[Partial OT] The Monte Cook Ranger
- Thread starter -Ekimus-
- Start date
333 Dave
First Post
Last edited:
jollyninja
First Post
no it's not broken, basically it takes away the front loaded and limiting aspect of the class and also gives the powergamer inside each of us reasons to take more then a single level. get it, use it, love it.
mattcolville
Adventurer
Matt's Ranger, prototype
So far, the party has an NPC ranger using the class below, so we're still working out the kinks. Let me know what you think...Hmmm...can't seem to get the text to format right. Ah well, you can figure it out.
This was mostly inspired by A: some of the aforementioned nonsensical abilities of the PHB ranger and B: that dude in the 13th Warrior who could tell, just by listening and smelling, that there was a rider approaching, that he was well fed on a light mount, and wearing perfume. Now *that's* a ranger!
Matt's Ranger
The Ranger is a master hunter of the wilderness. His lore is the lore of beasts and monsters, no creature that travels in the forest can keep their presence from him, and where he walks, none can follow.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d10.
Class Skills: The ranger's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Animal Empathy (Cha, exclusive skill), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intuit Direction (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Use Rope (Dex), and Wilderness Lore (Wis).
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A ranger is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields.
TABLE: The Ranger
Base Fort Ref Will
Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save Special
----- ------------ ---- ---- ---- -------
1 +1 +0 +2 +0 Creature Lore
Live Off The Land
Track (bonus feat)
2 +2 +0 +3 +0 Studied Hunter
3 +3 +1 +3 +1 Wilderness Awareness
4 +4 +1 +4 +1 Free Climber
5 +5 +1 +4 +1 Studied Combatant
6 +6/+1 +2 +5 +2
7 +7/+2 +2 +5 +2 Unhindered Movement
8 +8/+3 +2 +6 +2
9 +9/+4 +3 +6 +3
10 +10/+5 +3 +7 +3
11 +11/+6/+1 +3 +7 +3 Camouflage
12 +12/+7/+2 +4 +8 +4
13 +13/+8/+3 +4 +8 +4 Master Hunter
14 +14/+9/+4 +4 +9 +4
15 +15/+10/+5 +5 +9 +5 Master Combatant
16 +16/+11/+6/+1 +5 +10 +5
17 +17/+12/+7/+2 +5 +10 +5 Find The Weakness
18 +18/+13/+8/+3 +6 +11 +6
19 +19/+14/+9/+4 +6 +11 +6
20 +20/+15/+10/+5 +6 +12 +6
Creature Lore: A ranger can make a Wilderness Lore check to learn the secrets of any creatures of the following type: Animals (DC: 10), Beasts (DC: 10), Dragons (DC: 25), Fey (DC: 20), Giants (DC: 15), Humanoids (goblinoids and reptilian only) (DC: 10), Magical Beasts (DC: 15), Monstrous Humanoids (DC: 15), Plants (DC: 10), or Vermin (DC: 10). If successful, the player may examine the creature's entry in the Monster Manual during play. Furthermore, the ranger instinctively knows if a specimen he encounters is unusual in some way, though he does not know in what manner the creature is unusual.
When using this ability, the player should not simply read the numbers out of the MM, but rather find a way to communicate the data to the party ‘in character.’ For instance, a Bugbear with more HP than the party’s toughest fighter might be described as “tougher than any of us” or “a little bit tougher than you, Dave.” A creature with the incorporeal ability might be described as “immune to any of our weapons” or “a creature susceptible to magic weapons only.”
Live Off The Land: The Ranger never wants for food. By spending one hour hunting, he can provide a day's food for a number of people equal to his ranger levels without making a Wilderness Lore check. If he is accompanied by anyone other than another ranger, this ability will not function.
Studied Hunter: Whereas track allows a ranger to follow a set of tracks, Studied Hunter allows a ranger, after a successful Creature Lore check, to examine an area in which a group or individual he is tracking have passed and know what they did while there. A successful Search check tells the ranger how many creatures passed this way, what type of creatures they were, and what they did. He would recognize that two groups met and talked, met and fought, that one group ambushed the other, or that one group subdued the other without a fight. If there was a battle, the ranger knows what weapons were employed and how the battle progressed, including who was victorious.
The search check for this ability is opposed by the hide result and modified by terrain and time as follows.
New Use For Hide: A character or group can use Hide to thwart a ranger’s Studied Hunter ability. By declaring their intent to ‘cover their tracks,’ an individual or group can make a Hide test. The result acts as the DC for Studied Hunter.
