Gray's 1st Question(s)

[Jackinthegreen]

PHB is 3.0 everything else is 3.5, guess I'll have to DL the SRD.
So two-handed weapon and the power attack tree then?

You can find used, but often well-kept, D&D books for cheap on places like Ebay. The SRD doesn't have everything since some things like the Beholder and experience system is private domain and WotC restricts access unless you buy their merchandise. There are some freebie possibilities, but ENworld doesn't condone chatting about them except to say we can't chat about them.

And if you're going to go 2H and Power Attack on a Ranger, I'd recommend the Archery combat style to complement smashing things in melee. Favored Enemy is a much nicer boost on a 2H weapon after all. TWF is kinda useless with 2H weapons except for some incredibly esoteric builds with oddball prestige classes. Someone on the official D&D forum talked about a player who uses a double scimitar and is able to treat each end as a 2-handed weapon for Power Attack thanks to a prestige class ability. It's "blasting" so it's not as useful as other spells that control the battlefield, but smashing things is pretty good anyway.

 

[Gray Lensman]

Oh going with a two handed weapon I would definately go with the archery style, although the background so far has her "realm" being densely forrested hills which would cut down on archery use.

And I guess the consensus of #4 is why go druid at all (or go druid all the way, I get it).

Speaking of Ranger's Realms or Area of Operations

#5 How much area do you think a lower level ranger would cover given densely forrested hills as the major terrain type?

 

[kitcik]

Okay, from the onset I will specify that I want to become VERY proficient at 3.5 character design. I love this system (and no, I have not tried and will not be buying 4e), the ability to use feats and skills and dipping into other classes to create unique characters has really got me going. I realize that the old proficiency system made this somewhat possible, but it has nowhere near this level of flexibility.

I felt the same way about a year ago and created this thread. Maybe it will give you a kickstart on things you can do.

 

[Dandu]

Oh going with a two handed weapon I would definately go with the archery style

Let's think about that a bit more.

Powergaming is all about finding synergy. In your case, you have the ability to make many attacks of opportunity. This means that you should try and cover as much area as possible, ie, use a reach weapon. However, that means you will be unable to hit someone right next to you unless you use a spiked chain. That necessitates armor spikes.

So one possibility is to TWF with a guisarme in your hands and armor spikes so you threaten as many squares as possible. It's what Fari does.

 

[domino]

Speaking of Ranger's Realms or Area of Operations

#5 How much area do you think a lower level ranger would cover given densely forrested hills as the major terrain type?

I'd say a 36x36 mile swath of land. That would allow him to get from the middle of his range to anywhere in it in a day, following trails and roads as he may have.

 

[Gray Lensman]

Let's think about that a bit more.

Powergaming is all about finding synergy. In your case, you have the ability to make many attacks of opportunity. This means that you should try and cover as much area as possible, ie, use a reach weapon. However, that means you will be unable to hit someone right next to you unless you use a spiked chain. That necessitates armor spikes.

So one possibility is to TWF with a guisarme in your hands and armor spikes so you threaten as many squares as possible. It's what Fari does.

If I take the spiked chain what would you say about the combat finesse tree?

 

[Gray Lensman]

I'd say a 36x36 mile swath of land. That would allow him to get from the middle of his range to anywhere in it in a day, following trails and roads as he may have.

I was think more like 3 days from one side to the other (or maybe slighlty more). This is foot speed though. mounted would be different.

 

[Dandu]

If I take the spiked chain what would you say about the combat finesse tree?

No point considering your Str should be higher than your Dex for a front line combatant.

 

[domino]

I was think more like 3 days from one side to the other (or maybe slighlty more). This is foot speed though. mounted would be different.

SRD:Movement - D&D Wiki would give you an idea of what the speeds are of different creatures through different types of terrain, and you can pick whatever timespan you want to be able to cross the range in.

 

[Arrowhawk]

Okay, from the onset I will specify that I want to become VERY proficient at 3.5 character design.

I'm going to say something that's not going to be popular, but hopefully it will plant a seed. D&D is fun, not because of your build, but because your character serves a useful and necessary purpose. In a PnP game...any DM worth a snot should tailor the campaign utilize the skills of your class. A pure Ranger provides lot of utility and can poentially be much more rewarding than some optimized build.

Grant it, for video games usually they are only about the combat. If your DM is running nothing but hack'n'slash, then by all means muchkin out. But, imo, the build aspect of 3.x came at the price of undermining the concept of having a duty within the party and being the only one who could do it.

Don't misconstrue this post. I'm not down on 3.5. It made the game much easier to DM. I really think the BAB and Saving Throw changes were tremendous. But D&D just killed the benefit of staying with one class...especially that of the Ranger.

For reasons I've never seen explained, the Ranger got royally boned by WotC in 3.5 They really just gutted it. I would recommend that if you like Ranger, use the Pathfinder progression, or work with your DM to provide more bonuses for staying pure.

In addition, I would make one other change....convince your DM that if you stay pure Ranger, you get BOTH combat styles. We do this in our campaign. Especially if you don't use the Pathfinder progression. Two Weapon Fighting is so weak for pure Rangers, there is absolutely no reason not to let Rangers get both feats at every stage. If you multiclass, then you should have to pick one or the other and then that choice is permanent. As people have suggested, it is almost criminal that WotC offered the TWF to Rangers at the expense of Archery.

The reason to play a Ranger is because of the role you want to play, not because it is part of an optimal build.