RAW, no. The ability outputs "yes" or "no". Curiously, this means it offers a Ranger less information in their favored terrain, as the covered area is bigger, so a Ranger has a worse idea of where the sensed creature(s) is/are.
RAW, no. The ability outputs "yes" or "no". Curiously, this means it offers a Ranger less information in their favored terrain, as the covered area is bigger, so a Ranger has a worse idea of where the sensed creature(s) is/are.
Today I learned Rangers obey Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle
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You're perceiving bias where none exists. I'm not interpreting rules in a way to achieve some goal - I'm interpreting all rules the same way, which is literally, and then going from there.
Your reading violates the RAW, based on how grammar works (with a dose of logic and set theory, but the fundamental question is a grammatical one). Your reading is a very reasonable house rule and, no question, makes the ranger more fun (RAF) than the RAW. I agree with and support your homebrew. That doesn't change what the RAW says. For example, up to 6 miles doesn't say the Ranger can choose a lesser distance. That just isn't there. It's like if you had a spell that said "this spell emits the smell of warm apple pie up to 10 yards away". That doesn't mean the caster can choose a lesser range.
You're perceiving bias where none exists. I'm not interpreting rules in a way to achieve some goal - I'm interpreting all rules the same way, which is literally, and then going from there.
It might be your impression, but I happen to disagree.
Your reading violates the RAW, based on how grammar works (with a dose of logic and set theory, but the fundamental question is a grammatical one). Your reading is a very reasonable house rule and, no question, makes the ranger more fun (RAF) than the RAW. I agree with and support your homebrew. That doesn't change what the RAW says. For example, up to 6 miles doesn't say the Ranger can choose a lesser distance.
I can cast my fireball with a range of 150 ft, but I can make it explode at any point I chose within range, up to 150 feet.
If the RAW supported your view, it would have said "within 1 mile of you (or within 6 miles if you are in your favored terrain)" therefore just extending the range, but it says ""within 1 mile of you (or within up to 6 miles if you are in your favored terrain)". So it gives you some flexibility in addition to extending the range.
That just isn't there. It's like if you had a spell that said "this spell emits the smell of warm apple pie up to 10 yards away". That doesn't mean the caster can choose a lesser range.
See above my example about fireball, it's clear. Just because there is a range means that you have to use the maximum range. Neither basic english nor the rules support your perspective.
Even if all this is true (and it might as well be), and you can choose the range and tell the creature type, it still isn't that useful.
"A fey is within 5 miles of you," doesn't give accurate distance or any direction, just "yes."
Couple that with a tracking buff that works on 10% of creatures and a travel buff that works in 10% of terrain and you have a fighting style and spells until level 8.
You get a yes or no answer for 7 creature types. So when you use the ability, within one mile you get: (for example) Aberrations? No. Celestials? No. Dragons? Yes. Elementals? No. Fey? No. Fiends? Yes. Undead? Yes. You get all of that information in a single moment, 360 degrees. If you are in your favored terrain you can choose a distance the ability works between one mile and six miles. When you are in your favored terrain you get more information when you're tracking, and you're better at it, , so know the distance and direction, and you and the ENTIRE party (not just the scout rogue by themselves) can move quicker and stealthily. So it's better. Much better. In your favored terrain.
Primeval Awareness
Beginning at 3rd level, you can use your action and expend one ranger spell slot to focus your awareness on the region around you. For 1 minute per level of the spell slot you expend, you can sense whether the following types of creatures are present within 1 mile of you (or within up to 6 miles if you are in your favored terrain): aberrations, celestials, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead. This feature doesn’t reveal the creatures’ location or number.
You're perceiving bias where none exists. I'm not interpreting rules in a way to achieve some goal - I'm interpreting all rules the same way, which is literally, and then going from there.
