Hunter’s Mark Beginning at 1st level you are able to mark your prey, exploiting weakness to do additional damage. As a bonus action you can mark a target, dealing an additional 1d6 damage each time you hit the target with an attack. The target remains marked until you use this feature again. This damage increases with experience to 2d6 at level 10. Once a creature is marked it gains no benefit from being unseen by you and you gain advantage on Survival checks to track it.
Definitely needs to be limited to once per short rest or WIS mod per long rest. And I'd be a bit concerned about giving gloom stalkers 6d6 (12d6 with fighter action surge) extra damage on first round. No concentration either?
Couldn't you just say the Ranger can cast Hunter's Mark at will, without consuming a spell slot? Set the duration when cast this way to permanent or 24 hour or whatever and that's the end of it.
How about this approach of an alternate feature for Favored Enemy, which incorporates / is built around the Hunter's Mark spell? Would welcome honest feed back! Drafting wise, there might be a way to word it more effectively as well.
---
You study a creature, marking it as your quarry and analyzing it with a careful eye. Your study allows you to anticipate the creature’s moves and tactics and to strike deeper and truer.
As a bonus action, you can designate a creature you can see within 60 feet of you as your favored enemy. Alternatively you can also mark a creature by studying its tracks or other traces it has left for at least 10 minutes. Once you mark your favored enemy, you have advantage on all Wisdom and Intelligence ability checks to detect and track it or to determine its motives. The target remains your favored enemy until it dies, you use this ability again or you cancel it with your bonus action.
At 2nd level, you learn the ranger spell Hunter's Mark. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of ranger spells you know.
At your option, when you mark your favored enemy or anytime thereafter, you may also choose to expend a spell slot to cast a special version of the Hunter's Mark spell (no action required if you do so at the same time). If you do so using this feature, the spell does not require concentration, and the duration of the spell is reduced to one minute. When you cast it in this way, the spell cannot be moved to another creature if your favored enemy drops to 0 hit points before this spell ends.
Favored Enemy Improvement. From 6th level, when you cast the Hunter's Mark spell on your favored enemy, your next attack against it is made with advantage. Starting at 14th level, if you complete a short rest and have no spell slots remaining, you gain one use of Hunter's Mark against your favored enemy.
You study a creature, marking it as your quarry and analyzing it with a careful eye. Your study allows you to anticipate the creature’s moves and tactics and to strike deeper and truer.
As a bonus action, you can designate a creature you can see within 60 feet of you as your favored enemy. Alternatively you can also mark a creature by studying its tracks or other traces it has left for at least 10 minutes. Once you mark your favored enemy, you have advantage on all Wisdom and Intelligence ability checks to detect and track it or to determine its motives. The target remains your favored enemy until it dies, you use this ability again or you cancel it with your bonus action.
At 2nd level, you learn the ranger spell Hunter's Mark. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of ranger spells you know.
At your option, when you mark your favored enemy or anytime thereafter, you may also choose to expend a spell slot to cast a special version of the Hunter's Mark spell (no action required if you do so at the same time). If you do so using this feature, the spell does not require concentration, and the duration of the spell is reduced to one minute. When you cast it in this way, the spell cannot be moved to another creature if your favored enemy drops to 0 hit points before this spell ends.
Favored Enemy Improvement. From 6th level, when you cast the Hunter's Mark spell on your favored enemy, your next attack against it is made with advantage. Starting at 14th level, if you complete a short rest and have no spell slots remaining, you gain one use of Hunter's Mark against your favored enemy.
I like that the spell does not count against your spells known. That makes sense considering how central that spell is to the Ranger before lvl 10. I don't know that I like the flavor text for favored enemy, though, since it implies that you study a creature. Can a person be said to "study" a creature just about encountering one or by looking at its tracks. At the very least it would need to be called something else.
I am confused about what is special about casting Hunter's Mark. Hunter's Mark is still a spell in your version. So wouldn't you always be casting it before using it?
