Hunter Kit testing - Or how to be scared by your own crafts
Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 9:48 pm
I have been testing the mechanics of the ranger kit : "Hunter", and have noticed a few things that needs to be pointed out.
Since the kit is not available in Jegs, the tests are from a level 10 woodelf character, which toogled the "Ranger kits" feat at level 1, and with all 3 of the hunter trapping related feats (Barbed Traps / Poison Traps / and Entangling Traps).
First thing that I noticed, is that the spell-casting ability, contrary to what is mentioned in the Kit's description, does not get removed. Meaning that with a wisdom score of 12, the character was effectively able to cast ranger spells, as a level 10 ranger would.
Next came the testing of the "Hunter trapping" ability, which seems not to have any indication of the damage dealt once triggered. I suspect the CON lost from the poison trap to proc before the actual damage, and killing off the enemies right away.
Then, I wanted to see how high the DC of said traps would be for someone to try and disable them. It currently seems to be related to the "Base Skill level" of the "Craft Traps" Skill, so basically the spent points before adding the ability modifiers. In the case of these tests, the DC to disarm was of 13, while having a skill level of 14 (13 + 1 INT). I am uncertain as if the "Craft Trap" skill was intended instead of the "Set Trap" skill, which works with trap kits that can both be found and salvaged with "Disable Device", from traps in dungeons and on chests.
Either way, this causes a problem once the Hunter level is sufficiently high enough that his traps have a DC superior to 20, rendering him unable to disarm them unless he has rogues levels, as per the rule of the "Disable Device" skill, see below:
"Special: Only rogues can disable traps with DCs of 20 and above. 5 or more ranks in set trap give a 2 synergy bonus on checks for this skill."
That would leave us with hunters so skilled at their trap-making art, that they would not ever attempt to disarm them, fearing to trigger a potentially 30d6 worth of damage...
One solution to this could be to grant hunters, perhaps at a later level, the rogue feat that allows them to tinker with traps of higher than DC 20. Another could be to allow hunters to always be able to disarm their own traps, although the idea of being able to fail could make for an interesting scene...
All in all, I am very pleased that some work has been made recently on the kit, it certainly is an interesting, original and different way to play the Ranger, and I'm looking forward to swarming the sword coast with trip-wire, spiked pits, falling boulders and exploding chairs!
Thank you for reading,
-Infra
Here is a bonus picture of an "Epic Trap" from our expert hunters, in the Great White North:
Since the kit is not available in Jegs, the tests are from a level 10 woodelf character, which toogled the "Ranger kits" feat at level 1, and with all 3 of the hunter trapping related feats (Barbed Traps / Poison Traps / and Entangling Traps).
First thing that I noticed, is that the spell-casting ability, contrary to what is mentioned in the Kit's description, does not get removed. Meaning that with a wisdom score of 12, the character was effectively able to cast ranger spells, as a level 10 ranger would.
Next came the testing of the "Hunter trapping" ability, which seems not to have any indication of the damage dealt once triggered. I suspect the CON lost from the poison trap to proc before the actual damage, and killing off the enemies right away.
Then, I wanted to see how high the DC of said traps would be for someone to try and disable them. It currently seems to be related to the "Base Skill level" of the "Craft Traps" Skill, so basically the spent points before adding the ability modifiers. In the case of these tests, the DC to disarm was of 13, while having a skill level of 14 (13 + 1 INT). I am uncertain as if the "Craft Trap" skill was intended instead of the "Set Trap" skill, which works with trap kits that can both be found and salvaged with "Disable Device", from traps in dungeons and on chests.
Either way, this causes a problem once the Hunter level is sufficiently high enough that his traps have a DC superior to 20, rendering him unable to disarm them unless he has rogues levels, as per the rule of the "Disable Device" skill, see below:
"Special: Only rogues can disable traps with DCs of 20 and above. 5 or more ranks in set trap give a 2 synergy bonus on checks for this skill."
That would leave us with hunters so skilled at their trap-making art, that they would not ever attempt to disarm them, fearing to trigger a potentially 30d6 worth of damage...
One solution to this could be to grant hunters, perhaps at a later level, the rogue feat that allows them to tinker with traps of higher than DC 20. Another could be to allow hunters to always be able to disarm their own traps, although the idea of being able to fail could make for an interesting scene...
All in all, I am very pleased that some work has been made recently on the kit, it certainly is an interesting, original and different way to play the Ranger, and I'm looking forward to swarming the sword coast with trip-wire, spiked pits, falling boulders and exploding chairs!
Thank you for reading,
-Infra
Here is a bonus picture of an "Epic Trap" from our expert hunters, in the Great White North:
