Dungeons & Dragons 5.1E — Ranger

[thoroughlyS]

Index

I have been playing Dungeons & Dragons for about half of my life, first introduced to the game at the tail end of v3.5. I have been playing 5E since its release, and it is my favorite version of the game. I feel like the rules are simple, elegant, and cohesive... for the most part. But no game is truly perfect, even to an individual, and there are some rules that I feel were suboptimally implemented. Some build options in the game outshine others, leading to an oversaturation in play. Meanwhile, other build options are so underwhelming that they are neglected an are often called for reworks.

In this thread, I present my list of houserules (listed in red) which have the sole purpose of trying to make bad options good, and the best options merely great. In doing so, I hope to allow players at my table a greater breadth of concepts to explore, simply by making everything worth playing. These changes are to the ranger (a favorite of mine), which hold a reputation as the worst base class in the game. I think this reputation comes from a handful of absolutely worthless features, which make the class feel bad to play. I don't actually consider the ranger to be underpowered in terms of damage or spells, just all of their ribbon features are terrible.

Ranger

Favored Enemy
You have significant experience studying, tracking, hunting, and even talking to a certain type of enemy commonly encountered in the wilds. Choose a type of favored enemy: beasts, fey, giants, humanoids, monstrosities, oozes, plants, or undead.
You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track your favored enemies, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them.
When you gain this feature, you also learn one language of your choice that is spoken by your favored enemies.

Spoiler: Notes

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I take a page from the Revised Ranger and introduce Greater Favored Enemy below.

Land’s Stride
At 1st level, moving through nonmagical difficult terrain costs you no extra movement. You can also pass through nonmagical plants without being slowed by them and without taking damage from them if they have thorns, spines, or a similar hazard.
In addition, you have advantage on saving throws against plants that are magically created or manipulated to impede movement, such as those created by the entangle spell.

Spoiler: Notes

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The official ranger has two very situational features at 1st level, and neither help in combat. They are the only class whose 1st level features can't be used in relation to combat in some way. With that in mind I give them this, which already felt like a 1st level feature that you got seven levels too late.

Natural Explorer
You are skilled at navigating the wilderness. You gain the following benefits when traveling for an hour or more:

• Difficult terrain doesn’t slow your group’s travel.
• Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling (such as foraging, navigating, or tracking), you remain alert to danger.
• If you are traveling alone, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.
• When you forage, you find twice as much food as you normally would.
• While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.

Spoiler: Notes

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The official Natural Explorer provides some excellent features, but the problem is that they might never come up. I allow the ranger to make use of them whenever they are travelling.

It is important to note that I have removed the benefit which says that you don't get lost. That is an example of a reductive feature. Getting lost could be a plot hook for the start of an adventure, but this feature means that your DM can't use it.

Ritual Casting
You can cast any ranger spell you know as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag.

Spoiler: Notes

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The ranger's spell list is actually rife with useful ritual spells, but rangers can't benefit from them. By adding this, I create a kind of diversity between how a paladin and a ranger use their spells.

Ranger Conclave
At 3rd level, you choose to emulate the ideals and training of a ranger conclave. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 11th, and 15th level.
Conclave Spells
Each conclave has a list of associated spells. You gain access to these spells at the levels specified in the conclave description. These spells count as ranger spells for you, but don't count against the number of ranger spells you know.

Spoiler: Notes

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The subclasses introduced in Xanathar's Guide to Everything all have this, I just make it a part of the base ranger. This does mean I have made lists for the hunter and beast master.

Primeval Awareness
Beginning at 3rd level, you can attune your senses to determine if any of your favored enemies lurk nearby. By spending 1 uninterrupted minute in concentration (as if you were concentrating on a spell), you can sense whether any of your favored enemies are present within 1 mile of you. This feature reveals which of your favored enemies are present, their general numbers, and their general direction and distance from you.
If there are multiple groups of your favored enemies within range, you learn this information for each group.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to 1 + your Wisdom modifier, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.

Spoiler: Notes

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The official Primeval Awareness is a waste of a spell slot. It gives a binary yes/no of whether or not certain creatures are within A MILE of you. How is that ever useful? On top of that it gets LESS ACCURATE in your favored terrain.

