D&D 5E Xanathar's: Ranger - Gloom Stalker

[pukunui]

The preview video for the new gloom stalker ranger subclass from Xanathar's Guide to Everything is now up:

[video=youtube_share;dHzd8ALtnjs]https://youtu.be/dHzd8ALtnjs[/video]

*Formerly known as the deep stalker. They've broadened the scope to cover rangers who are at home in the dark anywhere, not just the Underdark specifically. It's now the ranger "with a little bit of assassin", who can use the darkness itself against monsters who are normally at home in the dark. This ranger is "a little bit of a terror" because they are invisible to those with darkvision when it's completely dark. They could be standing right next to a monster that can see in the dark and that monster wouldn't necessarily know they were there.

"This is the ranger who hunts others in the darkness."

 

[pukunui]

As an aside, the way Jeremy talks about this ranger, and the way the mechanics work for rangers in generally, still makes me think that the class is best suited for solo play, not team-based play. Does anyone else get that feeling?

(I know that the ranger has some team-oriented abilities, but the bulk of the class and its flavor scream "I work alone.")

 

[OB1]

As an aside, the way Jeremy talks about this ranger, and the way the mechanics work for rangers in generally, still makes me think that the class is best suited for solo play, not team-based play. Does anyone else get that feeling?

(I know that the ranger has some team-oriented abilities, but the bulk of the class and its flavor scream "I work alone.")

Interesting - I actually use a 12th level Beastmaster Ranger for an on again off again solo campaign my wife runs for me when the rest of our group can't play and we have the bug to roll some dice. I picked it because it felt like the best solo option.

You could really be onto something here as to why so many find something off with the class.

 

[Leatherhead]

I wonder why they went with the word "gloom", it's a bit archaic. They could have called the subclass the "Shadow Stalker" or "Shadow Hunter"

 

[Stalker0]

Can I just say that is a god awful name. Yes Shadow Stalker/Deep Stalker/Dark Stalker all much better names.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

WotC is being a tease again. Check out their official tweet about this subclass:

https://twitter.com/Wizards_DnD/status/923329860923281409

with the tagline they used:

"The Gloom Stalker is perfectly at home in the darkest areas of the #dnd multiverse."

 

[Mouseferatu]

Huh. I actually prefer "gloom." I like that it has a different sound; we've got lots of "shadow-this" and "dark-that" in the game already. It's actually the "stalker" part I'm not crazy about.

I have no idea if I'll like the subclass; I don't remember a thing about the prior versions. I just like half the name.

 

[Leatherhead]

Huh. I actually prefer "gloom." I like that it has a different sound; we've got lots of "shadow-this" and "dark-that" in the game already. It's actually the "stalker" part I'm not crazy about.

I have no idea if I'll like the subclass; I don't remember a thing about the prior versions. I just like half the name.

Yeah, I get that there is a buffet of "Shadow" to dig into. But "Gloom" sounds a bit too passive for my tastes. Rangers are what I imagine to be the hardest working class in the game (because it's implied they do everything by themselves just to survive out in the wilds), while "Gloom" is synonymous with depression, and that does not invoke the image of someone doing anything.

It's also a Pokemon, which will confuse the kids.

 

[Li Shenron]

As I mentioned in the other thread, I think "Gloom" is a change for the better.

"Deep" implied underground. "Dark" is better but might be mistaken for an evil bent. "Gloom" is certainly unsual, but doesn't come with moral connotations, and definitely removes the underground restriction. Wherever is darkness, be it a cave or a thick forest or an alley at night...

As an aside, the way Jeremy talks about this ranger, and the way the mechanics work for rangers in generally, still makes me think that the class is best suited for solo play, not team-based play. Does anyone else get that feeling?

(I know that the ranger has some team-oriented abilities, but the bulk of the class and its flavor scream "I work alone.")

Well if you ask me, solo play is the bane of RPGs. I think this Ranger is merely supposed to be moving ahead of the party, like a Rogue often does, and only when the situation suggests so.

 

[schnee]

Yeah, I like Gloom. Dark is over-used to the point of cliché.

Gloom has a feeling of melancholy that gives it a bit more character. When I hear the word I think of fitfully-burning lanterns in deep fog, the howl of a distant wolf, a decrepit Victorian houses, and a night-time tableau of a cloaked figure standing with utter stillness near an ivy-covered wrought-iron gate.

...

Also, the old video game might have presented a trademark issue.