Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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I recently switched characters in my campaign because I had played as a Ranger for so many sessions and not once had I used Hunter's Mark or Favored Enemy. It just felt like playing a downgraded Fighter.
However I have been trying to one-up the class features described in the Player's Handbook, and I redid the list. Please let me know what you think, and sorry for the horrendous formatting! I'm new to this 😔
(Note: Anything listed as *Class Feature* means it's replacing an old feature or being added as a new one.)
Level - Proficiency Bonus - Class Features - Territory - Prepared Spells
1 /+2 Spellcasting, Weapon Mastery, *Hunting Range* /10ft /2
2 /+2 Deft Explorer, Fighting Style /15ft /2
3 /+2 Subclass /15ft /3
4 /+2 Feat /20ft /3
5 /+3 Extra Attack /20ft /*3*
6 /+3 Roving, *Protective Territory* /25ft /4
7 /+3 Subclass /25ft /4
8 /+3 Feat /30ft /4
9 /+4 Expertise, *Truesight* /30ft /4
10 /+4 Tireless /35ft /*5*
11 /+4 Subclass /35ft /*5*
12 /+4 Feat /40ft /*5*
13 /+5 *Two Extra Attacks* /40ft /*5*
14 /+5 Nature's Veil /45ft /*5*
15 /+5 Subclass /45ft /*5*
16 /+5 Feat /50ft /*6*
17 /+6 *Prowling Ranger* /50ft /*6*
18 /+6 Feral Senses /55ft /*6*
19 /+6 Epic Boon Feat /55ft /*6*
20 /+6 Foe Slayer /60ft /*6*
Level 1. Hunting Range
You gain Advantage on certain rolls certain conditions occur within the range shown in the Territory table. When you finish a Long Rest, choose one of the following options.
Meteorology. You are immediately alerted of the current weather within a sphere with a radius of 60ft more than your Territory.
Potential Threats. Roll a number of d4s equal to your Proficiency Bonus. You know the locations of that many traps or other threats within your Territory.
Territorial Mark. As a Bonus Action, you can choose a number of creatures equal to your Proficiency Bonus. Attack rolls you, and up to 5 allies of your choice, make against them have Advantage, and the attacks count as magical for the purpose of ignoring resistance. (Note: This effect replaces any mention of Hunter's Mark in Subclass features, (example: See Hunter subclass feature Level 3: Hunter's Lore)
Darkvision. Your Darkvision range increases by the range listed in your Territory.
Level 6: Protective Territory
Any creatures you choose within your Territory gain a +1 Bonus to their AC.
Level 9. Truesight
As a Bonus Action, choose either Truesight, Blindsight or Tremorsense. You gain that effect with a range equalling your Territory for 1 minute or until you lose Concentration. You can use this feature once before a Short or Long Rest.
Level 17. Prowling Ranger
You can have up to two effects listed in the Hunting Range class feature active at once.
Aghhhhhh I dont know how to format questions >:(
A continuously expanding aura that grants effectively the entire party advantage against 2-6 targets for what appears to be the entire duration of a fight- well, really it seems like it just permanently grants advantage by a literal reading, but I’m assuming that’s not the intent- is rather overpowered. For context, consider that Faerie Fire only covers a 4x4 square, requires a DEX save, takes a full action to use, and is a concentration effect. I understand the concept, but this is an awful lot of “something for nothing”, and that’s before we consider what turning subclass features designed to be tied to a single target concentration effect into aura effects would do. This also badly nerfs ranged Rangers, as ideally ranged attackers like to be 30’ or more away from the center of combat.
Frankly, this reads like you’re simply too risk-averse to use Hunter’s Mark, and so want an effect that’s all upside and no risk.
yep, spot on.
I played a 2024 ranger for a few sessions in a game (until the game collapsed as they too often do). I found it over powered.
At level 1 a normal turn was 1D4+3D6+3 damage. That's a bonus action for hunter's mark, a thrown dagger with nick mastery and also a thrown handaxe, along with two hunter's mark impacts. The damage I did at level 1 was consistently about double what anyone else in the party could manage. This can be increased with the not super well balanced bugbear which can add 2D6 to BOTH of these attacks (1D4+7D6+3).
The skills at level 1 were pretty great. Most classes get 2 skills, this class gets 50% more. It's also a solid list. The 1D10 hit points were great and this made me able to tank as well as anyone else. The ability to do backup healing was fantastic. I was able to do as much healing as anyone else. We regularly needed survival skill to find our way around, we also regularly needed to pass perception checks. Starting the game with anywhere between 5 and 9 skill proficiencies is a pretty big deal (assuming you don't go overboard and try to take the skilled origin feat twice). Having 2 free casts of hunter's mark was pretty awesome. Most tables play 1-3 fights per long rest. This generally means you ALWAYS have a really impactful spell to cast in combat.
