Ranger traps are p. sweet and should just be a normal thing rangers get. Unfortunately, they became an awful archtype that seems to do naught but buff up the word count, and the feat is especially awful and laughably not worth it.
Therefore, Trapper Ranger is murdered and cannibalized, all rangers get all traps automatically, and a feat is made to give them the whole "set traps at a range" thing
so are you giving all other classes freebies to compensate?
personally i think spells and traps would be too much.
No and I disagree in that order.
Why on earth do other classes need something to "compensate," anyways?
Why on earth should rangers get new abilities for free?
Why not?
It's not as if rangers were demolishing everything else and were kings and queens of the universe.
Traps really aren't all that powerful. At most, all this does is give them some fun new toys.
And I'm all for people getting new toys.
I'd give snare for free. I'd have to think about the rest though.
I think if you play in a game, and your DM wants to give the ranger the [i]UM[i] traps for free, go for it. But we are not just not going to give the ranger new type of ability, and then not have him pay for it somehow. That is a rocky path among the hills of power creep.
Let’s not call it rules creep. It sounds as if it lurks somewhere underhand, and the next moment ripping into the game to cause havoc. Instead, let’s call it complexity creep. Characters are more complex. Complex systems have more strange synergies (especially if you are talking complex magic systems). There is more complexity for the GM to master. The worse form of complexity creep is the latching on whole systems for no cost. 'Cause that's not creep, that's leap.
If you (or more importantly, your GM) don’t think that such creep will have an adverse effect on the game, it’s a good think you are playing a tabletop RPG and not a computer game.
As for why not have this particular mechanic latch on to Pathfinder’s crafting skill system? Too slow. Too much book keeping. It’s the same reason we didn’t latch it on the full chase of the traps system. Make it as simple as it needs to be and no simpler. That’s where we aim. You and I can quibble about the details, but unless you are running for Pathfinder Society, you’re the boss of your game.
We are glad (some of) you like the traps.