Ranger variant

[Frostmarrow]

Inspired by the totem barbarians in the upcoming Unearthed Arcana I got an interesting idea for a ranger.

I've never felt completely right about the Favored Enemy business and I don't like the newfangled Favored Terrain either. Still, I'd like for the ranger to be a guerilla-warrior and have some abilities that would support those tactics. This is what I came up with:

The ranger loses Favored Enemy in all instances. The ranger gains, at first level Ambush and on 11th level First Strike.

Ambush: The ranger benefits from a full-round's worth of actions during a surprise round in which the ranger is not himself surprised.

Example: A ranger surprises a hobgoblin. In the surprise round the ranger can make a fullround attack with his bow. The ranger turns the hobgoblin into a pincushion.

First Strike: The ranger gains an extra standard action to be taken before the regular actions in the very first round of combat. This standard action is gained regardless whether the ranger was surprised or not.

Example: A ranger encounters an orc and a hobgoblin. The orc is surprised. The ranger wins initiative and charges the orc. The orc dies. The hobgoblin charges the ranger. The ranger survives and now it gets interesting. The ranger gains at this point a free standard action which is used to make a single attack, followed by a full-round attack. The hobgoblin is slain.

Epic considerations. At 21st level the ranger gains an extra standard action in the second round of combat too. At 31st level the ranger gains an extra standard action in the third round of combat, and so on.

Any thoughts?

 

[LazerPointer]

Hmmm....I've thought about changing the Ranger, but in a different direction.

I like the favored enemy concept, more so when the favored enemy is something that the Ranger has often faced in the past. When a fifth level Ranger suddenly takes a enemy (s/)he thinks he'll see a lot in the next levels, then it loses credibility.

I'm not so much a fan of the direction you've chosen; to me, free movements and attacks are a huge advantage.

It may seem like an extra 1d6 damage or so at 1st level, but what about when the ranger starts finding powerful items? Are you going to have to add a few "meat" monsters to every battle? Will he kill/stun/incapacitate that cool NPC you spent two hours plotting for? Will all enemies suddenly start having a level or two of Ranger, and will all PC's take one level? I know I would.

Seems like the rewards should stay closer to present combat rules.

 

[jgsugden]

As a funny coincidence, back in 3.0 I designed 'totem rangers' that gained powers from animal totems instead of spells. Every time they would normally gain a 1st level spell, they gained a new totem. Each totem had 4 tiers of abilities. When they would normally have gained their first second level spell, they instead gained the second level totem power for their first totem selection.

Totems were designed for animals (wolf totem, bear totem, eagle totem, mouse totem), seasons (summer totem, etc ..), plants (oak totem, marijuana totem, etc ...), forces of nature (wind, storms, sunlight, rivers) and elements (including paraelements).

A few examples:

Wolf totem:
1.) Make a free trip attempt on any critical hit with a melee weapon.
2.) Make a free trip attempt on any hit with a melee weapon.
3.) Increase movement by 10'.
4.) Gain the scent feat.

Winter totem:
1.) Endure elements (cold)
2.) Pass without trace in snow.
3.) Resist elements (cold) (this would now be resist enerygy cold:cl 3)
5.) Cast ice storm (CL = 1/2 ranger level) 1 / day as spell-like ability.

Oak Totem:
1.) Natural Armor +1.
2.) Natural Armor +2.
3.) Natural Armor +4.
4.) Heal a number of hit points equal to ranger each hour when resting in sunlight.

I'd probably need to rework/rebalance them for 3.5 before using them ...

 

[LazerPointer]

Would they get a new totem instead of each extra spell, or each new spell level? ex. at 4th, 6th, and 8th level, or just 4th and 8th....

Balance Issues aside, I really like the flavor.