I was thinking about making a character that is semi-Aragorn based in combat. I like the idea of ranged (bow) and melee (some kind of sword in this case) ability, and I don't really have any strong opinion on the ability to cast spells when it comes to this character. Ranger seemed like the picture-perfect class for a character with a similar combat style, but I also thought about maybe it would be more worth it to go for Rogue's stealth ability or a Fighter's ability to attack multiple times a turn and hit hard. Really, I'm just asking from a mechanical and roleplay perspective, would I be better off going for Ranger, or is a Ranger's sword/bow skill no better than a Fighter with a bow or a Rogue with a bow
If you don't particularly care about spell-casting or any of the other Ranger specific abilities, I'd highly recommend a Rogue or Fighter. A Rogue Scout has the ability to evade opponents in combat if you want to emphasize archery, making it easy to put distance between yourself with movement as a reaction (also sneak attack). A Fighter is also a pretty terrifying Aragorn-type, by sheer virtue of having extra attacks (also Battlemaster archetype would be fairly fitting to Aragorn I'd say, with some pretty useful ranged maneuvers).
While Aragorn is described as a "Ranger" its more in the sens of someone roaming the country side then the classical trope of the Bow/X-bow wielding guy.
From what i remember he never picks up or uses a Bow in the novels or in the movies( well ok maybe twice).
Do start it of as a Figther, and you can add a few lvls of ranger for the whole "Nature roaming" aspect of the character.
Go to either Battlemaster or Champion, and if you can maybe Monster Slayer or Hunter if you take 3 lvls of Ranger, he as the experience and accumen to track and kill Monsters( Orcs, Goblins and others)
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"Normality is but an Illusion, Whats normal to the Spider, is only madness for the Fly"
Aragorn would almost make more sense as a Champion (or Battlemaster) Fighter. He also wasn't a shield user, really, so I'd go for Great Weapon Master and get him a greatsword. Then just emphasize survival and mobility with your skills and feats.
There are lots of ways to approach this type of character.
If you want a bit of the nature magic with a focus on archery and outdoor skills and ability to fight in the dark then ..
Gloomstalker ranger 5/ Scout rogue X gives you extra attack, sneak attack and most of the good rogue abilities like expertise starting at level 6. Gloomstalker gives an extra attack on the first round of combat and invisibility in the dark when opponents are using darkvision to see. Scout rogue will give expertise in survival and nature at level 3 - character level 8 which really fits the outdoor theme. The character doesn't give up much in the way of melee fighting either and due to the ranger class can wear medium armor and use a shield when in melee. Start variant human for the sharpshooter feat.
Figher is also a good choice for a ranged character. However, for me, it doesn't have the same "feel". Ranger has the bit of nature magic and an extra skill. You will also pick up another extra skill when multiclassing into rogue and pick up both survival and nature with expertise at level 8 from the rogue multiclass. This allows for proficiency with 9 skills with expertise in 4 by level 8 and expertise in two more by level 11 with the ranger/rogue build. A big part of the "outdoor" feel for me is having the skills to support being the ultimate tracker, understand nature, navigate in the wilds ... and the ranger/rogue combination does this, in my opinion, much better than either fighter or fighter with a few levels of ranger. However, if you want one of the better ranged damage builds then a variant human battlemaster fighter can have 20 dex as well as crossbow expert and sharpshooter by level 8 and put out very high levels of damage. They also have maneuvers that support the more frequent use of sharpshooter like precision strike. However, since being an "outdoor/nature" type character CAN be done mostly with roleplaying then a fighter is certainly a viable choice. (However, personally, I like having expertise in the skills to back up the archetype)
I agree with what most people say, Aragorn isn't a D&D ranger. He casts no magic. Fighters can swap weapons just as well and Aragorn favours the sword heavily.
Thanks for the replies, got a lot of great insight on what I should do. Thinking I'll head down the path of doing a Fighter/Rogue, but Gloomstalker Ranger does sound interesting, and I'm certainly considering trying it out. Thanks again!