I take another page from Revised Ranger and tie this to your favored enemies, and give much more useful information, but give it a limited number of uses.

Greater Favored Enemy
At 6th level, you are ready to hunt even deadlier game. Choose a type of greater favored enemy: aberrations, celestials, constructs, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, giants, monstrosities, or undead. If you choose the same type as your favored enemy, you can change your choice for that feature.
You gain all the benefits against this chosen enemy that you normally gain against your favored enemy, including an additional language.
Additionally, you gain a +2 bonus on saving throws against the spells and abilities used by a greater favored enemy.

Spoiler: Notes

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Taken from the Revised Ranger, but nerfed so that you don't become untouchable by your greater favored enemy this is basically a ribbon, after all. Also slightly modified to allow you to carry forward certain favored enemies like fey or undead which are encountered at both low and high levels. This way, you could be a dedicated undead hunter from 1st level if you wanted that flavor.

Vanish
Starting at 6th level, you can use the Hide action as a bonus action on your turn. Also, you and creatures you travel with can’t be tracked by nonmagical means, unless you choose to leave a trail.

Spoiler: Notes

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Getting this at 14th level almost feels like an insult. I give this at a vastly more appropriate time.

Hide in Plain Sight
Starting at 10th level, whenever you move at least 10 feet through an area of natural terrain, you can magically become invisible, along with any equipment you are wearing or carrying, until the start of your next turn (no action required).
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Spoiler: Notes

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The official Hide in Plain Sight is infamous when people talk about revising the ranger. It feels like something you should be able to do with skills or tools. This version is based on Nature's Veil from Tasha's, but limited to natural environs and given a better action cost (none) so that it works with the new capstone below.

Foe Slayer
At 14th level, you become an unparalleled hunter of your enemies. Once on each of your turns, you can add your Wisdom modifier to the attack roll or the damage roll of an attack you make against one of your favored enemies. You can choose to use this feature before or after the roll, but before any effects of the roll are applied.

Spoiler: Notes

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Completely unchanged, but relegated to the ribbon status that it deserves.

Rugged Endurance
By 14th level, you can easily recuperate from staggering fatigue and grievous wounds. When you finish a short rest, you can reduce your exhaustion level by one.
Additionally, when you regain hit points at the end of a short rest by spending one or more Hit Dice, you regain an extra number of hit points equal to your ranger level.

Spoiler: Notes

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A brand new feature to fill the gap left by moving Vanish. This reinforces the concept that a ranger is tireless, and can keep going all day long. I came up with this before Tireless was introduced in Unearthed Arcana, and I am partial to it but I can agree with using that instead.

Feral Senses
At 18th level, you gain preternatural senses that help you fight creatures you can’t see. You have blindsight out to a range of 30 feet.

Spoiler: Notes

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A more straightforward and mechanically cohesive version of the official Feral Senses. Shamelessly stolen from Treantmonk.

Master of Ambush
At 20th level, your speed and stealth in combat make you hard to pin down. When you roll initiative, you can use your reaction to move up to your speed and make a Dexterity (Stealth) check to hide (if you fulfill the conditions needed to hide).
You remain hidden from creatures during your turn, regardless of your actions or the actions of other creatures. At the end of your turn, if you do not fulfill the conditions needed to hide, creatures become aware of you, as normal.

Spoiler: Notes

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A brand new capstone which cements the concept of the ranger an unseen thread that is impossible to pin down. This combos nicely with Hide in Plain Sight.

[Yakk]

In a fight at level 1, you get to ignore non-magical difficult terrain and get advantage on saving throws against difficult terrain.

You are otherwise strictly worst at fighting than a Paladin or Fighter. You have fewer proficiencies, fewer abilities.

Your compensating abilities are advantage on some knowledge checks on a narrow type of creature and a boost to a group's travel for more than an hour ... if you picked the right terrain.

Unless the DM is hand-feeding you the creature and terrain you picked, you are likely to reach level 2 or higher before ever using either of those.

My attacks on the ranger center around that; at level 1, you should be distinctly better at something, anything, noticable in a fight.

Paladin has Lay on Hands, Fighter has its styles and second wind, Monk has Martial Arts, Rogue has sneak attack, various spellcasters have their spells.

