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The Ranger, redux
Although the image of the ranger has been more or less embodied by such characters as Aragorn (from the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R.Tolkein) and Drizzt (from the Forgotten Realms novels by R.A.Salvatore), the role of the ranger is much more than just someone who can track and fights well in the forest. Specifically, it's an individual who lives within the wilderness, be it a temperate forest, deep underground, in the midst of a vast desert or high in the mountains. These add-on rules allows for more flexibility in designing a ranger appropriate to your desires and to the environment of your campaign. See "Get out of the Woods" for example character packages.
Mix n' Match Class
Features
At 1st level (or
upon gaining a level of the ranger class), the ranger should
choose what path he wants to take by selecting four class
features, one from each category (specialized fighting,
bonus feats, specialized lore and spellcasting). Once
chosen, these class features may not be exchanged or
altered. The standard package of abilities is Two-Weapon
Fighting, Track, Favored Enemy and Spellcasting.
Specialized Fighting
Two-Weapon Fighting
(standard)
When wearing light
or no armor, the ranger can fight with two weapons as if he
had the feats Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon fighting. A
ranger with a BAB of +9 or higher can choose to gain the
Improved Two-Weapon Fighting feat even if he doesn't have
the other pre-requisites for this feat. Wearing armor
heavier than light armor negates this ability.
Marksmanship (alternate
#1)
When wearing light
or no armor, the ranger may use one specific ranged weapon
(ie: sling, longbow, spear) as if he had the Point Blank
Shot and Far Shot feats. A ranger with a BAB of +9 or higher
can choose to gain the Rapid Shot feat even if he doesn't
have the pre-requisites for this feat. Wearing armor heavier
than light armor negates this ability.
Horsemanship (alternate
#2)
When wearing light
or no armor, the ranger may fight from horseback (or another
mount) as if he had Mounted Combat and Mounted Archery
feats. A ranger with a BAB of +9 or higher can choose to
gain the Ride-by-Attack feat even if he doesn't have the
pre-requisites for this feat. Wearing armor heavier than
light armor negates this ability.
Nocturnal (alternate
#3)
When wearing light
or no armor, the ranger has the equivalent of the Alertness
and Blind-Fight feats. A ranger with a BAB of +9 or higher
can choose to gain the Blindsight 5-foot Radius feat even if
he doesn't have the pre-requisites for this feat. Wearing
armor heavier than light armor negates this ability.
Bonus Feats
Track (standard)
A ranger gains
Track as a bonus feat.
Run (alternate #1)
A ranger gains Run
as a bonus feat.
Endurance (alternate
#2)
A ranger gains
Endurance as a bonus feat.
Bareback Rider
(alternate #3)
A ranger gains
Bareback Rider as a bonus feat.
Feat: Bareback Rider [General]
You are able to ride without the benefit of a saddle, tack or harness.
Pre-requisites: Ride skill
Benefit: When riding a mount you are familiar with (ie: the type chosen when the Ride skill was chosen), you do not suffer a -5 penalty to Ride skill checks from riding bareback.
Normal: Riding bareback invokes a -5 penalty to Ride skill checks.
Specialized Lore
Unlike the other features, you can have more than one kind of Specialized Lore. Instead of taking multiple weapons or bonuses with various terrains, enemies or companions, you can split up the bonuses. An example (brought to you by a poster over at ENWorld.org's message forums), is this:
10th level Ranger A:
Favored enemy (undead/giants/dragons) +3/+2/+1
10th level Ranger B: Favored enemy (undead) +1, Favored
Terrain (desert) +1, Favored Animal (camel) +1
Favored Enemy
(standard)
At 1st level, a
ranger may select a type of creature as a favored enemy,
giving him a +1 bonus to Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot
and Wilderness Lore checks when using these skills against
the favored enemy. At 5th level (and every 5 levels
thereafter), the ranger gains another favored enemy at +1
and the bonus for previous favored enemies goes up by +1 as
well. He also gains this bonus on damage rolls (including
ranged attacks under 30 feet).
Favored Enemy Types: Aberrations, Animals, Beasts, Constructs, Dragons, Elementals, Fey, Giants, Humanoid type*, Magical Beasts, Oozes, Outsider type*, Plants, Shapechangers, Undead, Vermin
*Rangers may not select "humanoid" or "outsider" as a favored enemy, but they may select a more narrowly defined type of humanoid (goblinoids, humans, reptillian humanoids) or outsider (devils, efreet or slaadi). A ranger can only select his own race as a favored enemy if he is evil.
Favored Companion (alternate #1)
At 1st level, a ranger may select a specific animal, beast or magical animal as a favored companion, giving him a +1 bonus to Animal Empathy, Handle Animal, Heal, Ride and Wilderness Lore checks when using these skills with the favored companion. At 5th level (and every 5 levels thereafter), the ranger gains another favored companion at +1 and the bonus for previous favored companions goes up by +1 as well.
Favored Companion Types (non-exhaustive list): Horses, wolves, hawks, unicorns, worgs, hippogriffs, dolphins, etc.
Familiar Terrain
(alternate #2)
At 1st level, a
ranger may select a specific terrain type as familiar
terrain, giving him a +1 bonus to Intuit Direction, Move
Silently, Ride, Search, Spot, Swim and Wilderness Lore
checks when using these skills within that terrain type. At
5th level (and every 5 levels thereafter), the ranger gains
another familiar terrain type at +1 and the bonus for
previous familiar terrain types goes up by +1 as
well.
Familiar Terrain Types: Aquatic, Desert, Forest, Hill, Marsh, Mountains, Plains, Underground
Preferred Weapons
(alternate #3)
At 1st level, a
ranger may gain the Weapon Focus or Exotic Weapon
Proficiency feat in any one weapon. At 5th level, and every
5 levels thereafter, the ranger gains an additional Weapon
Focus or Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat.
Spellcasting
At 4th level, a ranger can cast divine spells. Instead of choosing from the normal ranger spell list, the ranger may opt to select two alternate spell domains. Spells from these domains will effectively replace those spells from the standard list that are marked with asterisks.
Example: a ranger who chooses Air and Good as his domains would replace the 1st level ranger spells Entangle and Read Magic with the 1st level Air Domain spell Obscuring Mist and the 1st level Good Domain spell Protection from Evil. Note that it might not be advantageous for some rangers to stray from the standard spell list as they'll lose two spells from the 3rd level spell list.
Ranger Spells (standard)
|
1st level 2nd level |
3rd
level 4th level
|
Domain Spells (alternate)
|
Air Domain Animal
Domain Chaos
Domain Earth
Domain Evil
Domain Fire
Domain |
Good
Domain Law Domain Plant
Domain Sun Domain Travel
Domain Water
Domain |