Your reading violates the RAW, based on how grammar works (with a dose of logic and set theory, but the fundamental question is a grammatical one). Your reading is a very reasonable house rule and, no question, makes the ranger more fun (RAF) than the RAW. I agree with and support your homebrew. That doesn't change what the RAW says. For example, up to 6 miles doesn't say the Ranger can choose a lesser distance. That just isn't there. It's like if you had a spell that said "this spell emits the smell of warm apple pie up to 10 yards away". That doesn't mean the caster can choose a lesser range.
It absolutely does. Look through the PHB section on classes and spells for the words "up to". It shows up dozens and dozens of times and each time it does the result is the same, you choose the time, distance, or amount of something up to the total listed.
I had a ranger in my party and they only ever used Primeval Awareness twice. Once early on to see if any Undead were nearby (there were), only to realize the ability didn't give them any indication of how many of them or in what direction they were. Undead were their favored enemy, so then they did a survival check to get an idea of what direction the Undead were in, tracking footprints and other indicators of the Undead and got far more information from that second check, and realized that the Primeval Awareness was a wholly unnecessary middleman. The second time they used it was when I, as the DM, encouraged them to use the ability because the party had defeated the power source fueling the undead in a particular environment and I wanted them to use that ability so everyone could confirm that there were no Undead present so everyone could stop moving so cautiously and the story could continue.
It takes a fairly generous interpretation of Primeval Awareness to make it particularly more useful than the other skills a Ranger already has at their disposal. Rangers don't get a lot of spell slots already, so it's kind of a big ask for them to use one to do something they could likely accomplish through a combination of Perception and Survival checks without spending any limited resources. The fact that it lasts a minute is kind of pointless as well, since the spell doesn't indicate direction or number, so you're likely to acquire any useful information instantaneously and then after that it's just kind of... on for just long enough that maybe, maaaaaaaaaybe a DM will decide that, a mile away, something wanders into sensor, but not long enough to be useful as an early alarm or some such as you travel.
When Tasha's came out I allowed my players to take advantage of hte new rules options, if they wanted, and my Ranger immediately dropped Primeval Awareness for Primal Awareness. They've used Speak with Animals pretty constantly. For one, they get a free casting of the spell once per day without expending any resources, which is a good motivator to try and use the spell as often as possible. Secondly, aside from being a useful information-gathering tool, it also has solid roleplay opportunities.
Your reading violates the RAW, based on how grammar works (with a dose of logic and set theory, but the fundamental question is a grammatical one). Your reading is a very reasonable house rule and, no question, makes the ranger more fun (RAF) than the RAW. I agree with and support your homebrew. That doesn't change what the RAW says. For example, up to 6 miles doesn't say the Ranger can choose a lesser distance. That just isn't there. It's like if you had a spell that said "this spell emits the smell of warm apple pie up to 10 yards away". That doesn't mean the caster can choose a lesser range.
It absolutely does. Look through the PHB section on classes and spells for the words "up to". It shows up dozens and dozens of times and each time it does the result is the same, you choose the time, distance, or amount of something up to the total listed.
How does that work with thunderclap, thunderwave, and knock? Each have slightly different wording that all mean the same thing "X distance or closer." Can you choose the audible range for these spells? If not, why is it different from primeval awareness or similar examples?
Your reading violates the RAW, based on how grammar works (with a dose of logic and set theory, but the fundamental question is a grammatical one). Your reading is a very reasonable house rule and, no question, makes the ranger more fun (RAF) than the RAW. I agree with and support your homebrew. That doesn't change what the RAW says. For example, up to 6 miles doesn't say the Ranger can choose a lesser distance. That just isn't there. It's like if you had a spell that said "this spell emits the smell of warm apple pie up to 10 yards away". That doesn't mean the caster can choose a lesser range.
It absolutely does. Look through the PHB section on classes and spells for the words "up to". It shows up dozens and dozens of times and each time it does the result is the same, you choose the time, distance, or amount of something up to the total listed.
How does that work with thunderclap, thunderwave, and knock? Each have slightly different wording that all mean the same thing "X distance or closer." Can you choose the audible range for these spells? If not, why is it different from primeval awareness or similar examples?
