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‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Explains Possible Alternative Class Features for Rangers

Dungeons & Dragons has offered some clarification about some possible upcoming changes to some of […]

Dungeons & Dragons has offered some clarification about some possible upcoming changes to some of their classes. Earlier this week, Kotaku posted an interview with D&D creative director Mike Mearls in which he teased some possible “changes” to the Ranger class, a class that some D&D players feel is underpowered. While Mearls stressed that these class features would be complimentary to the Player’s Handbook version of the Ranger, the interview still was ambiguous as to what was coming next for the Ranger and other classes. On Twitter, D&D senior game designer Jeremy Crawford clarified that Mearls was referring to some alternative class features that could be playtested later this summer.

ComicBook.com reached out to the Dungeons & Dragons team for some additional information about the potential alternative class features. “When we built the current edition of D&D, we were in steady conversation with the game’s fans, making sure we were delivering the game they wanted,” Crawford replied via email. “Since the edition’s launch, we’ve continued that conversation by occasionally surveying fans, asking them to identify what satisfies them in the game. Those surveys have revealed that a few of the class features in the game are unsatisfying to a portion of the audience.”

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“We love exploring different design possibilities, so we’ve been looking into the possibility of offering alternatives to certain class features in the Player’s Handbook,” Crawford continued. “We plan to share these alternatives through our Unearthed Arcana series. If fans like them, the alternatives will appear in a future product and be entirely optional. For example, if you’re playing a ranger, we might give you some new options at 1st level and invite you to choose among them. The person who wants to use the class in the Player’s Handbook could continue to do so, whereas the person who wants a different play experience could pick one of the new options.”

The core rules of Dungeons & Dragons haven’t changed since the 5th Edition Player’s Handbook came out back in 2014. The only major rules supplement came in 2017 with the release of Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, which added a ton of new subclasses, new spells, and some alternative rules for downtime activities. Xanathar’s Guide to Everything didn’t interfere or replace anything in the Player’s Handbook and it looks like that trend will continue with the potential release of these new alternative class options.

Are you excited to see these alternative class features? Let us know in the comment section or find me on Twitter at @CHofferCBus to talk all things D&D!