EN World City Project: Protecting the City (Guard Submissions)

[Krug]

Ruavel: Sounds good.
I think the Wardens would give them a task to complete or they'd prove themselves in a battle.

I also still think there should be some remains of the Winter Storm around with the old allegiance around. Enough so that there can be a plot hook along the lines of the Northlands either calling for their help, or the Lord who banished them dying and then faced with the prospect of staying put or returning to the North. Lady Kelvin or the Castellan would then tell them; "decide to stay or begone, never to set foot in Enheim again!"
Positively Shakespearan.

 

[jdavis]

I like what was written. The old guard of the Order of the Winter Storm could be a wonderful plot hook, or several wonderful plot hooks.

What are the old guard of the Winter Storm thinking now that they are falling apart? Do they blame the city? Will some of the more radical members try to get revenge on Treygar? What are they going to do for funds now that Treygar undercut them as a mercenary unit? What does the city feel about them now that their usefulness is much lessened but the political problems with the north started by giving them sanctuary have not abated? This could be a spin off for all sorts of intrigue and plot devices.

As far as the make up of the Rangers I'd like to leave that as vague as posible and have them done as individual NPC's. They would make good fodder for NPC ideas and might spin off some interesting characters.

 

[Ruavel]

Originally posted by lalato
Whoa... back up the cart. I re-read my post and I think I see where I may have confused.

I'm not suggesting that the Outland Rangers be an NPC class... I'm just saying that the Outland Rangers don't necessarily have to be Rangers or Druids. In fact, the skills required of an Outland Ranger are more closely aligned with a multi-class Fighter/Rogue type than anything else.

Fighter for the obvious reason that the Rangers need to be able to fight. Rogue for the skills required to be an Outland Ranger... Move Silently, Hide, Intimidate, Bluff, Diplomacy, Wilderness Lore, Swim, Spot, Listen, Search, Read Lips, Gather Information, Disguise, Sense Motive, etc.

Some of those skills would be hard to come by without a couple of Rogue levels. The Only Ranger specific skill in the list is Wilderness Lore. That's why I suggested a PrC. The PrC might give access to the appropriate skills.

I hope that's clearer... sorry if I caused confusion.

ah, sorry about that... I think I may have read through your post a little too quickly and missed exactly what your were saying...

certain elements of what jdavis said in his last post sums up the reasons why I believe you'll find mostly rangers and druids doing this sort of thing...

Originally posted by jdavis
Being a Ranger is a hard and thankless task that requires men who are willing to all but live in the wild and take on odds soemtimes greater than 10 to 1, they need to be people who enjoy the wild and can fight better than even the average soldier in the wild. They have to be strong individuals who are willing to die alone in the woods fighting for what they believe.

how many typical fighters, rogues, or fighter/rogues would be prepared to do that...?

regardless of the skill requirements, the people mostly likely to take up this sort of "calling" are mostly rangers, a smattering of druids and the rare bard or barbarian...

please realise this is just my opinion and is not intended to sound like I think your opinion is wrong or has no merit, lalato... you've done some excellent work and this project and I respect your opinion... I don't necessarily agree with it but I definitely respect it...

that said, the structure I proposed was just that... a proposal... changes can be made, but in the end it's the Minister of the Military that will approve or scrap it... I'm happy to put a few multiclass combo's (rgr/rog; ftr/rog; ftr/rgr; etc) in if that's what's wanted...

 

[jdavis]

I posted NPCs for the military Captains in the NPC thread.

"Thomas Haljan; Captain of the Guard"

"Bolius Chier; Captain of the Watch"

"Ulfgar Gorkil; Captain of the Elite Guard."

 

[Conaill]

lalato: I don't believe we need a specialized PrC for the Outland Rangers. It would be vastly preferable to pick an already existing PrC that is readily availabel somewhere (e.g. an OGL one for which the details are available online).

PrC's typically start at lvl 6 anyway, and I'm not convinced we want the Rangers to be *that* high-level Checking my demographics... there should only be two Ranger-class NPCs of lvl>5 in a city of this size. That seems hardly enough to institute a whole new prestige class.

 

[Lalato]

I'm cool with that Conaill... I was just throwing the PrC idea out there to see if it stuck. Still... I think the Outland Rangers need a level or two of Rogue for the skills needed.

