Rangers: Classes in 5e Dungeons & Dragons - Web DM
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- Опубликовано: 26 июл 2024
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Web DM hey guys just stumbled onto you guys. first off. great stuff love your content. keep up the great work.
I had a few questions I was hoping to throw out there. I'm new to 5th edition, I've played all the other editions. and the ranger is hands down my favorite class, I am interested in if there is an Ranger option along the lines of the Scout as presented in the Complete Adventurer 3.5 book.
I've always been a fan of that particular ranger build. and was curious if there was anything like it in 5th thanks for all you guys do
I just feel that there are so many references to pull from DnD lore, why do so many who want to explain anything about DnD always pull from Tolkien lore? You're talking to people who play THIS game. Never played a Middle Earth RPG.
For those looking for another fictional ranger character, check out the Ranger's Apprentice series. It is written for middle schoolers, but the stories are wonderful.
I second this. Really shows how one should play Rangers as not just a ranged fighter, but an expert strategist, tracker, scout, and yes fighter.
When I was 12, that series was the shit
Loved these books as a kid and still do now. They really show how the mind can be just as powerful as a sword.
Yes! RA had a huge influence on my first D&D character, and an even bigger influence on the creation of the world for my upcoming campaign.
BROOOOO
I had no clue those books were that popular. Loved them when I was in middle school
Every time I think of the Rangers, I imagine the orcs in shadows of mordor yelling it at you
MAN SWINE!
RAYNJA!
PIG SKIN!!!
you may have just convinced me to play a ranger.
GRAVEWALKER!
One of the fixes I spoke with my DM regarding my BM Hunter was to allow me to play my pet as another character that was loyal to me. It had its own initiative, attacks, actions and it would grow with mods to show it was growing as a creature and maintain some semblance of usefulness as we levelled. The downside was it could make decisions on its own, to a degree. This allowed me to roll play my animal as if I was playing another hero. The dice decided the animals intentions. 1 > 5, on a d20, it didn't do what I wanted and did its own thing. If it was injured that 1>5 became 1>10 at 50% health and 1>15 at 25% health. There were several times my panther ran and hid in combat. Out of combat it would chase a creature, follow a caravan, be drawn to a bakers hut, create a tense moment at an inn or something like this to create a situation during down time. Other times the DM would use my cat as a guide to another encounter, a location or just control my pet during a roll playing session. My panther did amazing acts of bravery for the party and she became a part of the group because she was a character with her own personality, not just a tool to be used. The BM Hunter, as written, is weak but I think its up to the player to modify the limitations and turn them into a BM's strength ... with the help of the DM. ;)
For an interesting take on Rangers, I’d recommend the Rangers Apprentice series by John Flanagan. Great series, and lots of good characters.
I actually went and did this. On book 4 rn
I loved this series. It's how I want rangers to be in all my campaigns. Especially fills out the ideas of what a ranger conclave is.
Old comment I know but that series is one of my absolute favorite YA series
Ah, been years since I've read that series. You even get a wonderful example of what a ranger that multiclassed into fighter might look like
Halt is such a badass. Such a great mentor archetype. I loved the series as a kid and read every book in the series. I reread them as an adult a few years ago and they still hold up. It’s written and marketed for a younger audience but is an enjoyable read for any age.
Took a while for this video to find its way (uploaded) as RUclips was not Web Dm's favoured terrain!
Andrew C ey
Andrew C Dungeon snap!
Andrew C God how long did it take you to do this OMG that's amazing
What bothers me about the Ranger class is that it ONLY seems to imagine Rangers as Outsiders- those far from civilization, wandering the wilderness. I think it would be super fun to play a City Ranger- say, a Ratcatcher, with a loyal terrier as your companion, armed with your skinning knives, able to navigate the sewers and twisting alleys of the lower quarters, knowing where to get the best food and drink in the city. Having above-board contacts with innkeepers and ferriers, able to track someone through rumours in the city.
I think that would be a cool ranger to play, but the options given don't quite allow for it.
I think that's what I miss most about 3.5- the sheer options available, the nuance you can get.
Earthenfist I agree, but I can’t help but think of them as rouges in that situation. I think of non wilderness rangers as say, bounty hunters or freelancers.
I play as an urban bounty hunter background ranger in a 5e homebrew. Works well
Earthenfist I imagine that existing as an Unearthed Arcana archetype, since it's a valid conception despite not being what we generally think of as a ranger
Have you seen the Pugillist Class on Dungeon Master's Guild? That is primarily an unarmed brawler kind of like Monk meets Barbarian but there are elements of the class which borrow ideas from the Ranger but in a more urban environment; including one sub-class which homes in on that aspect of the class; 'The Bloodhound Bruisers' which are like urban based detectives and another which is similar to the Beastmaster Ranger, giving you a dog as an animal companion and fighting partner. Either of those would probably give you what you're looking for and then if you wanted to you could multiclass into Ranger for some more of those survival skills.
