I'm in need of Ranger help!

[Haggar the Horrible]

I need some help with a new ranger of mine. We start the campaign tomorrow (3/1/02) and I need some advise on how to play a ranger.

I've already picked the skills, feats, stats, ect. What I need is advise on the roleplaying part. He's a True Neutral Bounty-Hunter style ranger.

He's 3rd level and has a deep hatred for Orcs, but I can't think of anything better. Any help would be really appreciated.

 

[anglachel]

Give him a reason to hate the Orcs. Even better, tie in the same story for why he became a ranger. Perhaps his family were farmers killed by Orcs when he was a teenager. He then had to learn to live off the land on his own at a young age. He could have turned to nature as a way off combatting the (in his mind) unnatural Orcs.

Of course, I have a tendency to like the tragic hero.

 

[William Ronald]

Most characters have some training. So, going with anglachel's idea, maybe a ranger or two helped train him. Possibly this character serves as a mentor to the character. Is there relationship close? Has their been a falling out? Try to have some NPCs for this new character to interact with. Everyone cares about something or someone.

Characters, like real people, should have motivations. Stats are useful, but they are only a tool in creating a character.

 

[Gargoyle]

Check out table 5-5 in the Dungeon Master's Guide, the table of One Hundred Traits.

It's meant for NPCs, but I encourage my players to roll on it three or four times for their characters. Feel free to ignore your rolls if you don't like them and roll again, or just pick out some traits.

It's a good way to get started.

The next thing I would do is write up three short paragraphs describing:
1) Personality (use the traits you rolled up to help)
2) History (just make up places and people)
3) Appearance (a good description, the kind you will give when your character first walks in)

It probably doesn't matter to you as a player, but as a DM, I give my players a 100XP bonus for each of the above paragraphs at the beginning of a campaign. (and would probably increase that for characters higher than 1st).

Other roleplaying tips:

- Use a different voice while "In Character". Everyone should instantly know whether you're speaking in character or not.
- Don't be afraid to ham it up, it's fun (but let others have a chance, don't hog the DM's time)
- Stay In character. Instead of saying "I tell the orc I'm really mad.", yell "You godforsaken hellspawn, I'm going to hack you to pieces!!"
- Stick with your character's personality for a long time - don't change it frivolously. That way, when something significant happens, and his personality changes because of it, it will be meaningful to everyone.

Roleplaying takes some effort and is learned over time, but is well worth it.

If you post your ranger's stats, others might have some additional advice.

 

[Greatwyrm]

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

Here's a little technique I was taught for developing characters in fiction writing. Ask yourself at least 5 "Why?" questions about major points of the character. In your case...

Why ranger, instead of barbarian or fighter?

Why does he have ranks in one skill, but none in a similar one?

Why is he True Neutral? (aside: Does anybody really play TN?)

As mentioned before, why orcs?

Why a bounty-hunter and not a vigilante?

Why did he choose the feats he did?

You can go even further and ask why about the answers you just got. (e.g. OK, you hate orcs because they stole your sister. Why did they take her and leave you alive?) Keep this up for a while and you'll know all you ever wanted to about your character. You have to know his past to know how he'll handle his future.

 

[jollyninja]

if you are having trouble with the whole ranger thing, why compound it with true neutral as the allignment, that makes it hard to think of motivation to keep breathing let alone hating anything. perhaps you hate orcs because they compete with your people for territory. instead of hatred, just think of him as a cold efficient killer of orcs, that is what he was trained to do, he does it with uncaring efficiency never considering the morality behind his genocidal tendencies. my true neutral characters tend to be quiet because as soon as people begin talking, they tend to start leaning toward the tendencies of the other allignments. try playing him as though he is simply an observer who happens to be participating because he is interested in discovering what will happen next. that should assist with the allignment but there is no really typical ranger personality. border guards, explorers, assassins, trappers, and everyone else who might spend time in the wilderness could become a ranger. create a character in your mind and place the class onto that peronality

 

[Plane Sailing]

Which skills does he have?

 

[LostSoul]

Here's an idea:

Maybe he was part of a bandit group that lived near an orc hive. They were made up of farmers and settlers who had thier homes (and lives) destroyed by the orcs. The local government, trying to work out some kind of peace with the orcs, would not help them. They decided to head for the hills and live life thier way, on thier own terms. This is where your character got his training.

Eventually a group of "good" knights decided the bandits were too much trouble and destroyed them. Your character escaped the carnage.

Hopefully that will help get a little inspiration going.

True Neutrals aren't an odd alignment. They care about what is important to them, not external things. They don't go out of thier way to help or hurt anyone and they are loyal to those they know. Just like most real people.