The core ranger's Favored Enemy ability gives him a +2 bonus to 5 skills (Bluff Listen, Sense Motive and Spot) when using these against the favored creature type and a +2 to damage rolls against such creatures.
The DS3 ranger has the option of choosing Favored Terrain instead of Favored Enemy. Favored Terrain also gives a +2 bonus to 5 skills (Hide, Knowledge (nature), Move Silently, Spot and Survival) but offers no other advantage besides this.
On the face of it, Favored Terrain seems a poorer choice than Favored Enemy as it lacks a bonus equivalent to the +2 damage that Favored Enemy gives.
What is the consensus on this point? Is Favored Enemy balanced against Favored Terrain? Are there other mechanical considerations that make these two options equally viable choices for a ranger? Should Favored Terrain be modified to include an additional advantage equivalent to the damage bonus offered by Favored Enemy?
Any thoughts on this issue would be appreciated
.I would put a +2 to attack, since you know how someone might react in the environnement you know well or you know how to move efficiently in your terrain to help your attack.
What do you think?
A +5 to movement while in that terrain, or a free 5-step per round?
Maybe something related to movement (after all, this is terrain).
A +5 to movement while in that terrain, or a free 5-step per round?
That aspect is covered by the Master Scout.
Favored Terrain has a broader application range than Favored Enemy (in that it usually has the potential to be used more often than favored enemy). A ranger is more likely to be in Sandy Wastes or Rocky Badlands than to encounter Gaj or Klar. It might not be necessary to give additional benefits to Favored Terrain.
I agree with this. While nothing forces a campaign to be more or less fixed around a specific location, it does tend to end up being the case, so favored terrain would be used more often than favored enemy.
Further, one must also consider that Dark Sun emphasises a lack of basic necessities outside of the city states and the somewhat rare settlements. Having a general terrain bonus that applies to survive means alot more on Athas than most people are accustomed to thinking about, especially compared to other campaign worlds, and that +2 bonus to survive might just spell the difference between life and death when the ranger finds hidden sources of water on her/his favored terrain.
I'd almost consider a damage bonus while the Ranger is within his favored terrain. Have you checked the Favored Terrain rules from (i think) Unearthed Arcana for ideas?
Cool - I had forgotten about the UA variant. It gives a +2 bonus to Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Spot, Survival and also +2 to either Knowledge (nature) or Knowledge (dungeoneering), depending on whether the environment is above-ground or underground.
Favored Terrain has a broader application range than Favored Enemy (in that it usually has the potential to be used more often than favored enemy). A ranger is more likely to be in Sandy Wastes or Rocky Badlands than to encounter Gaj or Klar. It might not be necessary to give additional benefits to Favored Terrain.
Indeed. The broader applications of Favored Terrain had occured to me as a possible factor and even though Favored Enemy gives bonuses against types of creature (Aberrations, Magical Beasts etc) and not specific species, I would agree with this. I think that if the UA variant is used it certainly seems more balanced: 6 skills at +2 with broad application vs. 5 skills and damage at +2 against one creature type.
Also, the UA variant is ogc - might it be worth adopting it for the next iteration of DS3 Core? Either way, thanks for the input, folks - it gives me plenty to work with
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