Personally, I like the idea that one can combine Favored Enemy and Primeval Awareness to know where multiple creatures of a certain type are within a certain radius. I also like the bonus languages.
I appreciate your feedback! You're spot on, I'm not sure if I've got the wording right, or even the structure. Let me respond to your comments:
1. "I like that the spell does not count against your spells known. That makes sense considering how central that spell is to the Ranger before lvl 10. " - Agreed and because it is so central and essential for the ranger's combat effectiveness, I too felt that it should not count against known spells. As an extension of this, I also felt like having the ability to cast it without concentration was a nice tweak, and in some circumstances it would be worth accepting a shorter duration and inability to move to another target if the original target is slain.
2. " I don't know that I like the flavor text for favored enemy, though, since it implies that you study a creature. Can a person be said to "study" a creature just about encountering one or by looking at its tracks. At the very least it would need to be called something else. " - This wording was 'borrowed' from Mike Mearls Happy Fun Hour session where he worked on a few alternate class features for the ranger. My interpretation of the use of "study" here is as you suggest, i.e. watching and assessing it when it is encountered, or perhaps assessing its tracks, traces, spoor, etc in the way that a predator would weigh up her quarry before striking from the shadows, etc. I did not read "study" to mean in the academic sense. But I take your point, if it is not clear then it is simple enough to choose another word or descriptive term here.
3. " I am confused about what is special about casting Hunter's Mark. Hunter's Mark is still a spell in your version. So wouldn't you always be casting it before using it?"- This is where I might need to play with the wording / structure a bit more. What I was aiming for is kind of a two-tiered feature. At its most basic , the ranger can use this feature from Lvl 1 to mark a target ( thus designating it as his 'favoured enemy') and when he does so, he has advantage on all Wisdom and Intelligence ability checks to detect and track it or to determine its motives (e.g. Survival to track, Perception to detect, Insight to read intent, etc). This is similar to what the ranger gets from RAW Favored Enemy which normally gives her this for all creatures of certain types like undead or dragons, or whatever. That's fine, as long as the ranger encounters those creature types but if not, then it's a dead feature and a bit of a drag for the player. With my proposed alternative, it allows the ranger player some agency and control as to when she uses it- for example, I think it could be quite cool to use if certain tracks were encountered and the group wanted to follow them, of if they were on the trail of a wounded boss who was seeking to flee the party etc. The second part of the feature is where Hunter's Mark enters the picture. At 2nd level, when the ranger gains spellcasting, Hunter's Mark is learned and does not count against spells known, so that's one thing. And as another, if the ranger casts Hunter's Mark on a creature that has been marked as the ranger's favored enemy, then she can choose to cast a special version of it with the variation described (shorter duration but no concentration required). This would allow the ranger to wage combat for short periods of time against tough opponents who are marked with this feature and still be able to use other spells, for instance Barkskin, Beast Bond, Conjure Animals, etc all require concentration so normally if the ranger is using HM as written, those spells are off the table. The ranger's combat effectiveness really depends on Hunter's Mark or he is falling way behind other martial classes (or even rogue at high level) so having a way to use it and not lose other spell options seems very fair to me. Saying this, my intention was to still preserve the normal use of the HM spell if the ranger player wanted to cast the RAW longer duration version which can be moved from target to target (which could be really useful if the combat was against a number of lower level enemies such as a troop of orcs etc).
