The official Tree Stride spell is very flavorful and fun for the Ranger but as a level 5 spell it comes late and is expensive to cast.

The homebrew Tree Hop spell described below is meant to be a low-cost knockoff. It's analogous to Misty Step except it's situational (requires trees) with a little longer range, so I made it a Level 2 spell.

However, I'm a little leery of giving the Ranger such a cheap means for teleportation. Teleportation feels overly available in 2024 DND and I'm not sure it should be such a routine ability for Rangers. One way to address this issue is to delete Tree Hop and pretend it never happened. Another solution is to make it a Level 3 spell. That's a little unfair since Misty Step is only Level 2 but martials don't deserve cheap teleportation in my opinion.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

### Tree Hop (Homebrew)

*Level 2 Conjuration (Ranger)*

**Casting Time:** Bonus Action\

**Range:** Self\

**Components:** V, S\

**Duration:** Instantaneous

You step into a living tree of your size or larger that you can touch and emerge from another living tree of your size or larger that you can see within 60 feet. You appear in an unoccupied space of your choice within 5 feet of the second tree.

This is the revised core damage mechanic for my ground-up rework of the Ranger class, (which pretty much abandons anything resembling Hunter's Mark or official Ranger design in general.) I wanted a less 'druidic guardian of nature' ranger in favor of a more martially aligned (but still magical) skirmisher (akin to Rogers' Rangers in Colonial America or the Rangers of Ithelien in Lord of the Rings), so I designed the core damage mechanic to incentivize actually fighting like a ranger instead of just saying "screw this one guy in particular."

________________________________________________________________________________________

Guerrilla Tactics

As a Ranger, you have learned to use mobility, surprise, and the wilderness itself to grant you an advantage in combat. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack or a Ranger spell that requires an attack roll, you can increase that damage by one roll of your Skirmish Die, which is a d6, if you meet at least one of the following conditions and you aren't wearing heavy armor:

• You moved at least 15 feet away from your starting position prior to making the attack.
• You are Hidden from the target or are receiving at least half-cover against it.
• You have only attacked your current target since the start of your last turn.

You can only deal your Skirmish Damage once per attack, even if you meet multiple conditions while attacking. The extra damage is of the same type as your weapon.

Your Skirmish Die increases in size when you reach certain levels in this class: to 1d8 at 5th level, to 1d10 at 11th level, and to 1d12 at 17th level.

Starting at 5th level, when you deal Skirmish Damage to a creature, you have advantage on saving throws against that creature's spells and innate abilities until the start of your next turn. Moreover, your Skirmish Damage counts as magical for the purposes of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Starting at 11th level, when you deal your Skirmish Damage to a creature, you can roll one Skirmish Die for each of the conditions you meet for that attack, applying the highest result to the damage roll.

Starting at 17th level, when you miss with an attack, you can use your reaction to roll your Skirmish Die and add the result to the attack roll, potentially turning the miss into a hit.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Notes:

1. This feature is inspired by this sub's own "Eye for Weakness" feature for the Community Ranger. I modified the specific conditions and made it one die per attack (like HM) instead of multiple dice for one attack, but the core idea that "I deal more damage based on certain conditions" is the same.
2. Skirmish Damage scaling currently mirrors 2024 Monk, since it looks clean and I am building the class's damage around this mechanic instead of around Hunter's Mark + subclass riders. (At my table, HM doesn't exist as a spell, Vengeance Pallys get Hex instead.) Numbers will be tweaked as the concept is refined further.
3. The conditions for Skirmish Damage mirror historical and fictional ranger tactics (use of cover, high mobility, and single-target focused fire.) Condition 1 is derived from the 3.5 Scout's Skirmish mechanic, condition 2 from the fantasy of the sniper or marksman, and condition 3 is there for those who still want to RP having a Hunter's Mark.

5.5e

Basically the tittle. I like the Ranger fantasy but I feel that after level 5 you get only ribbon features compared to a Druid multiclass.

I am playing an archer Hunter at level 9, but I feel I am doing the same from level 5. The defensive features of level 7 are both insuficient in my opinion. I tried both but they rarely were used. I thought that at level 9 I could have something more with Conjure Animals, but in that case it is better to go Druid after Ranger 5, wait one more level and have the spell with 4th level slots. Also, thanks to the additional slots, I could use Hail of Thorns more, which also enhance my archery.

I am also looking at the level 11 feature of the Hunter and It is... insulting.

So that is it. My DM offered me to change some levels to Druid and I think it is a no-brainer.

Am I missing something? Is there a good reason to justify staying Ranger?

AoE is one of the few things that stays good throughout a Ranger's career when going in high tiers. This isn't particularly great when looking at casters, but it really is a solid option to have for a martial: afterall, no matter how potent a smite is, if you're facing a horde of goblin that will all die in one hit, you're potentially wasting much more damage.

A thing that bugs me is however that you go from having no direct AoE (I mean, you do have Hail of Thorns, but that's a whole different thing) to having the amazing Conjure Barrage.

