So i recently started playing D&D with my dad and brother, me as the DM. My brother understands the rules quite well and has played along in a one-shot before.
My dad however has never played D&D before and is struggling with the rules and what his character can do, but he really enjoys playing. He is currently playing a Dragonborn Ranger and they are lvl 2 atm.
They will soon be leveling to lvl 3 and he ofcourse has to decide what subclass to pick. Do you guys have any recommendations as to what subclass to pick? Me and my dad prefer an easy subclass, but dont know what to pick. We haven't gone through them extensively yet.
The reason he picked a Dragonborn was: "well, it's called Dungeon & Dragons right?!" And i havent mentioned the Drake Warden because we dont have the book yet, but i saw the preview of it. I think, when i mention it he wants to pick that one, because "Dragons!". In my eyes it is not a hard to understand Subclass, but maybe i'm missing something.
If you’re up for buying a new additional book, get him setup with what excites him, the drake warden. He could also play the beast master from the player’s handbook but let him use a pseudodragon instead of a beast, like a wolf, giant poisonous snake, or blood hawk.
Drakewardens have some rules oddities going on, but like the Hunter and Beast Master, they don't introduce any additional spells known, which is a very reasonable definition of "easy subclass". However, they introduce a minion, which might not be "easy" - your dad might not want the complexity of controlling two bodies on the field, and Drakewardens have a particularly complicated action economy to play "well" because their minion's turn isn't spliced into their own. A PHB/TCOE Beast Master's minion is spliced in, which means the action economy is much easier to manage in terms of accomplishing the goal you have in mind at the start of your turn. That said, there's still a minion to control.
I would say the simplest Ranger subclass is the Hunter, as Frank said - you can just pick abilities for your dad if he's confused by the choices (e.g. at level 3, just pick Colossus Slayer for him, as it's the easiest to keep track of - you can remember you have it before or after you make your attacks and in most cases it won't matter when you remembered it). Next simplest is probably Monster Slayer.
Having played a gloom stalker and a fey wanderer, I would say the gloom stalker is pretty user friendly. And it is fun playing as the sniper ranger using my long bow and sharp shooter.
I agree that Drakewarden would not be a great choice for easy, Gloomstalker has a lot of passive abilities that they get, and 1 extra attack at the start of combat, so that would be the easiest of the subclasses I would argue. Yes they get extra spells, but that is just a handful of possible choices that you make once
as much as I love the PHB beasmaster it is probably not a good choice as it adds complexity and it seems the player is still getting familiar with the game. He dose seem to be more theme focused.
I would lean towards gloomstalker as it gives the concept of being a skilled tracker ambushing prey and the rules aren't too heavy.
I would avoid "monster slayer" but it may be a "trap" that sounds cool but is not what is expected.
most of the other sub-classes are good but have some trait that could be great or bad depending on other factors. I think they all would be fine for what you are doing.
I haven't seen swarmkeeper yet but that is a very good option too.
Its a little more complicated than Hunter and Gloomstalker but I think the added value/fun the swarm gives you is pretty cool and is a middle between Beastmaster and a Hunter in terms of complexity.
Ranger subclasses with bonus spells aren't really an issue, they're automatically added to your "spells known".(The Warlock enthusiast in me is still bitter, grrrr) For simplicity, I would probably suggest Hunter, Monster Slayer, or Gloom Stalker. I would probably avoid subclasses that give you another entity to manage.
Whatever subclass he lands on, help him by making a cheat sheet that list his available actions, reactions, and bonus actions in a simple list. The online sheets here are great, but having this tactile, quick reference really helps at any level.
Sorry for the late reply, but i want to thank you all for your insights in this choice!
We sat down and discussed which subclass to pick. We first wanted to pick the Hunter or Gloomstalker until i mentioned the Drake Warden... oh boy! He instantly wanted to take the Drake Warden as his subclass. We created an extra cheat/reference sheet that probably is gonna help quite a bit.
Fun thing though is that my brother plays a Dragonborn Paladin as a follower of Bahamut. I'm going to tie those 2 together some way or another.
Sorry for the late reply, but i want to thank you all for your insights in this choice!
We sat down and discussed which subclass to pick. We first wanted to pick the Hunter or Gloomstalker until i mentioned the Drake Warden... oh boy! He instantly wanted to take the Drake Warden as his subclass. We created an extra cheat/reference sheet that probably is gonna help quite a bit.
Fun thing though is that my brother plays a Dragonborn Paladin as a follower of Bahamut. I'm going to tie those 2 together some way or another.
Again, thanks for the advice all of you!
I've just recently started playing a Ranger who will be going Drakewarden, I'm psyched about it. :) While I still think the subclasses without pets are probably easier, the Drakewarden is laid out pretty well. Creating a cheat sheet for him is a good idea, one thing worth including might be a list of his spells that use his Bonus Action to cast, so he'll know which ones will prevent him from attacking with the drake on that turn.
Creating a story connection with the Dragonborn Paladin sounds like an excellent idea, should be a fun way to help them get into the RP side of things!
one thing worth including might be a list of his spells that use his Bonus Action to cast, so he'll know which ones will prevent him from attacking with the drake on that turn.
one thing worth including might be a list of his spells that use his Bonus Action to cast, so he'll know which ones will prevent him from attacking with the drake on that turn.
Hint....its a lot with ranger!
