Master Class: Ranger (D&D 3.5)

Of all the classes in the players handbook, the ranger is perhaps the most diverse. With the right stats, skills, feats and equipment; they can handle combat almost as well as a fighter, sneak almost as well as a rogue and still have a few spells up their sleeve. A ranger has a supporting role, always useful, rarely exceptional. The most common problem with playing a ranger is knowing what to do when. It is when the party is out of civilisation however that a ranger really comes into their own, as masters of the wilderness the ranger is the ultimate hunter, scout and wilderness guide, moving stealthily through the undergrowth, finding food and thriving in the harsh wilds.

ABILITIES

A ranger's skills and abilities require a relatively balanced set of stats, due to their role as all rounders. The general order (highest to lowest) would preferably be;

DEXTERITY,
CONSTITUTION,
STRENGTH,
WISDOM,
INTELLIGENCE,
CHARISMA

Dexterity heads the list, due to a rangers common use of a bow, light armour, and several skills, most notably the stealth skills (move silently and hide) which use this ability. Charisma is at the bottom because traditionally rangers are known to be quite reserved individuals, very few class skills or features use this ability, only handle animal and wild empathy, both of which are better handled by using spells, (speak with animals, calm animals and charm animal, are 1st level ranger spells.

RACES

Most races in the players hand book can take to the ranger lifestyle, humans, and elves make some of the best (and most obvious) ranger's, half orcs can make good rangers too, focusing more on combat ability than on skills, the reduced speed of dwarves, halflings and gnomes can reduce the effectiveness of a character class which prides itself on being everywhere at once, and the reduced damage (both from smaller weapons and reduced strength) of the halfling and gnome races give a serious blow to smaller rangers that is difficult to make back up.

SKILLS

A ranger depends on their skills, perhaps more than any other feature, it's their skills that make them so adaptable. This makes it tempting to split your skill points between several skills rather than maxing out a few, this isn't advisable, because to keep up with the more specialist members of the party, you need to do what you do well. here are a list of skill groupings most useful for a ranger.

Woodcraft.
Survival, Heal and Knowledge (nature) skills.
These are just so quintessentially ranger, used to track, hunt for food, identify flora and fauna, make natural poisons and medicines.

Scouting.
Listen, Spot, and Knowledge (geography) skills.
Immeasurably useful for wilderness encounters, setting ambushes, and reconnaissance.

Hunting.

Move Silently, Hide and Craft (trap making) skills.
Useful both when stalking pray through forests, and when sneaking through dungeons, these become amazing at later levels when a ranger gets first camouflage then hide in plain sight as class features.

Animal training.

Handle Animal and Ride skills.
When combined with wild empathy, and the speak with animals spell, your animals can accomplish actions far beyond anything expected of them.

FEATS

As with a lot of classes, a ranger's feats are what give them a true identity, giving serious boosts to the areas the individual ranger wants to focus on, some to consider include.

For all rangers:
alertness, animal affinity, diehard, mounted combat, self sufficient, weapon focus, from players handbook. companion spellbond, trophy collector. from players handbook II. Dash, favoured power attack, improved favoured enemy, from complete warrior. natural bond, quick reconnoitre from complete adventurer.

For two weapon rangers:
two weapon defence, from players handbook. two weapon pounce, two weapon rend from players hand book II. improved buckler defence, improved two weapon defence, pin shield, from complete warrior. oversized two weapon fighting from complete adventurer

For archery rangers:
point blank shot, precise shot, farshot shot, on the run, from players hand book. deadeye shot, penetrating shot from players handbook II. Improved mounted archery, improved rapid shot, ranged disarm, ranged pin, ranged sunder, from complete warrior.


CLASS FEATURES

The class features of the ranger are many and diverse, here we will take a look at the more important, and unique features being a ranger gives.

