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View Full Version : Alternate class features to replace Favored Enemy?



raygungothic
2008-01-14, 05:54 AM
Hi everyone,

I've tried searching, but drawn a blank.

I have a player who wants to be a ranger and I don't like to say no to simple character requests without a good reason.

On the other hand, as DM, I hate "favored enemy" and having to take account of it in adventure design. I can deal with it, I just don't enjoy doing so. The player isn't too wild about favored enemy either, and is quite up for swapping it out if I can offer her a suitable alternative. (She also doesn't want magic at higher levels and would prefer the Complete Warrior no-magic ranger, though I'm quietly thinking I may have to up-power that to keep it fair).

I can't find an alternate class feature to replace it in any of the books I own. Are there any good ones out there, and what books? Or are we diverging so far from the published ranger that another class becomes more appropriate?

(Failing an official version I can always homebrew, and I really don't mind doing so, but if there is a published solution I would like to have it to compare to when changing things...)

Many thanks!

Kimi11
2008-01-14, 05:58 AM
There the Favored Environment (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#favoredEnemyVariantFavore dEnvironment).

The Glyphstone
2008-01-14, 06:05 AM
Isn't there a ranger variant with wildshape?

She might want to consider a Scout if you decide to try a different class...w/o Favored Enemy and magic, the only thing that makes the ranger not a fighter with forest flavor is the animal companion. Scout is still very rangerish in flavor/skills, but with some nice oomph potential in its skirmish attack.

Rad
2008-01-14, 06:16 AM
I second it; the scout might be what your friend is after.

raygungothic
2008-01-14, 06:29 AM
I think I'd be pretty happy with Favored Environment, I'll see what she thinks and what the overall setup looks like. And it's free! Thanks, Kimi11!

The_Glyphstone - Thanks. If there is a ranger variant with wildshape, I don't have enough ranks in Knowledge: d20 System to find it. I don't know whether it would fit her concept or not, but I don't *think* she's that way inclined. Scout sounds interesting, though I don't really know what it does; we should definitely inspect it to see if it would fit the role better than no-magic ranger... maybe I need that Complete Adventurer after all. (I'm scared of becoming a Complete Completist though - that would be a few books, and a few options, too many)

CASTLEMIKE
2008-01-14, 07:28 AM
Bonus feat or +1D6 Sneak Attack are comparable using Unearthed Arcana and the SRD Variant Generic Class Bonus feats as the standard.

Here's a link:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/genericClasses.htm#bonusFeats

raygungothic
2008-01-14, 08:03 AM
CastleMike -
Thanks, that makes sense to me and was about what I was thinking. Sneak Attack actually makes quite a lot of sense (Ranger Ambush!) though again I'd need to weigh it up against other classes like scout as I've now gone so far from "stock" ranger. I'll definitely present those two as options, though, since it seems only fair to offer more than one alternative if I'm going to strongly discourage a class feature!

RTGoodman
2008-01-14, 08:04 AM
The Wildshape Ranger is actually on the SRD also, right here (http://systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/unearthedCoreClass.html#simple-ranger). Also on that page, just above the wildshape variant, is the Urban Ranger. It lets you use organizations or groups rather than creatures as your "favored X," so that might work better.

Depending on how the player feels about the character and what direction you all want to take with it, maybe you could work out something with trapfinding and some more rogue-like features.

Telonius
2008-01-14, 09:08 AM
Another possibility ... give his animal companion the full Druid progression.

Ossian
2008-01-14, 09:40 AM
Or try Urban Ranger with Urban Tracking in place for Track and Favored Enemy: Organization.

So if for example your favored enemy is a Yakuza Aboleth, a Yakuza Archon, a Yakuza Ooze Cube, you still get all the bonuses against them :)

Person_Man
2008-01-14, 09:52 AM
Given the existence of Favored Power Attack, Nemesis, Wise to Your Ways, Improved Favored Enemy, Extra Favored Enemy, Favored Enemy (Arcanists), and Favored Enemy (Evil), its my opinion that Favored Enemy can be the Ranger's most powerful class feature, and he'd be crazy to give it up.

Having said that, if you don't like it for fluffy or DM administrative reasons, I can understand. Here's the current Ranger Handbook (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=892470). Scroll down to the "other features" part for a list of variants.

Another idea: Give up Favored Enemy and the Animal Companion or Spells, and gain the PHBII Shifter Druid. It's less powerful then the Unearthed Arcana Ranger variant, but still fun and interesting.

raygungothic
2008-01-14, 11:19 AM
Person_man: Thanks for the link to the ranger handbook. I appreciate that Favored Enemy can be powerful stuff in the right circumstances. Giving it up is not too much of a problem, though, as I'm not running for a group that's particularly interested in maximizing raw power, and I work pretty hard to keep things in balance. The player also doesn't really see "hates a certain critter type" as important to the character.

As DM, I'm prepared to bend the rules pretty damn hard if the result will be to *simultaneously* bring someone's character closer to concept AND stop me from having to worry about whether a certain enemy type is too scarce or prevalent, whether the weird stuff I make up off the top of my head qualifies when I failed to think about it in advance, and so forth... not that this is actually worse than many other D&D abilities, it just irks me more than it reasonably ought.

Everyone else - thanks for the additional suggestions.

playswithfire
2008-01-14, 11:53 AM
There's a paladin variant that gives up Lay on hands, turn undead, and remove disease for the ranger's favored enemy (from a limited pool of enemies). You could do that in reverse, if it fits the character.

Curmudgeon
2008-01-14, 03:59 PM
The generic answer to all alternative class feature questions is to look at the Alternative Class Features II (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=906113) thread at Gleemax.

raygungothic
2008-01-15, 05:08 AM
Thanks Curmudgeon, I'm not familiar with Gleemax so didn't know about that one, much appreciated.

She really likes the idea of getting a sneak attack, and it seems to fit the character well, so looks like we'll go that way. Thanks for your help, everyone.