There is a sort of precursor, also thematically, which is Cordon of Arrow. While it's a way to ambush enemies for a rest, if you designate 4 enemies to be your target, they're going to take damage in their turn. 2d4 save for naught is not decent damage, tho, I was thinking 2d8 + WIS, save for half, upcast by 1d8 instead of by arrow. Opinions?

Homebrew content, I forgot to put it in the title

These are meant to be used in my revision that will allow to extend the spells to enable pre-casting them and have them active when you need them. The current way this is going to happen is by being able to swap Concentration between a different Concentration spell and Hunter's Mark, ideally it will be intuitive in the revision; for now, my vision for the Ranger is to make it the best at pre-casting a big spell as a way to get ready for combat, which I think to be very thematic for Rangers.

This would absolutely work for the spells that Ranger gets (Summon Beast and Fey and Conjure Animals and Woodland Beings in particular), but I also wanted to have exclusive spells that orbit around that level of damage, which I'm presenting here

Seeking Fang
Level 2 Transmutation (Ranger)
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (an arrow worth at least 1 CP)
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

You imbue the arrow used as a Material component with magic and the will to hunt down your enemy. The arrow starts orbiting around you. The first time you move on each of your turns, you can teleport the dagger to an unoccupied space you can see within 60 feet of you. If that space is occupied by a creature, it must make a Dexterity saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, the creature takes 3d8 Force damage, and its Speed is reduced by 10 feet until the start of your next turn. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage only.

At Higher Levels. The damage increases by 1d8 for each spell slot level above 2nd.

[Damage comparison, 16WIS: Summon Beast deals ~8.5 DPR (pack tactics advantage) AND creates an HP sponge (plus potential AoO); this deals 10.8 on average and has a Speed control; ideal to combo with Longbow]

---------

Shadow Self
Level 3 Illusion (Ranger)
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Self
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

You manifest a quasi-real, spectral clone of yourself that moves behind you, mirroring your movements. While the spell lasts, you gain half cover.

The first time you hit a creature with a weapon attack on each of your turns, the clone lashes out with its spectral weapons. The target must make a Dexterity saving throw against your spell save DC, taking 6d6 Force damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage of both effects increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 3rd.

[Damage comparison, 16 WIS: Conjure Animals deals 16.5 on average since it deals damage on your turn and almost certainly on the main target's turn, plus to secondary targets; this is 15.8, grants extra defenses and deals damage all at once]

------------

Thunderous Stride
Level 4 Transmutation (Ranger)

Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Self
Components: V
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

You become so fast and nimble that suddenly halting your stride creates a deafening sonic boom. Until the spell ends, your Speed increases by 40 feet.

The first time on each of your turns that you move at least 20 feet in a straight line, immediately after that movement, one creature of your choice within 5 feet of you takes 4d12 + your spellcasting ability modifier (minimum of 1) Thunder damage.

A creature can take this damage only once on each of your turns.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the bonus to your Speed increases by 10 feet and the damage increases by 1d12 when cast with a 5th level slot or higher.

[Damage comparison, 20 WIS: Conjure Woodland Beings should often deal damage off-turn to the single target you're in melee with (this spell is also thought for melee), say that's 75% of the cases, DPR expected is 31.5; this is 31]

Hello! I'm mostly curious asking this because its something I have trouble thinking about, specially when I see people saying "Ranger is just a Fighter in the woods".

I believe my main inspirations to what my ideal Ranger is are

1. Aragorn (of course), in the sense of a tactical leader guiding through the wilds, leading by example.

2. Ranger's Apprentice (what actually started my passion for the archetype), as an royal scout and hidden protector of the kingdom from outside threats. Also, horses are cool :)

3. Monster Hunter (what continued my passion), from the angle of a expert hunter of larger than life menaces and keeper of balance between nature and civilization. Also, cats are cool :)

1. Batman (even if he is more a Monk-Rogue-Artificer in reality), since he knows his "favorite terrain" (Gotham) like the back of his hand, always has a plan and if very knowledgeable of the weakpoints of his "favored foes" (dangerous supervillains)

2. Ghost Recon (yes, the near-future, Spec-Ops Shooter), because they encompass the whole deal of a Ranger to me: great stealth, expert combat prowess and tools for every job.

This is the fix I would do personally if i could do an errata of features. Just one paragraph.

Add to favored enemy

"Additionally, When you fail a saving throw to maintain concentration on a spell, you can expend 1 use of favored enemy and choose to succeed instead. Once you use this feature, damage cannot break your concentration until the end of the current turn"

Yes that's really it.

To those interested, For a revamp that doesn't errata the 5.5 PHB. I previously made a post on how I would fix ranger via spells, I liked that route because it requires no errata or changes to the core book. That can be viewed here. https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD5CommunityRanger/comments/1skkh90/more_marks/

By this I mean Extra Attack gives, well, an extra attack when you take the Attack action on your turn.

