About the Ranger's "favored enemy" [Archive] - Wizards Community

About the Ranger's "favored enemy" [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Backfromthedeadguy
03-31-08, 07:09 AM I want to know what you guys think about a good aligned ranger taking his own race or other traditionaly good aligned race as a favored enemy.
I don't allow this in my game because to me the term "favored enemy" speaks for its' self. I can see an evil ranger (if human) taking human as a favored enemy or even neutral rangers because good isn't a defining element in their thinking.
But with all the evil races and monsters out there, I just can't imagine a NG ranger teaching his apprentice on how to most effectively cut a man's thoat.
And on a practical note: if alignment was not a factor then wouldn't it make sense that EVERY ranger in the world would pick human as favored enemy since humans are the most numerous?
Shaggy_Shaggs
03-31-08, 07:16 AM Eh, I guess it depends on if you look at favoured enemies as mechanically boosted racism, or more just a case of familiarity. I played a CG ranger with his own subtype (goblinoids) as a favoured enemy some time back. Didn't hate goblinoids at all, he was simply the most familiar with their weak points being a goblinoid himself, and having gotten into plenty of scraps with his peers before he turned good.
Naderion
03-31-08, 07:18 AM A half-elf ranger living in the forest an making hunt on human brigands is able to chose humans as favored enemy. A human ranger in the same spot is not?
Seems not very logical.
There can be a great number of really good reasons to pick your own race as favored enemy.
ieattrollsforbreakfast
03-31-08, 07:25 AM I wouldn't let a good ranger take an inherently good race (celestials) as their favoured enemy, but I wouldn't ban them from taking their own race, simply because its possible a ranger may have come into conflict with his own race with or without alignment concerns.

If a ranger lives in a city, its more than likely the majority of thugs, thieves and criminals he encounters are humans, so why wouldn't a human ranger train to fight humans?

Or, imagine a situation like Eberron's, where five human nations have waged war with each other for a century. None of the nations are evil as a whole, nor are the majority of citizens. Why shouldn't a human ranger have humans as his favoured enemy in this case?

Don't think of that NG ranger as teaching his apprentice how to effectively cut a man's throat, it's too personal, and implies he's being trained to cut any man's throat. Instead, he's being taught how to cut an enemy's throat, and, if the enemy is human (which is more than likely), "here's how you do it".
runestar
03-31-08, 07:25 AM I just can't imagine a NG ranger teaching his apprentice on how to most effectively cut a man's thoat.

There are evil humans out there. If you are a ranger rebel against a human tyrant with a human army, it makes sense to take FE: human against some other race you will never face, doesn't it? You are simply learning how to fight them more effectively, there is nothing inherently evil about it if you don't see killing an evil human baron as evil.

And on a practical note: if alignment was not a factor then wouldn't it make sense that EVERY ranger in the world would pick human as favored enemy since humans are the most numerous?

Only if they are numerous in your campaign, and more importantly, only if you expect to face numerous human enemies you will actually get to fight in your game.

For example, while my setting is populated with humans and other sundry races, the PCs don't really get to fight that many humanoid foes. Other MM monsters get their fair share of screen time against the PCs.:D
serow_#R
03-31-08, 07:37 AM Favoured Enemy is just extra know-how on where to poke it so it hurts, at least to me.
BadCatMan
03-31-08, 07:57 AM NG High Elf Ranger with Favoured Enemy (Elf) who specialises in hunting Drow. That makes sense.
Reality_Czech
03-31-08, 08:30 AM I'd say humans, being the most prolific race in many (if not all) campaigns, make a logical choice for a favored enemy. Since there are so many of them, with different goals, ideals, allegiances, and alignments, there are more roleplay justifications for choosing them over any other race.

That being said, if you're concerned about the reason a ranger picks a specific favored enemy, then each one selected should have a specific justification, not just humans.
I just think humans would be an easy one regardless of the ranger's background or personal outlook, because there are evil humans all over the place.