4. " I like the idea that one can combine Favored Enemy and Primeval Awareness to know where multiple creatures of a certain type are within a certain radius. I also like the bonus languages. " - This might be where we slightly disagree. In my view, the RAW use of those two features in tandem is quite underwhelming. It still won't tell you how many of your favored enemy are present within a certain ranger. Best it would do is (after you burn a precious spell slot of which you have very few as a ranger) is tell you if 'some number' of your favored enemy is present within 6 miles of you, not giving you distance or direction. You would then use your Favored Enemy feature, rolling with advantage, to try to pick up their tracks (hoping to hell that the trail they've left is not 5.5 miles away from where you stand presently!) It's worth noting that if you happen to be inside one of your favored terrains, then you'll get to double your prof bonus on the survival check. That's nice but it is still fingers crossed. And you've had to use 3 class features stacked on top of each other to have such a halfway decent shot at succeeding. Without going on a rant here ( I desperately dislike RAW Favored Enemy and Primeval Awareness, and am not crazy about RAW Natural Explorer) I would just say that my view is a re-work of Favored Enemy to give it more flexibility (putting agency into the hands of the player rather than luck of whether or not the DM uses the enemy types the player choose at character creation) and to give it just a touch of usefulness in combat is in no way going to lead to rangers being unbalanced. I think also that by allowing the ranger to choose at times to access the benefit of Hunter's Mark without requiring concentration can lead to some fun and varied uses of other spells (which today are often left by the wayside due to the central importance of Hunter's Mark and its crowding out of other spells). As for the bonus languages, well, yes who doesn't like having more languages. They can be handy. But personally I'd give them up if it meant having the boosts described. As an aside, I really like the way the UA-RR grants a basic form of animal communication in Primeval Awareness and when I have played a ranger I've used this a lot- far more then I've used languages that I've selected as part of FE feature. But that's just me and I realise other experiences may vary!
I think I need to at the very least play with the wording to make it clearer and a bit more elegant. Thanks again for your feedback, and hope my comments make sense!
I appreciate your feedback! You're spot on, I'm not sure if I've got the wording right, or even the structure. Let me respond to your comments:
1. "I like that the spell does not count against your spells known. That makes sense considering how central that spell is to the Ranger before lvl 10. " - Agreed and because it is so central and essential for the ranger's combat effectiveness, I too felt that it should not count against known spells. As an extension of this, I also felt like having the ability to cast it without concentration was a nice tweak, and in some circumstances it would be worth accepting a shorter duration and inability to move to another target if the original target is slain.
The thing is, I'm not sold on the idea that losing concentration on one target is that drastic of a thing in most circumstances. I mean, it's better to not lose concentration of course, but what with most combats lasting 4 rounds or less, I only see that becoming relevant when the opponent successfully flees. And if your prey does flee, I don't know that only having 1 minute's worth of ability-check-free tracking is worth it.
After toying around with a feat to improve concentration for the Ranger that would occasionally allow the recovery of a spell slot(what I called Estoteric Entanglement), I think it makes more sense to just allow Rangers to have unstoppable concentration on a spell for a certain amount of time at the expense of sacrificing a spell slot of the same level. Only applicable to Ranger spells, though. That feels more elegant to me and opens up a larger variety of spells to have this ability to, including Zephyr Strike, Conjure Animals and Guardian of Nature.
4. " I like the idea that one can combine Favored Enemy and Primeval Awareness to know where multiple creatures of a certain type are within a certain radius. I also like the bonus languages. " - This might be where we slightly disagree. In my view, the RAW use of those two features in tandem is quite underwhelming. It still won't tell you how many of your favored enemy are present within a certain ranger. Best it would do is (after you burn a precious spell slot of which you have very few as a ranger) is tell you if 'some number' of your favored enemy is present within 6 miles of you, not giving you distance or direction. You would then use your Favored Enemy feature, rolling with advantage, to try to pick up their tracks (hoping to hell that the trail they've left is not 5.5 miles away from where you stand presently!) It's worth noting that if you happen to be inside one of your favored terrains, then you'll get to double your prof bonus on the survival check. That's nice but it is still fingers crossed. And you've had to use 3 class features stacked on top of each other to have such a halfway decent shot at succeeding. Without going on a rant here ( I desperately dislike RAW Favored Enemy and Primeval Awareness, and am not crazy about RAW Natural Explorer) I would just say that my view is a re-work of Favored Enemy to give it more flexibility (putting agency into the hands of the player rather than luck of whether or not the DM uses the enemy types the player choose at character creation) and to give it just a touch of usefulness in combat is in no way going to lead to rangers being unbalanced. I think also that by allowing the ranger to choose at times to access the benefit of Hunter's Mark without requiring concentration can lead to some fun and varied uses of other spells (which today are often left by the wayside due to the central importance of Hunter's Mark and its crowding out of other spells). As for the bonus languages, well, yes who doesn't like having more languages. They can be handy. But personally I'd give them up if it meant having the boosts described. As an aside, I really like the way the UA-RR grants a basic form of animal communication in Primeval Awareness and when I have played a ranger I've used this a lot- far more then I've used languages that I've selected as part of FE feature. But that's just me and I realise other experiences may vary!