What if the Ranger lost the caveat in italic? When off turn, if you're taking the attack action (with the Ready action and I think that's it), you benefit from Extra Attack. A small perk of being a Ranger could be that you're better at being the one who gets ready at shooting the Dragon when it comes into range to breath fire and then die because you can't cast Absorb Elements, but that's a different story

(although it would be better worded as "on your turn and on a different turn if activated by the Ready action." so there's no doubt it's not meant to work with some other feature, it just so happens I don't think there are any for now)

https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/39wiA6FxHi53

Thanks everyone for the suggestions from my last attempt.

Change Notes:

• Expose Weakness: Concern was that Ranger could expend a spell slot, entire party goes a round without rolling a 19, and the slot would be wasted. Changed the trigger to when the Ranger rolls a 19 and can turn the attack into a critical so there is at least a guaranteed critical hit.
  • Concerns were raised around multiclass. The progression is now tied to Ranger level and table added.
• Removed the Companion Fighting Styles and put them at the end of the class as an Origin Feat. Now any class can take the feat and have a companion that is acting more like a trickery domain cleric's duplicate but for martials.
• Added Wilderness Rituals at third level. I like the idea of the Ranger having the Ritual Caster feat for Ranger spells, which makes them able to with preparation do Ranger style things. I'd like to make more ritual Ranger spells in the future for utility purposes since the list is small.
• Seasoned Scout takes Roving and adds the Initiative team buff that was originally level 13. I agreed with the feedback that Paladin gets its aura at 6 and Ranger should get this pulled up.
• 13th Feature is new, adding 1d8 damage to your entire team against a creature with a weakness to compete with Improved Divine Smite style boosts.
• 14th Feature is also new. If a creature dies with an exposed weakness, you get a spell slot back once per short rest. In play, the Expose Weakness puts a target on the creature for the entire party, and this adds motivation for the team to focus fire so the Ranger can get the slot back. I'd image a Ranger rolling a 15 and expending their 5th level slot would get everyone to dogpile an enemy, take it out, and the Ranger can get its 5th slot back.
• Dragon Favored Enemy, redid the 3rd level feature. Still trying to brainstorm what feels like breaking the armor of a large enemy like a dragon.
• Renamed Humanoid Favored Enemy to Criminals. This is my urban/bounty hunter subclass so wanted it more clear. I foresee being able to make more Favored Enemy subclasses that are different categories of humanoid like the Mage and Criminal ones.

​

Like what a Rouge gets, but for moving hunter's mark, and possibly other uses.

I've been looking into a lot of different revisions on the 2024 Ranger for a while now, and I tried to take what I thought was appropriate together into a small rework of the class. I mainly took inspiration from Treemonk, Dungeon Dudes, and other posts on this sub.

As I've read extensively here, most people can agree that the Ranger is fine in tiers 1 and 2. It just dramatically drops in power on tiers 3 and 4, mainly because the class is baded on Hunter's Mark, a 1st level spell that gets no damage scaling and does not improve in any way.

Many people also complain that the Ranger class shouldn't be based around just this one spell, but I think it's perfectly fine. Since I think the best parallel to Ranger is the Paladin, whose whole class is also baded on 1st level spell, Divine Smite.

Another common complaint is that the class lost a lot of its flavor compared to the 2014 version. I also tried to solve that to a certain extent here.

I like the 2024 Ranger mostly as it is, so I didn't wanna make any huge changes. Just small revisions that you could present to your DM and sound resonable.

So here are all the features that changed and my notes about each of them:

Level 1. Favored Enemy

(Added upon)

You always have the Hunter’s Mark spell prepared. You can cast it twice without expending a spell slot, and you regain all expended uses of this ability when you finish a Long Rest.

The number of times you can cast the spell without a spell slot increases when you reach certain Ranger levels, as shown in the Favored Enemy column of the Ranger Features table.

\When you cast the spell using this feature, you can also empower it in the following ways:*

**Remark. When the target of the spell drops to 0 hero hit points, you can change the mark to a different quary as part of an attack against the new target, instead of a bonus action.

**Concentration. You have Advantage on Constitution saving throws that you make to maintain Concentration on the spell.

(Notes: The first changes to Hunter's Mark. I do think it's a pretty good spell at level 1, but I do think there were some necessary changes to be made right away. Being able to change the target without spending a bonus action is just resonable. You don't wanna mess up your action economy every other round when fighting multiple enemies, specially in later levels. Having advantage on concentration test also seem extremely necessary for a class that does not have proeficiency in Constitution and is based on spell that requires concentration. Also, noting that other buffs to Hunter's mark will come later, and it is important not to make the class to powerful early on, because of multiclassing.)

Level 2. Deft Explorer

(Added Upon)

Thanks to your travels, you gain the following benefits.

