Fixin' the ranger

Rangers are broken in a bad way in D&D. And plenty of people have tried their hand at fixing the Ranger, but I really don't think adding yet more complexity is really the way to go. The real complication is that no one can agree what a ranger archetype looks like: is it the Aragorn? US Army Ranger? National Park ranger? Beastmaster? The martial expy of the Druid? The explorer pioneer?

I propose that the one unifying fantasy of the Ranger archetype is "outdoors expert". That one person you want with you if you're stranded somewhere far from civilization. That set of skills to get you through the wilds alive without the amenities of technology or protection of supernatural patronage.

With that in mind, here are my proposed simple fixes for the Ranger. (Sub-class fixes are...a whole other kettle of fish.)

( Ranger hack )