The level 2 enhancements were pretty awesome! Getting 2 more languages is big for social encounters. Getting expertise on a skill is pretty fantastic! I ended up with +7 perception and a 17 passive perception which is VERY impactful. The fighting style wasn't bad either.
The level 3 stuff is where things started to really come to life. The build was even more over powered at this point with beastmaster. I was a small species with the ability to ride my spirit companion which increased my speed to 40 basically for free. This also gave me a bonus attack every round to add to all the other damage I was doing.
The campaign ended here ... but it was set to just continue getting more and more powerful with the build I had in mind. Genuinely, I have no idea why people are so upset about the ranger. Try playing it. It's dope!
To maximize hunter's mark you (obviously) want to maximize the number of attacks you have per round. And, ideally you want to be able to focus these attacks on the same target. And, that happens to be an AWESOME way to play D&D because, mechanically, focusing damage on a single target to remove it from the board is a big deal.
At level 5 the ranger is able to do up to 8 attacks in a single round. And, 5 of these attacks can apply hunter's mark damage. That's 5D6 damage from a level 1 spell you were able to cast for free. That's what hunter's mark is capable of. No idea how you managed to not cast it as a ranger .. but do understand where if you ignore it the class would feel lame. I imagine if you were a barbarian who never raged, or a rogue who never used sneak attack those classes would feel lame, too.
Did I feel like a ranger? Well, I feel like most of that has to do with role play, and I certainly did! But, mechanically, the class gave me access to skills like survival, animal handling, athletics, nature, perception, and stealth. Those things help. It also gave me more languages and helped to make me REALLY exceptional at one skill (which can make you WAY better than almost anyone else in the party at that thing ... which can reinforce your ... ability to know things about nature, or survival checks or whatever thing helps make YOU feel like a ranger). For me personally, the role play of the spirit animal companion with my subclass added a lot.
Is the class a downgraded fighter?
Dude ... what? Historically, the class is a combination of fighter/rogue/druid. And, if you're balanced ... it means you're a little of each. Not a one for one copy of each which would make you 3 times stronger than a fighter (duh). The ranger has WAY better skill selection. It also has more skills. It also gets more languages (that's your history of traveling ... and you can role play that). You're able to tank as well as a fighter (generally). You're able to heal others which a fighter can't really do (this can be huge). You've got the same weapon ability and almost the same weapon mastery (at lower levels ... and most people aren't using 3-5 weapon masteries in a single long rest ... cool if you do ... MOST people don't ... especially not once they get a magic weapon they're happy with).
Can the fighter manage 1D4+3D6+3 at level 1? Or, 1D4+7D6+3 at level one with that crap bugbear species? Not just for one single round. I mean turn after turn after turn. Can the fighter manage 1D4+4D10+5D6+1D8+5+9 damage at level 5? Round after round not a once per short rest burst. That's assuming no magic weapons and a strength of 16 and a wisdom of 16 and only using the 2024 player's handbook. Also assuming the sentinel feat triggers which is more likely with a beast master companion pet in range, and also assuming two targets within 10 feet of you. None of those assumptions are crazy ... most fights are with more than one attacker, and most fights don't have all attackers focusing down a single player.
The ranger is a damage POWER HOUSE if you build for it. It's also a pretty solid skill monkey in a way that a fighter cannot mimic (I don't know how often people play a human fighter with the skilled origin feat). The ranger can also heal in a way that the fighter can't mimic (not just a once per short rest selfish self heal). The ranger can also do some battlefield manipulation and control in ways that fighter's cannot mimic. And, the ranger can be all of these things at the exact same time.
So ... no, the class isn't a downgraded fighter.
First, Rangers are insane below level 6, but then they don't get any more damage basically until level 20. Also, is learning two languages actually insanely useful? And where are these 8 attacks at level 5 coming from? You should only have four: two from the Attack action, one from Nick, one from your beast.
They get plenty of extra damage- it’s called level 3-5 spell slots. Especially since the 2024 class feature pretty well carries all the uses of HM a character will need over an LR. Also, every subclass in the PHB gets some kind of damage boosting feature at level 11, so saying they don’t get anything further until level 20 is wrong on several fronts.
Dual Wielder gets the Ranger an additional Attack.
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That's still not 8.
I appreciate that you are trying to win something here, but where did I say that it did? I was merely pointing out that you missed a very obvious and popular ranger kit. Be more curious.