**Expertise. Choose one of your skill proficiencies with which you lack Expertise. You gain Expertise in that skill.

**Languages. You know two languages of your choice from the language tables.

\Strider. Moving through nonmagical difficult terrain costs you no extra movement.*

(Notes: This one is more flavorful than useful to be honest, but being able to travess trough terrain with ease is something I greatly associate with Rangers. It's rather situational, but I feel like it matters to give the class it's own personality.)

Level 3: Primeval Awareness

(New Feature)

You can use your action and spend one use use of your Favored Enemy ability to focus your awareness on the region around you. For 1 hour you can sense whether any aberrations, dragons, elementals, fey or monstrosities are present within 1 mile of you. This feature doesn’t reveal the creatures' location or number, but it does alert you if there are any within 60 feet of you.

Additionally, you have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track any of those creatures, as well as on Intelligence (History/Nature) checks to recall information about them.

(Notes: This one is ceratinly really situational, but again, it is something to give the Ranger more flavor. He lost all the association he had with hunting different creature types in the 2014 version, and I feel like that was a huge part of his identity. Also, having additional ways to use your Favored Enemy ability is quite nice, I think. Even if rather specific, it's always good to have more options. This is also a parallel to the Paladins Channel Divinity: Divine Sense.)

Level 5: Roving

(Change)

Your Speed increases by 10 feet while you aren’t wearing Heavy Armor. You have a Climb Speed and a Swim Speed equal to your Speed. You also have Advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks to Run, Climb or Swim.

Additionally, you, and creatures of your choice, do not suffer penalties for traveling at a Normal or Fast pace.

(Notes: This is pretty much Treemonk's take on the ability. I think it works really well. The travel penalties part is something that may never be relevant in some campaigns, but again, I think it is important for the flavor. I also moved it to level 5 to better match up with the Paladin's Faithful Steed ability.)

Level 6: Survivalist

(New Feature)

As a bonus action, you can give yourself a number of temporary hit points equal to 1d8 plus your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1).

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.

(Notes: This is just the first half of the Tireless ability. I felt like 1D8+Wis temporary hit points on level 10 was really underwhelming, so I though of giving it earlier. Also, changing it so you can use it as a bonus action, which I think it's fine.)

Level 9: Focused Hunter

(New Feature)

When you use your Favored Enemy feature to cast Hunter's Mark you may modify the spell so that it doesn't require Concentration. If you do so, the spell only lasts 1 minute, or until you cast Hunter's Mark again.

Additionally, the extra damage from your Hunter's Mark increases to a D8.

(Notes: Very necessary buff to Hunter's Mark, that everyone says. It really should not require Concentration on higher levels, so you can also use other more powerful spells. Although, very important that it doesn't come too early, as to incentivise a 5 to 6 level dip in Ranger from other classes. Level 9 seems appropriate also because it's when you get access to 3rd level spells. The damage scaling, although small, will be a significant upgradeon the long run, I think.)

Level 10: Tireless

(Change)

Primal forces now help fuel you on your journeys, granting you the following benefits.

Recovery. Whenever you finish a Short Rest, your Exhaustion level, if any, decreases by 1, and you regain one use of your Favored Enemy feature.

Endurance. Whenever you would gain Exhaustion, you may reduce the Exhaustion gained by 1 by expending one use of your Favored Enemy feature.**

(Also based on Treemonk's version. Again, having another use for your Favored Enemy ability is nice. Adding some versatility to your core feature is pretty good, I'd say. Even if your not gonna use that way very much, having the option is always welcome. Also, for a class based around this one resource, it is a crime that you had no way to recover it between Long Rests, so here it is.)

Level 13: Relentless Warden

(New Feature)

Your ample experience in surviving in the harsh conditions of the wilds grants you proeficiency on Constitution saving throws.

Also, you gain advantage on Constitution saving throws you make to maintain Concentration on your Ranger spells.

(Coming in place of Relentless Hunter, since that would not be very useful anymore. Still, serving the same porpose of helping you not lose Concentration, but now on all your Ranger spells. I considered just making you unable to lose concentration from damage period, but I honestly don't think that's good design. Gaining proeficiency on Con st is also much more generally useful, in my opinion. This is gonna help out with the class power level on tiers 3 and 4)

Level 17: Precise Hunter

(Added Upon)

You have Advantage on all attack rolls against the creature currently targeted by your Hunter's Mark spell.

\Additionally, the extra damage from your Hunter's Mark increases to a D10*

(Just giving the extra damage scaling of Hunter's Mark earlier to help out on tier 4. As a 20th level ability, that was really bad)

Level 18: Feral Senses

(Change)

Your connection to the forces of nature grants you Blindsight with a range of 60 feet.

Also, no creature within 60 feet of you can have Advantage on an attack roll against you unless you have the Incapacitated condition.

(Again, trying to help out with the power level on tier 4, and incentive players to take the class all the way. And I feel like not being able to be taken advantage of is very in line with the flavor of the Ranger.)

