Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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I’m not going to comment on the bard and rogue - I don’t play them enough to have a good basis for judgement. A couple of things on the ranger however,.
1) someone back in the middle pages was saying that they had trouble seeing the ranger as an expert. I can see why IF you only look at this download. I tried using the previous download as well and was a revalation. I was trying to recreate the character in my sig that is based on a real person and this is what I got: A human gets 1 skill and can take the the skilled feat as their “versatile” ability so +3 skills, then background adds 2 skills and a tool, a language and a feat. Finally Ranger adds 3 more skills and expertise in 2 of them for a final total of 9 skills with expertise in 2 and one tool set. If that is not an expert I’m not sure what qualifies.
2) two weapon fighting + dual wielding feat + 2 attacks/round = 2d8+2d6+4d6(HM)+4(stat bonus) every round IF everything hits. Sadly they took haste away from the primal spells so you’ll have to get to L9 horizon walker to get it or get someone to add it ( or stock up on speed potions) to get that third attack action but two weapon fighting for rangers is back in a big way now. Rangers in 5e were pretty much relegated to ranged + casting past say L4 But the revised ranger can now stand in melee and deal damage.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
I'm the odd one out and detest what they've done with the Ranger.
It's basically streamlining anything that came out of Tasha as a patch and making it permanent with a lot less choice than there was; without identifying the core problem... which was that the 5e chassis for Ranger did not mechanically live up well to its class fantasy. Now that's its bloated up with the Tasha replacement, they stuck to the safe choices and didn't try to innovate like they should have had.
The ranger is just there to do some damage, have some skills and sling about some druid spells, without getting much that would have a party go "YES, WE HAVE A RANGER" and rejoice the same way they might with a Paladin or a Bard.
Think about it: when do people - in-character - actually want and value a ranger's skills? It's when they want an expert at dealing with dangers out in the wilds. From dealing with dangerous monsters because the ranger had an eye for dealing with them, to ease of getting around in the wilderness, to dealing with dangerous hazard.
The ranger is supposed to be known as a master at dealing with all of that. More importantly, the fiction usually support that a party needs what the ranger knows.
Why?
Because the Ranger should have been designed as a force-multiplier.
I think, in replacement to Favored Enemy and Favored Terrain, the Ranger could have two features, one offensive and one defensive.
I'll start with Offensive:
Hunter's Mark, as an spell, is inferior to Hex because it once does one instance of damage per round. Given that the 5e Ranger can usually hope for 2 to 3 attacks at high level, the Warlock rather easily outstrips any offensive potential the Ranger might have had with its easy access to multiple Eldritch Blasts which scale in level just as well as the Fighter's Extra Attack, and Hex will allow for an extra dice of damage on each.
But, let's switch that around. What if Hunter's Mark did not just let the ranger deal damage to an enemy, but also others? The Ranger uses Hunter's Mark and outlines the some weaknesses of the creatures to his companions. Then everyone that deals damage to the marked target can add an extra 1d6 of damage!
Are you happy to have a Ranger in your group now? Probably! There's at least one thing he helps you do better. But wait, the ranger is a specialist at dealing with monsters. what if there was more?
What if the Ranger had a way to upgrade Hunter's Mark into something that did something a bit more bespoke? Such as, how a Warlock invocation alters Eldritch Blast, how a Paladin has access to multiple kinds of smite spells, how a Fighter/Battle Master has maneuvers at his disposal, or how the Blood Hunter learns different Crimson Rites. Also, that's a bit inspired from how the Council of Wyrm 'dragonslayer' fighter kit could do wing strikes and throat strikes to hinder a dragon's offensive abilities as well as the 4E Warlord's ability and enabling certain things for the party.
So, say a Ranger learns Disruptive Mark, which not only gives the Ranger and his allies the benefits of extra damage on hit... but also, anyone that manages to lad a hit and deal damage imposed a condition on the creature. In Disruptive Mark's case, it's disadvantage on the next attack.
Anthony the ranger saw Fulminorax the Red perch itself over the ledge where Dain the Dwarven Fighter stood and unleashed itself into a flurry of strikes from claws and fangs. After a moment observing the wyrm, Anthony noted something in its posture and pointed out to his friends: "Strike at its hindlegs!" If they focused there, the red dragon would be hard-presses to strike its foreclaws for rain further strikes on his dwarven companion.
Disrupting Mark is just one example of what a ranger could select. Hindering Mark could help deal extra damage and slow the movement of the struck creature. Hampering Mark could be something that deals damage and hamper certain saving throws. Hunter's Mark variants gained at higher levels could be more effective, or upgrades of lower level mark (i.e.: Greater Disrupting Mark).
I make no claim of being a skilled game designed and creating balanced abilities... but if a Ranger has something like Closing Mark which deals damage and reduces the effective reach of a creature; Enervating Mark which prevents healing; Weakening Mark for when for probably won't avoid the next hit, but maybe you can make it do half-damage; or Hallowed Mark which could mitigate the potency of necrotic abilities ... maybe picking different pieces as a theme makes you a Giant Slayer, or Troll Slayer, or an Undead slayer.
As for Defensive:
Isn't a ranger one of the people that is supposed to be a survivalist, and help people benefit from the same when they are with him?
The sad fact is that 5e DnD has been very short on party-wide spells that would grants benefits such as 3E's Endure Elements or 5E Resist Elements.
What, what if the Ranger could be they purveyor of party-wide protections such as this?