I think I need to at the very least play with the wording to make it clearer and a bit more elegant. Thanks again for your feedback, and hope my comments make sense!
Cheers!
Right. I also agree that Primeval Awareness as written is BS. I think the fix to that is to allow the Ranger to spend a minute to study the air, earth, etc. to ascertain the same kind of information, AND with special added benefits for Favored Enemy, esp. in the department of tracking and knowing their size, approx. #s, direction, and whether they are already injured.
I realize that having to choose Favored enemy types can feel a bit meta-gamey, but I also feel like it would be genuinely useful with the changes that I would put in place. Having it synergize with Primeval Awarness would be one aspect. If you're playing in a campaign where finding particular types of creatures is important (like werewolves or illithid), knowing the location of multiple such creatures can be quite useful. That's the part where I disagree with you about changing Favored Enemy so that it only functions like Spiderman's tracking beacon - useful only on 1 creature at a time. The other major thing I would change about Favored Enemy is to allow combat synergy with it around level 6 or 7. Here's what I came up with:
Starting at 7 level, your combat experience and familiarity with confronting particular foes provides you the following benefits. These benefits only apply while directly engaging your favored enemies.
Adapted Reflexes While wielding a shield or non-light melee weapon in one or both hands, you receive a +2 boost to your AC as long as you are not restrained or incapacitated.
Second Cut is Deeper When you hurt a favored enemy with a weapon attack after it has already been injured this round or roll a critical hit, you can impose either one of the following conditions, both of which last until the end of that foe’s next turn.
* Movement speed is reduced to zero. Note that flying foes which must move to stay aloft fall or float down, depending on wind conditions.
* Unable to use reactions.
You cannot use Second Cut is Deeper if you are poisoned or frightened. You can utilize this ability a number of times equal to half your level (rounded down) between short rests.
Re: basic communication with animals, I think Beastmaster Rangers should automatically get that at level 3. I don't know about all Rangers getting that much access, though, since Druids as a class do not have the kind of ability without either using of a spell or through their race.
I was toying with something similar for a spell less ranger. Tou give up spellcasting and in return you get hunters mark as an at will ability, and every time you would normally gain a new level of ranger spells tou instead increase hunter mark damage by +1d6, for a total of 5d6.
All good. Here is a no-spells brew I did using elements of the no-spells UA ranger, the UA-RR and a bit from Mike Mearls Happy Fun Hour, with a touch of my own hb.
I think it kind of does some of what we were discussing, although it still does not have @Song's favored enemy creature type (although you could easily port that back in).
@Sash. Sorry, the link requires a login and password. Is GMBinder a subscription service?
No worries, I really don't have a horse in the race in Re: to the Ranger. I just have too much time on my hands. I was mostly trying to solve a problem that a lot of people in the past have tried to work out because I enjoy that kind of thing and I enjoy thoughtful discussion. I'm really more of a Druid and Wizard player. ;). So yeah...keep havin' fun.
@Sash, if I assume that this is a spell-less Ranger variant, I think it looks good overall. Just a few things I would adjust if I were running it as DM.