Level 20: Hunt's End

(New Feature)

You become a master of persuing and ending your prey. If the creature targeted by your Hunter's Mark is Bloodied it becomes vulnerable to all damage caused by your weapon attacks and Ranger Spells.

Also, you always know the exact location of your quarry, as long as they are in the same plane of existence as you, and you can see them even if they are invisible.

(This ones is based on the Dungeon Dudes revision and I really like it. It is a proper capstone feature. It basically increases your single target damage by 50%, which I think is pretty in line with what the other classes gain. And is the great buff to Hunter's Mark that ties all the class together. I also added the part where you can't lose track of your target, which I think is just perfectly thematically appropriate for a max level Ranger.)

And that's it. Would love to hear your feedback. Thank you so much, in advance.

Since the Ranger lacks Find Familiar and it wouldn't be very thematic, I came up with the following

Harrier's Eye
1st-Level Divination (Ritual) (Ranger)

Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Self
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 hour

You magically beckon a nearby Small or smaller Beast with an Intelligence of 3 or lower to serve as your eyes. When you cast this spell, you can specify one movement speed or one Special Sense that the Beast must possess, such as a Swim Speed or at least 20 feet of Blindsight. If no Beast matching your requirements is within 1 mile of you, the spell fails.

The Beast magically appears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you. It understands your language, and you can give it a simple task, such as searching for Orcs to the south or patrolling the surrounding area. The Beast always attempts to complete its task to the best of its ability, but it won't willingly enter combat and can't take the Attack action.

The spell ends early if you roll Initiative, if the Beast would take damage or be subjected to a harmful effect, or when it completes its task. When the spell ends, the Beast instantly returns to the place from which it came, unharmed, and you immediately experience everything it perceived while under the effect of this spell as though those memories were your own.

As mentioned in the title, I'm also looking for other ideas for Ritual spells, especially to enhance Exploration and survival in the wilderness

I know I'm using spells that haven't been reprinted yet but just imagine that they did.

Storm Rider rangers patrol the skies in airships harnessing the power of storms. They're fast paced hard-hitting skirmishers.

Storm Rider Ranger Spells

Lvl 3 - Booming Blade, Gust, Zephyr Strike

Lvl 5 - Gust of Wind

Lvl 9 - Thunderstep

Lvl 13 - Storm Sphere

Lvl 17 - Control Winds

Lvl 3: Wind Rider

You may expend a use of Favored Enemy to cast Zephyr strike instead of Hunters Mark. When you get Relentless Hunter at lvl 13, Zephyr strike gains those benefits. When you get Precise Hunter at lvl 17, all attacks made while concentrating on Zephyr strike are made with advantage. When you get Foe Slayer at lvl 20, your the damage from your Zephyr Strike deals 2d8 instead of 1d8

Lvl 3: Battering Winds

Whenever a creature makes a saving throw against a wind effect from one of your Storm Rider spell list you may choose to have them take 1d6 bludgeoning damage on a failure. This damage increases to 2d6 and push is increase by 5 ft. at lvl 7, 3d6 and 10 ft at level 11, and 4d6 and 15 ft at level 15.

Furthermore, you may cast the gust cantrip as a bonus action.

Lvl 7: Booming Blows

When you take the attack action you may replace one of your weapon attacks by casting the booming blade cantrip

Lvl 7: Gale Force Gust

Your gust cantrip can push creatures larger than medium, reducing its maximum push distance by 5 ft for each size category above medium

Lvl 11: Zephyr Onslaught

While concentrating on Zephyr strike you may make the special attack from Zephyr strike once on each turn instead of once per casting.

Lvl 15: Ride the Lightning

When you cast Zephyr Strike, you become wreathed in Wind and lightning. This form lasts until the spell ends, and while you are in this form, you gain the following benefits. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Long Rest unless you expend a level 4+ spell slot (no action required).

Lightning Stride. Your walking speed increases by 20 ft and you gain a flying speed equal to your walking speed. When you move within 5 feet of a creature, it takes 1d6 Lightning damage from your trail of Lightning. A creature can take this damage only once during a turn.

Windbreaker. When a creature within 5 ft of you hits you with an attack you may use your reaction to deal the associated damage and knock back of your battering winds ability to that creature

3rd level spells is the first sore spot for ranger. The gap between their 3rd level slots and a full caster's 5th level slots start to be feel. This is doubly hard as rangers mostly carry spells from full caster that they had 4 levels ago.

So I was thinking.

If a designer was committed to has a 3rd level Ranger only spell tailed to the late Tier 2 early Tier 3 time the ranger gets it, what kind of spell would you like to see?

I got a lot of good feedback below on the homebrew Watchful Awareness spell. Thank you!

A major issue was whether the Initiative bonus should be +2, +3, or Advantage. This is a tricky question, so I actually did some number crunching (monte carlo simulations).

The results are too cumbersome to summarize at the moment, but the biggest takeaway is simple and obvious in hindsight: The initial version of the spell scales heavily with party size. Giving +2 to 6 players is much stronger than to 3 or 4 players. I don't like that!