Wilderness Awareness: The others talk, ride, make jokes, pass the time. But a Ranger is always acutely conscious of his surroundings. He can detect the presence of any predatory creature or fellow humanoid at a maximum range equal to 50' plus 10' for every ranger level. This is automatic. By concentrating for one round, he knows how many there are. By concentrating for two rounds, he knows what size creatures they are. After three rounds of concentration, he may make a Creature Lore check to determine exactly what kind of creatures they are. After four rounds of concentration, he knows if they're closing in, maintaining their distance, or fleeing and he knows if they are aware of the group's presence or not.
Free Climber: At 4th level, the ranger gains +10 to any attempt to climb a tree or any natural rock.
Studied Combatant: At 5th level, creatures affected by his Creature Lore ability cannot flank a ranger. His weapons are considered keen against these creatures if they are not keen already, and he is not subject to critical hits by these creature types.
Unhindered Movement: At 7th level, the ranger ignores terrain penalties to movement.
Camouflage: at 11th level, a ranger moves as though wearing boots of elvenkind and a cloak of elvenkind. This is a supernatural ability.
Master Hunter: At 13th level, the ranger's Hunter ability can be used against those who hide their traces using magical or supernatural means such as pass without trace.
Master Combatant: at 15th level, the ranger gains an extra attack per round against any of the creatures affected by his Creature Lore ability.
Find The Weakness: at 17th level, a Ranger can, once per day, make a Coup De Grace attack against any creature affected by his Creature Lore ability. The creature need not be stunned or helpless, the attack must be armed, but can be a melee or ranged attack.
So far, the party has an NPC ranger using the class below, so we're still working out the kinks. Let me know what you think...Hmmm...can't seem to get the text to format right. Ah well, you can figure it out.
This was mostly inspired by A: some of the aforementioned nonsensical abilities of the PHB ranger and B: that dude in the 13th Warrior who could tell, just by listening and smelling, that there was a rider approaching, that he was well fed on a light mount, and wearing perfume. Now *that's* a ranger!
Matt's Ranger
The Ranger is a master hunter of the wilderness. His lore is the lore of beasts and monsters, no creature that travels in the forest can keep their presence from him, and where he walks, none can follow.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d10.
Class Skills: The ranger's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Animal Empathy (Cha, exclusive skill), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intuit Direction (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Use Rope (Dex), and Wilderness Lore (Wis).
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A ranger is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields.
TABLE: The Ranger
Base Fort Ref Will
Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save Special
----- ------------ ---- ---- ---- -------
1 +1 +0 +2 +0 Creature Lore
Live Off The Land
Track (bonus feat)
2 +2 +0 +3 +0 Studied Hunter
3 +3 +1 +3 +1 Wilderness Awareness
4 +4 +1 +4 +1 Free Climber
5 +5 +1 +4 +1 Studied Combatant
6 +6/+1 +2 +5 +2
7 +7/+2 +2 +5 +2 Unhindered Movement
8 +8/+3 +2 +6 +2
9 +9/+4 +3 +6 +3
10 +10/+5 +3 +7 +3
11 +11/+6/+1 +3 +7 +3 Camouflage
12 +12/+7/+2 +4 +8 +4
13 +13/+8/+3 +4 +8 +4 Master Hunter
14 +14/+9/+4 +4 +9 +4
15 +15/+10/+5 +5 +9 +5 Master Combatant
16 +16/+11/+6/+1 +5 +10 +5
17 +17/+12/+7/+2 +5 +10 +5 Find The Weakness
18 +18/+13/+8/+3 +6 +11 +6
19 +19/+14/+9/+4 +6 +11 +6
20 +20/+15/+10/+5 +6 +12 +6
Creature Lore: A ranger can make a Wilderness Lore check to learn the secrets of any creatures of the following type: Animals (DC: 10), Beasts (DC: 10), Dragons (DC: 25), Fey (DC: 20), Giants (DC: 15), Humanoids (goblinoids and reptilian only) (DC: 10), Magical Beasts (DC: 15), Monstrous Humanoids (DC: 15), Plants (DC: 10), or Vermin (DC: 10). If successful, the player may examine the creature's entry in the Monster Manual during play. Furthermore, the ranger instinctively knows if a specimen he encounters is unusual in some way, though he does not know in what manner the creature is unusual.