* I would probably change the name "Favored Enemy" to something else, like "Mark the Target." If you can switch it whenever, the "favored" part seems incongruous.
* I might change the Natural Explorer bonuses to initiative and skill checks a bit so that the character isn't an automatic wiz everywhere that isn't a city. Being underwater is very different from being in tundra, which is very different from being in the jungle. So maybe require the character to become acclimated to a particular type of natural area for a certain number of days or long rests before getting those benefits.
* I'm confused about having both Two Weapon Fighting and Whirling Blades as choices for a fighting style. Could you clarify the difference?
* After thinking about it some more, I now feel that Hide in Plain Sight seems like a bit of a wasted 10 level ability. I think a Ranger built for stealth would probably find ways to get that advantage against being perceived ahead of 10th level, most likely. Perhaps replacing it with something like Pass Without Trace as a ritual, affecting a # of creatures equal to your wisdom modifier once per long rest.
I have been thinking of running it this way in my campaign.
At 2nd level you gain hunters mark as a bonus known spell that does not count against you total spells.
Also you may once per short or long rest cast this spell without consuming a spell slot (will be cast with an effective level 1 spell slot). You must target your preferred enemy with this spell and it does not require concentration on your part.
Working on a Revised Ranger,
Hunter’s Mark
Beginning at 1st level you are able to mark your prey, exploiting weakness to do additional damage. As a bonus action you can mark a target, dealing an additional 1d6 damage each time you hit the target with an attack. The target remains marked until you use this feature again. This damage increases with experience to 2d6 at level 10. Once a creature is marked it gains no benefit from being unseen by you and you gain advantage on Survival checks to track it.
Definitely needs to be limited to once per short rest or WIS mod per long rest. And I'd be a bit concerned about giving gloom stalkers 6d6 (12d6 with fighter action surge) extra damage on first round. No concentration either?
You also forgot to mention range.
I wasn't concerned with limiting it. Thus far with my gaming experience as a Ranger, I basically always have it up.
6d6 would only be one round, and only for the Gloomstalker, which is on par with a Rogues 6d6 sneak, but they get that everyturn.
I could see giving it a range, but it not being concentration is the point, it should be a feature, not a spell.
You know what, just give it Hunter's Mark's casting range, replace favored enemy with it, and call it a day.
Couldn't you just say the Ranger can cast Hunter's Mark at will, without consuming a spell slot? Set the duration when cast this way to permanent or 24 hour or whatever and that's the end of it.
@drag0n_77 You mean like...a cantrip?? Blasphemy!!
How about this approach of an alternate feature for Favored Enemy, which incorporates / is built around the Hunter's Mark spell? Would welcome honest feed back! Drafting wise, there might be a way to word it more effectively as well.
---
You study a creature, marking it as your quarry and analyzing it with a careful eye. Your study allows you to anticipate the creature’s moves and tactics and to strike deeper and truer.
As a bonus action, you can designate a creature you can see within 60 feet of you as your favored enemy. Alternatively you can also mark a creature by studying its tracks or other traces it has left for at least 10 minutes. Once you mark your favored enemy, you have advantage on all Wisdom and Intelligence ability checks to detect and track it or to determine its motives. The target remains your favored enemy until it dies, you use this ability again or you cancel it with your bonus action.
At 2nd level, you learn the ranger spell Hunter's Mark. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of ranger spells you know.
At your option, when you mark your favored enemy or anytime thereafter, you may also choose to expend a spell slot to cast a special version of the Hunter's Mark spell (no action required if you do so at the same time). If you do so using this feature, the spell does not require concentration, and the duration of the spell is reduced to one minute. When you cast it in this way, the spell cannot be moved to another creature if your favored enemy drops to 0 hit points before this spell ends.