The ranger class has several unique abilities in 3.5, one of the most famous and arguably the most useful is "favoured enemy" a bonus on hunting, trapping, lying to and, above all, killing certain foes. When choosing favoured enemies there are certain things to consider. Firstly the list of actions it actually effects; spot, listen and survival (tracking) are going to be useful against all types of creature, bluff and sense motive however are very rarely used against things such as oozes, animals, constructs, vermin, and other things of animal (or lower) intelligence, though they are only useful against a very low number of undead (vampires liches etc.) when they are used they are very useful indeed. Secondly the likelihood of actually meeting one of these creatures, in most campaigns you don't bump into demons and devils on a regular basis, so having outsider (evil) as a favoured enemy isn't going to be vindicated that often. Thirdly, what foes actually require the bonuses, most reptilian humanoids, (kobolds, lizardfolk etc.) aren't what you'd call talkative, so the sense motive, and bluff is rarely needed against them, they are usually territorial, so you know roughly where they are, as such tracking becomes less essential, and although I wouldn't belittle their combat effectiveness, I'm not sure if the extra damage is essential against them. Fourth, when you select your favoured enemies is important, you may not start seeing dragons on a regular enough basis for them to warrant a favoured enemy status until 20Th level, but at that point your maximum bonus is +4, not really worth it against the reptilian monsters, having said that to start hunting them at 1st or 5Th level (maximum bonus for either being +10) stops you hunting things more appropriate to your level, your best bet is to pick a favoured enemy type that incorporates a wide range of challenge ratings, undead and monstrous humanoids for example. Last, but by no means least, your character should have a reason to hunt these creatures above all others, remember that favoured enemy status means special training has been sought out and undertaken with the sole purpose of hunting down and eliminating the creatures in question, this is hatred to the point of obsession, and requires a reason for this prejudice.

Wild Empathy is a bit of a dark horse (pun intended), in the right situation, with the right party, it can be very useful, that said, the ranger's usually low charisma, the fact its a relatively slow process, and the fact that the rest of the party, indeed the ranger themselves have quicker and easier (though not always better) ways of dealing with the same problems, means it can just as easily be overlooked. A guard dog can be as easily quieted with a poisoned or drugged bit of meat, than convinced you are friendly by having a ranger whisper in it's ear, a wolf pack in the middle of the forest can be killed off fairly easily by even a modestly experienced party rather than have a ranger convince them the party is not a threat, however, if some one comes across a dead/doped guard dog the alarm can be raised, and having a wolf pack that won't attack you on sight can be quite useful if you're ever being chased through that same forest. It is usually worth a go, if you muck the roll up, you can usually revert to a second option without losing anything but time.

Which of the two Combat Style paths you choose to follow can be the biggest decision you have to make for a ranger, before we look at the two in detail however, the downsides of this class feature should be looked at, firstly whichever form you choose your defence will take a serious hit, as both limit you to light armour (admittedly the only armour type you begin proficient in) and use both hands, thus taking away the ability to use shields. Secondly three bonus feats does not a master make, if you're trying to specialise in either bowman ship, or two weapon fighting, fighter class is a better option, to focus on combat as a ranger is to limit yourself to eating up a vast majority of your level (and possibly race) based feats, complimenting a class feature. having said all of that, three bonus feats are always useful to have, so to compare the two options. Archery; the feats here (rapid shot, many shot and improved precise shot, in order) are in many ways more useful that the feats for two weapon fighting, and coupled with any rangers high dexterity, as well as the dangers of light armour, it seems like the obvious choice, however, a ranger specialising in archery, has little way of making up for the shortcomings in combat. A two weapon fighting ranger, on the other hand, receives perhaps less impressive feats (two weapon fighting, improved two weapon fighting and greater two weapon fighting, in order) however, through feats such as two weapon defence, improved two weapon defence and improved buckler defence (the latter two found in complete warrior) they can go some way to make up for that, and the relatively high strength needed to make this option worth while can be utilised, through mighty composite bows, in ranged combat as well as close quarter combat. so to summarise, ignoring combat style, allows for greater armour, and freedom of feat choice. Archery makes for a great ranged specialist, and two weapon fighting makes for a good all round combatant, which can hold their own in both close quarters and ranged fights.

A ranger's Animal Companion is one of their most useful features of the class, however, care must be taken when selecting the animal, because, unlike a druid, the rangers animal companion will not advance quickly or to fantastic levels, for this reason a ranger’s animal companion should not be taken purely for combat, and it is not advisable to exchange advancement for a more powerful creature. there are three types of animal companion; bird, mount and fighting beast, we will look at each type separately.

Birds.

Namely, the eagle, hawk and owl, the chief advantages of birds is their ability to, obviously, fly, this (combined with the link shared with your animal companion, and certain spells, chiefly speak with animals) makes them excellent scouts, spies and messengers. Also due to their use in falconry as a hunting technique, it is easy to explain their presence should you wish to keep your adventuring career secret for any reason (covert operations and such). The eagle is obviously the biggest of the three, making it more effective in combat, with more attacks dealing more damage and more hit points, if a slightly lower AC and attack bonus (due to it's bigger size category), it is also the fastest of the three. The hawk is slightly smaller, weaker, but with a higher AC, it deals less damage than an eagle with only one attack instead of three, but a higher hit bonus, it's smaller size means it can get unnoticed into much more confined spaces than an eagle, and is less conspicuous even out in the open. The owl is the weakest and slowest of the lot, but it's ability to fly silently, as well as it's bonuses to spot and listen checks make it an excellent information gatherer.