Earthenfist
"I think that would be a cool ranger to play, but the options given don't quite allow for it."
Nonsense. You can play _exactly_ your Ratcatcher concept in 5e. No homebrew necessary at all.
Just take the Criminal, Urchin or Folk Hero background and you're off to the races. Boom. Done.
Or, you know, just play a Rogue.
But honestly, what was it that made you think you _couldn't _ play an urban Ranger in 5e?
Honestly, if you want a metric for how bad the PHB beast master is just look at Vex from Critical Role. They literally had to homebrew a magic charm to carry her bear around in so it would stop dying/screwing up the parties plans every mission. And Trinket was a bad ass grizzly with custom armor, no animal is going to be able to hang with PCs past level 6-8.
Will Mills flying mounts for your halfling? At level 3? I mean. Yes survivability may become an issue. But you could do this to save it. Move half your move to attack a creature twice with your companion let’s say 40 feet behind is safe. With a pteranodon you can call it over after you attack, mount it with half your move, and then as a bonus action you use dash to get out and since it has flyby no opportunity attacks. And a pteranodon dashing gives you 120 feet so you can just move 80 feet in any direction. I’d suggest a diagonal directly away from your opponent into the air.
Revised Ranger is the only real ranger in my book.
Also would just like to add that's because vex didn't want to risk trinket dying. it only takes 8 hours after you find an animal to bond with it so cast animal friendship on it then spend 8 hours with it or if your dm is lenient you could cast speak with animals and halve the time. All that is suuupppppperrr easy and could potentially be a fun rping experience. So some player could be pretty reckless with their creatures if they wanted to, the creature is the one leading the charge at all times through the dungeon potentially setting off all the traps for your party.
I guess when I see beastmaster ranger in 5E I see them almost like a "natural" 3.5e bard or rogue? Their animal companion isn't meant as a tank, but it offers most of the benefits of a wizard familiar, with some additional perks - helps you gather info, spot things, track, gain information, and can help you fight in a limited fashion, etc. etc. They have most of the raw combat power of the other fighting classes, with generally more versatility, and more RP/everything else functionality.
justBina
"it offers most of the benefits of a wizard familiar, with some additional perks"
It's actually the other way around.
Benefits of a familiar:
Telepathic communication
Sense link
Ability to deliver touch range spells
Ability to summon and dismiss at will
Effective "resurrection" for 10gp of materials and 11 mins of time
Animal companions do none of these things. They are basically super-loyal pets.
After about 8th level they are worse than useless. Not only are they usually ineffective by that point, they require the expenditure of actions to utilise because they don't take actions by themselves. You have to give up an attack in order for your companion to attack.
I suppose you could introduce a heap of houserules, but as is, the Beastmaster is borked. Which is a pity because it's a really cool _concept._
The thumbnail just looks like you two saying "Really, you're bringing a fucking Ranger to the table?"
Roland "really, bro, a _beastmaster?_
Cactusman129 hey my revised dual weilding kobold beastmaster is a bitch to fight. I ride my wolf into battle, get my 2 attacks my wolf gets one as a reaction, then makes one of their own. (my dm has it so my wolf goes right after me in initiative) All 4 attacks are at advantage due to pack tactics.
"If anyone's gotta take a shit, nows the time. It's the ranger's turn, and he's using rope to tie his whole inventory into a useless heap."
I believe the beast master to be far more tactical to play....having a beast always available has its advantages, for instance if you are low in hit points you put the beast forward and viceversa....and in gaining advatange on attack rolls...
The spells list imo is awesome. An archer able to cast spike growth or able to summon is really strong.
Great video guys!!!
I also consider wild West sheriffs and outlaws as archetypes for rangers, albeit without guns. but if you remove, say, the man with no name, from that setting and but him in a fantasy setting, I see him as a ranger.
Ranger/gunslinger multiclass. Though pure gunslinger with outlander backgroung may also work.
Goblin Slayer is pretty much a ranger.
As for spelless ranger, I've found you can always reskin spells. change some costs or such and they'll usually be fine. 'you can only use speak with animals X many times because making X noises wrecks your throat, you wouldn't be able to speak for a week if you went over' 'yeah you can make this tiny supermeal, but that grinding really messes with your hand, you gotta let it rest for a while'. I honestly can't blame people for wanting spelless rangers. it makes it relateable, a sort of BATMAN class. a world full of magic and mutants, but I'm just as strong with skills and cunning, a ghost in the woods.
At 3rd level your bow turns into a shotgun
Ranger has always been one of my favorite classes, and the PHB version just does the whole class a huge disservice. The UA revised ranger is SO much better. I hope they make it official soon.
Pssst 😏
Congratulations!