Favored Enemy Improvement. From 6th level, when you cast the Hunter's Mark spell on your favored enemy, your next attack against it is made with advantage. Starting at 14th level, if you complete a short rest and have no spell slots remaining, you gain one use of Hunter's Mark against your favored enemy.
---
Don't be Lawful Evil
#OpenDND
I like that the spell does not count against your spells known. That makes sense considering how central that spell is to the Ranger before lvl 10. I don't know that I like the flavor text for favored enemy, though, since it implies that you study a creature. Can a person be said to "study" a creature just about encountering one or by looking at its tracks. At the very least it would need to be called something else.
I am confused about what is special about casting Hunter's Mark. Hunter's Mark is still a spell in your version. So wouldn't you always be casting it before using it?
Personally, I like the idea that one can combine Favored Enemy and Primeval Awareness to know where multiple creatures of a certain type are within a certain radius. I also like the bonus languages.
@Song_of_Blues
I appreciate your feedback! You're spot on, I'm not sure if I've got the wording right, or even the structure. Let me respond to your comments:
1. "I like that the spell does not count against your spells known. That makes sense considering how central that spell is to the Ranger before lvl 10. " - Agreed and because it is so central and essential for the ranger's combat effectiveness, I too felt that it should not count against known spells. As an extension of this, I also felt like having the ability to cast it without concentration was a nice tweak, and in some circumstances it would be worth accepting a shorter duration and inability to move to another target if the original target is slain.
2. " I don't know that I like the flavor text for favored enemy, though, since it implies that you study a creature. Can a person be said to "study" a creature just about encountering one or by looking at its tracks. At the very least it would need to be called something else. " - This wording was 'borrowed' from Mike Mearls Happy Fun Hour session where he worked on a few alternate class features for the ranger. My interpretation of the use of "study" here is as you suggest, i.e. watching and assessing it when it is encountered, or perhaps assessing its tracks, traces, spoor, etc in the way that a predator would weigh up her quarry before striking from the shadows, etc. I did not read "study" to mean in the academic sense. But I take your point, if it is not clear then it is simple enough to choose another word or descriptive term here.
3. " I am confused about what is special about casting Hunter's Mark. Hunter's Mark is still a spell in your version. So wouldn't you always be casting it before using it?"- This is where I might need to play with the wording / structure a bit more. What I was aiming for is kind of a two-tiered feature. At its most basic , the ranger can use this feature from Lvl 1 to mark a target ( thus designating it as his 'favoured enemy') and when he does so, he has advantage on all Wisdom and Intelligence ability checks to detect and track it or to determine its motives (e.g. Survival to track, Perception to detect, Insight to read intent, etc). This is similar to what the ranger gets from RAW Favored Enemy which normally gives her this for all creatures of certain types like undead or dragons, or whatever. That's fine, as long as the ranger encounters those creature types but if not, then it's a dead feature and a bit of a drag for the player. With my proposed alternative, it allows the ranger player some agency and control as to when she uses it- for example, I think it could be quite cool to use if certain tracks were encountered and the group wanted to follow them, of if they were on the trail of a wounded boss who was seeking to flee the party etc. The second part of the feature is where Hunter's Mark enters the picture. At 2nd level, when the ranger gains spellcasting, Hunter's Mark is learned and does not count against spells known, so that's one thing. And as another, if the ranger casts Hunter's Mark on a creature that has been marked as the ranger's favored enemy, then she can choose to cast a special version of it with the variation described (shorter duration but no concentration required). This would allow the ranger to wage combat for short periods of time against tough opponents who are marked with this feature and still be able to use other spells, for instance Barkskin, Beast Bond, Conjure Animals, etc all require concentration so normally if the ranger is using HM as written, those spells are off the table. The ranger's combat effectiveness really depends on Hunter's Mark or he is falling way behind other martial classes (or even rogue at high level) so having a way to use it and not lose other spell options seems very fair to me. Saying this, my intention was to still preserve the normal use of the HM spell if the ranger player wanted to cast the RAW longer duration version which can be moved from target to target (which could be really useful if the combat was against a number of lower level enemies such as a troop of orcs etc).
