Design Considerations

Similarity to Ranger. While the long-ranger takes over much of the identity of a Ranger, it actually much more resembles a fighter in its progression. It may take on a similar role, but mechanically speaking the long-ranger and the Ranger have little in common.

Similarity to Fighter. The long-ranger distinguishes itself from the fighter by including several "fighting style" options based around long-range combat that are otherwise unavailable to the fighter, and its first set of levels and subclass options follow very different functions to a fighter.

Only Light Armor. I want the long-ranger to be a lightweight long-ranged attacker that needs to keep its distance from enemies and is only effective at range. Keeping its armor limited helps get across this idea.

Frontloaded Features. While the long-ranger appears to have a powerful set of first level abilities, the tracker's mark feature is much more limited than it appears, only applying once a turn and only applying to two creatures between short rests. It's weaker than Sneak Attack (which is intended to trigger once per turn as well) in every respect save for its ability to overcome resistances, which helps the long-ranger take down foes that would otherwise counter the long-ranger's reliance on physical attacks. Meanwhile, the follow prey ability is largely flavourful and is meant to be used by the DM to encourage chasing down monsters that flee from combat for extra excitement and roleplaying opportunities.

Overlapping Feats. Some of the new "fighting styles" (which are grouped this way purely for convenience and are honestly just a way of organising a choice of features) have overlap with feats. I wanted some of the abilities of the feats to be part of the long-ranger's identity as a long-ranged attacker, but I also didn't want the long-ranger to be reliant on feats in order to function. These features have some of the abilities of the Crossbow Expert or Sharpshooter feats, but not all of them. It's not useless to take these feats, as their most powerful features are left out, though they should not be necessary for the long-ranger to be effective.







Bounty Hunter is Weak. The bounty hunter's abilities make it more effective at controlling enemy movement and doing non-lethal takedowns, but not necessarily at dealing more damage or gaining more power. I like subclasses that help define a character's identity rather than blindly making them better at killing people.

Primal Warden is Limited. I wanted the primal warden to take on a lot of the combat utility of ranger spells, but instead of only knowing a few specialist spells and never swapping them out, the primal warden can change its spells based on the situations it thinks it will be encountering during the upcoming day. It has a small selection, but it's intended for it to use all of the spells available at some point during a campaign.

Beast Tamer is Different and I Don't Like It. The beastmaster ranger's companion has the issue of not providing a major benefit in combat, as you trade your attacks rather than add to them, and it also dies very quickly. The mechanics also rob the animal of agency and personality in a fight, relying on the ranger to give it instructions rather than make its own decisions in combat. While the beast tamer is stronger than the beastmaster, the design considerations were mostly about keeping the beast companion alive and making it a boon rather than a liability in combat. The new mechanics also encourage the beast to stick by your side (without sacrificing its mobility) and roleplaying suggestions further reinforce the agency of the creature. Hopefully, it makes for an animal companion that is a worthy addition to a fight, can survive deadly encounters, and has its own sense of self independent from its master.

It Gets Way Too Powerful at High Level. Getting a free extra action for dragon breath at 18th level (beast tamer) is nice, but not guaranteed. It's also competing with 9th level casters. Once a campaign gets to that high a level, you shouldn't be too concerned with your players being overpowered; they will be. Focus instead on the roleplaying opportunities. I think getting a wyrmling to fight alongside you would be fun, and it wouldn't overshadow, for example, the wizard summoning meteor swarms from the sky.