I need help and advice for a ranger character.

[AF Stripes]

Hello all. Been using ENworld for a little while now and you guys are the cats pajama's for stuff like this.

I need advice on what to do with a ranger in my current DM's 3.5 Forgotten Realms campaign. He prefers the idea of a ranger with a more natural, 'survive anywhere' ideal. He uses a number of variants from Unearthed Arcana to do this. The first being the removal of Spells from the class. I have no quarrel with this since they are weak (in my opinion) anyway. The second is the removal of the Animal Companion for Distracting Shot (PHB2) which is also more to my liking since they aren't nearly as powerful as a druids. The final bit is the replacement of Favored Enemy for Favored Terrain. All of these are very well placed and i don't have a real problem with them in game play.

I'm running a Poisen Dusk Lizardfolk in the FR campaign. He's got great hide and sneaky scout like skills that the Favored Terrain will use well. The problem with the ranger is that, as i did some future class progression planning, he was just terribly weak at combat. I can handle scouting just fine, but i DO want to be able to do more then toss some arrows to distract our enemies.

Here is another problem. DM has restricted the classes to the PHB core classes so it cuts me off from taking badly needed classes in Scout. I'm working on this with him diligently but im not sure how it will pan out. I am planning on entering into The Order of the Bow Initiate asap to gain some extra advantages in combat (as he is an archer build), but that's a ways off.

I need solutions to make this little lizardfolk more effective for the ranger that he is with those substitutions in effect in the event that the DM simply won't allow me to take scout. I plan on taking more ranger classes and eventually going into the Order of the Bow Initiate as well as Horizon Walker but Scout levels would be soooo helpful for this game...

So, after that long winded introduction to my situation, any idea's?

 

[Thunderfoot]

My first thought - WELCOME - I notice the single post marker.
Second, don't poison dusk lizards have a natural poison ability? Poison coat a few arrows and your combat ability should be fine. The other thing would be to play up the support role. If the campaign is combat oriented, you've handicapped yourself and well, you'll have to deal with it.

If the campaign is a mix of role play and combat, I think the fact that you are a lizardman ranger in a party would be enough to keep it interesting even if you lack tactical prowess at high levels. besides, with many shot, etc as feats, I don't think you are as handicapped as you think you are. (unless you are equating sheer damage numbers with effective, in which case, stop it. )

Rangers are skirmish experts. You area light infantry, you track, hit and fade. Much like the US Army Rangers of today. They are an elite light infantry force, but they suck against tanks, rocket attacks and long term engagements, it's not what they are trained to do. Long weeks on patrol, scouting, intelligence gathering, harassing enemy troop formations, these should be your focus. If you make friends with the party's rogue you two should be an unstoppable fighting team - you hit and fade from afar and then the rogue hits and fades close in. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Hope this helps.

 

[AF Stripes]

Ah thats another thing. Ready for this? He's replaced the Rogue's Sneak Attack with an extra feat per every level gained with the a bonus fighter feat...but that's fodder.

Its not combat oriented on its own because we all value you good story telling and flow. It will be good for the most part, but the frustration of being a skirmisher without being able to access the scout class feature of Skirmish really puts me in a bind.

 

[Thunderfoot]

NO SNEAK ATTACK???
BLASPHEMY !!!!

This DM must be hunted and killed, preferably from behind, pronto!

True, I as a DM, loved the options of the scout class and made it part of the options that I allowed (and I didn't allow PrCs, unless they fit the world (which meant a lot of the PrC faves around here weren't included)).

Frustrated is unfortunately a feeling that I fear you are going to have to live with. Please tell me he's "nerfed" spell casters too, otherwise, poison his food when he's not looking.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Hmm...you could take a couple of levels as a SpecWiz: Diviner, SpecWiz: Transmuter or possibly Sorcerer to get arcane spells to make up for the features you've lost.

Get the spell True Strike- that will let you be sure that your (poisoned?) alpha strike will land, increasing your efficacy. Something like Grease would keep your targets from taking cover. Mirror Image would reduce the efficacy of returned fire. Shield will boost your AC while your hands are occupied with your bow & arrow...and will suck up pesky Magic Missiles.

 

[Alba]

hmm...you could take a couple of levels as a specwiz: Diviner, specwiz: Transmuter or possibly sorcerer to get arcane spells to make up for the features you've lost.

Get the spell true strike- that will let you be sure that your (poisoned?) alpha strike will land, increasing your efficacy. Something like grease would keep your targets from taking cover. Mirror image would reduce the efficacy of returned fire. Shield will boost your ac while your hands are occupied with your bow & arrow...and will suck up pesky magic missiles.

dude i didnt get you point what want to say exactly ?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

dude i didnt get you point what want to say exactly ?

I'm saying the modified class he's playing gives up a lot, and it may be worthwhile to take a dip into an arcane spellcasting class to augment his archery.

 

[Greenfield]

He's saying to add a wizard level in one flavor or another. It gives you True Strike, and a number of other useful spells. Ghost Sound is a lovely distraction when stealthing, BTW.

It also gives you access to a whole range of arcane items that were previously unavailable. Wands work now.

A Shield spell will add to your AC when using that two handed melee technique, and the uses/abuses for Prestodigitation are almost endless.

If you want to make that bow deadly, invest in Arrows of Spell Storing. Spell Storing is a +1 enhancement, so they can be a bit pricey, but you get 50 for the price and when you really need that extra oomph, there's nothing quite like being able to add 12 dice of fire damage to your arrow shot. (Scorching Ray fits in the arrow with room to spare, and tops out at 3 shots of 4D6 each, when your party's caster gets high enough level to charge them with it. Add a Shocking Grasp to fill in the chinks and you get some serious knock down power from a single shot.) There are electrical, acid and cold variants on the Scorching Ray, so you can mix up your arsenal as you choose.

I usually keep a few Cure Serious spells stuck in them as well. If you need the healing, just prick yourself with the arrow. Since it wasn't fired, the magic of the arrow isn't ruined, and it can be recharged to use again later. It also adds that nasty surprise for the occasional undead.

Note to self: Carry a few Lesser Restorations in there while I'm at it.

 

[Dandu]

I plan on taking more ranger classes and eventually going into the Order of the Bow Initiate as well as Horizon Walker but Scout levels would be soooo helpful for this game...

3.0 or 3.5 Order of the Bow Initiate? The former's good, the latter got nerfed to the point of pointlessness. Close Combat Shot can be duplicated by a single first (or was it second?) level Ranger spell from the Spell Compendium called Arrowmind, which in and of itself is a pretty good reason to keep Ranger spells. Along with Hunter's Eye, which grants +1d6 sneak attack/3 caster levels and Sniper's Shot, which removes the 30 ft range limit on sneak attacks.

I'd talk to your DM about allowing Ranger spells back in if you can get SpC Ranger spells.

Rangers are skirmish experts. You area light infantry, you track, hit and fade. Much like the US Army Rangers of today. They are an elite light infantry force, but they suck against tanks, rocket attacks and long term engagements, it's not what they are trained to do.

Good analogy.

Here's the problem with playing light infantry in mid to high level D&D: you fight against an awful lot of tanks in combat that has been described as "rocket tag".

 

[kitcik]

If the DM nerfed all the non-casting classes (?????) then play a caster. Grab a druid and take spells / feats to make im ranger-ish.