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I've played D&D since the 90s. I've gotten above level 10 twice. What happens above level 12 or so just doesn't matter as far as I'm concerned, and I care a whole lot less about anything that happens after level 7 or 8. It's totally cool with me if you feel differently. I played for the entire duration of 3.5 and 4E and 5E. We play for a while, then things get busy. Game dies. We play for a while, DM may want to swap out, and another player steps up to DM and we start a fresh campaign. So ... no, I just don't care about what happens at level 20. That's nonsense as far as I'm concerned. And, I don't think I'm going to find a group in my 50s or 60 that is going to start at level 1 and get up to level 20 either.
Insanely useful? Is that the metric for a good feature? It has to be insane? Nope. That would be dumb. It's useful. It's good for socialization and exploration. The class is centered around the idea that they travel. And, in those travels they interact with others. Speaking other languages reinforces that idea. It strengthens the role play. It's a pretty great feature. It's up to the DM (and/or the purchased module) to make it useful or not. It's also one of the things that differentiates the ranger from the fighter and rogue and druid (the class is a combination of those three).
Rangers definitely do get more damage at levels after 6. Level 8 would be a feat which can be a damage increase. Every handful of levels the ranger gets a new spell level which can be a boost. Every ranger subclass gets a damage boost at level 11. Personally, I care a lot less about what happens after 8 or so ... but, 12 and 16 are more feats. 13 is advantage to maintain concentration on hunter's mark which you can cast FIVE times per day and generally still only have 1-3 combat sessions per long rest given the way most DMs run a table, but not dropping concentration means retaining a bonus action which is more damage. 17 gives you advantage on all attack rolls vs your marked target. Accuracy is huge for damage output. I'm just going to assume one of the boons granted at level 19 can increase damage (I don't care). And at level 20 turning your hunter's mark damage to a D10 is +2 damage per marked attack with 4-5 potential hunter's mark applications per round which is 8-10 extra damage per turn (give or take misses and crits with advantage on attacks for fewer misses and more crits per attack) .. round after round.
8 attacks from a ranger at level 5 only using the player's handbook.
Attack action:
Bonus action:
Reaction triggers during a turn that isn't your own from polearm mastery:
That's "up to 8 attacks in a round", like I said. No tricks with poorly balanced post launch material or content that isn't from wizards. Just using the player's handbook. That's also 5 hunter's mark attacks in a round and applying your strength modifier 5 times.
Will assume you don't need a detailed explanation for weapon swapping mechanics and that we're all good there. These are pretty common mechanics.
Cleave applies once per turn (not once per round). So, you can have more than one of these in a round by getting another cleave attack on a different person's turn. Another way to do this is with commander's strike which I think a fighter or a bard can trigger (though the ranger still only gets one reaction per round). The trick to maximizing a commander's strike is to give it to another player who can do more with that attack than you yourself can, and hunter's mark and cleave make this more likely. There are other things in the game with this specific wording and they can be combined.
Personally, I'd prefer to do 7 attacks in a round with the beast master ranger instead of the hunter with 8. I think it's a lot better to have the pet, especially as a small species where you can ride the pet like a mount and you always have a teammate in your space. It also just increases your speed to the 40ft speed WITH a climb speed (or swim speed). And, if it moves away it gets attacked with the opportunity attack not the player ... and you can bring it back to life indefinitely after the combat ends with a 1 minute duration ritual (plus things like physical armor can be put on it with barding mechanics in the vehicles/mounts section of the PHB, and spells to increase armor and health like the aid spell or temp hit points from things like musician feat or cooking or whatever). With the beastmaster your bonus action is a beast's attack. 1D6 less hunter's mark damage (until level 11 where the pet attacks twice and applies hunter's mark once, and unless it takes a running leap to get an extra 1D6 damage on that bonus action attack). But, instead of polearm mastery you can take sentinel. And, now if anyone attacks a nearby ally, or your mount which is a scary threat every round, you get a reaction based attack during a turn that isn't your own, and this can also include a cleave for a target within range of your reach weapon. The sentinel reaction will trigger more often than the polearm mastery reaction.
Ranger is a VERY good class with unique mechanics and a flavor that really is its own. All good if you don't like it. Hunter's mark wants you to maximize attacks per round. So, if you're a ranger, do that. Also goes for the vengeance paladin which gets access to hunter's mark (and divine favor which can be run at the same time).
If your plan is to say they're not good and then ignore the stuff that makes them good ... yeah, that's one way to approach a debate.
Play one in a game for a few levels. You'll enjoy it. You'll also find it doesn't feel too much like a fighter (give or take your role play).