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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lord Zardoz" data-source="post: 626286" data-attributes="member: 704">5 - 1)The ranger needs to be able to track from first level onwards, hence needs it as a bonus feat.5 - 2)The Ranger should have a +1 BAB/Level5 - 3)The ranger, being a rugged outdoorsman needs at least a d10 hitdie.2 - 4)The ranger needs extra feats that help him in combat, such as Point blank shot or Two Weapon Fighting1 - 5)Provided the ranger needs the feats discussed in 4, he needs them in the first 3 levels3 - 6)The ranger needs to be able to cast some divine spells (disregard the spell Animal friendship for this question)4 - 7)The ranger needs 6 skill points per level to fulfill his role2 - 8)The ranger needs a good reflex save3 - 9)The ranger needs to be able to acquire an animal companion4 - 10)The ranger must not have multiclass restrictions5 - 11)The ranger needs to be a core class, as opposed to being a prestige class4 - 12)The ranger needs to either be forced or encouraged to wear light armourMy own thoughts on the above:I dont see the need for the Ranger to be a melee powerhouse.  We already have the Fighter and the Barbarian for that.  I dont see any great reason for the Ranger to need to get alot of Combat feats like the Two Weapon Fighting skills or Archery skills.  A ranger should have wilderness oriented survival abilities.  However, he is not a "Druidic Paladin".  The class as written in the PHB seems to put him into that role.I see a Ranger as being a Warrior who serves the needs of civilization in the Wilderness by keeping an eye on monsters and humanoids.  They protect civilization from the worst that civilization has to offer.  To that end, they learn the ways of the wilderness and use those ways against the enemies of their society.  For humans, this means keeping an eye on Orcs, Goblins and Giants.  For Elves, add human invaders to that list.The special abilities in the PHB do not do an adequate job of reflecting that role.  The Favored enemy progression is at best marginally useful.  You are encouraged to either choose too powerful enemies at 1st level to have a good bonus for enemies at 15th and 20th, or you end up at 20th level with a +5 to hit goblins that you dont need.  The two weapon fighting is nice, but the artifical armor restriction is stupid, and it does not reflect the class role.  The spells are the most over looked ability, since they do improve with level, but they do not help much with combat.  Paladins not only get the spells, but they also get a healing ability and a turning ability that improves rationally with the passage of time.If the rangers favored enemy bonus had a better progression scheme that scaled in utility with level, it would be much improved.  Something to the tune of +1 per 4 levels, and the bonus applies to all favored enemies.  Add to that some bonus feats that make sense.  Feats like Endurance, Run, Tracking, Quick Draw, Blind Fight, Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes, and Iron Will.  Those are all very decent feats and they free up the character progression feats to allow the Ranger to take the combat feats instead.  Maybe make Alertness a class feature.  Maybe give them +6 skill points if you take the spells away, otherwise keep it at +4 and start the spells per day at 1 instead of zero.  Or leave the spells and skills alone if the rest of the above changes are made.The result would be an effective warrior who is very effective against certain enemies, able to fight in very adverse conditions in nearly any terrain.  He would be very physically cabapable, and able to perform some useful magic.  Most importantly, he class defining abilities (The favored enemy and bonus feats)  would scale with level much better.  And the only time such a Ranger could possibly out perform a Fighter or Barbarian in combat would be when he is fighting against a favored enemy.END COMMUNICATION</blockquote>

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