CLASS: RANGERS

Time to move into the secondary-but-still-classic-feeling classes. 

RANGER

 

 (art by bryuenart and Yuzuo Dong respectively)

 

HIT DICE: D8 

ATTACK BONUS: +1 / Ranger level +1 for ranged or thrown weapons 

Rangers get +2 to Fortitude saves. 

Rangers can use simple and martial weapons. (1)

Rangers can wear chainmail and leather armor. (2)

Rangers get a bonus to attack rolls equal to their level when using ranged or thrown weapons. (3)

Rangers get a bonus to tracking and trapping rolls equal to their level. (4)

Rangers can attempt to calm and tame wild animals. (5)

Rangers begin with an animal companion. (6)

When taking a long rest, rangers are always considered to be resting in at least "Good" conditions. (7)

Rangers can move silently at half speed, or at normal speed with a Dexterity roll. (8)

 

1. Simple weapons are like swords and bows and martial weapons are fancy, complex, or difficult things like great swords and crossbows. (I still haven't posted that equipment list.) Basically rangers can use any weapon that isn't a firearm.

2. No bulky heavy plate armor for rangers.

3. So fighters get an attack bonus that increases with their level. This is because fighters do this shit for a living. The only other class that I give this level-based attack bonus to is rangers, and only for ranged and thrown weapons. "Thrown weapons" is stuff that's meant to be thrown or at least makes sense as a thrown weapon, like shuriken or knives. I suppose certain spears could fit this definition but that doesn't seem very rangery. I'd probably let a player get away with it if they were doing something cool.

4. This is pretty broad but I don't have any hard and fast tracking or trapping rules. Tracking or trapping usually involves an Intelligence or Wisdom roll -- anybody can try it but rangers excel at it.

5. No "official" rules for this either but you'll need a little time and a Charisma roll, maybe offer some treats or pull a thorn from a paw. I'm pretty lenient with this as long as the player isn't annoying about it. It helps if the animal isn't hostile, I won't say the ranger can't try to befriend a rampaging bear but it'll be a lot harder. It's also harder to calm / tame fantastical creatures like griffins or owlbears than it is plain old moose or warthogs.

6. Classic ranger stuff. Your animal companion will be a "normal" animal, like a wolf or panther or eagle or something and not a cockatrice or displacer beast. I'll give you whatever stats for it I think are neat. You can sort of order your companion around but you don't control it exactly -- it won't do anything obviously suicidal and it won't put up with you mistreating it. Also it's clever but it's an animal, it can't read or do algebra or anything like that. If it dies, that sucks, you're a terrible pet owner. You'll have to go out and tame a new friend. (This will take a little time and effort but I won't be a jerk about it.)

7. I'll put the full rules up later but this is the "eating and resting to regain hit points" stuff we use in our game. It is heavily appropriated from the excellent blog Ten Foot Polemic which you should definitely be reading if you like this blog (or even if you don't). The gist of this is that rangers can rest comfortably in any rough or wild conditions just fine and they recover hit points accordingly. 

8. This is the same as the thief ability. Rangers are excellent stalkers.

That's the ranger we use in our games. You'll see there's not a "two-weapon fighter" option, I'm not against that but I don't want it enough to include it. You will also see that rangers don't get any magic at higher levels, which is a thing in a lot of rules sets. We don't do magical rangers in our game. (But they can get totem spirits, which is something I will write up much later after I, um, finish the rules on what a totem spirit does.)