For thunderclap and knock, the area is fixed, and as for how far the sound carries, it really is the DM's decision to see who can hear, you just know that you cannot make it louder to be heard to more than 100 feet, But only the DM can tell how far it carries depending on the conditions. For Thunderwave, I'm not sure where the "up to" is. The range is fixed, but apparently for this one it does not depend on the conditions.
So "up to" is a fixed range for thunderclap but a variable range for primeval awareness because...?
Your reading violates the RAW, based on how grammar works (with a dose of logic and set theory, but the fundamental question is a grammatical one). Your reading is a very reasonable house rule and, no question, makes the ranger more fun (RAF) than the RAW. I agree with and support your homebrew. That doesn't change what the RAW says. For example, up to 6 miles doesn't say the Ranger can choose a lesser distance. That just isn't there. It's like if you had a spell that said "this spell emits the smell of warm apple pie up to 10 yards away". That doesn't mean the caster can choose a lesser range.
It absolutely does. Look through the PHB section on classes and spells for the words "up to". It shows up dozens and dozens of times and each time it does the result is the same, you choose the time, distance, or amount of something up to the total listed.
How does that work with thunderclap, thunderwave, and knock? Each have slightly different wording that all mean the same thing "X distance or closer." Can you choose the audible range for these spells? If not, why is it different from primeval awareness or similar examples?
Here is just from the classes in the PHB:
You can see up to 1 mile away with no difficulty, able to discern even fine details as though looking at something no more than 100 feet away from you.
At 6th level, when you deal lightning damage to a Large or smaller creature, you can also push it up to 10 feet away from you.
As a bonus action on your turn, you can move the illusion up to 30 feet to a space you can see, but it must remain within 120 feet of you.
At 17th level, you can create up to four duplicates of yourself, instead of one, when you use Invoke Duplicity. As a bonus action on your turn, you can move any number of them up to 30 feet, to a maximum range of 120 feet.
For example, when you are a 4th-level druid, you can recover up to two levels worth of spell slots. You can recover either a 2nd-level slot or two 1st-level slots.
That creature can use its reaction to move up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks from the target of your attack.
On a failed save, you push the target up to 15 feet away from you.
You can have up to two bonded weapons, but can summon only one at a time with your bonus action.
At 15th level, you gain the ability to teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see when you use your Action Surge.
It must make a Strength saving throw. If it fails, you can push it up to 15 feet away from you.
When you are in dim light or darkness, as a bonus action you can teleport up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space you can see that is also in dim light or darkness.
Chill or warm up to 1 pound of nonliving material for up to 1 hour.
for each additional ki point you spend, and you can push the creature up to 20 feet away from you and knock it prone.
As an action, you can touch a creature and draw power from the pool to restore a number of hit points to that creature, up to the maximum amount remaining in your pool.
you can move up to half your speed immediately after the attack and as part of the same reaction.
within up to 6 miles if you are in your favored terrain
To do so, you spend 1 sorcery point and choose a number of those creatures up to your Charisma modifier
When you take damage, you can use your reaction to turn invisible and teleport up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space you can see.
When you hit a creature with eldritch blast, you can push the creature up to 10 feet away from you in a straight line.
For example, if you’re a 4th-level wizard, you can recover up to two levels worth of spell slots. You can recover either a 2nd-level spell slot or two 1st-level spell slots.
Starting at 6th level, you can use your action to teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space that you can see.
Here is just the spells in the PHB that start with the letter A:
Choose up to three creatures within range. Each target’s hit point maximum and current hit points increase by 5 for the duration.
Concentration, up to 1 hour
You also speak a message of up to twenty-five words.
This use of the spell reasserts your control over up to four creatures you have animated with this spell, rather than animating a new one.
Choose up to ten nonmagical objects within range that are not being worn or carried.
As an action, you can move the eye up to 30 feet in any direction.