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I was thinking about making a character that is semi-Aragorn based in combat. I like the idea of ranged (bow) and melee (some kind of sword in this case) ability, and I don't really have any strong opinion on the ability to cast spells when it comes to this character. Ranger seemed like the picture-perfect class for a character with a similar combat style, but I also thought about maybe it would be more worth it to go for Rogue's stealth ability or a Fighter's ability to attack multiple times a turn and hit hard. Really, I'm just asking from a mechanical and roleplay perspective, would I be better off going for Ranger, or is a Ranger's sword/bow skill no better than a Fighter with a bow or a Rogue with a bow
If you don't particularly care about spell-casting or any of the other Ranger specific abilities, I'd highly recommend a Rogue or Fighter. A Rogue Scout has the ability to evade opponents in combat if you want to emphasize archery, making it easy to put distance between yourself with movement as a reaction (also sneak attack). A Fighter is also a pretty terrifying Aragorn-type, by sheer virtue of having extra attacks (also Battlemaster archetype would be fairly fitting to Aragorn I'd say, with some pretty useful ranged maneuvers).
While Aragorn is described as a "Ranger" its more in the sens of someone roaming the country side then the classical trope of the Bow/X-bow wielding guy.
From what i remember he never picks up or uses a Bow in the novels or in the movies( well ok maybe twice).
Do start it of as a Figther, and you can add a few lvls of ranger for the whole "Nature roaming" aspect of the character.
Go to either Battlemaster or Champion, and if you can maybe Monster Slayer or Hunter if you take 3 lvls of Ranger, he as the experience and accumen to track and kill Monsters( Orcs, Goblins and others)
"Normality is but an Illusion, Whats normal to the Spider, is only madness for the Fly"
Kain de Frostberg- Dark Knight - (Vengeance Pal3/ Hexblade 9), Port Mourn
Kain de Draakberg-Dark Knight lvl8-Avergreen(DitA)
Aragorn would almost make more sense as a Champion (or Battlemaster) Fighter. He also wasn't a shield user, really, so I'd go for Great Weapon Master and get him a greatsword. Then just emphasize survival and mobility with your skills and feats.
There are lots of ways to approach this type of character.
If you want a bit of the nature magic with a focus on archery and outdoor skills and ability to fight in the dark then ..
Gloomstalker ranger 5/ Scout rogue X gives you extra attack, sneak attack and most of the good rogue abilities like expertise starting at level 6. Gloomstalker gives an extra attack on the first round of combat and invisibility in the dark when opponents are using darkvision to see. Scout rogue will give expertise in survival and nature at level 3 - character level 8 which really fits the outdoor theme. The character doesn't give up much in the way of melee fighting either and due to the ranger class can wear medium armor and use a shield when in melee. Start variant human for the sharpshooter feat.
Figher is also a good choice for a ranged character. However, for me, it doesn't have the same "feel". Ranger has the bit of nature magic and an extra skill. You will also pick up another extra skill when multiclassing into rogue and pick up both survival and nature with expertise at level 8 from the rogue multiclass. This allows for proficiency with 9 skills with expertise in 4 by level 8 and expertise in two more by level 11 with the ranger/rogue build. A big part of the "outdoor" feel for me is having the skills to support being the ultimate tracker, understand nature, navigate in the wilds ... and the ranger/rogue combination does this, in my opinion, much better than either fighter or fighter with a few levels of ranger. However, if you want one of the better ranged damage builds then a variant human battlemaster fighter can have 20 dex as well as crossbow expert and sharpshooter by level 8 and put out very high levels of damage. They also have maneuvers that support the more frequent use of sharpshooter like precision strike. However, since being an "outdoor/nature" type character CAN be done mostly with roleplaying then a fighter is certainly a viable choice. (However, personally, I like having expertise in the skills to back up the archetype)
I'd probably build Aragorn as a Rogue (Scout)/Fighter (Battlemaster).
I agree with what most people say, Aragorn isn't a D&D ranger. He casts no magic. Fighters can swap weapons just as well and Aragorn favours the sword heavily.
Thanks for the replies, got a lot of great insight on what I should do. Thinking I'll head down the path of doing a Fighter/Rogue, but Gloomstalker Ranger does sound interesting, and I'm certainly considering trying it out. Thanks again!