I think a decent interaction for the Beastmaster to have could be like Hunters from World of Warcraft. Weaken a beast, use animal handling and charisma checks to calm it down, then spend however long (probably a long rest) bonding with it, and then you can use it as a companion. That way you have to go LOOKING for a beast, survive a fight with it WITHOUT KILLING IT, make the checks, and then forgo healing on a long rest by bonding with the creature.
by the way , Hunter should get both Whirlwind Attack and Volley rather than having to choose between being a ranged or melee character. It only let's it use one or the other per turn, just gives the class more options to USE rather than having to choose one option and lose out on others, on MULTIPLE occasions from level 1. it's the only class where you have so many options you can't use without missing out on others. I'd call that it's defining feature which ain't good.
Rangers have a strange duplicity. I'd always thought of them as generally chaotic, martial protectors of nature. As Jim pointed out, they're actually very selflessly protecting cities & towns.
Mounted combatant makes a beast companion more managable. Also, just as they say at the end of the video that you can play a fighter/barbarian as a strider type character. The ranger class doesn't have to be strider. My ranger I play currently is basically a chivalrous knight, he uses the beast compaion varient, mounted combatant and a lance. In the wilderness, that's a hugely powerful combination. Sure, he's missing some class abilities once he gets to the dungeon as his mount has to stay outside, but that makes sense to me. The rangers whole deal is that they should be at their peak on the way to and from the dungeon.
There's the complaint that the Ranger's features rely too heavily on the DM, which I didn't think was that big of a deal...until I played the Ranger. My player who decided to do some DM'ing to give me a break (which is greatly appreciated) really forced my Ranger to be nothing but a cannon that shoots arrows. The player (now DM) is more of a tactician, which means we're battling in conga lines because of using the flanking rule. So, the other parts take a back seat which is where the Ranger shines in my opinion. You're absolutely right that you need to let the ranger feel important in those explorations sections.
Looking forward to you discussing the UA ranger. I think it mitigates this quite a bit, although it definitely needs it's first level abilities distributed out a bit.
I find an L shaped approach to flanking avoids any conga situation, like:
X X P
X MX
X P X
would be sufficient for flanking but
X X X
X M P
X P X
wouldn't be.
You just get a spaced out mesh of sorts.
Jon Watson my party needs to see this, we just spread out and spam our main attacks
I think a large part of why rangers get ignored is the fact that outlander background gets so much play. It gives anyone the ability to know the survival aspects that used to be ranger abilities. This takes a lot away from rangers in my opinion, also for some reason everyone who i know that considers playing a ranger wants them to be pure martial classes not sure why.
derick moore I agree. I think people want to play ranger like a ranged fighter and it's more than that.
Yay so true man. Problem is if you take ranged fighter with outlander background it makes a exactly what most people view a ranger as only better then the ranger class.
Mostly because the "travel" aspect can feel like a dreadfull bore if you enforce it as a dm. Also a far greater amount of their abilities then any ohter are highly situational. the beastmaster pre unearthed arcana was just straight up underpowered and the martial version worked but at higher levels just multiclassed into fighter or rogue because the spellcasting was just not enough.
I think this is it, more. Things like "Get twice the food while foraging" has zero impact on the game when the DM doesn't enforce food or encumbrance limits. "Travel without worrying about difficult terrain/no worries about getting lost" doesn't matter when travelling between towns is handled by the DM saying "You arrive in NewTown 3 days later" without any played travel time.
It's a real pity, I think. And part of it is because, to make that Travel part of adventuring _interesting_ for players, requires the DM to be able to create and describe Vistas and scenes and settings, which isn't always the easiest thing to do.
Earthenfist I wouldn't stress for town to town travel by road but the hastily drawn map leading to the goblin camp or the dragons lair id when finding your way around gets interesting in my opinion. That being said I like roadside encounters a lot.
Absolutely love the way you have your videos set up and how you speak about your subject matter. 10/10 in 100% of all instances =)
You guys didn't talk about builds and stuff like you did on cleric :(.
I was hoping you guys might bring up melee ranger with shillelagh.
Rangers don't get cantrips.
Nick Williams magic initiate
I'm pretty new to dnd so take this with a grain of salt, but how about a forest gnome urchin ranger. You start with a pet mouse you can talk with and use as a scout. The city secrets feature also lets you be useful in cities as well as your favored terrains. Sleight of hand and stealth proficiencies are pretty good too. Pick panther as your animal companion and ride it around everywhere. At level 4 get magic initiate for find familiar, and now you are a beast master with three useful animal companions. Assuming you picked an owl for your familiar, between the owl and the panther you have advantage on perception checks involving sight smell and hearing. I'm also wondering about using favored enemies to just cheese in extra languages. You learn the language of your favored enemies and can pick two humanoids instead of something like beasts or undead. So if you pick elves and dwarves I think you would also learn Elvish and Dwarvish. Please let me know if I'm wrong about any of this.
