I just wanted to post what the intended use of Primeval Awareness was and see if people have any comments/disagreements or just want to discuss it in general.
So, for those unfamiliar, the jist of the feature is that you use a spell slot to sense whether an otherworldly creature is within a mile radius of your position, or a 6 mile radius in your favored terrain.
I think many people make the mistake that this spells intended use is to solely track down or locate the otherworldly creature, possibly before heading off to defeat it.
I've personally found no effectiveness in that usage. Instead, I find that it's a spell best used at the end of the day and possibly in tandem with other spells/abilities that the Ranger or other party members have access to.
Let's say you were a Ranger at level 5. You had an uneventful day of travel so no spell slots were expended. As you begin to rest up, you decide to Primeval Awareness. The DM mentions an otherworldly creature is nearby!
Now, you can relay this with your group and strategize. A Paladin might use divine sense to detect if they're immediately close. If not, then you can start setting things up.
You can scout the area a bit more, just to make sure it's not 65 feet away. If not, the Druid might decide they want to prep Commune with Nature after the rest and ask what creature is nearby. While sleeping, your Ranger might use either Alarm or Cordon of Arrows as a countermeasure against being surprised and casting pre-buff spells on the party.
Even if there is no druid to cast Commune with Nature, the Ranger himself could cast Speak with Animals and ask the local wildlife.
The key takeaway is that it's a spell best used with the whole party in mind, not just the Ranger. So it's usefulness can be based on the particular party you have with you.
Yep. The use and power of the ability is telling you (and the party) what isn’t near. It’s a “I sense a disturbance in the Force.” kind of ability.
In a 6-mile range situation the ranger has multiple instances of expertise, moves the entire party faster, can do multiple things at once, and has more knowledge gleamed from tracking than anyone else in the game. The creature types on the list for this ability should generally NOT be around, and knowing they are can be a good warning for the party, the start of a side quest, it a clue that they are getting close to something they are looking for. Using this ability near a cave, ruin, or dungeon can give a lot of information as well
In terms of hunting or tracking creatures, that does work, just not the way folks think it does. Many creature types on the list can fly, so traditional means of tracking would do nothing to find those creatures. A maxed wisdom and expertise won’t help you track something that can fly or while out at sea.
When using a 6-mile hex grid map, as suggested by the dungeon master’s guide, the ability gets very tactical very quickly, as it covers one entire hex and half of each hex surrounding it. Again, rangers and the entire party move very quickly in this situation so covering a big area can be done in a typical day very easily
The 1-mile range is perfect for towns and cities, again that these creature types should generally NOT be in an urban environment. One use of this spell gives a wealth of information to the party and can save days of in game time and possibly hours of table time, or again lead to a side quest.
The auto win complaint about the ranger is false. Your examples of party members contributing is spot on.
The other thing to remember is that it tells you yes or no for each type not just a general yes or no that something otherworldly is nearby. In addition it can be argued that while it doesn’t give location it does/might give direction which is still quite helpful.
The other thing to remember is that it tells you yes or no for each type not just a general yes or no that something otherworldly is nearby. In addition it can be argued that while it doesn’t give location it does/might give direction which is still quite helpful.
100% on the answer to each specific type.
I’ve argued direction before. On both sides. 🤷♂️
I played a ranger in a campaign once where the DM disliked primeval awareness. We found a functional and fun compromise. I gave activation of the ability to the DM. It was a lot of fun. It was an amazing plot device that was directly tied to my character.
The Primeaval Awareness feature let the Ranger sense the presence of certain creature types within distance of him or her so it's all very simple to me, if there's any aberrations, celestials, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, or undead creature around it will register in a binary aspect of yes or no for each respective type.
It is somewhat situational but a lot depends on the ranger’s terrains ( if any) as well as how the ranger and party use it. Imagine being on a ship on a sunny day - if you get a no response for it you’re good for at least a mile, 6 miles if the ranger’s terrains includes the ocean for some reason. Given that a ship is typically moving at less than 6 mph you are clear of otherworldly “interference for an hour to an hour and a half which is nice to know. What is more useful is if says yes tome things. Some can fly but you can scan the sky fairly quickly to spot anything there and approaching if you don’t see anything you pretty much know it’s in the water and you have time to ( hopefully) prepare and make ready.
I think the ranger archetype can be so varied in interpretation and ability but the connected line for each concept for me is the ability to "prepare ahead a and take advantage of understanding the situation"
Primeval awareness was one of the tools that allowed rangers some of that function independently of ability scoring/builds.