Rangers don't really. If this requires moving exploration abilities away from level 1, so be it.

Additionally, you gain a +2 bonus on saving throws against the spells and abilities used by a greater favored enemy.

I'd make it advantage, or "you always have proficiency". Philosophically, avoid +2 stacking bonuses. I think I'd go for Advantage.

Rugged Endurance is a passive ability, which depends heavily on how much the DM uses exhaustion. Also, note that taking 8 short rests instead of 1 long rest clears way more exhaustion; you might want to add in "and removes all exhaustion at the end of a long rest" to make this less silly.

Feral Senses

How about adding "when not blinded, deafened and unable to smell". The idea is you can use any of the 3 to generate blindsight 30 feet, and losing all 3 senses should be rare enough that it has no real impact.

Master of Ambush

My issue with this is how much it pigeon holes the Ranger to be stealth based. It is also very mechanically tricky, and may heavily depend on how your DM runs stealth (which is exceedingly vague in the base rules).

[thoroughlyS]

our compensating abilities are advantage on some knowledge checks on a narrow type of creature and a boost to a group's travel for more than an hour ... if you picked the right terrain.

Unless the DM is hand-feeding you the creature and terrain you picked, you are likely to reach level 2 or higher before ever using either of those.

My version of natural explorer applies to all terrains, like the old revised ranger.

My attacks on the ranger center around that; at level 1, you should be distinctly better at something, anything, noticable in a fight.

Paladin has Lay on Hands, Fighter has its styles and second wind, Monk has Martial Arts, Rogue has sneak attack, various spellcasters have their spells.

Land's Stride at 1st level means you have the best mobility of any martial, even the monk. Yes, this stops being true at 2nd, but at that point you get spells and a fighting style to make you feel at least a little better.

I'd make it advantage, or "you always have proficiency". Philosophically, avoid +2 stacking bonuses. I think I'd go for Advantage.

I originally had it as advantage (also from the revised ranger), and some people sait that it was too strong. I can kind of sympathize with that, so I made it a static bonus which—while very rare in 5E—do exist.

Rugged Endurance is a passive ability, which depends heavily on how much the DM uses exhaustion. Also, note that taking 8 short rests instead of 1 long rest clears way more exhaustion; you might want to add in "and removes all exhaustion at the end of a long rest" to make this less silly.

Or I can talk to my players and we can agree as responsible game players that multiple short rests in a row is an exploit. Also, this feature restores good amounts of hit points on a short rest which is the more important part of it.

How about adding "when not blinded, deafened and unable to smell". The idea is you can use any of the 3 to generate blindsight 30 feet, and losing all 3 senses should be rare enough that it has no real impact.

I'm fine with the current restriction WotC had for losing access to this feature.

My issue with this is how much it pigeon holes the Ranger to be stealth based. It is also very mechanically tricky, and may heavily depend on how your DM runs stealth (which is exceedingly vague in the base rules).

This is a very valid criticism. The stealth rules are a mess, and I can't really do anything to make them less of a mess at other tables. That said, you can either avoid stealth rules entirely, or use them to fulfil character archetypes like the ranger stalking through the forest. I opt for the latter.

[Yakk]

So, Ranger has 5 levels of exhaustion.

How do you envision they go about recovering them?

Rest 1 hour. Go find a criminal to beat up. Rest 1 hour. Do a duel with a team mate. Rest 1 hour. Read a book. Rest one hour. Have nothing left to do, so take a long rest.

Or, like spend 1 hour plus 4 days, because they can't take short rests?

I am confused. My point is that if 1 hour recovers 1 level, then 8 hours should recover them all.

[thoroughlyS]

5 levels of exhaustion is the kind of extraordinary circumstance that a DM would only drop on their party (the entire party, because I can see no reason why only the ranger would be that debilitated) if they were accounting for it in the immediate future. So the party would take a few long rests to recover, while the ranger would recover more quickly. I personally would allow the party to take two short rests between their long rests. Therefore a ranger would recover in two days and the party in five.

But what exactly is the point of this example? When is anyone racking up 5 levels of exhaustion? The whole point of the feature is that if a Tier 3 ranger gets a level of exhaustion they can shrug it off after a short rest.