Rangers selecting PC races for favored enemies

[Tanarii]

Do you allow PCs to select other PC races as favored enemies? What about their own race? What about 'Humans', which is a very large category in many/most campaigns?

Talking about the original PHB ranger here, where you can select two humanoid races as a single favored enemy slection.

[Edgerunner]

Deleted due to idiocy.

[sir_argo]

What about the revised (UA) ranger that allows you to take Humanoids as a favored enemy?

[Temperjoke]

This hasn't come up for me, but I would allow it with the requirement that they treat members of that race that they encounter as you would an enemy, with suspicion and distrust. So a human ranger that selected humans as a favored enemy would be required to treat all other humans as you'd treat an enemy. This works well if their background involved being raised by a different culture, for example.

[Arkhios]

Why not? I mean, rangers can quite reasonably be outcasts and exiles (which are a same thing, kind of?) and some might even hold a grudge against their own people. Or might've been exiled because of this.

[JellyPooga]

Much like how Sneak Attack has little to do with actually sneaking, Favoured Enemy has little to do with being an enemy.

Favoured Enemy is knowledge; knowledge of a creature type or specific race, in the case of humanoid races. How to track them, where their weak-spots are, what their habits and habitats are, even their language. It's got nothing to do with enmity, distrust or grudges and I would...dislike it if a GM enforced a "You have to distrust that guy because he's your Favoured Enemy" modus operandi, just as much as I'd...dislike a GM who forced my Bard to be a foppish minstrel, or my Rogue to be a literal thief.

So yes, I would allow a player to take a fellow PCs race as their Favoured Enemy and I don't see any reason why such should be restricted in any way.

[Fearan]

Taking "Human" as a Favored enemy is always a safe bet. I mean, the humans are abundant in most settings, so the knowledge about them is abundant as well.

[Quoxis]

What about their own race? What about 'Humans', which is a very large category in many/most campaigns?

Why wouldn't they be allowed to? The description provided by the phb states the following:


Beginning at 1st level, you have significant experience studying, tracking, hunting, and even talking to a certain type of enemy.

That's it. It doesn't say "you hate every member of the type of enemy" as some seem to assume when reading this.

It says you have a better understanding of how they work, how to find them, how to interact with them. It has nothing to do with racism or hatred, at least it doesn't have to (if you're a dwarf ranger that hates elves because he's been enslaved by drow in his past, that's ok, but not necessary), otherwise you wouldn't be able to go beastmaster after selecting beasts as your favored enemies.
A character of the ranger class might be an elven huntsman knowing how to hunt game the way his father and grandfather had done, a Tiefling magic user that studied the behavior of fiends in both books and practice, a halfling warrior whose village has been destroyed by dragons which he swore to kill and therefore joined the dragon slayers' guild, or a human bounty hunter in a large city who has the street-smarts and gut feeling to know where the human he's after might run to when in danger.

The roleplay around it should be determined by background and character, not this class feature.

[Quoxis]

Much like how Sneak Attack has little to do with actually sneaking, Favoured Enemy has little to do with being an enemy.

Damn you, JellyPooga, for once again being faster at stating the same opinion as me! :D

[Togath]

Iirc, the PHB itself points out that humanoids are perfectly fine options. Especially since favored enemy has nothing to do with hatred or being an enemy.
One common example is a ranger who works as a bounty hunter, detective, town guard, etc.

[Specter]

Of course, it's RAW. I even count half-elf along with elf or human. These little things deserve more love.

[Tanarii]

I agree it's RAW. This was more a question about if DMs restrict it in home campaigns for any particular reason. Humans especially seems rather broad. Although obviously that's campaign dependent.

Two things I hadn't considered when I posted:
1) the way the original PHB was written was probably with the way adventure paths released so far are designed, with the expectation that players would likely be facing a thematic set of enemies for the majority of the 'campaign'
2) given that the devs combined it into 'Humanoids' in the revised UA, they obviously don't consider it overly powerful to have rather a broad group in that category.

[Togath]

Well think of how broad of a category "animals" is.
edit: aaaand just realized this is about 5e, not 3.5 or PF.:smallredface:

[Sigreid]

I would. I think favored enemy relates more to experience in fighting them than in foaming at the mouth hatred.

[Naanomi]

Ranger as a bounty hunter is a classic archetype, and probably has enemy: their own race

[Honest Tiefling]

Ehhh...Maybe I am too lax of a DM, but if you can justify it with your backstory, I'd probably allow it. Even if you are a member of the race. I wouldn't go as far as forcing them to treat EVERYONE as an enemy, as I think that is too far. But seeing it in effect in RP would be quite nice, yes, probably expected.

Perhaps the PC only hates certain elves, and is fine with other elves? That's fine in my opinion as well, especially if there are elves in the party. I mean, tracking an evil human cultist is going to overlap with tracking good aligned druids a bit if both are groups of humans.

[StoicLeaf]

I think the opinions on this one are leaning one way.
I suppose the opposite should be asked:

why wouldn't a ranger be allowed to have a humanoid (perhaps even his/her own) race as the favoured enemy?

[JellyPooga]

I think the opinions on this one are leaning one way.
I suppose the opposite should be asked:

why wouldn't a ranger be allowed to have a humanoid (perhaps even his/her own) race as the favoured enemy?

If anything, there's more reason to choose your own race than another; after all, you're more familiar with your own race than any other and Favoured Enemy gives you no combat advantage, only knowledge and tracking superiority.

[Tanarii]

why wouldn't a ranger be allowed to have a humanoid (perhaps even his/her own) race as the favoured enemy?
I like e switch in perspective. (And Jellypooga I like your take on the familiarity with your own race aspect.)

I can think of a couple of reasons:
1) previous edition assumptions. Favored enemy has always been a class of enemies that rangers excel at fighting.
2) it's in the name. Says they are favored enemies right there in print,
3) power. Humans are the most common in most campaigns as well as commonly enemies, so they are a powerful choice.

My motivation for asking the question was primarily #3, but as I said up thread I've come to the conclusion that it's probably not too powerful, nor a RAI problem, to pick humans. Even if the character is human.