Why D&D Rangers Never feel quite right

Today, we discuss the roots of the Ranger character concept, and how to adapt it to TTRPGs like Dungeons & Dragons (without just making them a nature-flavored wizard/fighter). Then we roast the Rangers of several RPGs to see what they get right! ▶️ More below! ⏬

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00:00 mythology screwed the dnd ranger
03:09 busting the ranger myth
05:14 skills that rangers NEED
07:47 how dnd changed the ranger concept
10:11 redefining the ranger for RPGs
10:50 rangers in dnd 5e 2014 and 2014
14:37 Tales of the Valiant 5e ranger
16:11 Nimble 5e and DC20 rangers
18:18 Daggerheart and Shadowdark
20:43 the fun and frustrating ranger

#dnd #dungeonsanddragons

[BobWorldBuilder]

🐎ON ARAGORN & ANIMALS: (edited) I'm not certain whether it's in the books, movies, or both, but at least one of those Aragorns can communicate supernaturally with his horse(s). And certainly in Tolkien's books, lots of animals could speak or had a supernatural intelligence. The best point I'm seeing against the animal companion is that Robin Hood (the real OG) didn't have one, at least in any of his stories I can recall.

[HouseDM]

As a former outdoor educator, I 1000% agree that you shouldn’t need to “pick your environment”. It’s absurd that so many games believe that the limitation makes the ranger “more balanced” when a wizard literally can alter the fabric of reality lol. Great vid Bob!

[blakehudson]

Ranger is a class built for rpgs that support hex crawls and full exploration rules, in a rpg that has no proper exploration rules.

[Potatooie]

While I don't think the Ranger should have a companion as a core element of the class in D&D, it's absurdly silly Rangers don't have Find Familiar in their spell list even in 2024.

[alexandergreen]

In my opinion in 5e it comes down to 3 things...
Comparison to the paladin, The wrong name, and niche class features
1) How it looks next to the only other core half-caster (The Paladin)
It's less tanky (no heavy armour), struggles to spend its spell slots as effectively in combat (paladin can concentrate AND still smite every turn vs one concentration spell at a time), it doesn't have a powerful passive ability like the paladin aura (the closest equivalent feature is hunters mark which requires multiple bonus actions in combat AND resources to use), it has less bonus resources (lay on hands and channel divinity vs... the horrible revised favored foe feature which adds a tiny damage boost BUT requires concentration)... there are only 2 half-casters and one was CLEARLY the favourite child...

2) The Name/Vibe...
The number 1 character in popculture that is referred to as a ranger is probably Aragorn, who doesn't have magic... or what about the rangers apprentice series, who don't have magic... or the lone Ranger, who doesn't have magic... or what about characters that kinda feel like rangers that aren't called rangers? Legolas, Rambo, Tarzan, Lara Croft, The Mandalorian, Aloy, Katnis... all without magic... they're Fighters or Rogues with some survival skills...
I also think that if the ranger class was named "the warden" or "the woodsman" or "the forester" or something, then half the classes identity issues would disappear. Plus in almost every one of those situations they're a SOLO character, but D&D is supposed to be about working in a party!
A paladin doesn't just feel like a cleric/fighter multiclass because it ALSO has unique things like smites and aura and lay on hands, yet the ranger often feels like a druid/fighter multiclass except with wildshape removed...

3) The fact that half its "thematic" features are niche...
This may make people mad, but I feel that certain classes shouldn't REQUIRE specific types of campaigns... subclasses? Sure! Races? Sure! But I feel like classes shouldn't be locked into certain campaign settings.
It's fine to say a "ranger should be a master survivalist, an expert tracker, an expert forager, etc." But I've played in games where literally none of those things were relevant...
If I'm a cleric or paladin but I never fight undead or demons... then I still use my smites and I use my other channel divinity options!
If I play a druid and we don't enter a single forest and we dont have a single animal or plant to talk to or if we only fight certain monster types all campaign...
Literally I just choose different spells... that's it...
If the ranger is in the same situation then half of its class features are useless! The revised ranger improved SOME of these things but the optional primal awareness feature is super niche too! Not to mention Land's Stride! the original natural Explorer feature even needed your DM to put you in a situation where you're required to track food and water and then it basically negates that element entirely! What kind of feature requires a specific scenario to use and the result is the scenario just disappears??? That would be like the bard getting a feature where "any time you enter combat with enemies that play musical instruments, you immediately win the combat", the rare time your feature comes up its just immediately hand waved away! It's the exact same reason that some DMs ban goodberry in survival campaigns!
The ranger requires the DM to consciously design situations where their features CAN be used.
To make other classes experience the same thing would require the DM to consciously design situations where their features CAN'T be used! Like putting a barbarian in a purely pacifist political intrigue campaign, or putting a wizard in a world where spellbooks don't exist, or putting a rogue in a campaign where every creature has tremor sense and a 50 passive perception and all locks are unpickable!
You can't create a whole class that only fits within a specific type of campaign, and that's what the ranger feels like it is.
Even the Druid doesn't REQUIRE a nature setting, but it feels like the ranger does

[hopefulhyena]

“I prefer ranger-fighter over ranger-wizard”
I feel like making everyone and their mother a spellcaster is one of my biggest gripes about modern d&d.

