D&D General Should ranger get a companion as its 'signature' feature?

[Vaalingrade]

It's a very common tale, but it's not the predominant Ranger story. It's maybe 1/3 of Ranger stories…

There's pretty much only the two ranger stories because the word ranger in terms of D&D is so badly mangled and distorted that apparently mutant berserker Wolverine is the first person listed in one of the pots above.

It's just Argorn and Drizzit. And that's only because they say the word.

All the rest are Archer stories, Outdoorsman stories, Wanderer stories, and Things That Have Actual Meaning And Connotations Stories which in and of itself precludes the D&D Ranger because its has none of that.

D&D Ranger manages to not even include historical rangers and Army Rangers. It's a null, a zero meaning thing because that's what we did to it. and we're proud to have done it somehow.

 

[Staffan]

This is the fundamental conflict between Rangers and Druids. Druids are Green-centered, and just as likely to be Green-Red or Green-Black as they are to be Green-White or Green-Blue. Rangers are fundamentally Green-White, even leaning White-Blue at times.

translation for someone who doesn't speak MtG colour-alignment jargon please?

Green is the color of Nature (Instinct and Interdependence on the chart here). Druids are almost always some version of Green. Often they are pure Green, but you can often find them with other colors mixed in.

White is the color of Order and Morality. On its own, you'll usually see knights, soldiers, angels, and the like in White. Green/White is fairly common, which would be "peaceful/ordered nature". Think things like agriculture both in the form of fields and orchards, or communes seeking to grow stronger together.

Red is the color of Impulse and Chaos. Red is often destructive, and is the color of (Magic's particular flavor of) goblins, fire, earth, barbarians (though I think Magic uses "Warrior" as the creature type nowadays), and dragons. A red/green card would be a more aggressive take on nature. Green/White is nature harnessed, Green alone is nature which just wants to be left alone to do its thing, and Green/Red is nature going out to pick a fight.

Blue is the color of Logic and Technology. Blue is the color of trickery, knowledge for its own sake, and artifice, all things Green isn't particularly fond of. When you do find Blue/Green, they tend to be flavored around artificially altered nature, or someone delving into nature's mysteries.

Black is the color of Parasitism and Amorality, and often seen as the color of Death which is opposed to the Life-centered view of Green. Black has things like various undead, greed, life-drain magic, and a willingness to "do what must be done". When you do find Black/Green cards, they tend to be focused on a "cycle of life" kind of thing: things die and then give rise to new things.

 

[Minigiant]

translation for someone who doesn't speak MtG colour-alignment jargon please?

Green is Nature.

Druids HAVE to be tied to nature. But they can be hippy commune nature (Green White Selensya) or brutal SOTF naturE (Green Red Gruul) as well as some less common themes like evolving city nature (Green Blue Simic) or circle of life always involves DEATH (Green Black Golgari)

But Rangers are not required to be tied to nature. They might. But it isn't required. They can be a part of two worlds (Green Blue) or civilizations escort in nature (Green White).. But it's valid for Rangers to be a force of law in the wilds (Blue White) or a warrior harnessing and exploiting the elements to power themselves against a begging threat (Blue Red)

The Horizon Walker is an example of a Blue Red Ranger who eschew study of normal nature and dives in to the arcane in order to explore and exploit planar nature.

 

[Marandahir]

Green is Nature.

Druids HAVE to be tied to nature. But they can be hippy commune nature (Green White Selensya) or brutal SOTF naturE (Green Red Gruul) as well as some less common themes like evolving city nature (Green Blue Simic) or circle of life always involves DEATH (Green Black Golgari)

But Rangers are not required to be tied to nature. They might. But it isn't required. They can be a part of two worlds (Green Blue) or civilizations escort in nature (Green White).. But it's valid for Rangers to be a force of law in the wilds (Blue White) or a warrior harnessing and exploiting the elements to power themselves against a begging threat (Blue Red)

The Horizon Walker is an example of a Blue Red Ranger who eschew study of normal nature and dives in to the arcane in order to explore and exploit planar nature.

See, I'm not sure I'd see a Horizon Walker as eschewing nature so much as expanding it to the cosmos. Similarly, the Monster Slayer may be Van Hellsing in character, but is more so like the smiter of the unnatural undead and demons and lycanthropes and witches etc.

I think even Blue-Red or White-Blue Rangers are still Primal casters, it's just that they're approach to the natural world is coming from a logos or natural sciences perspective. I'd have a hard time understanding a Ranger that is neither Green NOR Blue, though.

 

[Minigiant]

See, I'm not sure I'd see a Horizon Walker as eschewing nature so much as expanding it to the cosmos. Similarly, the Monster Slayer may be Van Hellsing in character, but is more so like the smiter of the unnatural undead and demons and lycanthropes and witches etc.

I think even Blue-Red or White-Blue Rangers are still Primal casters, it's just that they're approach to the natural world is coming from a logos or natural sciences perspective. I'd have a hard time understanding a Ranger that is neither Green NOR Blue, though.

Didn't say they weren't primal.

Just that Horizon Walkers dives into arcane magic and planar nature that their link to normal material plane nature is weaker.

I could see a Black Red Ranger who due to a traumatic experience learns to bind and corral elemental nature for their own selfish uses.

White Red Ranger is literally patriotic low INT ranger grunt of the government's army who just does the job to fight the "monsters" threatening the nation. Pass the delicious crayons.

 

[Marandahir]

Didn't say they weren't primal.

Just that Horizon Walkers dives into arcane magic and planar nature that their link to normal material plane nature is weaker.

I could see a Black Red Ranger who due to a traumatic experience learns to bind and corral elemental nature for their own selfish uses.

White Red Ranger is literally patriotic low INT ranger grunt of the government's army who just does the job to fight the "monsters" threatening the nation. Pass the delicious crayons.

Okay. That's starting to get a bit Paladin but I can see Rangers with Paladin like philosophies, much like the Zealot Barbarian or conversely mirroring the Oath of the Ancients Paladin.

I guess my original point is that while Rangers and Druids tap into some of the same magic, the Ranger totally thinks a bunch of Druids would be willing to sit out the war against evil, or would let the monsters eat the people, because it's "natural;" while the Druid would see many Rangers as learning just enough of their secrets to steal them and pervert them for the will of humanity over the wilds. At least, in the archetypal character conflict between the two. Druids are the Bendu, Kanan Jarrus is a Ranger.