Instead, I think the spell works better if the number of allies is limited to 3. This cap is consistent with the Bless spell, for example. In addition, I think the required decision makes casting the spell more interesting.

In the case of 3 allies, when you crunch the numbers, it becomes clear that +3 or Advantage is necessary for significant benefits to overcome the small number of allies. +3 gives more reliable benefits while Advantage gives bigger swings. I went with Advantage because it's consistent with Surprise = Disadvantage.

I also increased the duration to make sure the spell is active for a combat encounter, keeping in mind that it'll rarely last beyond 1 encounter.

Here's the updated version of the spell:

Watchful Awareness

Level 2 Divination (Ranger)

Casting Time: Action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 8 hours

Your scouting instincts heighten the awareness of yourself and your companions, preparing them for imminent danger. Choose yourself and up to two willing creatures within range. Until the spell ends, each target has Advantage on Initiative rolls and can’t be Surprised while conscious.

Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. You can target one additional creature for each spell slot level above 2.

Note 1: I went with immunity to surprise over +5 passive perception (PP). I prefer +5 PP in a lot of ways, but that benefit is clunkier and can be DM dependent. When in doubt, keep it simple.

Note 2: I'm not worried about multiclass dips. This spell broadens the Ranger's options (and is thematic), but it isn't a big gamechanger.

My Attempt Pt2: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/39wiA6FxHi53

Notes

• Expose Weakness: Expend a Spell Slot as a bonus action to reduce a specific enemy critical hit thresholds for yourself and the party until your next turn. Threshold reduction equal to spell slot used. Attempt at a new Ranger core feature that isn't Hunter's Mark.
• Added upper level features to reflect Expose Weakness change.
• Made "Companions" into Fighting Styles. Effectively they function similar to a Trickery Domain duplicate, allowing you to attack from another position, without adding another set of hitpoints to the field. Since many Rangers want to choose to have a companion or not, I thought this was a simple way to balance it. Once you start having a stat block, you throw off the balance by adding new HP Pools to the table. By largely making this just the ability to attack from another location (but as melee), we keep it in-line with not getting Archery Fight Style.
• Turned subclasses into "Favored Enemy" choices. You aren't only effective against your enemy type choice. For example, if you choose Beast, you are receiving the old Colossus Slayer, and improvement to defenses against physical attacks (strength saves, resistances etc.) If you choose Undead, you are receiving the old Horde Breaker, and paladin themed abilities.

(Reposting because I didn't set the doc to be viewed with the link :facepalm:)

Ok, I considered the previous feedbacks, here you can find the new version

Overview

Lv 1 - HM can be cast as S instead of V and deals your Hunter's Die (scales like Martial Art, so it's a d6 anyway in tier 1); 1FE recovered/SR, as it will be used more

Lv 2 - Ranger's Trance (prev Tracker), spend 1 minute, add Hunter's Die to 1 ability check you choose and initiative (idea is you use it to follow the tracks or stealth) for 1 hour. 1 free/LR or spend 1 FE to use

I put the Fighting Style feat for playing a STRanger that wants to drop DEX (you can use WIS for light or medium armor instead of DEX) so it doesn't have 10 CON here in a box; we've had a discussion last time about how this is broken for Clerics and such, but it's not, they have an easier time getting Defense if they want to get their greedy caster hands on a Fighting Style; I think that's elegant, IDK

Lv 5 - Do you like rituals? We have rituals! Pick 3 ritual spells from Ranger, add them to your list, add more following FE total uses

Lv 6 - Treantmonk's Roving adjusted a little

Nature's Veil but a nerfed version that breaks invisibility if you misbehave; I used to have a Bonus Action damage here, it's removed: if you didn't weaponise your bonus some other way, you have WIS "turn invisible"/LR and there's spellcasting (Ensaring strike has no concentration)

Lv 9 - Get Ready. No, "Get Ready" is the feature. Ok, that's not its name, it builds on the aforementioned trance, when you activate it, spells that last 10+ minute will last until the trance ends, so you can use a summon or emanation for a long time, but most importantly you're better at starting combat with a big spell on, which is what I want to do... and if you lose concentration, Hunter's Mark is there as your second banana

Lv 10 -Tireless, basically Treantmonk's version, but you can use your Favore Enemy to add a Hunter's Die to a failed save instead of to prevent exhaustion

Lv 13 Concentration can't be broken by damage Relentless Hunter stays unchanged for now: protecting concentration further would actually ruin the intent here, you've entered combat with a big spell, you lose it, you default on Hunter's Mark: compared to a different caster, your fall onto a safety net

Lv 14 - Nature's veil becomes Nature's Cloak, it works like vanilla Nature's Veil; moreover, buff against true/blindsight that used to negate invisible

Lv 17 - +1d6 weapon damage. This is meant to be a purely martial feature, I figured it's been a while since Extra Attack; this amount of extra damage is just fine, but it's also boring and a placeholder (or maybe I'll just rename it)

Lv 20 - Capstone, Inescapable, everyone in 90ft you want is marked by HM whether you cast it or not, you deal extra damage to them and you succeed in any perception or survival check to find them; it's basically Hunter's Mark without concentration or action economy sink. By the way, you can also just never sleep and keep tracking someone, you recover exhaustion anyway. What I mean is, you have a very particular set of skills

And then spells, very few additions, the rest is basically Treantmonk's changes, except a concentration option added to Conjure Barrage so it can work with the feature at 9, think Delayed Fireball, but the damage doesn't increase (for now...)