Back in the 70s, rangers didn’t get magic until level 9, and I say GOOD.

[kingdomhlover]

I think, fixing ranger requires making the exploration pillar of dnd more engaging. Wotc doesn't want to bother improving dm centric tools bc it won't sell more books.

[plucas]

Bob's new Favored Enemy is going to be Airplanes.

[kelph]

It’s not a good day if it doesn’t start with Bob talking to his camera in the middle of the forest.

[drewneedsmoresleep]

I cut my teeth on AD&D 2e when having a Ranger meant having an elite character. You were 1st level and attacking twice in melee. You were a Badass SOB that went toe to toe with giants. Third addition turned them into artillery units and they just declined further from there.

[adambielen]

I'm surprised no mention of Witchers was made. They always came off as Rangers to me with their knowledge of the wilderness, survival, tracking, monsters, and just enough magic to help with those things. And they exist directly in that divide between civilization and the wilderness Bob was talking about.

[charleswatson]

It's because the ranger class is an exploration mode based character in a game where everyone's job is dps.

[christophershafer]

I like the idea of getting the Favored Terrain bonuses when the character spends some time studying/observing the new-to-them environment and wildlife.

[Zedrinbot]

PF2's ranger is still my favorite iteration out of nearly any fantasy TTRPG. It's very modular so you can lean into whatever traits you're partial to for a ranger and doesn't relegate you to ranged only (since a 'ranger' more refers to a warden, not a 'ranged' combatant).
It doesn't have an animal companion or spells by default, but you can pick them up easily if they fit your idea. Animal companions feel great in PF2 and the spells are specially tailored ranger spells as well. They aren't relegated to a subclass choice and you can grab them even at level 1.
They have Hunt Prey as a core feature, which is like an amped up Hunter's Mark that influences your combat style and gives you some tracking and potentially knowledge benefits. It's 1 action to apply and not a spell, which gels well with the 3-action system and multiple attack penalties.
And they still have a ton of options for terrain, lore, snares, and tracking choices. Overall the modularity and adaptability is what makes it a winner for me.

[Gamemaster]

Personally, having played a fey wanderer ranger I feel like it actually does work because it's all focused on how getting a fey blessing effects what the ranger can do and many fey effects are social ones
(also I think that not every ranger needs a companion, I think that they all should have some ability to communicate or understand what animals do, but they should focus on it if they have a permanent companion)

[EdKauffmann]

i think making all rangers have a beast companion is a bit of a hard sell for players who don't want to have to think about running two combatants (in addition to that maybe not being their character concept) BUT I think having a bonded "wilderness spirit" that can EITHER take physical form as a beast OR magically inhabit the ranger to enhance their abilities and senses is the way I'd go. It solves three problems - gives rangers a unique flavor for "magic" like the monk that doesn't mandate spellcasting, gives a thematic/mechanical reason for enhanced senses and knowledge of nature, and gives them martial flexibility to have that extra combatant when they choose (and the fun of a pet for RP)

[ZXM]

I disagree with the idea that all rangers should have a animal companion. Having a companion is cool but not every ranger character fantasy has an animal companion. If you wanted to play Aragorn for example you would not want an animal companion. I think a subclass it the correct place for that.

[nerscyllam]

I think the biggest issue with rangers in modern games is that the whole concept is a holdover from earlier game design philosophy. Since 3e there's been a push toward more impressive heroic storytelling and larger narratives. That makes a lot of games and their campaigns really fun and epic and larger than life, but it's really at odds with the notion of the guy whose job it is to find medicinal plants to cure the deadly infection you got from drinking stagnant water and to lead you safely to your destination so that your party isn't stuck wandering around a swamp for 8 real life hours of play rolling random encounters over and over again until all the PCs die of exposure. The strict survival and tracking challenges that used to make the ranger shine have fallen out of fashion because as DMs we don't advocate for designing around hard fail states as much anymore.

It's more dramatic for the party to always arrive at a village just behind the goblin horde after trekking through the woods, perfectly timed to rush in and save the village, even though it may be more realistic to say "you failed 7 survival checks and spent a week lost in the woods because you didn't have a ranger so the village has been destroyed, the goblins are gone, and everyone is dead."