Mounts.

Namely, the camel, riding dog, horse (heavy or light) and pony, the uses of a mount are fairly obvious, but it is important to note, outside of a desert environment, (where the advantages are fairly obvious) there are no real benefits to having camel over a horse, they are slower and less able in combat.

Fighting Beasts.

Namely, the badger, dire rat, dog, snake (medium or small viper) and wolf. Given the slow advancement of a rangers animal companion, the fighting beasts are a risky choice, and (with the exception of the dog) all of them draw attention to the owner in civilised society, however the benefits a good set of jaws adding to the combat power of a party should not be underestimated. The badger, is small, and fairly weak by comparison to the rest of this grouping, however it has two distinct advantages, firstly it's ability to burrow can come in useful, secondly it can fly into a barbarian rage, rapidly and quite unexpectedly turning into a much more formidable opponent. The dire rat is slightly weaker than a dog, and much more likely to be noticed, however it's bite carries a nasty disease, which, with some planning and hit and run tactics, can be a sneaky way of weakening strong opponents before confronting them. The dog is a reasonably tough reasonably strong fighting animal, it's main advantage however is it's normality, nobody is going to question a man with a dog at his heels, walk into town with a badger and people will notice. The viper, the only real advantage to the small viper is it's ability to fit into smaller areas, the loss of one AC and a couple of points of listen and spot check bonuses you get on the medium viper, are more than made up for by the greater hit point total, greater bite damage, greater DC for resisting the quite potent viper poison, pet snakes are rare, but not so rare that they stick out like a sore thumb, a snake is a fair compromise between covert and lethal. The wolf is the hardiest and most powerful (excluding poison) animal both in this grouping, and in the options all together, making it a classic choice and an obvious favourite, the only problem is one of disguise, you might just be able to convince someone it's just a very large dog, but don't count on it.

Upon receiving first Woodland Stride, then Camouflage and then Hide in Plain Sight a ranger’s true colours start to show through, both rely on the ranger being in their element, the wilderness, and between them they turn them into a formidable opponent when out in the natural environment, able to move swiftly and stealthily through the roughest terrain, and blend into the background seeming to vanish before their adversaries very eyes, perfect for scouting enemy locations, setting traps and ambushes, and simply hiding from dangerous foes.

SPELLS
Starting at fourth level rangers have the ability to cast a small number of divine spells, these are generally nothing fancy, boosting stats, helping to exist in the wilderness, and mild healing being the most common ranger spells. Rangers without casting ability, as shown in complete warrior, gain very little advantage, certainly nothing to outweigh spells, and it's hard to see why, if given the choice, anyone would take the option.
Wilderness spells, such as speak with animals, tree shape, and tree stride, are very useful in specific situations, like most wilderness aspects of the ranger however, there are usually other, often simpler and quicker, though not always better, ways of dealing with the same problem.
Healing spells, including detect, delay and neutralise poison as well as heal spells, are always useful, usually however a party will have characters better suited to the role of dedicated healer, as clerics and druids, and even most bards and paladins, do the job better
Boosting spells, are the real mainstay of a rangers spell list, everything from bonuses to stats, skills and even movement speed are covered, the players handbook II spell linked perception is one to look out for, especially for larger parties.
Tactical spells, including the rare few damage dealing spells, as well as entangle and summon natures ally, are perhaps the most useful for active adventuring, arrow storm and blade storm both from complete adventurer are particularly impressive.

ARCHETYPES.

Some ideas for a different spin on the ranger concept, this is by no means an exhaustive list.

Scout: usually from a military background, the scout focuses on reconnaissance and ambushes, as well as self reliance, woodcraft and scouting skill sets being most important, archery taking a slight preference over two weapon fighting.

Outlaw: cast out of civilisation for whatever reason outlaws see nature as something they are stuck with rather than embrace, usually foregoing spells, and sticking to hunting and woodcraft to stay alive, most prefer the intimidation factor of wielding two weapons over bowman ship.

