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  1. - Top - End - #1
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    SangoProduction's Avatar

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    Default Reworking Favored Enemy

    So, I was reviewing the Commander class, and they had a terrain specialization feature. It sucked because if you aren't in that terrain, you don't have the class feature. I was commenting on Horizon Walker having a similar deal, but they keep their bonuses regardless of terrain.

    Then I actually look up Horizon Walker and immediately became disillusioned with 3.5 design. But hey, Desert specialization makes you immune to fatigue.

    So a better example may instead be PTU (Pokemon Tabletop United), which has a Survivalist class that specializes in terrain, who picks a terrain, gain moves and abilities based on it (which they take anywhere), and then gain some terrain-specific bonuses to overcome difficulties of say the specialized terrain. And I think that's actually a good general principle for a specialist design.

    And then I thought about Rangers. Because Favored Enemy sucks. Hard. But the same principle can be used for an enemy specialist as a terrain specialist.
    I did think that SoP had something like that in Exorcism, but no. Exorcism simply has different effects vs different creature types. No specialization, nor universalization.

    So, I think we're a bit on our own here in designing it.

    First off, I think the generic bonuses to skills and tracking against favored targets is not implicitly bad. I would simplify it to class level (or some modifier thereof) for each specialized enemy, rather than weird stair-stepping progression. Like 2 + 1/2 CL. Or whatever. And maybe half that as a bonus to attack and AC against them.
    And grant automatic recognition of tracks from their favored enemies.
    I would get rid of the sub-specializations. A guy specialized in tracking humans isn't going to be suddenly baffled if some lily-livered elf crosses their path.

    And that would basically be the generic non-transferable benefit of the specialization.

    ---

    So now let's try and define transferable benefits of each specialization. These are going to be basically off the cuff with no regard to balance. And the order...is the order I think of something for it. Feel free to suggest your own.

    Dragon seems pretty simple, if uninspired: Evasion. Because... well... dragon's breath.
    Similarly, Aberration would have Mettle (evasion for Fort and Will saves), because those guys are weird.

    Constructs maybe could grant... Trapfinding and Engineering skill bonus?
    Fey would definitely grant something like advantage on Sense Motive checks and grants the skill bonus to saves vs illusions.

    Animal... Maybe... On a successful attack, one natural weapon rolls disadvantage on attacks and damage until the end of the ranger's next turn.
    Humanoid. Maybe adds an additional 2 crit range on weapon attacks, after all other modifiers, and increase the multiplier by 1? A bit aggressive, but I think that's assumed with human hunters.

    Undead? Skill bonus to heal checks, and grants allies and self advantage versus energy drain.
    Plants....... Um. They don't suffer nutritional downsides from vegetarian diets? Advantage to save vs poison?

    Vermin. They exude a nearly imperceptible film around their body. Those making natural attacks against the ranger make a fort save or be sickened and poisoned.
    Ooze... Advantage to perception vs invisible / see-through creatures/objects, and skill bonus to saves vs paralysis?

    Magical Beast: Critical hits can inflict targeted Dispel Magic instead of bonus damage.
    Outsider: Able to call any known creature's name and have said creature hear you and know your approximate location and situation. ("Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear." IDK.)

    Monstrous Humanoid: Racial HD doesn't increase the intimidate DC to demoralize, when insulting a creature's appearance.


    And I think that's all of them. I really rather struggled with that. lol. Might have been much easier if it were instead fluffed as gaining some aspect of your enemy, rather than simply hunting them. Would definitely be a very substantial change in flavor. Especially for an Ooze ranger. lol.
    Please do feel free to offer your own suggestions for abilities instead.

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Bugbear in the Playground
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    Default Re: Reworking Favored Enemy

    This may be of interest to you.

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    Default Re: Reworking Favored Enemy

    Quote Originally Posted by RandomPeasant View Post
    This may be of interest to you.
    Man. Tome. That brings back good memories. Not of ever actually getting to play it. But still.

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    ElfRangerGuy

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    Default Re: Reworking Favored Enemy

    Use the Pathfinder Guide archetype for Ranger. They lose favored enemy and gain Ranger’s Focus. Once per day (and more at later levels) as swift action you gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage (more at higher levels) while fighting something you designate (you keep the bonus until the thing you're fighting is dead). It's only a combat bonus and not a tracking, knowledge bonus like favoured enemy, but it's still quite neat.
    Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett

    "Magic can turn a frog into a prince. Science can turn a frog into a Ph.D. and you still have the frog you started with." Terry Pratchett
    "I will not yield to evil, unless she's cute."

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    Default Re: Reworking Favored Enemy

    Quote Originally Posted by farothel View Post
    Use the Pathfinder Guide archetype for Ranger. They lose favored enemy and gain Ranger’s Focus. Once per day (and more at later levels) as swift action you gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage (more at higher levels) while fighting something you designate (you keep the bonus until the thing you're fighting is dead). It's only a combat bonus and not a tracking, knowledge bonus like favoured enemy, but it's still quite neat.
    In that way, you remove all specialization, and just gain an occasional bonus. Which is better.
    But the idea was to make something that was still a "specialization," of that type, which wasn't purely dead as soon as you aren't looking at an elf.

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    Default Re: Reworking Favored Enemy

    I feel Illithid Slayer is an example of a foe-specialist done right. Well, except for the actual Favored Enemy part of the class. But the other features are useful against a broad range of enemies, while still making sense for a slayer of illithids.

    For a slayer of undead, I think immunities to ability damage, ability drain, energy drain, disease, and paralysis would all be very useful.

    I'd actually argue in favor of giving Mettle to dragon slayers. Dragons are known for their powerful arcane magic, after all. Energy resistance should probably be in there too. And maybe something that helps with flying enemies.

    Fey should probably give a defense against Enchantments. And the Church Inquisitor's ability to get a save against Illusions without interacting with them. Maybe even True Seeing, eventually.

    I think a Ranger specializing in animals should lean harder into the hunting angle than other rangers. Sneak Attack, and the ability to use it at long range, has always seemed to me like it would be a good representation of a hunter carefully taking aim.

    I think a slayer of humanoids would need subterfuge. You could give Thousand Faces, and some of those Urban Ranger features for stalking your prey through city streets.

    Giants are hard to come up with features around. Their only defining characteristic is being big. I guess you could alter the bonuses and penalties involved with fighting a creature bigger than you. It's normally 4 per size category, but you could lessen it to 3, then 2, 1, and finally zero. I propose calling the feature "It's How You Use It" or "Motion of the Ocean."

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    Bugbear in the Playground
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    Default Re: Reworking Favored Enemy

    Quote Originally Posted by Maat Mons View Post
    I'd actually argue in favor of giving Mettle to dragon slayers. Dragons are known for their powerful arcane magic, after all.
    I would say if you're going to give out Mettle, it should be a benefit of Favored Enemy (Outsider). Dragon spellcasting is a relatively minor portion of the overall dragon package, whereas most outsiders have a big range of SLAs that are a primary part of their offensive packages.

    Giants are hard to come up with features around. Their only defining characteristic is being big. I guess you could alter the bonuses and penalties involved with fighting a creature bigger than you. It's normally 4 per size category, but you could lessen it to 3, then 2, 1, and finally zero. I propose calling the feature "It's How You Use It" or "Motion of the Ocean."
    Decreasing a bonus in 1-point intervals seems like a bad idea to me. It's just way too fiddly of an advantage, especially when the proposed alternatives are things like "Sneak Attack progression" or "Mettle".

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