ranger feat weirdness

[Fuzzy-Wuzzy]

One, why does Shadow Hunter (feat 18) say

Shadow Hunter wrote:

While in natural terrain, you're always concealed from all foes if you choose to be, except for your hunted prey.

Shouldn't you be better at hiding from your hunted prey, if anything?

Two, To The Ends of the Earth (feat 20) reads like you would might use it to track your prey for weeks or years. But it relies on the creature remaining your prey, and

page 168, Hunt Prey wrote:

You can only have one creature designated as your prey at a time. If you use Hunt Prey against a creature when you already have a creature designated, the prior creature loses the designation and the new prey gains the designation. Your designation lasts until your next daily preparations.

So if you try to follow your prey to the ends of the earth and it takes more than a day, you have to refrain from conducting daily preparations until you catch and take down your prey. According to the definitiion on page 480, daily prep includes regaining spell slots, regaining focus points, donning armor and equipping weapons and other gear, and investing your magic items. I guess it's a good thing rangers get the ability to sleep in their armor at 19th level.... But all their items will have de-invested and they can't re-invest them. That's going to be totally hosing.

So am I misreading or miscalculating somewhere, or are you supposed to go to the ends of the earth in a single day, or does the feat really need a line about how your prey remains designated throughout your hunt now?

(Actually I'm not sure why your hunted prey designation should expire at daily prep in the first place. How does this contribute to the game?)

[Garretmander]

I'd still think you'd need to catch up at least once a day to stay on the trail.

You can follow them through teleports and plane shifts, I'd assume you'd also need planar travel or teleport to keep up, not just faff about for a few weeks looking for a portal then pick the trail up again. Thematically, I suppose having a day or two without getting into range again should be possible, but it's a neat mechanical separation between 'I'm still tracking this one dude' and 'I'm giving up on the supernatural methods I employ, I'll have to find them again the old fashioned way.

The first doesn't make a whole lot of sense though.

[Claxon]

I took the Shadow Hunter feat to be a sort of "This is just you and me" type deal. Where the prey would plead with their friends for help and they could only say "We can't see anything! What do you mean?!"

[N N 959]

Fuzzy-Wuzzy wrote:

Shouldn't you be better at hiding from your hunted prey, if anything?

Ayup. So why do it this way? One reason may be insulate the Ranger from getting attacked by non-prey. Since Hunt Target forces you to focus on your target, it's actually a benefit to have non-prey ignore you.

Quote:

Two, To The Ends of the Earth (feat 20) reads like you would might use it to track your prey for weeks or years. ***So am I misreading or miscalculating somewhere, or are you supposed to go to the ends of the earth in a single day, or does the feat really need a line about how your prey remains designated throughout your hunt now?

Get a fast horse?

All total seriousness aside, I think the title is really meant to highlight the fact that you can track something anywhere, not necessarily forever.

Quote:

(Actually I'm not sure why your hunted prey designation should expire at daily prep in the first place. How does this contribute to the game?)

In general, you want any "designation" type of abilities to expire. It would become problematic if someone could be designated as prey and have something like TTTE last ten years.