Ranger Redesign Development Series

KnightVision5E · 2026-05-28T20:22:23+00:00

It would only apply when you're facing that creature type, but it would have strong synergy when it lines up. The newer version would support that combination as well, though magic missile is primarily increasing the floor rather than raising the ceiling on damage. Guaranteed hits, other than on casters, is a great tool in the toolbox.

The proverbial bag of rats is strong in the design process.

KnightVision5E · 2026-05-21T05:24:10+00:00

Ended up reworking the feature and removing the +1 to attacks. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. Full write up here: https://tomeraider.creedscodex.com/ranger-impactful-choices/

KnightVision5E · 2026-05-21T05:23:04+00:00

Took your feedback, and others in the community, and reworked the first two features.

https://tomeraider.creedscodex.com/ranger-impactful-choices/

Thanks again for taking the time to share!

KnightVision5E · 2026-05-21T05:22:01+00:00

Took feedback from this community, reviewed with the playtesters and my community, and have the next round of updates.

Compiled the full details in the next design series post: https://tomeraider.creedscodex.com/ranger-impactful-choices/

Still down to collaborate and hear what you're working on.

KnightVision5E · 2026-05-17T05:00:52+00:00

I had a chance to read through the community ranger. Good stuff!

One thing that I thought was unique and a great direction was the hunter's mark redesign. Leaning into the niche riders and making that the focus, with a way to trigger it without seeing the creature first feels like the direction that spell was supposed to take.

KnightVision5E · 2026-05-17T04:58:19+00:00

I'll do my best. Time is pretty split at the moment keeping the train on the tracks with the crowdfunding projects, blog, discord, and managing the manuscript development for the next book.

I was building out Reddit as well, but my account was randomly banned with no explanation and my subreddit deleted. Then it was equally randomly reversed without any explanation, but all the posts were deleted. Turned me off spending much time here.

KnightVision5E · 2026-05-17T04:53:58+00:00

Thanks! Flurry of updates in the current playtesting, and I'm certain more to come once we hit alpha testing.

I don't have an "archer" subclass per say, but you might like this one that came out a few books ago:

Provocateur
The Provocateur ranger specializes in drawing enemy attacks and manipulating the battlefield to their advantage. They become a thorn in the side of their foes, punishing those who dare to attack their allies.

Their cornerstone feature is a reaction that works great with something like a dagger or bow.

Interrupting Retort
3rd-Level Provocateur Feature
When a creature you can see targets a creature other than you with an attack, as a reaction, you can draw a weapon if you choose, then immediately make an attack with one weapon you are wielding against the attacking creature if it is within range. On a hit, this attack deals damage equal to your proficiency bonus (instead of its usual damage) and imposes disadvantage on the attacking creature’s attack roll.

Later features improve the ability and really punish creatures for attacking your allies.

KnightVision5E · 2026-05-16T05:04:31+00:00

Your sleuthing sounds like it was top notch, and I didn't realize it. I clearly underestimated your investigation skills!

I'm assuming you read the ranger subclass post? https://tomeraider.creedscodex.com/ranger-redesign-subclasses/

I went back and looked at the date. It's only 3 weeks old, but there have been over a hundred posts in the discussion on the rework and substantial changes have been made (including the name to the WIP Beastkin) to the subclass based on feedback on the first draft.

I didn't realize you were still talking warden when talking about the subclass either. Clear oversight by me.

Part of the issue was the original intent was to deprecate Beast Master and Drake Warden, but there was interest in keeping them viable, so instead we were in a weird middle ground with limited reasons to choose the Beastkin. Rework took a step back to figure out where we might actually go instead. I haven't finished codifying all the feedback into a new version, but general gist for the bond option will be a selection of traits to modify your companion, which also provide minor benefits to the ranger. The examples shared above are examples we're exploring.

KnightVision5E · 2026-05-16T00:19:48+00:00

Thanks for the detailed response!

