It's pretty cool, but they still keep the spells...Why the spells? That's my biggest beef with the ranger. I never understood it.
This is what I did with a ranger type in the Near East Setting I'm working on. I cut out the spells, and added some other suph. I suppose this could be done with a standard fantasy version of the class, concentrating on the hunter or scout aspect. This was easier, since I had Al Qadim material to work with.
Desert Rider
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d10.
Class Skills: The desert rider's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Animal Empathy (Cha, exclusive skill), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intuit Direction (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Use Rope (Dex), and Wilderness Lore (Wis).
Restricted: Profession; Non-desert professions, Swim
Penalty to skill checks outside of the desert (-1) (as described in Arabian Adventures).
Mount care: A desert rider's mount care ability allows him to increase the quality of a mount under his care.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A desert rider is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor and shields.
TABLE: The Desert Rider
Base Fort Ref Will
Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save Special
----- ------------ ---- ---- ---- -------
1 +1 +2 +0 +0 Track,Mounted Combat , Skill Focus; Ride, favored enemy
2 +2 +3 +0 +0
3 +3 +3 +1 +1 bonus feat
4 +4 +4 +1 +1
5 +5 +4 +1 +1 2nd favored enemy
6 +6/+1 +5 +2 +2 bonus feat
7 +7/+2 +5 +2 +2
8 +8/+3 +6 +2 +2
9 +9/+4 +6 +3 +3 bonus feat
10 +10/+5 +7 +3 +3 3rd favored enemy
11 +11/+6/+1 +7 +3 +3
12 +12/+7/+2 +8 +4 +4 bonus feat
13 +13/+8/+3 +8 +4 +4
14 +14/+9/+4 +9 +4 +4
15 +15/+10/+5 +9 +5 +5 4rth favored enemy , bonus feat
16 +16/+11/+6/+1 +10 +5 +5
17 +17/+12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +5
18 +18/+13/+8/+3 +11 +6 +6 bonus feat
19 +19/+14/+9/+4 +11 +6 +6
20 +20/+15/+10/+5 +12 +6 +6 5th favored enemy
When wearing light armor or no armor, a Desert Rider can fight with two weapons as if he or she had the feats Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting. The Desert Rider loses this special bonus when fighting in medium or heavy armor, or when using a double-headed weapon (such as a double sword).
Track: A desert rider gains Track as a bonus feat.
Favored Enemy: At 1st level, a desert rider may select a type of creature as a favored enemy ( If human, it must be a particular tribe or ethnic group that threatens the desert rider's people. ). Due to his extensive study of his foes and training in the proper techniques for combating them, the desert rider gains a +1 bonus to Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Wilderness Lore checks when using these skills against this type of creature. Likewise, he gets the same bonus to weapon damage rolls against creatures of this type. A desert rider also gets the damage bonus with ranged weapons, but only against targets within 30 feet (the desert rider cannot strike with deadly accuracy beyond that range). The bonus doesn't apply to damage against creatures that are immune to critical hits.
Bonus Feats: At 3rd level and every three levels afterward, the Desert Rider receives a bonus feat from the fighter's selection of bonus feats.
At 5th level and at every five levels thereafter (10th, 15th, and 20th level), the desert rider may select a new favored enemy, and the bonus associated with every previously selected favored enemy goes up by +1.
Table: Desert Rider Favored Enemies
Type
Tribal Rivals ( Sadian )
Tribal Rivals ( Yemari )
Foreign Rivals ( Always human )
Desert Skirdge
Dragonkind
Elementals
Humanoid type
Outsider type
Shapechangers
Undead
* Desert riders may not select "humanoid" or "outsider" as a favored enemy, but they may select a more narrowly defined type of humanoid or outsider. A desert rider can select his own race as a favored enemy..
Improved Two-Weapon Fighting: A desert rider with a base attack bonus of at least +9 can choose to gain the Improved Two-Weapon Fighting feat even if he does not have the other prerequisites for the feat. The desert rider must be wearing light armor or no armor in order to use this benefit.
Mounted Combat: Once per round when the desert rider's mount is hit in combat, the rider may make a Ride check to negate the hit. The hit is negated if the rider's Ride check is greater than the attack roll (essentially, the Ride check becomes the mount’s Armor Class if it’s higher than the mount’s regular AC).