4. " I like the idea that one can combine Favored Enemy and Primeval Awareness to know where multiple creatures of a certain type are within a certain radius. I also like the bonus languages. " - This might be where we slightly disagree. In my view, the RAW use of those two features in tandem is quite underwhelming. It still won't tell you how many of your favored enemy are present within a certain ranger. Best it would do is (after you burn a precious spell slot of which you have very few as a ranger) is tell you if 'some number' of your favored enemy is present within 6 miles of you, not giving you distance or direction. You would then use your Favored Enemy feature, rolling with advantage, to try to pick up their tracks (hoping to hell that the trail they've left is not 5.5 miles away from where you stand presently!) It's worth noting that if you happen to be inside one of your favored terrains, then you'll get to double your prof bonus on the survival check. That's nice but it is still fingers crossed. And you've had to use 3 class features stacked on top of each other to have such a halfway decent shot at succeeding. Without going on a rant here ( I desperately dislike RAW Favored Enemy and Primeval Awareness, and am not crazy about RAW Natural Explorer) I would just say that my view is a re-work of Favored Enemy to give it more flexibility (putting agency into the hands of the player rather than luck of whether or not the DM uses the enemy types the player choose at character creation) and to give it just a touch of usefulness in combat is in no way going to lead to rangers being unbalanced. I think also that by allowing the ranger to choose at times to access the benefit of Hunter's Mark without requiring concentration can lead to some fun and varied uses of other spells (which today are often left by the wayside due to the central importance of Hunter's Mark and its crowding out of other spells). As for the bonus languages, well, yes who doesn't like having more languages. They can be handy. But personally I'd give them up if it meant having the boosts described. As an aside, I really like the way the UA-RR grants a basic form of animal communication in Primeval Awareness and when I have played a ranger I've used this a lot- far more then I've used languages that I've selected as part of FE feature. But that's just me and I realise other experiences may vary!
I think I need to at the very least play with the wording to make it clearer and a bit more elegant. Thanks again for your feedback, and hope my comments make sense!
Cheers!
---
Don't be Lawful Evil
#OpenDND
The thing is, I'm not sold on the idea that losing concentration on one target is that drastic of a thing in most circumstances. I mean, it's better to not lose concentration of course, but what with most combats lasting 4 rounds or less, I only see that becoming relevant when the opponent successfully flees. And if your prey does flee, I don't know that only having 1 minute's worth of ability-check-free tracking is worth it.
After toying around with a feat to improve concentration for the Ranger that would occasionally allow the recovery of a spell slot(what I called Estoteric Entanglement), I think it makes more sense to just allow Rangers to have unstoppable concentration on a spell for a certain amount of time at the expense of sacrificing a spell slot of the same level. Only applicable to Ranger spells, though. That feels more elegant to me and opens up a larger variety of spells to have this ability to, including Zephyr Strike, Conjure Animals and Guardian of Nature.
Right. I also agree that Primeval Awareness as written is BS. I think the fix to that is to allow the Ranger to spend a minute to study the air, earth, etc. to ascertain the same kind of information, AND with special added benefits for Favored Enemy, esp. in the department of tracking and knowing their size, approx. #s, direction, and whether they are already injured.
I realize that having to choose Favored enemy types can feel a bit meta-gamey, but I also feel like it would be genuinely useful with the changes that I would put in place. Having it synergize with Primeval Awarness would be one aspect. If you're playing in a campaign where finding particular types of creatures is important (like werewolves or illithid), knowing the location of multiple such creatures can be quite useful. That's the part where I disagree with you about changing Favored Enemy so that it only functions like Spiderman's tracking beacon - useful only on 1 creature at a time. The other major thing I would change about Favored Enemy is to allow combat synergy with it around level 6 or 7. Here's what I came up with:
Starting at 7 level, your combat experience and familiarity with confronting particular foes provides you the following benefits. These benefits only apply while directly engaging your favored enemies.
