societies have their own rangers.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

In 5E terms I think ranger spellcasting should be part of subclasses. I want spellcasting to be an option for rangers, not mandatory. The obvious comparison is the Eldritch Knight, but spellcasting rangers could have more variety and possibly be more powerful spellcasters - such as the ranger is now.

If it were a base class feature choice I’d be fine with it, but no the ranger should not spend their subclass to gain Spellcasting. Every ranger subclass should work with or without spell slots, and you can choose at level 2 whether to gain Spellcasting or some other feature.

 

[Minigiant]

Nah.

The ranger has always been the people who protect the borderlands (wild and civil) from things outside either, or protect goodly folk from evil humanoids (but that is less and less part of D&D now) and it works just fine when no one is trying to force it to be some other thing.

Nah.

The 1st through 2nd edition ranger was lorewise firmly on the side of civilization. They fought things that threatened civilazation most often, giant class monsters: orcs, gobliniods, kobolds, and giants. This changed in 3e to open up new ideas an concepts and with the opening of mechanics..

And those 4 things are not even contradictory. Protecting the borderlands of civilization in a D&D world requires keeping civilization in check as it interacts with nature.
Hell, in D&D some of civilization exists inside of wilderness areas like undeveloped forests, and those societies have their own rangers.

I didn't say they are contradictory.
I say they are 4 different class fantasies.
A Nights Watch Ranger and Wood Elf Glade Lord are different types of rangers with different fantasies.

With X or Within X is using it's power. From is directly targeting it.

One is 100% Martial, another is 75% Martial 25% Primal. Another is 50% Martial 50% Primal. etc..

But just like I said at the start of this thread, you can't fit them all into one class. Not with subclasses. Not with "holy orders". That's a pipe dream. That was the WOTC Mystic for psionics. The only way is with different classes.