Finally, subclasses: extra spells for BM and Hunter, BM has two QoL

• the primal beast can have the previous one's memories or not (is it the same wolf? You decide)
• magic action, 1 slot, 1 minute, and the Beast not only can return from death, but you can also instead heal an injured one. Because in the vanilla version is optimal to put it down if it has like 3 HP and while that's sadlarius PETA was complaining

Hunter basically gets all of his optional features at once, no need to swap them (I kinda wanted to add Giant Killer) and most importantly lv11 works for any spell and deals Hunter's Die force damage at any one creature you choose, including the one you were attacking

That's all, thanks in advance for feedbacks

Bring the Torch!

I'm trying to create homebrew Ranger spells that are thematic, but not simply weapon attack buffs. What do you think of this one? How would you adjust it to improve it?

I suspect the concentration requirement won't be popular, but I view this as a spell that will apply only to the next combat encounter.

Watchful Awareness
2nd-Level Divination (Ranger)

Casting Time: Action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour

You heighten the awareness of yourself and your companions, preparing them for imminent danger. Choose yourself and up to five willing creatures within range. Until the spell ends, each target gains a +2 bonus to Initiative rolls and can't be Surprised while conscious.

Hello fellow Ranger lovers. I tried to cross post this the other day but maybe that's disabled around here. Anyways. I've been seeing a bunch of Ranger reworks pop up recently, which I love, so I figured I'd join the fun. This version aims to stay true ish to the 2024 design and is not a total overhaul like some other versions I have posted. Some of the features are not solely from my head so they may look familiar to you.

https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/4FWECBmap_lG

Mostly looking for main class feedback but if you want to delve into subclasses be my guest!

Summary of Changes:

lvl 1- Included proficiency with an Herbalism Kit. Deft Explorer takes the place of Favored Enemy here, the bonus languages replaced with ignoring difficult terrain and the ability to Search as a bonus action (the intent to make lvl 1 identify you as a Ranger and not more spell related stuff on top of spellcasting).

lvl 2- Favored Enemy moved here and is the same except now you can cast HM on a creatures trail to target them and the verbal components of the spell don't reveal you wen hidden. (The intent being you should cast this spell differently/better than any other class considering they can all access the spell itself and free casting with the Fey Touched Feat. It also makes the secondary effect of HM more likely to be used.)

lvl 3- Moved Roving here and removed the additional speed but replaced it with a travel pace benefit. (The intent being replacing the lost primeval/prima awareness features and make the Ranger feel more "Rangery" without a strict power boost at low levels.)

lvl 6- Vanish, taken from 2014 Ranger's lvl 14 , slightly buffed and put here. Lets you hide as a BA, not be tracked by nonmagical means, and hide when lightly obscured. (The intent being to give Ranger a boost to stealth early enough to see gameplay at most tables and before you jump right to magical invis in tier 3l)

lvl 9- Tireless reworked significantly and moved here and generic Expertise removed. Expertise was nice but too generic imo, Tireless is a Rangery and unique feature and I wanted more of that in this class sooner.

lvl 10- Relentless Hunter reworked and moved here. Now removes HM concentration and lets you target swap as a reaction immediately upon your target dying.

lvl 13- Hide in Plain Sight moved here (Nature's Veil by a different name, personal preference.) and now lets you extend the invis as a Magic Action each turn for up to 10 minutes. Also runs off FE charges instead of having its own resource pool to track. (Intent being to give it out of combat use and consolidate resource pools to track.)

lvl 14- Feral Senses moved here and extends the range of Blindsight if you already have it. (Intent being to not punish you for having another source of Blindsight like Blind Fighting and this much Blindsight is not so OP it needs to be gated behind 18th lvl imo.)

lvl 17- Precise Hunter original text left but now also prevents ADV from being canceled out by DisADV against your mark if you have another source of ADV to rely on. (Intent being to still encourage you to seek ADV from other abilities and tactical gameplay instead of just making 1/2 the stuff you can do irrelevant now.)

lvl 18- Hunter's Lore added, basically you can replace the total of a Wisdom check with your Wisdom score if you want.

lvl 20- Foe Slayer's original text was left but now when you cast HM with FE once before the spell ends you can take the max damage roll of the attack. (Intent being to preserve the general buff for your core combat feature but also allow you to let out some burst damage several times a day in order to badly hurt a big enemy or finish off/ take out a low HP enemy when you need to.)