@@nickwilliams8302 they do if they get the wood elf magic racial feat which allows you to get 1 druid cantrip.
@@MarekUtd Or Magic Initiate. Which a variant Human could get at 1st level. Using Wood Elf Magic doesn't kick in until 4th level.
Building a melee style around Shillelagh (which I did once for a Warlock PC BTW) only makes sense if the PC's spellcasting stat is higher than both their STR and their DEX, so you need a class that can attack using that stat while you're getting to 4th, or a class that gets it at 1st. Getting to make melee attacks with your spellcasting stat is really the only advantage of Shillelagh that will persist into the higher levels.
The real Shillelagh specialist is actually Nature Cleric. Druids tend to stop using Shillelagh pretty soon in their career.
For the beast master I would suggest to pick the tressym as animal companion (at least for early levels). The tressym can detect invisibility, poison, has the keen smell, a +2 bonus on perception, darkvision. and can fly....basically the party can never be surprised.
filcat what about using a goblin ranger and having a giant wolf spider. It doubles as a mount and a companion.
I play a Half Elf Urban Hunter Ranger who is a member of the country wide Merchants Guild and is constantly trying to woo the Elven Paladin of our God of Freedom...and getting rejected
I think the main thing that makes the Beast Master is lacking is the additional damage that many other melee classes have. Paladins have Divine Smite and Improved Divine Smite (which adds to all of the attacks), Barbarians have Brutal Critical/Rage/Reckless Attack (better crits, base damage bonus, advantage to hit), Fighters have high Extra Attacks (and easier crits if Champion, maneuver damage, spells they can cast and still attack eventually), Monks have Ki Attacks, and Hunter Rangers have Colossus Slayer/Giant Killer, Horde Breaker (plus later abilities which help in other ways). Beast Master you get a beast but it is limited and gains little later (magical attacks is great, but there needs to be more). There also seems to be a implied (well stated, but depends on how you define "command the beast to take an attack action") disadvantage that you have to expend an action to command it to attack (meaning you don't get to attack until you get extra attacks?).
The beast should be an extra damage/attack aspect much like the other classes have and should get slightly better bonuses/abilities as the Ranger increases in level. Maybe at first you have to instruct it for start fighting each battle (losing the benefit of their attacks in the first round) and later have it a free action (it is used to how you fight/react and mirrors it). Give limited (expendable) bonuses when it fights near/with you (supporting strikes that assists you or it depending on your choice) and a bonus to defense similar to the way the Hunter abilities works and eventually some nice team ability like the Hunter 11th level ability. As the Beast Master is currently set up the beast is not much more than the Paladin 2nd Level spell, Find Steed.
Great video guys! I like the format a lot. Players Handbook into Unearthed Arcana and you give example that fit the class but in unique ways. I love that perspective! Keep it up. I'm excited I get to watch two a week now. :)
I don't feel like this video really got into the meat of the Ranger and issues with the PHB ranger. Maybe that's not the purpose of it though?
I played both archetypes of the PHB ranger early on before UA was a thing, and I can say for sure that it just wasn't fun. Hunter feels like a fighter archetype but with the addition of spells. This isn't fixed with UA really, but it's slightly better with the buffed "flavor" abilities.
Beastmaster just isn't fun as written. Mechanically it's not as bad as people seem to claim, but it's not fun having either your ranger or beast be useful during the turn. The selection of beasts is also kind of boring to me personally, and as I played, anything I wanted to do, I could have done better as almost any other class that was supposed to do that kind of stuff.
The UA revised (newest one as of this comment) Beastmaster I am currently playing in a higher level (10+) game is pretty awesome. Primeval awareness might be too good in most situations, but the rest of it feels good. I'm still not as "powerful" as the Paladin or Fighter in straight up combat, but I contribute to the overall effort and don't feel like I'm driving a remote control car for the duration of battles. I still don't like the limitation of what beasts you can use, but that's at the DM's whim anyway.
ClownKenny exploitation tip play as a small creature and get a giant wolf spider as your pet which then doubles as a mount and an ally
Or a pteranodon. Then you can fly down attack fly back up in the air because your creature didn’t attack it can take the dash action. Or. You could just take advantage of using a flying mount with a bow at level 3. Not to mention it also gives the flanking bonus for your allies if you are using a bulkier one.
It's an interesting case, to be sure. My character in our weekly game has been a Hunter Ranger, and while I've had a great time a lot of it's because of digging deep into her backstory & psyche rather than playing her as written mechanically.... TBH, I'd probably be super bored by now if we did. The campaign's up to Lvl 17 in a group of predominantly magic users -- At this point much of the group's travel is via teleportation; heat & cold can be altered; food and water created; magic mansions erected; most obstacles flown over; areas scouted by Arcane Eyes. As the group levels into upper tiers and the worldly perils become increasingly navigable, the Ranger's usefulness outside of combat slips away. Her main mechanical contributions to the crew are a consistent (yet comparatively modest) whittling-down of enemies in battle, padding our already-ridiculous stock of rations whenever foraging is possible, and keeping an eye on our rogue during his stealth runs. Pass Without Trace remains handy as well, but overall it seems to me like a Ranger probably shines its brightest while in a lower-level and more mundane setting - ideally following a conversation with your DM that helps you adjust your character -to- said setting.
