BookBarbarian
Expert Long Rester
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?
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?
