Your favored enemies, and why?
- Thread starter Driddle
- Start date
Crothian
First Post
My first was giants. The land my half elf ranger is from is very near many giants and they have problems with them raiding and killing. The second I picked was Undead. The campaign was taking a heavy turn in dealing with undead, so it made sense. THe third one I picked is Drow. We have just started to do a lot of things with Drow and trying to foil their plots, so again it made the most sense.
Ylis
First Post
Really, it depends on the setting. My rangers typically choose favored enemies that they view as being major threats to the forests/lands, etc. Some settings I've played in it's the typical goblin/ogre/giant trend, but in some it's dwarves or certain types of elves...
But in an average game, my rangers would likely start (at first level) with smaller evil humanoids (such as goblins), so that they don't get in the mood to take on too many things that can squish them, and later advance into ogres and, eventually, giants....
But in an average game, my rangers would likely start (at first level) with smaller evil humanoids (such as goblins), so that they don't get in the mood to take on too many things that can squish them, and later advance into ogres and, eventually, giants....
RangerWickett
Legend
Okay, I'm going to rant now.
What the hell is the logic behind Favored Enemy? Apparently, you've studied your enemy very well, so you're really good at dealing with him. Let's examine the bonuses you get. Bonuses to Spot and Listen, to damage rolls, to Sense Motive, to tracking, and a few others.
So . . . I've studied Goblins. I know where a Goblin's body can be hurt most easily; I know what they sound like as they walk, and I can recognize their facial features and gestures well enough so as not to get caught off guard by them. If I run into an Orc, I don't get this benefit, because Orcs and Goblins are very different.
Next, for my next favored enemy, I've studied Humans. I know how to injure a human by going for the weak spots like the third vertebra, and I'm familiar with the common aspects in human sociology to let me tell when a human is telling a lie, whether that human is a tall, hulking Nordic man or a skinny teenaged Japanese girl, each from vastly different cultures. But if I try to tell if an Elf is bluffing, or if I want to hurt an Elf, I'm out of luck. His gestures and anatomy are just too different from humans. Heaven forbid I want to hurt a dark Elf.
For my third favored enemy, I choose Aberrations. In an adventure, I come across a room filled with an Aboleth, a Mind Flayer, a Beholder, and a Carrion Crawler. I am not worried. Because of my superior knowledge of anatomy, I can discern the shared weak spots of these three monsters, despite their completely different body plans and minds. Of course, I can't possibly know how to hurt a Frost Wurm. After all, it's a magical beast. It's far too unrelated.
No, I'm sorry. The explanation in the PHB is stupid and lame. The only possible explanation my group can accept for these ridiculous bonuses to completely arbitrary groups is that rangers hate these monsters. They do not derive benefits to combat and hunting because of close study, but rather because they are racists.
Durned racist rangers, hating on everybody.
I'm going to make a ranger PC with Favored Enemy (Playas).
What the hell is the logic behind Favored Enemy? Apparently, you've studied your enemy very well, so you're really good at dealing with him. Let's examine the bonuses you get. Bonuses to Spot and Listen, to damage rolls, to Sense Motive, to tracking, and a few others.
So . . . I've studied Goblins. I know where a Goblin's body can be hurt most easily; I know what they sound like as they walk, and I can recognize their facial features and gestures well enough so as not to get caught off guard by them. If I run into an Orc, I don't get this benefit, because Orcs and Goblins are very different.
Next, for my next favored enemy, I've studied Humans. I know how to injure a human by going for the weak spots like the third vertebra, and I'm familiar with the common aspects in human sociology to let me tell when a human is telling a lie, whether that human is a tall, hulking Nordic man or a skinny teenaged Japanese girl, each from vastly different cultures. But if I try to tell if an Elf is bluffing, or if I want to hurt an Elf, I'm out of luck. His gestures and anatomy are just too different from humans. Heaven forbid I want to hurt a dark Elf.
For my third favored enemy, I choose Aberrations. In an adventure, I come across a room filled with an Aboleth, a Mind Flayer, a Beholder, and a Carrion Crawler. I am not worried. Because of my superior knowledge of anatomy, I can discern the shared weak spots of these three monsters, despite their completely different body plans and minds. Of course, I can't possibly know how to hurt a Frost Wurm. After all, it's a magical beast. It's far too unrelated.
No, I'm sorry. The explanation in the PHB is stupid and lame. The only possible explanation my group can accept for these ridiculous bonuses to completely arbitrary groups is that rangers hate these monsters. They do not derive benefits to combat and hunting because of close study, but rather because they are racists.
Durned racist rangers, hating on everybody.
I'm going to make a ranger PC with Favored Enemy (Playas).
RangerWickett said:
IMO it's not so much that favored enemy is stupid, but rather that some of the creature types are stupid, or at least are too general. Aberrations in particular are a lame catch-all category, and the lameness has ramifications that go way beyond favored enemy. Because the designers were envisioning beholders and mind flayers as the prototypical aberrations, we now have brutish monstrosities like umber hulks, chuuls, and kythons have lousy BAB's, pitiful grapple check bonuses, and low Fort saves.
There really should be more specific grouping amongst monsters, primarily in the form of subtypes that determine what a creature's good saves are, how many skill points they receive each level, etc. And that subtype should be what rangers use for favored enemy.
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(Psi)SeveredHead
Adventurer
My 3rd-level ranger is a hunter, so he chose animals. He carries spears for hunting, too, which is great when you ready against a charge: +4 damage.
At 5th-level, since I live in a desert, I'll choose vermin.
No, I'm not expecting my abilities to be useful in any way, shape or form, so for me it's just flavor.
At 5th-level, since I live in a desert, I'll choose vermin.
No, I'm not expecting my abilities to be useful in any way, shape or form, so for me it's just flavor.