I just wanted to post what the intended use of Primeval Awareness was and see if people have any comments/disagreements or just want to discuss it in general.
So, for those unfamiliar, the jist of the feature is that you use a spell slot to sense whether an otherworldly creature is within a mile radius of your position, or a 6 mile radius in your favored terrain.
I think many people make the mistake that this spells intended use is to solely track down or locate the otherworldly creature, possibly before heading off to defeat it.
I've personally found no effectiveness in that usage. Instead, I find that it's a spell best used at the end of the day and possibly in tandem with other spells/abilities that the Ranger or other party members have access to.
Let's say you were a Ranger at level 5. You had an uneventful day of travel so no spell slots were expended. As you begin to rest up, you decide to Primeval Awareness. The DM mentions an otherworldly creature is nearby!
Now, you can relay this with your group and strategize. A Paladin might use divine sense to detect if they're immediately close. If not, then you can start setting things up.
You can scout the area a bit more, just to make sure it's not 65 feet away. If not, the Druid might decide they want to prep Commune with Nature after the rest and ask what creature is nearby. While sleeping, your Ranger might use either Alarm or Cordon of Arrows as a countermeasure against being surprised and casting pre-buff spells on the party.
Even if there is no druid to cast Commune with Nature, the Ranger himself could cast Speak with Animals and ask the local wildlife.
The key takeaway is that it's a spell best used with the whole party in mind, not just the Ranger. So it's usefulness can be based on the particular party you have with you.
Yep. The use and power of the ability is telling you (and the party) what isn’t near. It’s a “I sense a disturbance in the Force.” kind of ability.
In a 6-mile range situation the ranger has multiple instances of expertise, moves the entire party faster, can do multiple things at once, and has more knowledge gleamed from tracking than anyone else in the game. The creature types on the list for this ability should generally NOT be around, and knowing they are can be a good warning for the party, the start of a side quest, it a clue that they are getting close to something they are looking for. Using this ability near a cave, ruin, or dungeon can give a lot of information as well
In terms of hunting or tracking creatures, that does work, just not the way folks think it does. Many creature types on the list can fly, so traditional means of tracking would do nothing to find those creatures. A maxed wisdom and expertise won’t help you track something that can fly or while out at sea.
When using a 6-mile hex grid map, as suggested by the dungeon master’s guide, the ability gets very tactical very quickly, as it covers one entire hex and half of each hex surrounding it. Again, rangers and the entire party move very quickly in this situation so covering a big area can be done in a typical day very easily
The 1-mile range is perfect for towns and cities, again that these creature types should generally NOT be in an urban environment. One use of this spell gives a wealth of information to the party and can save days of in game time and possibly hours of table time, or again lead to a side quest.
The auto win complaint about the ranger is false. Your examples of party members contributing is spot on.
The other thing to remember is that it tells you yes or no for each type not just a general yes or no that something otherworldly is nearby. In addition it can be argued that while it doesn’t give location it does/might give direction which is still quite helpful.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
100% on the answer to each specific type.
I’ve argued direction before. On both sides. 🤷♂️
I played a ranger in a campaign once where the DM disliked primeval awareness. We found a functional and fun compromise. I gave activation of the ability to the DM. It was a lot of fun. It was an amazing plot device that was directly tied to my character.
If you have a Tiefling or Aasimar in your party, would that affect primeval awareness or would you be able to differenciate?
The Primeaval Awareness feature let the Ranger sense the presence of certain creature types within distance of him or her so it's all very simple to me, if there's any aberrations, celestials, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, or undead creature around it will register in a binary aspect of yes or no for each respective type.
The Primeaval Awareness feature doesn't sense humanoids, which is what Tiefling and Aasimar are.
It is somewhat situational but a lot depends on the ranger’s terrains ( if any) as well as how the ranger and party use it. Imagine being on a ship on a sunny day - if you get a no response for it you’re good for at least a mile, 6 miles if the ranger’s terrains includes the ocean for some reason. Given that a ship is typically moving at less than 6 mph you are clear of otherworldly “interference for an hour to an hour and a half which is nice to know. What is more useful is if says yes tome things. Some can fly but you can scan the sky fairly quickly to spot anything there and approaching if you don’t see anything you pretty much know it’s in the water and you have time to ( hopefully) prepare and make ready.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
I think the ranger archetype can be so varied in interpretation and ability but the connected line for each concept for me is the ability to "prepare ahead a and take advantage of understanding the situation"
Primeval awareness was one of the tools that allowed rangers some of that function independently of ability scoring/builds.