[Midoo]

fun fact: the draw power needed to shoot an arrow with deadly force comes from the bow's limbs bending to the point of distortion and not really the string. that means you need to be pretty fucking strong to be an archer, not just have good hand eye coordination

in fact in the original d&d rangers were just a subclass of fighting-men who adapted to woodland survival and espionage, sort of like a paladin of nature, and they were expected to be strong and armored just like any warrior. their defining traits is they hung out in the woods rather than in barracks. the og book states "A ranger must have strength of not less than 13, intelligence of not less than 13, wisdom of not less than 14, and a 14 or greater constitution", making no particular mention of dexterity

the myth of rangers being anorexic little dancers probably evolved out of the historical notion ranged military units had to be lightly armored to move to vantage points faster and have a wider range of motion to draw, meaning they were easy to deal with if they were within melee range. this makes sense and explains why their role ingame is to eat the first deathtouch and die, but it doesn't change the fact you had to be rippling with muscle to bend a piece of wood so violently it snaps whatever you were resting on it into a grown man's throat from across the battlefield