Great episode, dudes! Thanks for keeping the torch going :D
Awaken gives druids the ability to get a powerful "animal companion" as long as they are nice to it
or aslong as it dies in 30 days which is easy to do
si2foo Just kills awakened beast at day 29.
nah to behonest i have never been a druid for me it strikes me as a strange class to want to play
and if i wanted to use awaken i would rather be a bard
Additional druid rules allows you to get a wild companion by spending a wildshape charge. My Circle of Dreams Druid uses it more than he shifts, because he's the only full caster in the party. Very nice addition that brings the Druid back up.
Best way to get around the Devilsight/Darkness combo is grab the invocation to cast Silent Image at will, then tell your party secretly somehow "hey, this is an illusion" so it either doesn't effect them (as they have "discerned that it is an illusion" per the spell wording) and then go to town, since you also know it's an Illusion. The issue then becomes finding a way to prevent any enemies from hearing. Maybe you use some kind of code phrase ("Kitten Time!")
Just to let you know, you guys are awesome! As a new DM your videos have been invaluable for me.
Goodness. It just hit me. The boy from Secret of Evermore (super nintendo game from the mid 90's) is like a beastmaster ranger... with the major differences being the boy's only ranged weapons are spears and (eventually) a high tech bazooka towards later half of the third part of the game, his dog scales with levels and changes into different hounds depending on which part of the game you're at, and the boy has a certain level of alchemical mastery with his spellcasting.
my wife's gnome ranger uses her wolf companion as a mount :)
Daniel Couturier. Right, because who doesn't want to ride a fucking wolf??
Hell ya!!
Daniel Couturier make it a dual weilding melee kobold revised ranger and at lvl 5 you have 4 attacks per round all at advantage
She's doing it right.
That sounds dirty
I can understand the jeers for beastmaster but the hunter class is a very powerful DD with great skills to help for the journey.
A two weapon ranger with dual wield can inflict massive dmg each round.
To get meta- a 5th level dual wielder gets three attacks which is 1d8 + 1d6(hunters mark) +bonus per attack, and you get colossus slayer or horde breaker. Unearthed arcana's favored enemy damage boost has made my ranger damn near OP.
I haven't played a beast master yet, but I want to. To me they seem to be good but require a different play style. You're not the party's bruiser, you're their eyes and ears. If you're going with, say, a wolf you're gonna be an amazing tracker. Once you get beast sense if you have a flying companion you become a bargain-bin scryer. You can use your action to make the beast grant advantage to your allies, meaning you can be fairly potent in a support role. Not to mention you're still no slouch in combat
I like playing dex based dual wielding paladin/ranger. I do 3 attacks 1d6+1d6(HM)+1d8(improved divine smite)+5(dex). Saves +2 from charisma, AC 23 fisrt attack (defensive duelist), 21 rest (multiattack defence). You should try that ;-).
First 5e character was a Ranger. Chose the Hunter and did the Horde Breaker options. I was consistently able to wade into melee and never once felt underpowered.
When I found out the UA made it stronger I honestly felt it was a bit overpowered.
15:30 you hit the nail on the head. Every cool ranger archetype is already covered by another class. Ranger should just be a subclass of Fighter that gets druid spellcasting like an EK gets arcane. It's really sad that the Ranger's uniqueness is just completely obliterated in this edition, replaced instead by a uniqueness that makes it worse than every other martial class.
Polearm master hunter ranger hits harder than Paladin Smites
@@punishedwhispers1218 Polearm master champion fighter hits harder than polearm master hunter ranger.
@@madprophetusAh yes, because a champion fighter hits harder than 1d10+2d6+1d8+1d4+6 at level 3 right? 48 average damage at level 5? The ranger that does more damage than two smites? Right? Clown.
Ah, my favourite class, my thanks
Breath of The Wild's Link seems like a Ranger to me
A psychopath that runs through tall grass with a lit torch, and fights lion-centaurs whilst naked and with forty-seven sticks?
Yeah, I can see it.
I personally see Ranger spells as those staple spells from RPGs like The Elder Scrolls. Whatever your class, you'll probably pick up an healing spell, at least for early game. Rangers don't actually study magic and whatnot, but they know the useful basics.
Fighter: yo can you pass the bow
Ranger: yeah but you better not play shit
Fighter: *becomes an arcane archer*
I know the arcane archer only gets 2 arcane shots, but you recover them ever short rest and you eventually always start with at least 1 shot when you start combat.