You and up to eight willing creatures within range project your astral bodies into the Astral Plane (the spell fails and the casting is wasted if you are already on that plane).
Thanks Frank for the list of "similar examples" that I mentioned but didn't list because I didn't want to waste time. But you forgot to answer any of my actual questions...
Your reading violates the RAW, based on how grammar works (with a dose of logic and set theory, but the fundamental question is a grammatical one). Your reading is a very reasonable house rule and, no question, makes the ranger more fun (RAF) than the RAW. I agree with and support your homebrew. That doesn't change what the RAW says. For example, up to 6 miles doesn't say the Ranger can choose a lesser distance. That just isn't there. It's like if you had a spell that said "this spell emits the smell of warm apple pie up to 10 yards away". That doesn't mean the caster can choose a lesser range.
It absolutely does. Look through the PHB section on classes and spells for the words "up to". It shows up dozens and dozens of times and each time it does the result is the same, you choose the time, distance, or amount of something up to the total listed.
How does that work with thunderclap, thunderwave, and knock? Each have slightly different wording that all mean the same thing "X distance or closer." Can you choose the audible range for these spells? If not, why is it different from primeval awareness or similar examples?
For thunderclap and knock, the area is fixed, and as for how far the sound carries, it really is the DM's decision to see who can hear, you just know that you cannot make it louder to be heard to more than 100 feet, But only the DM can tell how far it carries depending on the conditions. For Thunderwave, I'm not sure where the "up to" is. The range is fixed, but apparently for this one it does not depend on the conditions.
So "up to" is a fixed range for thunderclap but a variable range for primeval awareness because...?
Because it's fairly obvious from the wording what is the direct effect from a spell / power / action and what is a side effect. All of your examples are about doing an effect that creates some noise, it's just information telling you how loud it is. On the other examples (and thanks to FrankReynoldsGaryGygax for providing so many relevant other examples), it's obvious when it's a choice you are making about your targets.
Right, but it is the same wording. And since it is for things like a cantrip and a ritual, who is to say that making a loud noise isn't a utility use for the spell (seeing as how there are other spells where "make a noise" is one of the options)?
This is the problem with 5e. They used exactly the same phrase to mean 2 opposite meanings...
Thanks Frank for the list of "similar examples" that I mentioned but didn't list because I didn't want to waste time. But you forgot to answer any of my actual questions...
I apologize. What was the question again?
Is it "So "up to" is a fixed range for thunderclap but a variable range for primeval awareness because...?"?
My first thought is, this is why there is no such thing as pure RAW in a game with so much left open-ended and open to interpretation by design. The poor ranger class just happens to be built to swim in the pool that is the part of the game that is the MOST open to interpretation. Unlike a fighting or healing class, which is pretty straightforward and simple. Even hiding, stealth, perception, and passive perception, and other uses of skills, have some little quirks and different ways of using them from table to table, along with knowledge checks, languages, social skills, all of this is open to adjudication to a DM and can't be quantified like hitting something or healing something.
My second thought is, what is the character is doing to create the effect. For thunderclap they cast the spell which is instantaneous and creates an effect that creates a sound, which is out of the control of the caster. It's like hitting a bell. You can control how hard you hit the bell, but the bell makes the sound, not you. With primeval awareness, and other class abilities and spells, you are directly controlling the effect in question. The effect with the "up to" wording.
"up to" does not indicate fixed or variable by itself, and requires context. It is a colloquial way to indicate a maximum, and in context of these abilities indicates the maximum extent or range of the effect. In general, specific actions that say "up to" , "within" or other language that set a maximum, usually means you choose a specific distance or location up to that maximum, but there is a clear subset of abilities and rules relating to perception that are fixed. When it says, you can see up to 1 mile in certain visibility, you don't get to choose to see only up to 1/2 a mile. the "up to" is fixed and is the limit of your perception. Likewise, if you can see up to or within 60 feet normally with darkvision, you don't get to choose to see only up to 30 feet.
