The Essential Ranger is the non-spellcasting Ranger you've been looking for.
This Deluxe Digital Package includes the following files:
- The Essential Ranger Core Class
- Three Subclasses (Beast Master, Grim Stalker, and Fey Warden)
- Two Bonus Subclasses (Rifleman, Shepherd)
- Comprehensive Design Notes
As an avid outdoorsman, I love the idea of rangers. To me, a ranger is a self-reliant survivalist and warrior with extensive knowledge of and experience in the natural world. Archetypical rangers such as Aragorn and Drizzt have long been favourites of mine. Beyond fantasy literature, the word "ranger" conjures images of conservationists, outdoor survivalists, wilderness explorers, and the Scouting motto, “Be Prepared”.
The One D&D Ranger is a spellcaster, however, almost wholly reliant on magic and "the concentration mini-game" to achieve what I think are intrinsic qualities of the ranger archetype. Though D&D's designers are brilliant, mad geniuses every one of them, basing an entire class around the mechanic of spell concentration and how it balances Hunter’s Mark means the ranger’s core design mechanic revolves around something that necessarily impedes fun.
In doing so, the One D&D Ranger misses the mark.
With the Essential Ranger, I aim for the bullseye.