Anthony watched as Fulminorax the Red's gullet swelled and sparks escaped the corners of the dragon's mouth. "It's about to breathe! Take cover!"
I submit that the Ranger schooled in watching out for certain dangers should be a master of reactions, helping his companions deal with the same danger much better. Like invocations, the Ranger could pick from a selection of - say - Wilderness Lore features. Anthony above would have picked - say - "Firewatcher", which allowed him to grant a reaction allowing his party a spontaneous opportunity to take half-damage from the red dragon's flames. Maybe Firewatcher also grants useful features such as being able to help a party deal with extreme heat when traveling, as well as perhaps access to casting a party-wide Resist Element.
One or the other. Again, I make no claim to be balance-savvy. But I see obvious benefits to a Ranger having "Treewalker" and granting his friends better conditions through forest, make it easier to climb trees, advantage against plant-related spells and better acrobatics checks for being sure footed. "Mountaineer" for ease traveling through mountains, dealing with rough terrain, and being better able to cope with being knocked prone or pushes. Something jungle themed could concern poison handing, snow themed for cold ... there's plenty of choices to be had here, and if they touch core combat mechanics in D&D, they ought to become useful at one point of another - allowing the Ranger to gainfully assist his group satisfyingly without the scope of the game's mechanics.
Fluff and substance both.
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In effect, the above isn't that different from the concepts presented in the Hunter subclass of the 2014 PHB. The main problem of the Hunter subclass is that it:
Between the above suggestions for making Hunter's Mark a class feature, and Wilderness Lore the actively defensive component of a Ranger offerings, I think the Ranger would secure its role much better amongst the other classes of Dungeons & Dragons.
Still thinking about some of the changes.
Some things I like, some I don't. Some we will see. I don't mind inspiration on a 1 but I also liked it on a 20. I see both sides. On a 1 you vow to do better but I also see on a 20 as being on a role.
One thing I really like is the rules for influence. Will do away with the trope of the bard asking for the kingdom. Taking creature as anything but a PC.You have that they won't do anything that is against their alignment or repugnant to them. So even the friendly king probably would not accept given the kingdom over.
I like the hiding action result being the DC of finding it. Now does Prof bonus get added to that? If I role a 17 and have a plus 10 does that mean the DC is now 27?
Hello Unclevertitle,
If I am remembering right, he stated it in the 1DD video that dropped yesterday. As for the time stamp, I honestly cannot recall but it is a fairly short video.
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Zoberraz, you might want to go back and look at hunter’s mark again it doesn’t do damage once a round -“Until the spell ends, you deal an extra 1d6 damage to the target whenever you hit it with a weapon attack,” so a L5 TWFing ranger could potentially hit 4 times adding 4D6 damage not 1D6. The rest of your ideas for the ranger are interesting but possibly too much.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
The rules for influence are basically the same as in the DMG, just moved to a location where people actually notice it. The DC being a static 10 or 20 is problematic.
The roll to find someone hiding was always the hide check. The DC being a static 15 is problematic.
While having a lot of skills is nice both..... bard(jack of all trades) and rogue(reliable) have extra boons to skills where a ranger doesn't (they use to be able to stack advantage and expertise)
Really it just seems like they tried to avoid complaints around the ranger without attempting to address the root of the problem. I think that problem is tied to Static DC's. As in trying to spoon feed rules instead of training players and dms how to expect fair rulings on such abilities.
I watched that video yesterday. All I recall them talking about the Artificer is that the Artificer is part of the Expert Group and that qualifies them for feats, magic items, etc. Nothing about the Artificer being featured in future UAs, just it being "mentioned" in the current UA which is exactly what we've seen so far. The Artificer mentioned.
So far it's been stated that it would use the Arcana spell list, and is in the Expert group. That's the grand sum of information we've had about the Artificer regarding 1D&D so far.
Rather than rewatch the entire 18 minute video again to verify I'll just search this auto generated transcript posted to reddit.
The only thing class related mentioned as featured in future Unearthed Arcanas is the other Class groups. But seeing as the Artificer is in the Expert group if it were to show up in class related Unearthed Arcanas then it's already missed its bus.
I finally had a chance to sit down and read part of this damned thing. Did anyone else notice the nerf to Sneak Attack?
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Artificer is an “official class,” it’s just not a PHB class. Which is stupid if they don’t include it in the ‘24 PHB, because if they don’t they can’t support it with subclasses in future publications without reprinting the whole damned class again.
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Unclevertitle, they are only doing the PHB classes, artificer is from a later volume so you won’t see it in the play test the brief mention is basically all your getting.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
What nerf?
Sneak Attack only works with the Attack Action. No Sneak Attacks on Opportunity Attacks or any other off turn attack.
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It can't work with booming blade etc.
Oh, ok. I wasn't sure if there was something I missed. My brain is kind of mushy as of late.
Yes, and if anything it needed a buff. Though the buff I want is more focused around what you can sneak attack with like improvised weapons(furniture), basically I'd change it to any non heavy attack as opposed to finesse. I want a club for knocking people out, some kind of choke out, or neck snap move. They made this cool evocative sneak attack you see in comics, literature, movies and are like nope all the fun options from those sources you can't do because we are hung up on rogues only using these select weapons for thematic purposes which really should be up to the player and not them.
I'm well aware.
I’m not a fan.
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Neither am I, overall I think the rogue is roughly where it was maybe a bit weaker and sneak attack is weaker and lost some flexibility when it needed the opposite.