D&D 5E Fictional examples of Rangers

[auburn2]

All this discussion of racial changes has made me long for the good old days of Ranger debates. So here we go.

While the D&D Ranger has become it's own thing I think many players still enjoy some amount of emulation when rolling up a character. I want to play someone like blank is something I here often from new players, and sometimes from veteran players too. But the Ranger's identity problems are well documented. So when a new player says they want to play a Ranger I often respond with "A Ranger like whom?".

So I thought some of you might want to join me in a discussion.

To start with I'll tackle the OG Strider. While Aragorn can summon armies of the undead and scry over his kingdom with a palantir he first spent about 40 years wandering the wilds of Middle Earth becoming it's foremost expert on tracking and the the "hardiest of living Men". This was a guy who could put his ear to the ground and tell you where a host was riding on horseback and then ignore that sound to listen to quiter and much further away party of orcs traveling on foot. That's wicked Rangering.

Another example from fantasy novels I like is Perrin Aybara from the Wheel of Time. While you might be tempted to think of Perrin as a Barbarian n account of him once killing a couple of whitecloaks while in a fit of rage, his powerset by the end of the novels is mostly defined by his affinity with wolves and his ability o speak with them, and more importantly his ability to travel into and out of the world of dreams at will. This is as close to a dead ringer for a Horizon Walker's Ethereal Step, Distant Strike, and Spectral Defense as I've ever seen.

So who are your archetypal Rangers? and how do they go about Rangering?

I think the term Ranger originally comes from light infantry fielded by the brittish for recon and special operations in the 18th century, This continues through today with Ranger special operations forces in the US Army. I believe the term itself came from a man named "Ranger" that led the first "Ranger's company" . I think Tolkein took that term out of history and then Gygax took Tolkein's ranger and made it into a class. As such the original Ranger post dates the middle age era D&D is generally formed around. In that respect the original idea would refer to a fighter/musketeer.

 

[Tonguez]

Does real people whose exploits are most likely than not fictional count? Because in that case I would like to nominate Bear Grills and all of the survivalist imitators of Les Stroud -whose exploits are most likely the real deal-. That is always how I picture rangers, getting resources out of thin air, finding their way without maps and compasses, surviving and thriving in the wild...

what Bear Grylls does on TV is definitely fictional

 

[Horwath]

what Bear Grylls does on TV is definitely fictional

it's not fictional, but is it heavily scripted and in controlled conditions.

But hey, who would risk his own life without any safety measures just so he can prove that he can do it without any safety net?

 

[billd91]

I think the term Ranger originally comes from light infantry fielded by the brittish for recon and special operations in the 18th century, This continues through today with Ranger special operations forces in the US Army. I believe the term itself came from a man named "Ranger" that led the first "Ranger's company" .

Most likely older. Wikipedia's entry on park ranger (Park ranger - Wikipedia) puts in 13th-14th century. The term makes an appearance in Edmund Spenser's Shepheardes Calender in 1579. Tolkien would have at least known the Spenser references, possibly more.

 

[Tonguez]

I think the term Ranger originally comes from light infantry fielded by the brittish for recon and special operations in the 18th century, This continues through today with Ranger special operations forces in the US Army. I believe the term itself came from a man named "Ranger" that led the first "Ranger's company" . I think Tolkein took that term out of history and then Gygax took Tolkein's ranger and made it into a class. As such the original Ranger post dates the middle age era D&D is generally formed around. In that respect the original idea would refer to a fighter/musketeer.

The term Ranger is attested from 16th century in sense of ‘man (often mounted) who polices a range (area for hunting). In England they were royal appointments under William the Conquerors Forest Law. The Old English word was Warden

He established many deer preserves and he set up many laws concerning them such that whoever killed a hart or a hind should be blinded.
He forbade (hunting of) harts and also of boars. He loved the wild deer as if he were their father.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Hmmm...

Prince Humperdinck (perhaps more clearly in the book)
Maybe Angua from Discworld (at home in the wild, skilled tracker)
Ramsay Bolton (rangers don't have to be good-aligned anymore)
Daryl Dixon (tracks, lives off the land, has an animal companion, fights both ranged and dual-wielding, even has a favored enemy)
Slanter from the Wishsong of Shannara (skilled tracker, also bonus points for being a gnome)

Angua is an interesting case - her archtype is much more clearly "werewolf" and all the ranger-y skills she has are extensions of those natural abilities. Her learned skills are, I think, better represented by a mix of fighter and rogue than actual ranger levels, so to speak.

Having said that: does 'werewolf' as a subclass of ranger make sense? If it does, what does that say about what it means to be a ranger?

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Yeah, I went back and forth on including her. In the end, because she uses her abilities to protect the people of Ankh-Morpork, I kept her in.

I could see some sort of lycanthropic ranger path being pretty cool. Stuff like advantage on smell-based perception checks, some sort of natural weapon attack, and so on.

Angua is an interesting case - her archtype is much more clearly "werewolf" and all the ranger-y skills she has are extensions of those natural abilities. Her learned skills are, I think, better represented by a mix of fighter and rogue than actual ranger levels, so to speak.

Having said that: does 'werewolf' as a subclass of ranger make sense? If it does, what does that say about what it means to be a ranger?

 

[Minigiant]

Angua is an interesting case - her archtype is much more clearly "werewolf" and all the ranger-y skills she has are extensions of those natural abilities. Her learned skills are, I think, better represented by a mix of fighter and rogue than actual ranger levels, so to speak.

Having said that: does 'werewolf' as a subclass of ranger make sense? If it does, what does that say about what it means to be a ranger?

I would say that a lycanthrope would be a subclass of ranger, druid, or barbarian depending on the animal and the attitude of the native lycanthrope.

The d&d ranger is the go-between from the wild and the civilized. So a being that talks to men as a man and the wolves as a wolf IS a ranger. The werewolf who goes between is the ranger. The werewolf that stays in one field is the barbarian or druid.

To me the ranger is a person who is part of the wilderness and the civilization. He protects each from each other and from outsiders of both.

 

[Laurefindel]

With his oath and his armour, I'm pretty sure this guy is a paladin.

Kuiil: « They really don’t like you for some reason ».

Mando: « Well, I did disintegrate, I mean smite, a few of them... »

 

[Tonguez]

it's not fictional, but is it heavily scripted and in controlled conditions.

But hey, who would risk his own life without any safety measures just so he can prove that he can do it without any safety net?

He did a alpine survival shoot in my backyard, and everyday we watched as the helicopter flew him up in the morning and back down in the afternoon so he could go back to his hotel. He also did a scene where after heading down the mountain he found a mountain stream to catch crays and then a geothermal pool to cook them in - the problem being there are no crays on the mountain and the pool he cooked them in is 20kms north.

So the episiode was fictional and became a bit of a joke locally. Now I dont doubt he has some credible skill, but so did the four local guides he had on call to help