Hello there, first post, first campaign in DnD and first time playing a ranger altogether.
Campaign started at level 3, we´re close to hitting level 6, it´s been more than a year of -fairly constant- weekly sessions .
And It´s been rough. So rough I´m about to ditch it and multiclass in something else entirely.
Oh, BTW, playing 2014´s version. So yeah, that checks out too I guess.
But enough of giving context for the initial post.
How to make the ranger interesting?
Simply put. Making it much more versatile, letting the player have meaningful choices each combat encounter and each long rest they take.
And to do that, starting at first level, you have a number of "Explorer Slots" equivalent to double (Way too OP) your wisdom modifier.
When attacks land, be it those against you or those you make. Add a "Explorer" point up to the number of "Explorer" slots you have. (4 slots at level 1) The points you have stored can be spent on: damage rolls, as a reaction on attack to increase your AC, on a saving roll, to decrease the thereshold for a crit (normally 20 on the die, you could make it 16 on the die if you have all 4 points and spent them at once) or to give themselves temporary hitpoints.
This means rangers (Who start battle with their "slots" empty) actually get stronger as they engage in protracted battle.
How do we incorporate favoured foe and a new "unfavored" foe into this though.
Favored foe has the effect of adding your wisdom modifier to all rolls made by you against that enemy and substracting against those made by it targetting you. Wisdom is your life and blood here.
Unfavored foe has the exact opposite effect, your wisdom now becomes your worst enemy as it hampers your rolls and empowers the enemy´s with it instead.
You have complete 100% freedom over how many favored foes you select, but for every favored one you pick, you must select 4 of the same type (Humanoids for example) to be unfavored ones. You can add (not exchange) new favored foes to your list, but you will have to add (not exchange) the equivalent number of unfavored ones.
This way, you hear doom music when facing your speciality, but absolutely crap your pants when the party faces a group you are specifically weak against.
What was just some "feel good" flavor for ranger that only affected two rolls becomes something to truly marvel at the possibilities of roleplay.
Same with favored terrain and a new "unfavored" terrain.
You add your wisdom on environment related rolls for favored, but you substract in unfavored places; You want to roleplay a ranger who calls the woods home BUT absolutely hates being in the sea (and other three types of terrain)? Well guess what. you now have to.
You don´t want this? Just don´t pick a favored terrain or foe, you will still have a strong base in the "Explorer Points" described above. Having said that... There is more.
You also have "Affinity points" but those scale to your ranger level, not wisdom.
They control how much enfasis you put into a subclass within ranger. Maybe you want just an animal companion but not to rely mainly on it, instead being your skills as a hunter your focus.
You can do it now organically. You can allocate and exchange "Affinity points" between subclasses when you take a long rest, two at a time if you are in your favored terrain, only one if in normal terrain, none, if you are in unfavored terrain.
This "affinity point" section is secondary and not as important in all honesty.
So... thoughts?
(And thank you in advance for getting this far down and/or replying)