Rangers as casters has always felt strange to me, but the class is designed to use ranger spells. I like to flavor the ranger's spells as limited use nonmagical abilities instead, though not all flavor particularly well.
What are everyone's favorite ranger 'spells' that can be reflavored as 'moments of inspired woodscraft' instead of magic?
I guess it's one of those things that flavour is what really identifies the character. I'll go through the low level spells on my interpretation.
Absorb Elements: Rather than casting with abjuration, it could be an acrobatic stunt, a fire spell is thrown at you, but your keen cunning causes you to turn with the spell and capture some of the blow on your blade, which you then thrust on your next turn to give the monster a taste of its medicine.
Alarm: Another simple one. You lay intricate trip wires, bells, and other devices, so that they are very well hidden (hence why they are not easily visible). The alarm is a literal bell. If it is an internal one, perhaps it is a fishing wire you tie to your little toe as you go to sleep, so it tugs you and wakes you up rather than a loud ringing noise.
Animal Friendship: Really a no-brainer. This is just your natural empathy to animals and training allowing you to gain the favour of the animal.
Cure Wounds: More of a survivalist side of things, it could be a salve you prepared and apply to the wound, easing the pain and rejuvenating the skin.
Detect Magic: With a series of herbs and inhaling them, your senses have been heightened in new and interesting ways, leaving you seeing dust particles that react to nearby magical auras.
Detect Poison and Disease: You hold onto some rare leaves that wilt and shrivel in the presence of poisons and diseases, identifying where they are present. A little like nature's dowsing for deadly infusions.
Ensnaring Strike: As you strike, you bring out some rope and tangle it between the target's limbs, tangling them up in the process until they break free.
Fog Cloud: A bottle of distilled and condensed water that when it is smashed on the ground where you threw it releases vapours very quickly, almost making a tiny cloud.
Goodberry: Have a goodberry bonsai, and you picked the available fruit from it.
Hail of Thorns: Do the fantasy movie trope of taking a load of arrows and releasing them all at once over an area.
Hunter's Mark: Another sensory one. The bonus action is you studying the target, divining weak points (for the extra d6) and picking up on its smell and prints (for the tracking side of things).
Jump: You limber up before trying those supposedly impossible jumps.
Longstrider: You limber up before trying those long marches. Stretching is important, people!
Speak with Animals: Going back to the Animal Friendship side of things, it is you getting your mindset into that empathetic zone to understand the beasts near you.
Zephyr Strike: It's a battle stance, you bob and weave like a leaf on the wind, and have a finisher with a deadly speedy slice (the one-turn extra damage/movement)
Rangers as casters has always felt strange to me, but the class is designed to use ranger spells. I like to flavor the ranger's spells as limited use nonmagical abilities instead, though not all flavor particularly well.
What are everyone's favorite ranger 'spells' that can be reflavored as 'moments of inspired woodscraft' instead of magic?
I guess it's one of those things that flavour is what really identifies the character. I'll go through the low level spells on my interpretation.
That's level 1 for example.
I do like that idea, Pokepaladdy, definitely a better way to flavor it.