Natures Paladin: Raised to serve and protect nature in all it's forms, the natures paladin embrace their animal handling skills and features more than other ranger types, often having higher charisma than most, and valuing handle animal and woodcraft skills, these more than most other rangers are likely to have fighting beast type companions, bowman ship and two weapon fighting are praised equally for their ability to defend the wilderness.

Why We Roleplay

As roleplayers we spend hours working on characters designs, equipment choices and countless other things and after all this, hand over control to a maniac with some books, often called a GM. After all your hard work you are now at the totally mercy of that maniac (GM) and no amount of for thought or planning will ever change that. So, the question is, why do we do it?

This is something I get asked a lot, mostly by my other half, but also by some of my non roleplaying friends. For a very long time my answer has simply been, because it's awesome! However, having thought about it, that's not really an answer, it neither explains why I roleplay nor does it justice as a hobby.

So, after much thought, deep thought you might say, I've come up with quite a few reasons people roleplay. Once you've read this post, have a think and post us a comment telling us why you roleplay.

RPG's Are a Group Activity
Roleplaying is a great way to meet up with friends old and new that you perhaps wouldn't meet up with as often otherwise. Games can also bring new friends together for the first time. Being social is important for everyone, its important for both you physical and mental health, so you could even say that roleplaying improves your health. Honest gov, that's the truth...

Something For Everyone
While most pre-published roleplaying games fall into either fantasy or sci-fi, by the very nature of roleplay games you can create a game about anything you want! You can Tailor each game tot he people who are playing and what they are interested in and want to play!

RPG's As Escapism

When we roleplay we don't play ourselves, or if we do we play ourselves in a completely different world. So, in a very basic way, a roleplay game is one big exercise in escapism. Now I'm not saying that I hate my life, in fact I don't really have much to moan about, but hell if I had the choice of being me or a noble knight of the realm who spent his time slaying demons to protect the kingdom I know which I would choose. Roleplaying gives us a chance to live out dreams and things you always thought would be really cool, but that you can't do, for example, I would love to go dungeoneering in the local necromancers guild, but they don't seem to keen thus, roleplay! (Please note, there is not in fact a necromancers guild in Westbury)

The Power, The Power Mwahahahaha
In everyday life lets face it, our lives are greatly dictated to us. We work, we eat and we sleep. I know there is actually a lot more, but I'm generalising, after a while its starts to feel like you just want to steal back some control of your life, enter roleplay. During characters creation, we have almost total control of our character, we decide everything from the character's name to his star sign. Once character creation done and the character is placed into the world, you then control much of what said character does, don't like the law? Break it, deal withe consequences later, or run and hide either is good. The ultimate embodiment of this reason is the GM, because well, you may control your character, but her/she controls everything from the grass to the Gods!

Brain Training

These days a craze for brain training games has arisen due to the world getting a bit thick throughout the 70's and up to now. (I don't mean that, the world isn't thick, it just seems the thickest people talk more and so get noticed more.) Anyway, while Nintendo and Sony are leaping on the bandwagon, roleplaying has been there for over 50 years! Making split second decisions, planning, problem solving and puzzling are all key elements of the game. These are great for getting the brain into top gear, I actually playing in a roleplay session before several of my A-level exams when I was college and i can tell you I was much more alert for the exam when i had been roleplaying that morning. A suggestion to the education commission maybe?

Basic Economics

Average Cinema Ticket: £12 Lasts 1.5 - 3 Hours

Average Theatre Ticket: £18 Lasts 2 - 5 Hours

Roleplaying Game Core Book: £35 Lasts forever

Need I say anymore?

So, that's what i came up with. Now, not everyone will fall into these categories, these are just my opinion. If you have anything to add, then post it as a comment below.

For those of you who have never understood why your friend or partner roleplayed, I hope this has helped you understand.

Until next time, TTFN

How To: make a Character

Every system has it's own way of sorting out stats and abilities of the character you are going to play, but this is not making a character but converting a character into a playable format. This guide is about making a character that's interesting for both yourself and the other players within your group, and of course your games master.

