Rangers

Ranger

The ranger is the only class that I'm not happy with in the 2024 PHB. All in all, the ranger just seems grossly undertuned to me, especially when compared to the very similar paladin.

While it is obvious that a ranger that leans into Hunter's Mark is high on relative damage in tier 1, they barely keep up in teir 2 and fall off hard starting at level 11. I can't fathom why rangers, usually glossed as a single target striker / DPS class, is done so dirty in this revision of the rules. It is true that rangers have some AoE and control options that other martials lack, and the class offers a lot of secondary benefits, but to me at least they are sub par relative to how good all the other classes are in 2024. Thus, I apply some house ruled changes to the base Ranger, decribed below.

With these changes I'm not attempting to address the overindexing on Hunter's Mark or the overloaded Bonus Action friction endemic to the by-the-book ranger. Presumably, there will be full replacement treatments presented by others and / or an official improvement in a later splatbook from WotC. Instead, I'm focusing on making some specific tweaks to improve Hunter's Mark interactions sufficiently to rehabilitate the class as it is presented and in so doing also mitigate the damage fall off rangers experience at higher tiers.

Base Class House Rules

The following replacements for the same named ranger class features are in effect for rangers at my table:

Level 1: Favored Enemy

You always have the Hunter's Mark spell prepared. You can cast Hunter's Mark twice without expending a spell slot, and you regain all expended uses of this ability when you finish a Long Rest. The number of times you can cast the spell without a spell slot increases when you reach certain Ranger levels, as shown in the Favored Enemy column of the Ranger Features table.

In addition, when you cast Hunter's Mark without expending a spell slot, you can modify it so that it doesn't require Concentration. If you do so the spell's duration for that casting becomes a number of minutes equal to your Ranger level, but it ends early if you cast the spell again, have the Incapacitated condition, or die.

Level 13: Relentless Hunter

Your Concentration on Hunter's Mark is only broken if you have the Incapacitated condition or die. In addition, the damage die of your Hunter's Mark is 2d6 rather than a d6.

Level 17: Precise Hunter

You have Advantage on attack rolls against the creature currently marked by your Hunter's Mark. In addition, the damage die of your Hunter's Mark is 3d6 rather than a d6.

Level 20: Foe Slayer

When the target of your Hunter's Mark is at 0 hit points, you may move your mark to a new creature as part of making an attack against that creature. In addition, the damage die of your Hunter's Mark is 4d6 rather than a d6.