Seems like having a list of options for FE that is 32 choices long seems like a dumb relic that never got polished up from previous editions.
Here's what I'm thinking:
•Beasts (Animals, Magical Beasts, Vermin)
•Dragons
•Outsiders* (Aligned Outsiders)
•Elementals (Elemental Outsiders)
•Humanoids (Civilized)
Oozes
•Otherworldly (Aberrations, Fey)
Plant
•Savages (Uncivilized Humanoids, Monstrous Humanoids, Giants)
•Unliving (Undead, Constructs)
(*Native Outsiders treated as Humanoid and/or Outsider, on an individual basis.)
And honestly, I'd like to either wrap Oozes and Plants together (but can't think of a good "theme" that covers both) or wrap each one into another group. Simply put, no one will ever pick those by themselves, because there just aren't enough monsters of those types to be worth it, ever (oozes especially!).
Thoughts/criticisms welcome. :)
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Frankly I think Fey and Aberrations are too dissimilar to be grouped together. Yes they both qualify as "otherworldly", but for completely opposite reasons. They are for all intents and purposes diametrically-opposed entities - Fey being creatures of nature, perhaps less "otherworldly" and more "more worldly than we mortals can comprehend", and Aberrations being mistakes or mutations that go against the normal flow of natural growth and existence (at least, as we know it).
I'd rather think Fey and Plants better together in a sort of "Hyper Natural" group, and Aberrations and Oozes in an "Incomprehensible" group.
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FE provides a large bonus making the list smaller is a considerable boost to a class feature that is already very good. Feel free to change it though.
I used to feel that way too, until I went through and actually started looking at the Fey creatures (lemme tell ya, it ain't all Gnomes and Pixies!)
That said, I'm not against those groupings either. Just for the sake of my sanity, it'd probably be easier to do it that way honestly. :)
I used to feel that way too, until I went through and actually started looking at the Fey creatures (lemme tell ya, it ain't all Gnomes and Pixies!)
Oh believe me I know, I'm running Kingmaker =)
But as freaky as Fey can get, it's still a natural freakiness - they're bizarre, but it's in a "from an age long before the civilized world" way. Aberrations on the other hand bend or break reality by being something that shouldn't exist, should never have existed, and never should exist in ages to come, but does.
(Granted there are a lot of critters that are in Aberration type that probably shouldn't be as they don't fit this mold - rust monster, for example - and should probably be relocated to Magical Beast or something more fitting. YMMV of course.)
FE provides a large bonus making the list smaller is a considerable boost to a class feature that is already very good. Feel free to change it though.
Well, it's a really good class feature except for all those times when it's a near useless class feature. And considering how you gain a floating bonus instead of a steady increase, and the existence of Instant Enemy, most times you're going to be really good against one thing on a list of 32 different things, and only have a small bonus on a couple of other things.
And when the list of choices is that large and spread out, there is a huge potential to go entire sessions without ever getting to see FE work at all (unless your GM is nice enough to work with your choices, and if that's the case, list size doesn't matter anyway).
The only problem with Ranger's Focus is that it only effects Attack and Damage.
Favored Enemy does SO much more that most people either forget about or just don't care enough about to mention in discussions. ;)
I agree the list needs to be shortened, but perhaps a little longer than yours; 8 choices is not enough. Maybe around 10 or 12, with groupings similar to what you have.
Regarding the power/usefulness of Favored Enemy: I have long thought that it is too weak over all. As has been discussed since 2E, the strength of your class ability depends completely on the GM giving you encounters that fit it. And even with a generous GM, there are times when you essentially do not have the feature, for lack of an appropriate enemy. And Gods forbid you should go on an adventure (or AP) that has NONE of you Enemies in it. Ugh. At the same time, the ability is over powering when facing an enemy the Ranger has focused on.
I think, with or without the narrowing of the list, that a useful alternate rule is to make the attack/damage bonus +1 at each FE choice, but then increase for all FE choices that the Ranger has, for a total of +5 atk/dmg to all Favored Enemies at 20th level. I'm up in the air on the skill bonuses. I think they might remain +2 per bracket. Many skill bonus class features grant half level, so this doesn't seem too bad. However this effectively gives half level to a lot of skills, so either way.
Personally I have Favored Enemy: Humanoid(Human) 5 times and a Wand of Instant Enemy in my wrist sheath.
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how about:
*Aberrations
*Beasts (Animals, Magical Beast, Vermin)
*Dragons
*Elementals (Elemental Outsiders)
*Fey
*Humanoids (Civilized)
*Outsiders (Aligned Outsiders)
*Savages (Giants, Monstrous or Uncivilized Humanoids)
*Unliving (Constructs, Undead)
*Vegetable (Oozes, Plants)
and yes, consolidating this list empowers the Ranger, an already impressive class. consider this then:
In order to glean the Favored Enemy bonus, a Ranger must use a swift action to make a knowledge skill successfully against an individual enemy within 30 feet of him. once he has succeeded, he maintains his bonus against that individual forever.
such a proposal ties Favored Enemy to Knowledge skills, tightening down a little on the freedom of 6+ skill points.
it also encourages scouting close up enough first, then retreating and regrouping. interesting, no?
you don't need to add the knowledge check thing though i would do
*Aberrations
* Beasts (Animals, Magical Beasts, Vermin)
*Dragons
*Elementals (Elemental Outsiders)
*Fey
*Humanoids; (All humanoids plus native outsiders like tiefling or aasimaar)
*Outsiders (All Aligned outsiders)
*Unliving (constructs and undead)
*Vegetable (Oozes, Plants)
*Evil (All Evil Aligned foes and creatures)
*Good (all good aligned foes and creatures)
*Lawful (All lawful aligned foes and creatures)
*Chaotic (all chaotic aligned foes and creatures)
*Neutral (all neutral aligned foes and creatures)
How about making it single scaling bonus across levels, that works if you succeed on the relevant knowledge check? And skill bonuses could still be handed out for relevant groups (and you'd have favored bonus to identify)?