Hint its only a problem if you build it to be one.
one thing worth including might be a list of his spells that use his Bonus Action to cast, so he'll know which ones will prevent him from attacking with the drake on that turn.
Hint....its a lot with ranger!
That’s very helpful information. And well intended, I’m sure.
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Hi all,
So i recently started playing D&D with my dad and brother, me as the DM.
My brother understands the rules quite well and has played along in a one-shot before.
My dad however has never played D&D before and is struggling with the rules and what his character can do, but he really enjoys playing.
He is currently playing a Dragonborn Ranger and they are lvl 2 atm.
They will soon be leveling to lvl 3 and he ofcourse has to decide what subclass to pick. Do you guys have any recommendations as to what subclass to pick?
Me and my dad prefer an easy subclass, but dont know what to pick. We haven't gone through them extensively yet.
The reason he picked a Dragonborn was: "well, it's called Dungeon & Dragons right?!"
And i havent mentioned the Drake Warden because we dont have the book yet, but i saw the preview of it. I think, when i mention it he wants to pick that one, because "Dragons!". In my eyes it is not a hard to understand Subclass, but maybe i'm missing something.
Any advice? We're open for suggestions!
If you’re up for buying a new additional book, get him setup with what excites him, the drake warden. He could also play the beast master from the player’s handbook but let him use a pseudodragon instead of a beast, like a wolf, giant poisonous snake, or blood hawk.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/pseudodragon
Other than that, the hunter is a straightforward ranger’s ranger.
Drakewardens have some rules oddities going on, but like the Hunter and Beast Master, they don't introduce any additional spells known, which is a very reasonable definition of "easy subclass". However, they introduce a minion, which might not be "easy" - your dad might not want the complexity of controlling two bodies on the field, and Drakewardens have a particularly complicated action economy to play "well" because their minion's turn isn't spliced into their own. A PHB/TCOE Beast Master's minion is spliced in, which means the action economy is much easier to manage in terms of accomplishing the goal you have in mind at the start of your turn. That said, there's still a minion to control.
I would say the simplest Ranger subclass is the Hunter, as Frank said - you can just pick abilities for your dad if he's confused by the choices (e.g. at level 3, just pick Colossus Slayer for him, as it's the easiest to keep track of - you can remember you have it before or after you make your attacks and in most cases it won't matter when you remembered it). Next simplest is probably Monster Slayer.
Having played a gloom stalker and a fey wanderer, I would say the gloom stalker is pretty user friendly. And it is fun playing as the sniper ranger using my long bow and sharp shooter.
I agree that Drakewarden would not be a great choice for easy, Gloomstalker has a lot of passive abilities that they get, and 1 extra attack at the start of combat, so that would be the easiest of the subclasses I would argue. Yes they get extra spells, but that is just a handful of possible choices that you make once
as much as I love the PHB beasmaster it is probably not a good choice as it adds complexity and it seems the player is still getting familiar with the game. He dose seem to be more theme focused.
I would lean towards gloomstalker as it gives the concept of being a skilled tracker ambushing prey and the rules aren't too heavy.
I would avoid "monster slayer" but it may be a "trap" that sounds cool but is not what is expected.
most of the other sub-classes are good but have some trait that could be great or bad depending on other factors. I think they all would be fine for what you are doing.
I would actually suggest to start with the basics. Hunter is quite good. Get Colossus Slayer for additional damage and move ahead.
I haven't seen swarmkeeper yet but that is a very good option too.
Its a little more complicated than Hunter and Gloomstalker but I think the added value/fun the swarm gives you is pretty cool and is a middle between Beastmaster and a Hunter in terms of complexity.
Ranger subclasses with bonus spells aren't really an issue, they're automatically added to your "spells known".(The Warlock enthusiast in me is still bitter, grrrr) For simplicity, I would probably suggest Hunter, Monster Slayer, or Gloom Stalker. I would probably avoid subclasses that give you another entity to manage.
I think all the Ranger sub classes are pretty easy, just give him a brief description of each and let him pick.
Whatever subclass he lands on, help him by making a cheat sheet that list his available actions, reactions, and bonus actions in a simple list. The online sheets here are great, but having this tactile, quick reference really helps at any level.
Sorry for the late reply, but i want to thank you all for your insights in this choice!
We sat down and discussed which subclass to pick. We first wanted to pick the Hunter or Gloomstalker until i mentioned the Drake Warden... oh boy!
He instantly wanted to take the Drake Warden as his subclass.
We created an extra cheat/reference sheet that probably is gonna help quite a bit.
Fun thing though is that my brother plays a Dragonborn Paladin as a follower of Bahamut.
I'm going to tie those 2 together some way or another.
Again, thanks for the advice all of you!
I've just recently started playing a Ranger who will be going Drakewarden, I'm psyched about it. :) While I still think the subclasses without pets are probably easier, the Drakewarden is laid out pretty well. Creating a cheat sheet for him is a good idea, one thing worth including might be a list of his spells that use his Bonus Action to cast, so he'll know which ones will prevent him from attacking with the drake on that turn.
Creating a story connection with the Dragonborn Paladin sounds like an excellent idea, should be a fun way to help them get into the RP side of things!
Hint....its a lot with ranger!
Hint its only a problem if you build it to be one.
That’s very helpful information. And well intended, I’m sure.