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Why are non-caster Ranger themes so popular?
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<blockquote data-quote="Composer99" data-source="post: 8416634" data-attributes="member: 7030042"><p>If memory serves, Mike Mearls discussed the ranger in one of his Happy Fun Hour videos (no longer up on YouTube), and suggested that perhaps the way forward for the ranger was to have a choice at 1st or 2nd level (probably 2nd if it was using the power curve of the PHB ranger) to specialise in spellcasting, non-spell exploits, or beast mastery.</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If you picked spellcasting, you got the half-caster slot progression;</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If you picked non-spell exploits, you got special abilities that could be supernatural but weren't spells (although I think Mearls focused on combat manoeuvres/exploits in the video?);</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If you picked beast mastery, you got the persistent pet, this time with buffs suitable for having given up half-casting.</li> </ul><p></p><p>Presumably, this version would include subclasses that worked with two specs but not the other one (like a one-third caster for the two specs that aren't casters, or a pet subclass for the two specs that aren't the beast master) and <em>maybe</em> a subclass that would work with any spec (if you could design such a thing).</p><p></p><p>Personally, were I to go this route homebrewing a ranger, I would merge the non-caster rangers into a single spec, and make having (and upgrading) a beast companion into a thing you got by spending a few class-based build resources (similar to warlock invocations).</p><p></p><p>Obviously this would be a right pain to balance, but at least it would satisfy both the idea of having a spell-less ranger and a spellcasting ranger. It would leave out those who, for whatever reason, insisted that a ranger could <em>only</em> be one or the other, but you can't please everyone.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Composer99, post: 8416634, member: 7030042"] If memory serves, Mike Mearls discussed the ranger in one of his Happy Fun Hour videos (no longer up on YouTube), and suggested that perhaps the way forward for the ranger was to have a choice at 1st or 2nd level (probably 2nd if it was using the power curve of the PHB ranger) to specialise in spellcasting, non-spell exploits, or beast mastery. [LIST] [*]If you picked spellcasting, you got the half-caster slot progression; [*]If you picked non-spell exploits, you got special abilities that could be supernatural but weren't spells (although I think Mearls focused on combat manoeuvres/exploits in the video?); [*]If you picked beast mastery, you got the persistent pet, this time with buffs suitable for having given up half-casting. [/LIST] Presumably, this version would include subclasses that worked with two specs but not the other one (like a one-third caster for the two specs that aren't casters, or a pet subclass for the two specs that aren't the beast master) and [I]maybe[/I] a subclass that would work with any spec (if you could design such a thing). Personally, were I to go this route homebrewing a ranger, I would merge the non-caster rangers into a single spec, and make having (and upgrading) a beast companion into a thing you got by spending a few class-based build resources (similar to warlock invocations). Obviously this would be a right pain to balance, but at least it would satisfy both the idea of having a spell-less ranger and a spellcasting ranger. It would leave out those who, for whatever reason, insisted that a ranger could [I]only[/I] be one or the other, but you can't please everyone. [/QUOTE]
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Why are non-caster Ranger themes so popular?
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