[Heritage]

I really like the Ranger expansion class in Shadowdark. No spellcasting, but able to make herbal curatives on the fly. Advantage on Stealth and nature stuff like tracking, making shelter, and foraging. Mid-level HP and Intelligence-based rolls for most of their areas of expertise.

What's not to love?

[russelldavis]

Here’s my rework that y’all might appreciate

* Deft Explorer - Proficiency and advantage on perception and survival. If you are already proficient in either skill you also gain an additional proficiency from the ranger list. In addition learn 2 languages - 1
* Spellcasting 1/2 rounded up - 1
* Marked Foe - Know hunters mark automatically. In addition you can cast hunters mark once per long rest without a spell slot or concentration. You can do this as a 3rd lvl spell at ranger lvl 9 and 5th lvl spell at ranger lvl 17 - 1

* Fighting style - 2
* 2x weapon mastery - 2
* Rover - +10 movement speed - 2

* Primal Powers - starting at 3rd lvl you gain the ability to expend some of your primal power as special ability. You expend a corresponding spell slot as directed to perform the listed effect. You gain a new primal power at 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, and 17 - 3
* -PP Unseen Sight - Spend a 1st lvl spell slot as an action to see invisible things and see into either the ethereal plane, feywild, or shadowfell for 10 minutes - 3
* Subclass choice - 3

* Feat - 4

* -PP Predatory Wave - Spend a 2nd lvl spell slot as an action to cause each creature in a 10ft radius of you to become frightened on a failed WIS save. While frightened they must spend their reaction, action, and bonus action to dash and movement to move away from you. This lasts until the end of the creatures next turn - 5
* Extra attack - 5

* Expert explorer - Expertise on perception and survival and expertise on 2 skills you are proficient. If you’re already an expert in perception or survival, select another skill to become an expert in - 6
* Unyielding March - Can’t be affected by non magical difficult terrain and you gain a climb, crawl, and swim speed - 6
* Uncanny Recovery - When ever you expend hit die, roll 1d4 per hit die and regain that much hp - 6

* -PP Natures Veil - Spend a 2nd lvl spell slot to make yourself and everything you’re wearing/carrying invisible until the start of your next turn - 7
* Subclass feature - 7

* Tireless - You loose a lvl of exhaustion on a short rest. - 8
* Extreme Conditioning - Gain fire and cold resistance. If you already have a permanent source of such resistances then select from acid and poison. - 8
* Feat - 8

* -PP Predatory Gaze - Spend a 3rd lvl spell slot as an action to paralyze a non undead creature within 30ft with fear if they fail a WIS Save until the end of your next turn - 9

* Unerring Mark - Expertise in weapon attacks against hunters mark target. - 10

* -PP Elemental Invulnerability - Spend a 3rd lvl spell slot as a reaction when you take damage of a type you have resistance to. Give yourself immunity to that type including the triggering damage until the end of your next turn - 11
* Subclass feature - 11

* Feat - 12

* -PP Mend Flesh - Spend a 4th lvl spell slot as a bonus action to heal someone you touch 15 hit points, reattach a limb if it was removed in the past minute, or reattach a head if it was removed within the past round and revive them to 0hp but stable. In addition at the end of every round the target regains 1d8 hit points for 1 minute - 13

* Unstoppable Strikes - Your attacks can’t be disadvantaged, In addition hunters mark attacks are made with advantage - 14
* Predatory Awareness - When you use your marked foe ability and when you transfer the effect to a new target, choose one of the following to learn about the target. (1) CR, alignment, and able to speak/understand any language it does; (2) AC and damage vulnerabilities; (3) to hit bonus and save DC; (4) damage resistance and immunity; (5) high and low stat; (6) speed and sense types. For the full duration of your marked foe ability, you also detect one of the following creature types and their direction within 600 feet; aberrations, celestials, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, giants, monstrosities, and undead - 14

* -PP Wilds Ward - Spend a 4th lvl spell slot over 8hr to give a huge or smaller thing or 200 foot cube area within 60ft the effect of antipathy/sympathy for 10 days - 15
* Subclass feature - 15

* Feat - 16

* -PP Forewarning - Spend a 5th lvl spell slot as a reaction to your d20 test or an attack against you to give yourself advantage on d20 tests and +5 AC for 1 hour - 17

* Primeval Perception - You gain 60ft truesight, blindsight, and tremorsense - 18

* Epic Boon - 19

* Foe Slayer - You can add your wisdom modifier to either the attack roll or damage roll of an attack. You can make this decision after knowing if it would be a hit or not - 20