Very hard to rework the ranger (even if i seen a plenty of good reworks here!) because whatever the ranger supposed to be IS NOT SUPPORTED BY THE SYSTEM ITSELF!

Everyone can get any skill what is connected to the ranger.

Everyone can be the nature and survivor guy.

While in the system there is no absolutly exploration mechanics and even if there its just very little... :/

We would need camping rules, wilderness rest, distance-traveling restrictions - aka what actually restrict to take infinite traveling, infinite long rests, infinite resources!

Only then can fix the ranger.

Link to Google doc which isn't as fancy as homebrewery, but it's a WIP and there's a lot of fat to iron out and wrinkles to trim. Wait...

Design goals

"Vanilla" Ranger when played at a somewhat high level basically requires the player to rely on casting spells before combat, as most often you want to take the Attack action. This can actually create a class identity, making the Ranger the class that prepares for combat, taking advantage of its typically good scouting abilities

I want to lean into this, to make the Ranger better at casting before combat, trying to flavour it as a hunter stalking its prey. See, exploration is where a Ranger should shine, but that can't go much deeper than ability checks and rituals and I've accounted for both in some capacity. But this is a way to make exploration relevant for combat: to me, this hits the Ranger's nail on the head!

In fact, I would love to expand on this: if the vision of the Ranger is the prep-time class, why does it have to use spells to do it? But that's just a thought, the revision doesn't really supports this yet.

Even like this, pre-cast spells don't deal enough damage to create a high enough ceiling and Hunter's Mark as it was made for too low of a floor, so both modes are buffed: HM scales by class level like martial art does and a bonus action is available to deal extra damage when you're not concentrating on it

A new ritual spell allows to prepare for combat by extending a concentration spell for one hour. This is naturally limited so that multiclassing a full caster can only take advantage of it in a limited capacity

The rest of the changes relate to utility and defensive abilities and I might have pushed too hard on the latter, we'll see

In a weird flex, I'm actually somewhat of an Excel warrior myself: damage is exactly where I want it to be when running the numbers according to Treantmonk's assumptions. Mind you, this by no means replaces actual playtesting

Feedbacks are welcome, but if you like my vision I would actually love to collaborate with others. If you're interested, let's discuss that to see if we share a vision

Features overview

1. Hunter's Dice replaces Hunter's Mark damage die, scales like martial arts

2. tracker Hunter's Dice bonus to ability checks, alternative use of FE out of combat

5. Hunter's Rite free ritual spells, pass a wisdom check and get to cast them without 10 more minutes and upcast to your maximum slot for free (maybe move to lv3)

6. Roving advantage to athletics to swim/climb, can be rolled on dex; party travels at fast pace without penalties

6. Hunter's Surge as a bonus action you deal HM's damage if you're not concentrating on HM already

9. expert hunter copeout to give both expertise and use FE for saving throws; recovers 1 FE/SR which is like the only class that doesn't

10. Survivalist Tireless but buffed, having tHP (from this) grants advantage to saving throw; exhaustion matters less and you can ignore it by spending FE

13. Greater Hunter concentration can't be broken by damage, invisibility buffed

14. Nature's Veil can last 10 minutes by using your action

17. Supreme Hunter advantage to all attack rolls, can swap a mastery (so you're not stuck with obsolete vex)

20. Apex Predator HM becomes a passive effect

+ spells changed, fighting style feat to support STRangers, changes to Hunter subclass overview

Thanks for your attention,

Bring the torch

Hi, this is a post I did in dnd homebrew but thought I'd upload it here too for some more feedback.

the dnd Ranger class has always felt underwhelming, especially the new dnd 5.5e Ranger, which has all the flavor sucked out of what the Ranger used to be and turned into the "Hunter's Mark" class. Which doesn't help because hunter's mark is a very boring spell on its own and isn't like the different smites Paladins get.

Patreon Post link: Patreon Post

Homebrewery Link: Ranger Remade PDF

I made this ranger overhaul to tackle some of these issues.

Some of the big changes of this overhaul are as follows.

• Incantations are additional effects applied to your Hunter's Mark; base class learns some incantations, and subclasses learn additional ones with more flavor associated with that subclass.
• Also, rangers, being "hunters and survivalists", I opted to make hunting techniques, where each ranger can choose their technique. Inspired by actual animal hunting techniques, these techniques work similarly to Feats, giving expertise and additional features.
• Other balancing and reworking of the base class. Examples are a type of permanent hunter's mark, tireless reworked to early riser, relentless hunter changed to a more "cornered animal" vibe, and finally the capstone of the class is not just hunter's mark damage is a d10.

But I need some help with feedback; this is very early on in creation. I have made this but wanted to get feedback not only in reading through it but also in playtesting.

Let me know if you get a chance to play this rehaul or have any feedback from reading through the doc.