Ranger Customization Continued

[Roman]

In a different thread we are discussing the replacement of the ranger's (and druid's) animal companion with other abilities. Some pretty good ideas have emerged, so I am wondering about other ranger powers, notably the following:

Favoured Enemies
Combat Styles
Spellcasting

In the case of the ranger, what would you replace each of the above abilities with? Mind you, I do not necessarily think that these should be replaced (though I do with spellcasting - I just don't like the flavour of the ranger as 'magical') - especially not simultaneously - it is merely to create more customization options for rangers.

 

[Baragos]

Check out the Lurker class from Dark Legacies for a "variant ranger" with no magic, but other cool powers to boot.

 

[ZuulMoG]

Favored Enemies is simply too archetypical of the ranger to ever leave, it has to stay. If you take it out, advance the rate of Combat styles, expand the feat selection, and call him an Archer or Dervisher, anything but ranger. Combat style I'm not nearly as attached to. Trade it out for Paladin's Lay on Hands + a small suite of herbal healing abilities revolving around Craft: Alchemy, Survival, Knowledge: Herbalism (or Nature), etc... The healing suite plus the combat style would make a good Combat Medic.

 

[Baragos]

You could change Favored Enemy into Favored Terrain, but I guess most would feel cheated out, because it doesn't give any bonuses directly useful in combat...Or perhaps Favored Terrain instead of Spells. Gives some logical bonuses. You could even expand a little on it, so the Ranger is effectively faster in his favored terrains (at least for overland travel).

 

[Storyteller01]

Maybe replace Favored Enemies with Skill focus feats or Skill mastery abilities (First Favored enemy = Skill focus. Second Favored enemy = Another Skill Focus bonus or skill mastery with the skill the previous Skill focus was applied to, etc)? Not quite the roguish skill monkey, but REALLY good at what they do.

Pushing my own houserule (repeatedly ), but I modified the Iaijutsu skill to make the ranged ranger more deadly (actually did it for the IK scout, since I don't use the ranger). Pretty simple: Can only be used with a ranged weapon (bow or crossbow), can only be used on a surprise action (so only one attack), and your flatfooted while you aim. You roll the skill to determine extra damage (10-14= +1d6, 15-19= +2d6, etc. Damage caps at +9d6), then you roll to hit. If you hit apply damage. Max range of this skill is the max range of the weapon you're using.

This damage doesn't stack with sneak attack damage.

I do like the idea of swapping spells for favored terrain

 

[Baragos]

Iaijutsu Idea is actually not half bad. It allows them to make that one Sniping attack that Bard made against Smaug. But I wouldn't limit it to only Surprise rounds...I'd say you have to be hiding to do it and any attempts beyond the first in a given encounter suffers a cumulative penalty (-10 to "Sniping" skill check, perhaps)

 

[Storyteller01]

Iaijutsu Idea is actually not half bad. It allows them to make that one Sniping attack that Bard made against Smaug. But I wouldn't limit it to only Surprise rounds...I'd say you have to be hiding to do it and any attempts beyond the first in a given encounter suffers a cumulative penalty (-10 to "Sniping" skill check, perhaps)

ALL PRAISE THE MIGHTY PRAISE!!! (aka, thanks for the compliment)


We were operating on the 3.0 surprise rule (DM determines the surprise). It may have been a houserule, but after the shot the sniper was allowed another hide check with appropriate modifiers (negatives for moving to a new position if they chose to, negatives for the targets knowing someone was out there, negatives to the victims Spot and Listen checks due to distance, etc). If they made the check, they get another surprise round. An elven ranger can take out a raiding party on their own with good rolls. Can you imagine what a group of Ranger/Wizard/Arcane Archers could do?? (mmmmm, True Strike...)

The balance was that heavy foliage provided hide bonuses for one and cover bonuses for the other. Distance was also a factor: -2 to Spot and Listen per 10 feet is a nice bonus, but the archer has to deal with range penalties.

 

[Baragos]

I believe that is a house rule. Surprise actions only happen at the beginning of the combat. So basically you want him to be able to do it anytime the opponent is not aware of his exact position. I think there are rules for Hiding after firing a weapon. Those could be used combined with the Iaijutsu-conversion.
It's only -1 to Spot and Listen per 10 feet IIRC.

 

[Nifft]

IMHO, Favored Enemy + Light armor + skills galore + outdoorsman really is the heart of the Ranger, especially as derived from Aragorn.

So, I'd be in favor of variant Favored Enemy mechanics, but never a replacement.

Possible variants:

1/ Your Favored Enemy list is pre-selected, or reduced. In turn, you gain a bonus to attack as well as damage.

2/ You have only a single Favored Enemy. In compensation, your weapons eventually gain Bane (your enemy) and you can eventually craft Arrows of Slaying (your enemy).

3/ You gain your bonus against a wider swath of critters -- e.g. everything with the [Fire] descriptor, all [Aquatic] critters, all Humanoids, etc. In trade, your favored enemy bonus is halved. You may choose to focus on a single Favored Enemy class, in which case you can put a total of +2 FE bonus 'points' into your single FE class at 5th, 10th, 15th & 20th level, for a total of +9 FE bonus (to damage, skills, etc.) at 20th level against only one class of critters.

4/ Your combat style and favored enemy bonus are expressed as Sneak Attack damage instead of feats & bonus damage. At 2nd, 6th & 11th levels, you gain +1d6 Sneak Attack damage against all foes. At 1st, 5th, 10th, etc. you gain +1d6 Sneak Attack, but only against your Favored Enemy choice(s). FE bonus to skills remains unchanged.

-- N

 

[Storyteller01]

It's only -1 to Spot and Listen per 10 feet IIRC.

probably is. Too many rules to memorize exactly.