Step One: Name



A name has to be interesting, Jim the dragon slayer is not inspiring and is just going to kill the mood, that said the name doesn't have to be original, playing a lord of the rings based campaign with a character named Aragorn, for example, can lead to some very interesting story lines, as your character tries to live up to their namesake, shake off someone else's bad reputation, or gets caught up in adventures through mistaken identity. If your name is borrowed think how your character feels about this, is it a name they have taken themselves to seem more intimidating or deserving of respect than they really are? is it a name they have chosen to honour their great hero? or to mock a nemesis? if the name was given, by parents or affiliation, why did they chose it? And does your character agree with their choices? Above all does your characters name inspire you to lead them to greatness? The legend of John Smith can end with "he saw a goblin once.", but the legend of Braxius Traxtin, lost prince of the Sunken Isles, deserves an epic clash of good against evil, the very earth shaking and dragons falling from the sky.



Step Two: Class (and often Race)




What does your character do, and far more importantly why? A lot of role plays have a selection of predetermined classes to choose from, but many simply list skills a character could posses and let you choose from there, either way the most important things to think about are where you character learned these skills and why? A sword master may have been born into a noble family the warrior elite, raised to know little other than swordsmanship, or they may have been a blacksmith's child, knowing nothing of the sword until barbarian raiders attacked their village and they had to fight their way back to civilisation, learning everything the hard way or maybe they were one of the barbarians not knowing there was any other path to follow. Race, if it's an option, often comes in at this point, as certain birthrights, accessibility of training, and lifestyle choices, lend themselves better to certain races, how has your characters race helped/hindered this training and life in their vocation? Ask these questions for each skill/ability/trait your character has, and soon their history will become full and lifelike.



Step Three: Stuff

Unless your character is beginning the role play utterly penniless, naked and devoid of any useful equipment, (a brave and potentially interesting choice) your character is going to have stuff, (if they don't, why not? is a question you're going to be asked very quickly) so where did it come from? is your sword a family heirloom? or something you bought from a market stall? or stole/looted from another warrior? your clothes, what do they say about you? do you only have one set of well worn, patched and re-patched travelers clothes, practical but far from stylish, or do you have trunks and trunks of tailored finery allowing you to fit in at any high society function. do you travel light or do you take everything you own with you? try to slip in a few personal items into your equipment list, sure you're an adventurer, have the rope and grappling hook "just in case" but also have a book of poetry, or a love letter, in your pocket, a signet ring of your fathers household on your finger. something that shows who your character is, something for them to do/think about in their spare time, preferably something they would hunt to the ends of the earth if it was lost.



Step Four: Why?

Perhaps the biggest question you need to ask is why your character is adventuring in the first place? and why they are still at it now? will they ever stop and settle down? do they have a grand plan or goal? it's all very well to say your character started by fighting their way through hordes of orcs attacking their home, but why didn't they stop when they got through? if you are out to find a great lost heirloom or treasure, what will you do if you find it? Here's a little secret, motivation can be the hardest thing for your Games Master to deal with, if they can lure you with the promise of a king's ransom once, then there is no guarantee they can do it again, indeed with your coin purse overflowing with gold the temptation of money is greatly reduced, a big thing to consider at this point is where your character's heart lies in terms of good and evil, there is nothing wrong with hunting down goblins just because you want them to suffer. Ask yourself why does your character get up in the morning and hunt dragons/run the shadows/defend their homeland?



Step Five: People



Your character probably hasn't spent their entire life in isolation, again if they have that's another story you need to tell, so who do they know? who are their friends? who are their enemies? what do their family think about what they are doing now? what favours do they owe/are owed? where are the people they have met in their life now? are they in love? how did they meet the other characters? how do they respond to new people? are they quick to make friends and trust new people or are they shy, suspicious, or downright unpleasant? do they respect authority? depending on the sort of game you are playing your character's past audiences may or may not come up, but if you discovered that the necromancer sending his undead legions to destroy the town was their childhood friend, how would their behaviour change?



Step Six: Finishing Touches




Sometimes known as the breath of life step, it gives a character a personality rather than just a history, a quick run through of the list of questions to ask at this stage, how old are they? what do the look like? how do they feel about their appearance? what are their hobbies? what are their habits? are they religious? if so how devout? do they stand out or blend into a crowd? do they like being the centre of attention? and a good one specifically for the fantasy genre, if someone was impersonating them how would you tell which was the original? the point is to make a character others can interact with, and try to role play these traits as much as possible within your sessions, so you can get a feel for your character as a living breathing person, and more easily think about what your character would do in any given situation.



These are examples, and by no means an exhaustive list of questions to ask and things to think about to turn a series of numbers on a character sheet into a character that is interesting and fun to play for both you and those you play with. this may seem a little daunting, but take it step by step, you'll find a lot of it overlaps, and the more you know about the history of your character the more things will just slot into place.