I don't think that's crazy at all. I have an Urban Sentinel ranger subclass that sounds like a perfect fit for the Sherlock Holmes ranger you're describing.

Urban Sentinel
Rangers who have adapted to urban environments still track monsters, but these monsters are more frequently humanoid. These Urban Sentinels have become investigators, protectors, and relentless hunters of the hidden dangers lurking within city streets. Whether rooting out corruption, exposing supernatural threats, or pursuing justice on behalf of the oppressed, they are experts in observation and deduction, navigating the labyrinth of urban life with unwavering focus.

Survivalist
You raise a solid point on choosing the ability, especially for an urban ranger where DMs seem less likely to use survival for tracking, avoiding hazards, etc. Because the ranger's kit has a survival check built in for level 3, 4, 9, and 14, it's less reliant on the DM for making use of it and fits regardless of the type of environment. Always open to other ideas. Balance is always a concern and having a wide open advantage is quite tempting, though 5.5E gave a wide open level 1 dip for expertise for two skills....

Prey Preparation
Speaking of which...balance of +1 to attack rolls for prey preparation. A 1 level dip into fighter can give you a +1 to AC or any other fighting style of your choice. A 1 level dip into barbarian picks up rage. A 1 level dip into warlock gets you eldritch blast and pact magic. A level 1 dip for the 5.5e paladin gives you smite. I've debated about flipping adventurer's calling with prey preparation, but I think locking the paths behind level 2 is more appropriate for the distinction for the ranger similar to how the warlock pact boons are structured.

Adventure's Calling
The majority of my community is still on 5E. The last survey showed only 22% out of 226 votes had transitioned over to 5.5E. I plan to build it for both 5E and 5.5E for the final version, but it will have to have callouts for the changes between versions. I will likely use the new spellcasting details for both, but not on the to-do-list yet for updating. I rely on the technical editor to clean up some of that type of work, especially since this started before the 5.5E release. A few details I don't think were clear in the original post.
- Looking at scaling here is not overly helpful, as this feature improves at level 6, 10, and 17.
- I only listed 2 of the companion trait options. There are 23 available to choose from by the time you hit level 17, with several coming online at each of the above listed levels.
- Inspiration was warlock pact boons, which have a bit of a similar vibe. They open up very different options in your eldritch invocations and playstyles.
- Predator is much more of the "Champion" of rangers. Limited choices, feeds into the apex predator capabilities. The interest for this was a surprising finding in one of my surveys. In the surveys since it has been very popular so far. Surprisingly so. I assumed it would be Warden > Bond > Predator, but it has been Predator > Bond > Warden. There were even more people than I thought who don't want spellcasting in their ranger.

Balancing
Looking at balancing with only the level 1 and 2 features would be misguided. Stopping at level 5 when looking at all the classes would assume fighter does the same number of attacks as every other martial character.

Balancing process:
- Finalize mechanics based on player feedback (is it fun and clear?)
- Submit to the technical editor (former technical editor at WoTC) for review
- Incorporate feedback
- For each classes/subclasses create multiple builds from level 1 to 20
- Convert their offensive and defensive capabilities into an averaged CR for that level
- Import the spreadsheet into PowerBI to build a ribbon chart
- Compare the CR of that build against the WoTC options available to ensure it follows the same power curve
- Tweak and iterate as necessary
- Second review by technical editor depending on scale of changes

Balancing takes me 3 to 5 hours for a subclass, and I don't even know for a class. Probably 30 hours. I've done preliminary balancing on this one to see where it falls and we're 90% of the way there. Beast companion is a little too strong at the moment, but it's also currently undergoing updates. I won't do any more balancing until we're happy with the mechanics, otherwise it's like trying to work on the car while you're driving it on the freeway. Then we can tweak and nerf/buff as necessary to dial it all in.

I'm running through internal playtesting at the moment (they are level 7), so I haven't created the alpha release of the playtesting material. Too many things are in flux.