Multi class AA with Rogue for a good time. Assassin for focus damage, AT for skill util.
I was waiting for this! Thanks!
Happy I'm not the only one who throws out that LOTR reference when rangers come up sometimes.
I've just created a ranger by the name of Johann Wick with the Hermit background. You can play the fighter/rouge hybrid with an emphasis on ranged weapons (instead of 2 short swords I took handaxe and dagger), and you can have the sling. Paired with a decent dex roll and the sharpshooter feat, you can dome enemies from afar or sneak up and take on a few in close quarters.
Hunter's Mark is love, Hunter's Mark is life.
but muh vengeance paladin
is there anywhere we can watch you guys play the games you tend to reference in your videos? I've already watched the witches coven campaign, but a lot of tje characters you refer to don't sound familiar to me.
On the topic of re-skinning one class as another, I often use Barbarian w/ Tavern Brawler as my go-to 5e Grappler Monk if I want a character who can punch, tank, and still be able to make those Athletics Checks, reflavoring the rage as a meditative battle trance.
I'm pretty new to dnd and the beast master ranger seems like a lot of fun to me. It seems like a do decent damage to a lot of enemies class, instead of the hit like a truck and tank all the hits class. And the animal companion fits that too. You start with two short swords for two attacks, you can even pick an option at level 2 to make that 2nd attack better. At level 5 you get an extra attack that your animal companion can use as well. Assuming you were able to get a panter, you now have 3-4 attacks per turn. At level 11 that goes up to 4-5. Maybe I'm just not familiar with the other classes but that seems pretty good to me
FINALLY! SORCERERS!!!
I'm playing a Revised Ranger Wood Elf in a recent campaign. He worships his clan's god of Death, Imiru, and considers the slaying of orc & goblin enemies a mercy, as falling in battle at the hands of one of his clan means the soul of the slain is partially under the jurisdiction of his own pantheon, meaning Grumsh or whatever the Orc God is argues over if the Orc souls go through the "Path of Ascension", the afterlife of his kin, or the standard Orc afterlife.
Also, he protects the forests from being destroyed by human expansionism.
I Always though the beast master simply be a part of the main class. Say at a certain level you get a beast and it's gets better or you can get better as it goes off
ZenodudeMC i mean conjure animals is a spell.
I'm glad tasha's cauldron of everything fixed the beast master for the better
everyone shits on ranger until the party goes up against a beholder
Take hunter ranger
Take magic initiate feat
Take find familiar spell for feat
Make familiar a hawk
Magic scout that can always be recast
Profit
The Druid already gets the best possible animal companion via the Awaken spell. They can pick literally any natural beast or plant and make it both sentient and friendly. The way I fix the Beastmaster, which I think is the best fix, is to just give them Awaken once per day with the restriction that they can only have one awakened animal companion at any given time, and the material cost for the first casting is free.
My very first d&d character was an ad&d High Elf Ranger named Balthasar, whom I based on Link from the Legend of Zelda. He was my longest running character, until my group started playing 5e.
I am trying to get into D&D after years of no action. Started with rifts. Thanks for this
What makes or breaks a Hunter Ranger is your character itself , personality , theme , etc
If your character is really interesting and fun and you have a sort of connection to it , you'll enjoy playing any Ranger archetype that isnt under powered (Beast Master) although I DM to a Beast master which is enjoying playing the character a lot even though the 1 problem that is true is that your companion dies, a lot.
What would you do to homebrew improvements to make rangers more on par with other classes? Automatically bestow a feat (or 2) like Magic Initiate or Sharpshooter?
First character was a half orc ranger who ended up tanking for my group. Actually loved the hunter spec with colossial slayer + Hunter's mark.
For some fictional inspiration, I'd say Chase from the Sword of Truth series is a possibility. Also Raven from the Black Company is a good Ranger/Rogue (Arcane Trickster).
I always felt the Winchesters from Supernatural as good inspiration for a ranger. They often operate outside normal civilisation, they're damned good at tracking down monsters, handy combatants, and they have a few magic tricks up their sleeves. Sounds like a ranger to me. I reckon if you make a ranger with undead/fiend as a favoured enemy and give him the sage background, you've just created Sam Winchester.
Been waiting on this one.
Now that I've finished the video I think there was a lot left to say. Looking forward to part 2.
Making a Fighter or Rogue "Ranger" has its limitations. The Ranger has an advantage in the area of survival. If the Ranger class is inseparable from its advantage in this area, and also inseparable from magic, then the Ranger's advantage in survival is inseparable from magic. If a player character wants to excel in tracking, they must also be magical. This is the conflict in style we're facing.
It's easy to make the argument that virtually anything is better done by magic. It circumvents human error, etc. That's why I describe this as a conflict in style. There is an audience within the D&D community that has a stylistic preference which allows for the savvy survivalist to do just as well in the wilderness as the magical druid.