When using this ability, the player should not simply read the numbers out of the MM, but rather find a way to communicate the data to the party ‘in character.’ For instance, a Bugbear with more HP than the party’s toughest fighter might be described as “tougher than any of us” or “a little bit tougher than you, Dave.” A creature with the incorporeal ability might be described as “immune to any of our weapons” or “a creature susceptible to magic weapons only.”
Live Off The Land: The Ranger never wants for food. By spending one hour hunting, he can provide a day's food for a number of people equal to his ranger levels without making a Wilderness Lore check. If he is accompanied by anyone other than another ranger, this ability will not function.
Studied Hunter: Whereas track allows a ranger to follow a set of tracks, Studied Hunter allows a ranger, after a successful Creature Lore check, to examine an area in which a group or individual he is tracking have passed and know what they did while there. A successful Search check tells the ranger how many creatures passed this way, what type of creatures they were, and what they did. He would recognize that two groups met and talked, met and fought, that one group ambushed the other, or that one group subdued the other without a fight. If there was a battle, the ranger knows what weapons were employed and how the battle progressed, including who was victorious.
The search check for this ability is opposed by the hide result and modified by terrain and time as follows.
New Use For Hide: A character or group can use Hide to thwart a ranger’s Studied Hunter ability. By declaring their intent to ‘cover their tracks,’ an individual or group can make a Hide test. The result acts as the DC for Studied Hunter.
Wilderness Awareness: The others talk, ride, make jokes, pass the time. But a Ranger is always acutely conscious of his surroundings. He can detect the presence of any predatory creature or fellow humanoid at a maximum range equal to 50' plus 10' for every ranger level. This is automatic. By concentrating for one round, he knows how many there are. By concentrating for two rounds, he knows what size creatures they are. After three rounds of concentration, he may make a Creature Lore check to determine exactly what kind of creatures they are. After four rounds of concentration, he knows if they're closing in, maintaining their distance, or fleeing and he knows if they are aware of the group's presence or not.
Free Climber: At 4th level, the ranger gains +10 to any attempt to climb a tree or any natural rock.
Studied Combatant: At 5th level, creatures affected by his Creature Lore ability cannot flank a ranger. His weapons are considered keen against these creatures if they are not keen already, and he is not subject to critical hits by these creature types.
Unhindered Movement: At 7th level, the ranger ignores terrain penalties to movement.
Camouflage: at 11th level, a ranger moves as though wearing boots of elvenkind and a cloak of elvenkind. This is a supernatural ability.
Master Hunter: At 13th level, the ranger's Hunter ability can be used against those who hide their traces using magical or supernatural means such as pass without trace.
Master Combatant: at 15th level, the ranger gains an extra attack per round against any of the creatures affected by his Creature Lore ability.
Find The Weakness: at 17th level, a Ranger can, once per day, make a Coup De Grace attack against any creature affected by his Creature Lore ability. The creature need not be stunned or helpless, the attack must be armed, but can be a melee or ranged attack.
Ron
Explorer
Matt's ranger sounds cool and I would love to play one, but isn't it a little too powerful?
I played a Monte's ranger up to the 8th level. It appears to be balanced with other classes and it does solve some of the official ranger problems such as the number of free feats in the first level. Even so, I wouldn't play another character of this class. First, Monte's Ranger receives a lot of feats as level increases. Perhaps not as many as the fighter, but still too much to look like one. I imagine the fighter as a warrior skilled in several manuevers and thus the need of receiving so many feats. My vision of the ranger is more of a wild warrior, it may strong and resistant, thus justifying his BAB and hit points, but lacking the more subtle skills of combat. Also, Monte's ranger retain the stupid Favored Enemy virtual feat, although Monte Cook himself stated that he didn't liked it.
I played a Monte's ranger up to the 8th level. It appears to be balanced with other classes and it does solve some of the official ranger problems such as the number of free feats in the first level. Even so, I wouldn't play another character of this class. First, Monte's Ranger receives a lot of feats as level increases. Perhaps not as many as the fighter, but still too much to look like one. I imagine the fighter as a warrior skilled in several manuevers and thus the need of receiving so many feats. My vision of the ranger is more of a wild warrior, it may strong and resistant, thus justifying his BAB and hit points, but lacking the more subtle skills of combat. Also, Monte's ranger retain the stupid Favored Enemy virtual feat, although Monte Cook himself stated that he didn't liked it.
Desdichado
Hero
I like some of the special abilities of "Matt's Ranger" but the creature lore just doesn't do it for me. I guess as a DM I wouldn't want players looking at stats in the MM. The DM could pass "in character" notes to the ranger rather than the ranger making in character notes to the other players.
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