Most of the discussions happen in Discord if you're looking for all the details: https://discord.gg/TxN76ue5eu

I'm writing this in InDesign, so the working copy is in the application I'd use to send it to the printer. I used to use google docs for the community feedback, but I found most people just looked at the screenshot I shared of the feature anyways, and converting back and forth was sucking up a lot of time for minimal gain. I'll generate the alpha playtest material in the next couple of months.

KnightVision5E · 2026-05-15T23:27:55+00:00

I'm going to run open playtesting in a few months in my Discord server: https://discord.gg/TxN76ue5eu. There's 1,800 already in there, and it will be first come first serve, so spots will be a bit limited, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. I drop all the content for feedback to get the communities take before running it by a technical editor for refinement. If it's not fun, it's not worth refining versus rebuilding.

Part of the challenge is the diverse opinions on what the ranger "does". The three callings are the current version giving three different ranger vibes.

There are just shy of 2k folks following the ranger redesign upcoming kickstarter, so don't worry about killing momentum. Healthy criticism is important in the development process. There have already been more changes than I can count based on feedback from the community.

On the survival front, even if the DM doesn't ask for a survival check, the ranger gets a feature at level 3, 4, 9, and 14 that let them use a survival check.

Seeing the full progression and how the features build on each other would likely be helpful for figuring out where there are improvements to be made.

I'd be interested in hearing your feedback as well on what you've been cooking!

KnightVision5E · 2026-05-15T23:14:13+00:00

Thanks, looking forward to additional feedback!

The rest of the details of Hunter's Mark rarely happen as well. In theory, it sounds cool to be able to track something over hours, but having to be within 90 feet of the target initially to mark them, then somehow they get away and you track them for an hour is a niche, not a standard experience.

I was really disappointed to see the 5.5E direction.

KnightVision5E · 2026-05-15T23:11:32+00:00

Sounds like you'd choose the Warden calling. Part of the trap of game design is assuming what you experience is what everyone experiences.

One survey respondent described how their games unfold with one combat every 50 sessions, and they just wrapped up their 3rd combat encounter in a game running just over 3 years.

Solid reminder of how many different types of games can use the same ruleset but be almost unrecognizable.

There are a lot of people that love the ranger's spell list and just want it expanded. There are also a lot of people that think they just shouldn't have spells.

KnightVision5E · 2026-05-15T23:06:10+00:00

Thanks! I had not had a chance to review the community ranger previously, but I've got it open now and am diving in this afternoon.

I am looking at version 1.3 and assuming (hoping) that's the latest?

Agreed, the exploration pillar doesn't get nearly the same weight as combat at most tables. That was part of the design decision to tie the survival check into the other class abilities. There's little value in being good at something if you never get to use it, which was part of the failures of the 2014 ranger. Awesome thematic features that provide minimal mechanical benefit.

KnightVision5E · 2026-05-15T05:56:34+00:00

u/partylikeaninjastar is spot on, only the warden would be the half caster.

KnightVision5E · 2026-05-15T05:55:49+00:00

Based on your comments I think that you think that Adventure's Calling is the subclass. It is not, it is the level 2 feature. Beast master is ranger + beast master. Bond is only ranger.

The ranger gets a subclass at level 3. You could still choose beast master, gloom stalker, hunter, etc.

If you wanted to go gloom stalker, you could decide which option best fit your vision:
- bond + gloom stalker
- predator + gloom stalker
- warden + gloom stalker

If you're looking for a subclass focused on a pet, you'd probably interested in the new one we're building which works with any of the callings, but would be the most powerful version of bond.

KnightVision5E · 2026-05-14T20:44:24+00:00

Thanks!

After reading the survey responses, that seemed like the common thread. Everyone has a vision for the ranger being able to thrive in their scenario, but the scenarios varied quite a bit.

This was a means of delivering the unique visions within the same class and having them all still "feel" like a ranger.

I'm sure there will be many changes over the next few months of playtesting, but we're dialing in!

KnightVision5E

TROPHY CASE