Ah, well. De gustibus non est disputandum.
Want a good Ranger? Use the Hunter Archetype with Archery, Sharpshooter and Hunter's Mark for high damage or use the Gloom Stalker archetype from Xanathar's Guide to Everything and be invisible in the dark to anyone with darkvision and ambush NPCs as well as Disguise Self.
I love the intros you guys do #LOL
So...
Geralt of Rivia.
Ranger Hunter or Fighter Eldritch Knight?
Second option
I feel like rangers are a more hunt based class, it's more if a wild hunter, doing projectile dmg, or attacking beasts with their own dmg, a double knived ranger doing beast slashing dmg.
I think if you want a animal buddy or companion, it should be a specialised class around it,
like, a conjurer.
Like, you can, once per every even numberd level up, both benefit from a feat you or your companion has.
I love the archer ranger variant
17:06 can't upvote you enough. Thank god for the Unearthed Arcan Scouts to please Greeks and Trojans in the matter of Ranger Spells
My group consists of a paladin, a barbarian, a cleric, a bard, and a sorcerer and honestly I'm doing fine with my ranger. I do a decent amount of damage and support my barbarian and paladin while chilling with the bard a while back from the group. Also helps that I have a bit more experience than my group so I can give advice as to where you should be in relation to other people most of the time.
My first character was a Ranger. Aragorn is one of my favorite literary characters, and I wanted to be the Aragorn of my party, trekking through the woods and hunting goblins. I was not prepared for the magic stuff, and trying to understand it all was slowing down the game, and making it less fun. I’m starting to learn how magic works, so I may make another Ranger at some point. Or, I might make an Outlander Fighter, since that covers the magicless nature guy. I’ll check out the UA Ranger before I make my choice.
It seems like a lot of the opinions about rangers (both good and bad) ultimately come back to whether or not the DM takes the ranger into account when creating the world, adventures, and encounters. But doesn't this apply to everything? IF the DM doesn't really consider each player's character choices, then the PCs lose out and their class choice is limited to some simple function (i.e. ranger as an archer and nothing more...)
I'm glad you guys discussed the archetypes and broadened the discussion. I think the ranger has potential IF the right player is willing to make a deeper character AND the DM really takes these choices into account when planning adventures.
I have nice build for you to try - it has many possibilities.
First to say - I am using only PHB, point buy, don't use polearm master - OP in my opinion (and i love it this way ;-)).
Half-orc(Mountain Dwarf)
Str 17
Dex 8(10)
Con 16
Int 8
Wis 15
Cha 8
Feats/A.S.I.:
lvl4 Heavily armored (str 18)
lvl8 ...see further...
lvl12 con 17 + wis 16
lvl16 Resilient Con (con 18)
lvl19 str 20
Hunter
Two handed (horde destroyer)- Take defensive fighting style, great weapon master on lvl8, horde breaker, escape the horde, whirlwind and evasion or uncanny dodge. You can do d12 or d10 with reach (I love pikes), as Half-orc, you will love savage attacks with these weapons, will do 3-6 attacks per round if more than 1 enemy around.
S&B - dmg dealer - Take dueling fighting style, shield master on lvl8, uncanny dodge, rest is up to you (differs if you want to be good against 1 enemy, horde, or combination of both) - good combination of defense and offense.
S&B - defender - Take defensive fighting style or dueling, sentinel on lvl8, colossus slayer (works with opportunity attacks), multiattack defense, whirlwind, evasion - base AC 21 (25 for 2nd attack), opportunity attacks do 2d8+str+2 dmg to damaged foes.
Dual wielder - Take two-weapon fighting style, dual wielder on lvl8, solossus slayer, rest up to you - you are great dmg dealer against 1 enemy, still very defensive (AC 19, uncanny dodge, multiattack defense).
Beast master
Take sentinel on lvl8 and keep your animal next to you (punish anyone, who dares to attack it). This is one of the best tank builds in the game (your HP together is d10+con+4 - same like d18+con). You can use ensnaring strike on you and your animal (share spells) and have twice the chance to succeed (we all love restrained enemies).
Offensive build - take defensive fighting style, great weapon master on lvl8 and your strategy is like this: Cast ensnaring strike with bonus action on both of you, come to your enemy, than engage enemy with your wolf, attack with wolf twice with advantage (pack tactics), first hit means str check or restrained, every hit means str save or knocked prone, than you attack with greataxe with advantage if prone or restrained for 1d12+str+10 (great weapon master), another str check or restrained and than you can run away (enemy has dissadvantage), followed by wolf, or stay there, because enemy has to use action to escape ensnaring strike.