Primeval Awareness is a perceptive ability to perceive the existence of certain creatures. It makes the most sense that it would function like any other perceptive sense, and "up to" would mean a fixed range in which the effect works every time.
"up to" does not indicate fixed or variable by itself, and requires context. It is a colloquial way to indicate a maximum, and in context of these abilities indicates the maximum extent or range of the effect. In general, specific actions that say "up to" , "within" or other language that set a maximum, usually means you choose a specific distance or location up to that maximum, but there is a clear subset of abilities and rules relating to perception that are fixed. When it says, you can see up to 1 mile in certain visibility, you don't get to choose to see only up to 1/2 a mile. the "up to" is fixed and is the limit of your perception. Likewise, if you can see up to or within 60 feet normally with darkvision, you don't get to choose to see only up to 30 feet.
Primeval Awareness is a perceptive ability to perceive the existence of certain creatures. It makes the most sense that it would function like any other perceptive sense, and "up to" would mean a fixed range in which the effect works every time.
Exactly. I always imagined it as working like the sense of smell.
"up to" does not indicate fixed or variable by itself, and requires context. It is a colloquial way to indicate a maximum, and in context of these abilities indicates the maximum extent or range of the effect. In general, specific actions that say "up to" , "within" or other language that set a maximum, usually means you choose a specific distance or location up to that maximum, but there is a clear subset of abilities and rules relating to perception that are fixed. When it says, you can see up to 1 mile in certain visibility, you don't get to choose to see only up to 1/2 a mile. the "up to" is fixed and is the limit of your perception. Likewise, if you can see up to or within 60 feet normally with darkvision, you don't get to choose to see only up to 30 feet.
Primeval Awareness is a perceptive ability to perceive the existence of certain creatures. It makes the most sense that it would function like any other sense, and "up to" would mean a fixed range in which the effect works.
Perhaps. It is also a supernatural ability that is power by magic. And the ranger is in direct control of this ability using this magic. Personally I see this as the favored terrain giving the ranger better control of the ability with less distortion, hence the choice of the extended range.
im just curious.
It does rather depend on your DM.
The ability isn't entirely clear on that aspect.
RAW, no. The ability outputs "yes" or "no". Curiously, this means it offers a Ranger less information in their favored terrain, as the covered area is bigger, so a Ranger has a worse idea of where the sensed creature(s) is/are.
Today I learned Rangers obey Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle
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Rangers had 3 largely useless features. WotC: "why does everyone say rangers are bad?"
You're perceiving bias where none exists. I'm not interpreting rules in a way to achieve some goal - I'm interpreting all rules the same way, which is literally, and then going from there.
Your reading violates the RAW, based on how grammar works (with a dose of logic and set theory, but the fundamental question is a grammatical one). Your reading is a very reasonable house rule and, no question, makes the ranger more fun (RAF) than the RAW. I agree with and support your homebrew. That doesn't change what the RAW says. For example, up to 6 miles doesn't say the Ranger can choose a lesser distance. That just isn't there. It's like if you had a spell that said "this spell emits the smell of warm apple pie up to 10 yards away". That doesn't mean the caster can choose a lesser range.
Even if all this is true (and it might as well be), and you can choose the range and tell the creature type, it still isn't that useful.
"A fey is within 5 miles of you," doesn't give accurate distance or any direction, just "yes."
Couple that with a tracking buff that works on 10% of creatures and a travel buff that works in 10% of terrain and you have a fighting style and spells until level 8.
Yep!
You get a yes or no answer for 7 creature types. So when you use the ability, within one mile you get: (for example) Aberrations? No. Celestials? No. Dragons? Yes. Elementals? No. Fey? No. Fiends? Yes. Undead? Yes. You get all of that information in a single moment, 360 degrees. If you are in your favored terrain you can choose a distance the ability works between one mile and six miles. When you are in your favored terrain you get more information when you're tracking, and you're better at it, , so know the distance and direction, and you and the ENTIRE party (not just the scout rogue by themselves) can move quicker and stealthily. So it's better. Much better. In your favored terrain.
