D&D 5E Convince me that the Ranger is a necessary Class.

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Aragorn, Drizzt and Minsc are Rangers.

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[Aldarc]

Aragorn, Drizzt and Minsc are Rangers.

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[ezo]

I've read most of Salvatore's book with Drizzt, and very rarely did he ever seem to do anything "rangerly" IMO.

Granted, it's been a while, but I really don't recall much that stands out as "rangerly" at all.

 

[Shardstone]

Ranger is just a rugged warrior in rugged terrain that will use any tactic to complete their mission, which is usually preservation of wildlife or protection of civilization. This is as true IRL with Rangers as it is in Fantasy. Just in Fantasy, instead of wearing army greens they wear green cloaks, and instead of having guns and first aid they have lightning arrow and cure wounds.

 

[Gradine]

I will say that we've definitively solved what a Ranger is supposed to be, on this very forum no less, and the answer was...

<checks notes>

"Nature! But none of that magic crap, more like, "hey, that's poison oak, don't touch that", "Stealth! Stalking through the woods, unseen, unheard, unsmelt." and "Archery! Rangers and Bows. They just make sense."

The only other notable descriptions (not involving just Being Aragorn, because let's be honest, Rangers were always supposed to be the Just Being Aragorn class) were Monster Hunting, Nature Magic, and Animal Companions, so these get to be archetypes moving forward.

It's been almost two years and I'm still waiting for somebody to explain to me what "Magical Weapons Combat" means.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Aragorn, Drizzt and Minsc are Rangers.

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Chip, Dale, Gadget, Monterey Jack and Zipper are Rangers.

 

[ECMO3]

Aragorn, Drizzt and Minsc are Rangers.

And all three of them use/used Magic!

 

[ECMO3]

I've read most of Salvatore's book with Drizzt, and very rarely did he ever seem to do anything "rangerly" IMO.

Granted, it's been a while, but I really don't recall much that stands out as "rangerly" at all.

He was much more "rangerly" and much more magical in the early novels than the latter ones where they emphasized the "weapon master" aspects.

 

[cbwjm]

eeh, debatable, i'd say that's true only as long as you're only considering beastmaster in quite a specific incarnation, but a beastmaster could be a rogue with their tracking hounds and warhawk, or a wizard with magical creatures bound to them, a paladin with a holy beast alongside them...

Or a fighter with his hounds. I started on a Master of Hounds subclass for the fighter at one point, not sure why I never finished it though, maybe I, just added it to my ideas to develop document.

 

[TwoSix]

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Wow, the incredibly rare "mic drop, and then bounce back into the person's hands".