Adapted Reflexes While wielding a shield or non-light melee weapon in one or both hands, you receive a +2 boost to your AC as long as you are not restrained or incapacitated.
Second Cut is Deeper When you hurt a favored enemy with a weapon attack after it has already been injured this round or roll a critical hit, you can impose either one of the following conditions, both of which last until the end of that foe’s next turn.
* Movement speed is reduced to zero. Note that flying foes which must move to stay aloft fall or float down, depending on wind conditions.
* Unable to use reactions.
You cannot use Second Cut is Deeper if you are poisoned or frightened. You can utilize this ability a number of times equal to half your level (rounded down) between short rests.
Re: basic communication with animals, I think Beastmaster Rangers should automatically get that at level 3. I don't know about all Rangers getting that much access, though, since Druids as a class do not have the kind of ability without either using of a spell or through their race.
I was toying with something similar for a spell less ranger. Tou give up spellcasting and in return you get hunters mark as an at will ability, and every time you would normally gain a new level of ranger spells tou instead increase hunter mark damage by +1d6, for a total of 5d6.
@Song_of_Blues @Rasmus
All good. Here is a no-spells brew I did using elements of the no-spells UA ranger, the UA-RR and a bit from Mike Mearls Happy Fun Hour, with a touch of my own hb.
I think it kind of does some of what we were discussing, although it still does not have @Song's favored enemy creature type (although you could easily port that back in).
https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-LhizGi7DBrl9r-SIozP
Cheers!
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Don't be Lawful Evil
#OpenDND
@Sash. Sorry, the link requires a login and password. Is GMBinder a subscription service?
No worries, I really don't have a horse in the race in Re: to the Ranger. I just have too much time on my hands. I was mostly trying to solve a problem that a lot of people in the past have tried to work out because I enjoy that kind of thing and I enjoy thoughtful discussion. I'm really more of a Druid and Wizard player. ;). So yeah...keep havin' fun.
Oops, my mistake- here is the correct link : https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-LhizGi7DBrl9r-SIozP
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Don't be Lawful Evil
#OpenDND
@Sash, if I assume that this is a spell-less Ranger variant, I think it looks good overall. Just a few things I would adjust if I were running it as DM.
* I would probably change the name "Favored Enemy" to something else, like "Mark the Target." If you can switch it whenever, the "favored" part seems incongruous.
* I might change the Natural Explorer bonuses to initiative and skill checks a bit so that the character isn't an automatic wiz everywhere that isn't a city. Being underwater is very different from being in tundra, which is very different from being in the jungle. So maybe require the character to become acclimated to a particular type of natural area for a certain number of days or long rests before getting those benefits.
* I'm confused about having both Two Weapon Fighting and Whirling Blades as choices for a fighting style. Could you clarify the difference?
* After thinking about it some more, I now feel that Hide in Plain Sight seems like a bit of a wasted 10 level ability. I think a Ranger built for stealth would probably find ways to get that advantage against being perceived ahead of 10th level, most likely. Perhaps replacing it with something like Pass Without Trace as a ritual, affecting a # of creatures equal to your wisdom modifier once per long rest.
Anyway, just my thoughts.
I have been thinking of running it this way in my campaign.
At 2nd level you gain hunters mark as a bonus known spell that does not count against you total spells.
Also you may once per short or long rest cast this spell without consuming a spell slot (will be cast with an effective level 1 spell slot). You must target your preferred enemy with this spell and it does not require concentration on your part.
Am I missing something, or is this not basically what the Monster Slayer's "Slayer's Prey" is for?
Right. Except that it's tied to a particular sub-class of Ranger and not available to other sub-classes.
My version ties it to your prefered enemies..as a slight bonus for all rangers no matter what sub class..