Primeval Awareness
Beginning at 3rd level, you can use your action and expend one ranger spell slot to focus your awareness on the region around you. For 1 minute per level of the spell slot you expend, you can sense whether the following types of creatures are present within 1 mile of you (or within up to 6 miles if you are in your favored terrain): aberrations, celestials, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead. This feature doesn’t reveal the creatures’ location or number.
It absolutely does. Look through the PHB section on classes and spells for the words "up to". It shows up dozens and dozens of times and each time it does the result is the same, you choose the time, distance, or amount of something up to the total listed.
I had a ranger in my party and they only ever used Primeval Awareness twice. Once early on to see if any Undead were nearby (there were), only to realize the ability didn't give them any indication of how many of them or in what direction they were. Undead were their favored enemy, so then they did a survival check to get an idea of what direction the Undead were in, tracking footprints and other indicators of the Undead and got far more information from that second check, and realized that the Primeval Awareness was a wholly unnecessary middleman. The second time they used it was when I, as the DM, encouraged them to use the ability because the party had defeated the power source fueling the undead in a particular environment and I wanted them to use that ability so everyone could confirm that there were no Undead present so everyone could stop moving so cautiously and the story could continue.
It takes a fairly generous interpretation of Primeval Awareness to make it particularly more useful than the other skills a Ranger already has at their disposal. Rangers don't get a lot of spell slots already, so it's kind of a big ask for them to use one to do something they could likely accomplish through a combination of Perception and Survival checks without spending any limited resources. The fact that it lasts a minute is kind of pointless as well, since the spell doesn't indicate direction or number, so you're likely to acquire any useful information instantaneously and then after that it's just kind of... on for just long enough that maybe, maaaaaaaaaybe a DM will decide that, a mile away, something wanders into sensor, but not long enough to be useful as an early alarm or some such as you travel.
When Tasha's came out I allowed my players to take advantage of hte new rules options, if they wanted, and my Ranger immediately dropped Primeval Awareness for Primal Awareness. They've used Speak with Animals pretty constantly. For one, they get a free casting of the spell once per day without expending any resources, which is a good motivator to try and use the spell as often as possible. Secondly, aside from being a useful information-gathering tool, it also has solid roleplay opportunities.
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How does that work with thunderclap, thunderwave, and knock? Each have slightly different wording that all mean the same thing "X distance or closer." Can you choose the audible range for these spells? If not, why is it different from primeval awareness or similar examples?
So "up to" is a fixed range for thunderclap but a variable range for primeval awareness because...?
Here is just from the classes in the PHB:
You can see up to 1 mile away with no difficulty, able to discern even fine details as though looking at something no more than 100 feet away from you.
At 6th level, when you deal lightning damage to a Large or smaller creature, you can also push it up to 10 feet away from you.
As a bonus action on your turn, you can move the illusion up to 30 feet to a space you can see, but it must remain within 120 feet of you.
At 17th level, you can create up to four duplicates of yourself, instead of one, when you use Invoke Duplicity. As a bonus action on your turn, you can move any number of them up to 30 feet, to a maximum range of 120 feet.
For example, when you are a 4th-level druid, you can recover up to two levels worth of spell slots. You can recover either a 2nd-level slot or two 1st-level slots.
That creature can use its reaction to move up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks from the target of your attack.
On a failed save, you push the target up to 15 feet away from you.
You can have up to two bonded weapons, but can summon only one at a time with your bonus action.
At 15th level, you gain the ability to teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see when you use your Action Surge.
It must make a Strength saving throw. If it fails, you can push it up to 15 feet away from you.
When you are in dim light or darkness, as a bonus action you can teleport up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space you can see that is also in dim light or darkness.
