First of all, quit the hunter's mercy argument. Its one spell!!! Besides, not everyone plays with all the spells from all the books, I don't, so we need to consider everything else.
One of the problem I have with ranger spells (actually bard spells as well) as there just copy and pasters from the other spell casters. At least teh paladin got a truly unique spell every spell level or close to it.
I definately think the ranger needs more customization, but bonus feats aren't the way to do it. That makes him a fighter wanaabe. I would go teh special abilities route. Here's a model I kinda whipped up.
Hit Dice: d8
Favored Enemies/Home Field Advantage: At 1st level, the ranger can choose to study a specific group of enemies, and becomes more deadly against them. Against this type of enemy, the ranger recieves a +2 bonus to spot, listen, sense motive, wilderness lore, attack and damage rolls. At 5th level, and every 5 levels after, the ranger can choose an additional favored enemy, and all previous favored enemies bonuses increase by 1.
Home Field Advantage Whenever choosing a favored enemy, the ranger can instead choose a terrain type to which he has become akined. The terrain types are listen in the dmg. When travelling through the terrain, the ranger gains a +1 bonus to spot, listen, search, wilderness lore. In addition he suffers only half the normal movement penalties for that terrain rounded up (if your movement is 1/2, its now 3/4. 3/4 becomes no penalty). Against any creature native to that terrain, the ranger recieves +1 bonus to sense motive and bluff, and to attack and damage rolls. Note: Certain creatures, like some humanoids or undead, have no native terrain type and you cannot use your bonus agaisnt them. At every 5 levels, you can chose a new terrain type or favored enemy, and all previous bonuses again increase by 1.
****My idea above was first that a specific group of enemies is much more narrow than a whole terrain, so I gave them a +2 bonus. Also I added the bonus to attack rolls, because frankly I've always felt rangers should get one, and I would allows this attack roll against even undead, I mean sure you can't hurt them worse but you can study how to get around their defenses. Finally I think the movement bonus might give a little more incentive for rangers to choose jungles and swampes over forests and plains, because I have a feeling that's where the minmaxers would put it.
Track: Rangers get track as a bonus feat at 1st level.
Special Abilities: At 2nd level and every 4 levels afterward, the ranger may pick one ability from a list of special abilities. Some abilities are only obtainable at certain levels, but you can always pick an ability that has a lower level prereq.
2nd level:
Blade Adept: The ranger has spent great time studying the sword and how to use a pair of them with great accuracy and power. You gain two-weapon fighting and ambidexterity as bonus feats.
Melee Bow Adept: You have learned how to fire a bow effectively at foes admist the chaos of combat. You gain point blank shot and precise shot as bonus feats.
Long Bow Adept: You have trained yourself to fire the maximum distances your bow will allow as well as the eyes to see such distances. You gain a +2 bonus to spot as well as far shot as a bonus feat.
Mounted Adept: You have created a bond between you and the horse that few can match. You get mounted combat and either ride-by attack, mounted archery, or trample as bonus feats.
Exotic Adept: You have spent your time learning the mysteries of the uncommon weapon. You gain exotic weapon proficiency with 3 weapons as bonus feats.
**My big question is whether I should maintain the armor restriction for these abilities. But I thought putting them at 2nd level would lower some of the front-ended ness of the class.
6th level:
Friend to the Wild: Your kinship with the animals of the wild allows you to have more powerful allies. You now have the caster level of a druid when determing animal companions.
Stealth: You gain a +4 bonus to hide and move silently checks. Also, your penalty for moving fast while hiding and moving silently is reduced by half. You may also teach the stealth ability to your animal companions as tricks.
****I don't know if the cutting the move fast penalty is hitting the rogue's territory too much or not, but I wanted it to measure up to the friend of the wild ability, although maybe that ability should be moved up to level 10 or so.
Perception: You gain a +4 bonus to spot, search and listen. Also your sight range, whether normal, lowlight, or darkvision, is improved by 10 ft.
Speed: You gain a +10 bonus to base movement and can invoke the freedom of movement ability at will.
10th level:
Blade Master: Prereq: Blade Adept. Your penalities to weilding two weapons is reduced by -2, and you no longer suffer a penalty to strength in your off hand.
Melee Bow Master: Prereqs: Melee Bow Adept. All abilities that require you to use your bow at 30 ft, may now be used at 60ft. In addition, you threaten with your bow for the purposes of flanking, and AOO at 10 ft.
Long Bow Master: Prereq: Long Bow Adept. Your distance increment increases to x2, and your bow no longer has a maximum range.
Mounted Master: Prereq: Mounted Adept. You gain the other abilites of a mounted adept that you did not already obtain. In addition, you gain the spirited charge feat and the heal mount spell 2/day.
Exotic Master: Prereq: Exotic Adept. You can now use any weapon as if you had proficiency, and have the weapon focus feat when doing so.
14th level:
One with the wild: Prereqs: Friend to the Wild. You gain the awaken spell at will, but only for animals. You also gain the animal growth spell 3 times/day.
Improved Favored Enemy: You may add +1 to all the bonuses you get against your favored enemies and on your favored terrains. This bonus also applies when obtaining new favored enemies or new terrains.
Stalker: Prereqs: Stealth. The can cast invisibility as a standard action at will.
Awareness: Prereqs: Perception. You gain the blindsight ability as stated in the monster’s manual. The 10 ft improvement gained by the perception ability stacks for the purpose of your blindsight range.
Flurry: Prereqs: Speed. You can act as if hasted for a number of rounds per day equal to half your ranger level. Unlike normal haste, this is an extraordinary ability.
18th level:
Immunity: You are immune to natural poisons, disease, or one type of energy of your choice.
***couldn’t think of any more 18th level abilities at the moment. Basically, after all that, the kind and amount of spells the ranger gets (besides animal friendship of course) should be based on balance. Maybe he’ll need less spels or maybe none at all. Maybe I made him too powerful already. I think some of the abilities are probably too strong, so I’m going to do some tweeking. I’m not sure if I like the chains I’ve created, with the prereqs at all, but I definitely think it makes going higher levels of ranger worth it. I want your guys opinion. Is he a good alternative, too weak, too strong. Any other suggestions for special abilities, or should I change some of the current ones?
