RAW that appears to be so. My guess as RAI (and how I'd run it regardless) is that at 1st level the Warden gets a favored terrain instead of enemy, and that at 3rd, 8th etc gets the usual favored terrain additions for the vanilla ranger.
Yeah, I have to agree : I don't believe the intent is to trade 1 favored enemy for 5 terrains. I assume you're supposed to just trade the level 1 enemy for a level 1 terrain, and gain the normal terrains afterwards (at 3 and every 5 after that).
That is, however, not what is written. Probably an editing miss?
Sorry to come back to this I'm actually still curious about it, as it might become relevant to a character of mine very soon.
What do people think ? (Less about intent than what people think works better)
How many Terrains should a lv3 Warden have ? 2 or 3 ?
Should a Warden gain double(+1) the Ranger's number of favored terrains ?
Sorry to come back to this I'm actually still curious about it, as it might become relevant to a character of mine very soon.
What do people think ? (Less about intent than what people think works better)
How many Terrains should a lv3 Warden have ? 2 or 3 ?
Should a Warden gain double(+1) the Ranger's number of favored terrains ?
Two.
The Ranger normally maxes out at level 20 with four favored terrains. The Warden gets five, at 20.
The Warden's Master of Terrain ability even states that it caps at a maximum of five at level 20... which is clearly not double what the Ranger normally gets, which clearly shows that you are not getting double.
All Master of Terrain does is give you an extra favored terrain at level one. The rest of the terrains it mentions you picking up are your normally selected favored terrains at their normally selected levels.
But don't worry... with multiclassing, you can pick up plenty of favored terrains for maximum Horizon Walker abuse shenanigans. Three levels of Warden Ranger gets two, there's a Barbarian that gets you another one with a one level dip, and two levels of Gunslinger can get you another one... I'm sure there's some more if you look hard enough.
I don't know what sane GM would allow such crap to work at their table, but more power to you if you find a way to actually make use of Terrain Dominance shenanigans. Why any character needs such things is beyond me... plenty of 3/4 BAB characters get by just fine without +14/+14 to attack and damage.
I see Horizon Walker Terrain Dominance abuse and other such shenanigans as playing with the game on its easiest settings. Sure, you look cool out there stomping @$$, but it doesn't mean you're any good.
The Warden Ranger Archetype does not ever replace or otherwise alter the Ranger Favored Terrain ability
That's because the archetype nomenclatur wasn't down yet. We have explicit confirmation for the APG that "archetypes were new and the “this alters” language didn’t exist yet, meaning archetypes in this book (...) never include it, even when they should by current standards." While that FAQ only talks about APG, in the original printings oc UC (and UM), the word "alters" ios not applied to archetypes at all. Now, UC has recieved two errata, but something falling through the cracks shouldn't surprise anyone.
So while the Master of Terrain ability does not outright state that it alters Favored Terrain (FT), it does in effect alter the FT class feature. The phrasing ("his first favored terrain") simply doesn't work for a stand-alone ability, as it clearly refers to something existing - and what it refers to can only be the favored terrain granted by the FT ability, which it therefore must alter! Further evidence is that the Master of Terrain ability states the maximum of favored terrains.