Chill or warm up to 1 pound of nonliving material for up to 1 hour.
for each additional ki point you spend, and you can push the creature up to 20 feet away from you and knock it prone.
As an action, you can touch a creature and draw power from the pool to restore a number of hit points to that creature, up to the maximum amount remaining in your pool.
you can move up to half your speed immediately after the attack and as part of the same reaction.
within up to 6 miles if you are in your favored terrain
To do so, you spend 1 sorcery point and choose a number of those creatures up to your Charisma modifier
When you take damage, you can use your reaction to turn invisible and teleport up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space you can see.
When you hit a creature with eldritch blast, you can push the creature up to 10 feet away from you in a straight line.
For example, if you’re a 4th-level wizard, you can recover up to two levels worth of spell slots. You can recover either a 2nd-level spell slot or two 1st-level spell slots.
Starting at 6th level, you can use your action to teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space that you can see.
you can transform up to 1 cubic foot of material.
Here is just the spells in the PHB that start with the letter A:
Choose up to three creatures within range. Each target’s hit point maximum and current hit points increase by 5 for the duration.
Concentration, up to 1 hour
You also speak a message of up to twenty-five words.
This use of the spell reasserts your control over up to four creatures you have animated with this spell, rather than animating a new one.
Choose up to ten nonmagical objects within range that are not being worn or carried.
As an action, you can move the eye up to 30 feet in any direction.
You and up to eight willing creatures within range project your astral bodies into the Astral Plane (the spell fails and the casting is wasted if you are already on that plane).
Thanks Frank for the list of "similar examples" that I mentioned but didn't list because I didn't want to waste time. But you forgot to answer any of my actual questions...
Right, but it is the same wording. And since it is for things like a cantrip and a ritual, who is to say that making a loud noise isn't a utility use for the spell (seeing as how there are other spells where "make a noise" is one of the options)?
This is the problem with 5e. They used exactly the same phrase to mean 2 opposite meanings...
I apologize. What was the question again?
Is it "So "up to" is a fixed range for thunderclap but a variable range for primeval awareness because...?"?
My first thought is, this is why there is no such thing as pure RAW in a game with so much left open-ended and open to interpretation by design. The poor ranger class just happens to be built to swim in the pool that is the part of the game that is the MOST open to interpretation. Unlike a fighting or healing class, which is pretty straightforward and simple. Even hiding, stealth, perception, and passive perception, and other uses of skills, have some little quirks and different ways of using them from table to table, along with knowledge checks, languages, social skills, all of this is open to adjudication to a DM and can't be quantified like hitting something or healing something.
My second thought is, what is the character is doing to create the effect. For thunderclap they cast the spell which is instantaneous and creates an effect that creates a sound, which is out of the control of the caster. It's like hitting a bell. You can control how hard you hit the bell, but the bell makes the sound, not you. With primeval awareness, and other class abilities and spells, you are directly controlling the effect in question. The effect with the "up to" wording.
"up to" does not indicate fixed or variable by itself, and requires context. It is a colloquial way to indicate a maximum, and in context of these abilities indicates the maximum extent or range of the effect. In general, specific actions that say "up to" , "within" or other language that set a maximum, usually means you choose a specific distance or location up to that maximum, but there is a clear subset of abilities and rules relating to perception that are fixed. When it says, you can see up to 1 mile in certain visibility, you don't get to choose to see only up to 1/2 a mile. the "up to" is fixed and is the limit of your perception. Likewise, if you can see up to or within 60 feet normally with darkvision, you don't get to choose to see only up to 30 feet.
Primeval Awareness is a perceptive ability to perceive the existence of certain creatures. It makes the most sense that it would function like any other perceptive sense, and "up to" would mean a fixed range in which the effect works every time.
Exactly. I always imagined it as working like the sense of smell.
Perhaps. It is also a supernatural ability that is power by magic. And the ranger is in direct control of this ability using this magic. Personally I see this as the favored terrain giving the ranger better control of the ability with less distortion, hence the choice of the extended range.