This concept works for every play-style, you want, works good and is realy entertaining to play. Every build is quite tough (204 HP on lvl20, AC at least 19 with no magic items, uncanny dodge)
I especially love dwarven beast master S&B with wild boar (they both smell the same) charging next to him to close combat.
Another possibility is variant human:
str 16 (14 + 1 VH + 1 feat)
dex 10
con 16
int 8
wis 15
cha 8
Heavily armored feat, rest the same combination of feats and ASI, (lvl4 str+2, lvl8 feat, lvl12 con+wis. lvl16 resilient con, lvl19 str+2 or any other order).
Another decent pop culture example of a ranger might be Katniss from Hunger Games, since she's good at tracking prey and using a bow.
Awesome work as always. Hoped you'd go into the Revised Ranger, but that's the way the Ranger rumbles~
Do you ever plan on expanding to other subjects in 5e like races, settings, or the like?
In my world, the Arcane Archer is a. Ranger subclass.
Liked the video guys! Was waiting for some build hints though. You were talking about Strider/Aragorn ranger character, but what about Legolas. Wouldn't he also be a ranger class? … btw, love your dice bag … lol!
these dudes always have so cool t-shirts :P
I see my ranger as someone more comfortable in the wild and perhaps more able protecting the wild from man than vice versa.
I always saw Legolas as more of a ranger than Aragorn.
I view Darrell from the Walking Dead or Locke from Lost as good examples of rangers.
I hope they do cover the UA 5 level ranger bit they put out because the ambuscade and skirmishers stealth work very well inplace of spells but its more of the :urban ranger concept too.
Yodastien My guess that will be the Sunday web cam show.
I've found that after lvl 12, the Hunter Ranger should just be multi classed into a Rogue. the lvl 16 abilities are almost all obtainable by a Rogue, and as a rogue, you get both Evasion and Uncanny Dodge, instead of having to choose. as long as you doing losing out on Stand the Tide, you get the best abilities for them without having to ever choose.
Do you guys think they're going to do an episode on the artificier? I think that takes care of some of the frailties of the animal companion situation with the construct mechanic they get at 6th level
I find in most cases Rangers, Bards, and Druids by and large get the shitty end of the stick due to Dm`s not planning on for them. Bard`s require social situations, Druid`s, and Rangers require wilderness style campaigns to shine.
Hunter's make some of the best archer's in the entirety of the game. Not to mention the Steel Will, and Colossus Slayer features.
Ranger was the first ever class I created for Pathfinder so I'm super attached to them.
After doing these different class videos, will you two possibly be doing videos on the different Dungeons and Dragons campaign settings?
Any preference on animal companion? Thanks
14:30 but the warlock/hex ranger/hunters mark wizard/magic missile damage
Would you guys consider reviewing the Artificer class from Unearthed Acrana? I would really like to hear both of your thoughts on it.
On your comment toward the end of playing a ranger themed character but not nessecarilly a Ranger class, I played a paladin dragonborn in Borovia with some rather bad rage issues.
love the video. when will you do warlock?
Honestly, a lot of ranger spells feel like they were originally Druid spells that got cut and pasted to the ranger section of the rule book. Every single ranger you mention is inherently non-magical. The point of being a ranger is flexibility. Bow and sword in accord, that type of thing. Aragorn is essentially a "switch-hitter" ranger from pathfinder who has excellent alchemy skills and a paladin-style "lay on hands" ability because of his bloodline. But a ranger is encouraged to be either an archer or a two weapon fighter. And both can be done better by other classes. Barbarian screams two weapon fighter into your face as it pummels you with them, while an outlander rogue or fighter specializing in archery will be a ranger without needing as many levels. The only thing even relatively close to a magic wielding ranger that's not from DnD would probably be the witchers from the Witcher series of books (and games). And they use bombs instead of bows as well.
I can't believe they said they're about changing popular assumptions after mindlessly conforming to the same assumptions about Paladins and multiclassing.
I have a Warlock/Ranger that I planned on taking the horde breaker route with. He wields a glaive and has a polearm mastery feat. I was wondering, with the whirlwind attack, you can take a separate attack against any number of creatures within your range. Would that allow me to use green-flame against any number of them since it has a casting of using the attack action?
Where did you get your dm screen it is really cool?
Gosh darn I come to the video two minutes after release and I am not first. DANKREVEEWS YOU ARE GOING ON THE LIST! Also was the beginning a reference to shadow of mordor?
Rizzgubst Jr RANGAH!!! 👹
This isn't over. I know some very powerful rangers.
Rizzgubst Jr you think just because you came from the grave that you can put me down? HA! You must have a lot of worms in yah skull! 👹
Are they ever going to cover the revised ranger? I know it’s super old at this point but I’d still love to hear them cover it
I'm new to dnd I see on your channel that you have covered many aspects of the game but have you done or would you consider making a video about the overarching story or canonical world of dnd because I have seen maps and I would just like to know what the world outside our adventure is