Even a CG ranger might have it out for the guards and soldiers of a LN kingdom, since they are so "uncaring" and tend to "step on the little guy".
Ariakus
03-31-08, 09:37 AM I currently play a CG half-elf Ranger with Goblinoids and Humans as favored enemies. It's easy for a half elf to hate humans, his father was human and good, but was killed by human slavers and then he and his elven mother were enslaved by the human band, and goblinoids killed his elven mother as well as his human captors. He is currently in The Shackled City, and my DM has informed me through subtle interrogation that humans will be bad guys further down the line :) So I took humans as his 2nd favored enemy once he reached that level.
DraconsNighthawk
03-31-08, 10:19 AM Wow. I didn't realize they changed that from 3.0. Back then you had to be evil to choose your own race.

Also, anyone else allow that same bonus towards knowledge checks towards said favored enemy only? Small house rule, and you figured that people that train in combat styles towards said enemies, would at least know SOME things about them :)
Salla
03-31-08, 01:13 PM Favored Enemy doesn't mean you automatically hate them; it means you know how to fight them, nothing more. Whether that stems from hatred/prejudice or simple study is up to the player and how he envisions the character.

Since any creature mentally capable of choosing its own actions can become evil (or good if 'typically' evil), including outsiders, I see no reason to restrict a good ranger from selecting outsider (good) as a FE choice.
Reality_Czech
03-31-08, 01:14 PM I could definitely see giving a knowledge bonus... depending on what they were trying to learn. Id they wanted to know about their favored gourmet cuisine, I'd need a good explanation as to why. Military history, preferred tactics, important leaders and other personalities... sure, I'd be willing to entertain a bonus there.
The_Shaman
03-31-08, 05:40 PM It would be strange, but technically possible. As others have said, FE shows training in dealing with a certain type of enemy. If you've trained, for whatever purpose, to handle them, you may get the bonus. You might have been a policeman, of sorts - you know how to find them, how to deal with them, and you know a few dirty tricks if you need to fight them.
ciaran
03-31-08, 06:19 PM If you use the Ranger class to create a bounty hunter, then choosing your own race would be very appropriate.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Backfromthedeadguy 03-31-08, 07:09 AM	I want to know what you guys think about a good aligned ranger taking his own race or other traditionaly good aligned race as a favored enemy. I don't allow this in my game because to me the term "favored enemy" speaks for its' self. I can see an evil ranger (if human) taking human as a favored enemy or even neutral rangers because good isn't a defining element in their thinking. But with all the evil races and monsters out there, I just can't imagine a NG ranger teaching his apprentice on how to most effectively cut a man's thoat. And on a practical note: if alignment was not a factor then wouldn't it make sense that EVERY ranger in the world would pick human as favored enemy since humans are the most numerous?
Shaggy_Shaggs 03-31-08, 07:16 AM	Eh, I guess it depends on if you look at favoured enemies as mechanically boosted racism, or more just a case of familiarity. I played a CG ranger with his own subtype (goblinoids) as a favoured enemy some time back. Didn't hate goblinoids at all, he was simply the most familiar with their weak points being a goblinoid himself, and having gotten into plenty of scraps with his peers before he turned good.
Naderion 03-31-08, 07:18 AM	A half-elf ranger living in the forest an making hunt on human brigands is able to chose humans as favored enemy. A human ranger in the same spot is not? Seems not very logical. There can be a great number of really good reasons to pick your own race as favored enemy.
ieattrollsforbreakfast 03-31-08, 07:25 AM	I wouldn't let a good ranger take an inherently good race (celestials) as their favoured enemy, but I wouldn't ban them from taking their own race, simply because its possible a ranger may have come into conflict with his own race with or without alignment concerns. If a ranger lives in a city, its more than likely the majority of thugs, thieves and criminals he encounters are humans, so why wouldn't a human ranger train to fight humans? Or, imagine a situation like Eberron's, where five human nations have waged war with each other for a century. None of the nations are evil as a whole, nor are the majority of citizens. Why shouldn't a human ranger have humans as his favoured enemy in this case? Don't think of that NG ranger as teaching his apprentice how to effectively cut a man's throat, it's too personal, and implies he's being trained to cut any man's throat. Instead, he's being taught how to cut an enemy's throat, and, if the enemy is human (which is more than likely), "here's how you do it".