Perhaps Fighter/Rogue isn't perfect for them... but Ranger/Rogue would definitely be appropriate in my eyes. Druid/Rogue would also be a possibility, but less so than Fighter/Rogue. Personally, I don't see Bard working, but that's only because I find it difficult to see a Bard being a cop. Certainly, the Bard has the skills required, but I can't see them filling this role...

The Outland Rangers remind me of a special forces unit. Each one is trained in techniques for living off the land. They often infiltrate places where they are outnumbered and outgunned.

As for the demographics... The Outland Rangers are actually roaming all over Enheim... wouldn't their demo data be based on a much larger population than just that of Mor's End? If the entire population is 40,000+ wouldn't that have an effect on the levels of the Outland Rangers?

Ruavel... everything I post is personal opinion. In real life, I often find myself sounding like an authority on things when I'm really talking out of my butt. If I start sounding like that... just slap me. I deserve it.

 

[jdavis]

The Outland Rangers remind me of a special forces unit. Each one is trained in techniques for living off the land. They often infiltrate places where they are outnumbered and outgunned.

As for the demographics... The Outland Rangers are actually roaming all over Enheim... wouldn't their demo data be based on a much larger population than just that of Mor's End? If the entire population is 40,000+ wouldn't that have an effect on the levels of the Outland Rangers?

The Outland Rangers will have to be the levels they have to be in order to do the task set in front of them, the fact that it doesn't fit witht he demogaphic breakdown points towards the fact that they are undermanned and have a hard time finding suitable men (or women) to perform their task. This would be a good plot hook to draw adventurers in. Their level breakdown will be affected by the rural population as they would be considered part of the rural population but I would hate to see them get too high in level as it would kill the plot hook for the Rangers needing PC help.

I'd hate to judge a PrC before I have seen it. At best it would be a optional part of the city setting, but I feel that there should be several optional parts of the setting as that would allow for DM's to fit the city in with their worlds better, taking what they want and dropping what they don't need. This could also be a plot hook for PC's, if you want to take levels in the PrC then you have to work with the Rangers.

 

[Conaill]

The Outland Rangers remind me of a special forces unit. Each one is trained in techniques for living off the land. They often infiltrate places where they are outnumbered and outgunned.

As for the demographics... The Outland Rangers are actually roaming all over Enheim...

Nah. The Rangers patrol the area around Mor's End. Perhaps up to a day's ride distance. Their primary mission should be scouting.

We're not planning on Enheim to be civilized, highly populated area. Anyone living outside the walls takes a risk. Farms would be sparse and well defended (there's a good reason why Mor's End hasn't grown any larger in this amount of time: they need to import a lot of food, rather than getting it from an abundance of farms in the neighborhood).

Guess you and I have a very different type of Rangers in mind. In my view, the majority of the Outland Rangers would be Rgr1, probably patroling alone or in pairs, armed with that "alarm stick" someone else suggested.

 

[Lalato]

Actually... I can see the rangers several different ways...

Here are some options...
* Scouts within a days ride of the city (Low level Rangers)
* Sheriffs keeping the peace throughout Enheim (Multi-classed Ranger/Rogues or Barbarian/Rogues)
* High level agents of the city running scouting missions and foiling sinister plots (Could be anything...)
* Protectors of the sacred land of Enheim (Druids or Rangers)
* An Extension of the City Guard/Watch that mans small watch towers throughout Enheim
* Detectives investigating poachers and caravan raiders

The Outland Rangers could be any one of the above, or even a mixture of the above. Or something completely different. I'm not married to any of the ideas yet. I guess I've been playing a little bit of devil's advocate.

By the way... I was the one that submitted the 'alarm stick' idea in the history. Glad you liked it.

--sam

 

[Conaill]

* Scouts within a days ride of the city (Low level Rangers)
* An Extension of the City Guard/Watch that mans small watch towers throughout Enheim

Now that's my kind of ranger! Possibly adding some of the "detective" role as well.

These I think would be more appropriate for a more civilized and/or more densely populated countryside:

* Sheriffs keeping the peace throughout Enheim (Multi-classed Ranger/Rogues or Barbarian/Rogues)
* High level agents of the city running scouting missions and foiling sinister plots (Could be anything...)
* Protectors of the sacred land of Enheim (Druids or Rangers)
* Detectives investigating poachers and caravan raiders