And when you don’t know where your going beyond a very rough idea (somewhere in the NW High Forest) no one but a ranger is going to be able find the place and get you there with a minimum of trouble and before food supplies run out.
Yep! When you don’t know where you are going a ranger has (potentially) multiple skills with expertise, the ability to communicate with plants and animals, the ability to search while navigating and moving stealthily, and with the entire party in tow. Quick. Safe. And efficient. All on top of being a top tier damage dealer and controller.
Again, when not in a favored terrain, a ranger is like any other party member PLUS having skills and spells for travel baked into their base class. Any character with things to contribute to travel and survival are a good thing not a bad thing. Scout rogue, create water, tiny hut, outlander background, create food, familiar scouting, and more, all of these are good for a party traveling and/or surviving. But none of these things combined can do what a ranger can do in their favored terrain.
I would encourage any doubtful folks to look at the hex maps from official WotC adventures, read the rules for overland travel in the dungeon master’s guide, read the ranger‘s natural explorer feature in the player’s handbook, and then look at those hex maps again.
Primeval Awareness also starts to make a lot more sense when it is approached from the perspective of a hex grid map. Using the suggested 6-mile hex size, kingdom scale, from the DMG, Primeval Awareness covers one entire hex and half of each hex surrounding it. This is the range when the ranger is in their favored terrain. This now becomes VERY tactical and informative when it comes to doing what it's meant to do, which is confirm that there are NOT non-natural creatures in the area. Whether this is used before a rest, before entering a cave, castle, or dungeon, or when tracking a type of creature (an aberration, celestial, dragon, elemental, fey, fiend, and an undead). Remember that even a scout rogue needs to at least have tracks available and nearby in order to track something. Aberrations, fiends, dragons, and the like can fly, while other creatures might be underground or have magic hiding their presence. (A ranger also learns a lot more when tracking than a scout or anyone else via its favored terrain ability. "While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area." The Primeval Awareness ability eliminates a very large area from even needing to be searched in the first place, further saving time and resources. (And precious game time.)
The one-mile range, province scale, is perfect for a civilized area such as a town, city, or other urban environment. Having a smaller range for the ability means a more precise focus on an area, eliminating the need to spend a lot of time searching an area or having to search at all. Knowing the beholder is NOT within 1-mile of you might save an entire day of searching, asking questions, and tracking in a city.
Primeval Awareness also starts to make a lot more sense when it is approached from the perspective of a hex grid map. Using the suggested 6-mile hex size, kingdom scale, from the DMG, Primeval Awareness covers one entire hex and half of each hex surrounding it. This is the range when the ranger is in their favored terrain. This now becomes VERY tactical and informative when it comes to doing what it's meant to do, which is confirm that there are NOT non-natural creatures in the area. Whether this is used before a rest, before entering a cave, castle, or dungeon, or when tracking a type of creature (an aberration, celestial, dragon, elemental, fey, fiend, and an undead). Remember that even a scout rogue needs to at least have tracks available and nearby in order to track something. Aberrations, fiends, dragons, and the like can fly, while other creatures might be underground or have magic hiding their presence. (A ranger also learns a lot more when tracking than a scout or anyone else via its favored terrain ability. "While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area." The Primeval Awareness ability eliminates a very large area from even needing to be searched in the first place, further saving time and resources. (And precious game time.)
The one-mile range, province scale, is perfect for a civilized area such as a town, city, or other urban environment. Having a smaller range for the ability means a more precise focus on an area, eliminating the need to spend a lot of time searching an area or having to search at all. Knowing the beholder is NOT within 1-mile of you might save an entire day of searching, asking questions, and tracking in a city.
I have said several times when a dm answers "no" (to primeval awareness)it can be more information than a yes. that concept can be hard for some people to wrap their heads around wich is why they prefer tashas. this is a good thing that now both prefrences can be adressed. but some of the best moments in rpgs are when players realize the potential they have never seen before in an ability and see the game from a new perspective.
And when you don’t know where your going beyond a very rough idea (somewhere in the NW High Forest) no one but a ranger is going to be able find the place and get you there with a minimum of trouble and before food supplies run out.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Yep! When you don’t know where you are going a ranger has (potentially) multiple skills with expertise, the ability to communicate with plants and animals, the ability to search while navigating and moving stealthily, and with the entire party in tow. Quick. Safe. And efficient. All on top of being a top tier damage dealer and controller.
Again, when not in a favored terrain, a ranger is like any other party member PLUS having skills and spells for travel baked into their base class. Any character with things to contribute to travel and survival are a good thing not a bad thing. Scout rogue, create water, tiny hut, outlander background, create food, familiar scouting, and more, all of these are good for a party traveling and/or surviving. But none of these things combined can do what a ranger can do in their favored terrain.
I would encourage any doubtful folks to look at the hex maps from official WotC adventures, read the rules for overland travel in the dungeon master’s guide, read the ranger‘s natural explorer feature in the player’s handbook, and then look at those hex maps again.
Primeval Awareness also starts to make a lot more sense when it is approached from the perspective of a hex grid map. Using the suggested 6-mile hex size, kingdom scale, from the DMG, Primeval Awareness covers one entire hex and half of each hex surrounding it. This is the range when the ranger is in their favored terrain. This now becomes VERY tactical and informative when it comes to doing what it's meant to do, which is confirm that there are NOT non-natural creatures in the area. Whether this is used before a rest, before entering a cave, castle, or dungeon, or when tracking a type of creature (an aberration, celestial, dragon, elemental, fey, fiend, and an undead). Remember that even a scout rogue needs to at least have tracks available and nearby in order to track something. Aberrations, fiends, dragons, and the like can fly, while other creatures might be underground or have magic hiding their presence. (A ranger also learns a lot more when tracking than a scout or anyone else via its favored terrain ability. "While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area." The Primeval Awareness ability eliminates a very large area from even needing to be searched in the first place, further saving time and resources. (And precious game time.)
The one-mile range, province scale, is perfect for a civilized area such as a town, city, or other urban environment. Having a smaller range for the ability means a more precise focus on an area, eliminating the need to spend a lot of time searching an area or having to search at all. Knowing the beholder is NOT within 1-mile of you might save an entire day of searching, asking questions, and tracking in a city.
Ahhhh, the details of how it works 😁. As Heinlein’s said “of course one horse is faster, the real question is Which?” 😳
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
I can't tell for sure, but I'm going to take that as a compliment/thanks.
It is
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
I have said several times when a dm answers "no" (to primeval awareness)it can be more information than a yes. that concept can be hard for some people to wrap their heads around wich is why they prefer tashas. this is a good thing that now both prefrences can be adressed. but some of the best moments in rpgs are when players realize the potential they have never seen before in an ability and see the game from a new perspective.
Player: “My ranger will use Primeval Awareness. Do they sense anything?”
DM: (checks) “No. They don’t.”
Player: “Good. All is as it should be.”