runestar 03-31-08, 07:25 AM	I just can't imagine a NG ranger teaching his apprentice on how to most effectively cut a man's thoat. There are evil humans out there. If you are a ranger rebel against a human tyrant with a human army, it makes sense to take FE: human against some other race you will never face, doesn't it? You are simply learning how to fight them more effectively, there is nothing inherently evil about it if you don't see killing an evil human baron as evil. And on a practical note: if alignment was not a factor then wouldn't it make sense that EVERY ranger in the world would pick human as favored enemy since humans are the most numerous? Only if they are numerous in your campaign, and more importantly, only if you expect to face numerous human enemies you will actually get to fight in your game. For example, while my setting is populated with humans and other sundry races, the PCs don't really get to fight that many humanoid foes. Other MM monsters get their fair share of screen time against the PCs.:D
serow_#R 03-31-08, 07:37 AM	Favoured Enemy is just extra know-how on where to poke it so it hurts, at least to me.
BadCatMan 03-31-08, 07:57 AM	NG High Elf Ranger with Favoured Enemy (Elf) who specialises in hunting Drow. That makes sense.
Reality_Czech 03-31-08, 08:30 AM	I'd say humans, being the most prolific race in many (if not all) campaigns, make a logical choice for a favored enemy. Since there are so many of them, with different goals, ideals, allegiances, and alignments, there are more roleplay justifications for choosing them over any other race. That being said, if you're concerned about the reason a ranger picks a specific favored enemy, then each one selected should have a specific justification, not just humans. I just think humans would be an easy one regardless of the ranger's background or personal outlook, because there are evil humans all over the place. Even a CG ranger might have it out for the guards and soldiers of a LN kingdom, since they are so "uncaring" and tend to "step on the little guy".
Ariakus 03-31-08, 09:37 AM	I currently play a CG half-elf Ranger with Goblinoids and Humans as favored enemies. It's easy for a half elf to hate humans, his father was human and good, but was killed by human slavers and then he and his elven mother were enslaved by the human band, and goblinoids killed his elven mother as well as his human captors. He is currently in The Shackled City, and my DM has informed me through subtle interrogation that humans will be bad guys further down the line :) So I took humans as his 2nd favored enemy once he reached that level.
DraconsNighthawk 03-31-08, 10:19 AM	Wow. I didn't realize they changed that from 3.0. Back then you had to be evil to choose your own race. Also, anyone else allow that same bonus towards knowledge checks towards said favored enemy only? Small house rule, and you figured that people that train in combat styles towards said enemies, would at least know SOME things about them :)
Salla 03-31-08, 01:13 PM	Favored Enemy doesn't mean you automatically hate them; it means you know how to fight them, nothing more. Whether that stems from hatred/prejudice or simple study is up to the player and how he envisions the character. Since any creature mentally capable of choosing its own actions can become evil (or good if 'typically' evil), including outsiders, I see no reason to restrict a good ranger from selecting outsider (good) as a FE choice.
Reality_Czech 03-31-08, 01:14 PM	I could definitely see giving a knowledge bonus... depending on what they were trying to learn. Id they wanted to know about their favored gourmet cuisine, I'd need a good explanation as to why. Military history, preferred tactics, important leaders and other personalities... sure, I'd be willing to entertain a bonus there.
The_Shaman 03-31-08, 05:40 PM	It would be strange, but technically possible. As others have said, FE shows training in dealing with a certain type of enemy. If you've trained, for whatever purpose, to handle them, you may get the bonus. You might have been a policeman, of sorts - you know how to find them, how to deal with them, and you know a few dirty tricks if you need to fight them.
ciaran 03-31-08, 06:19 PM	If you use the Ranger class to create a bounty hunter, then choosing your own race would be very appropriate.