D&D General Ranger, Why Do You Guard the Frontier?

Rangers are warriors who roam the wilds defending civilization against monsters. Determining why your ranger lives such a rough life may open up new roleplaying opportunities for you to explore and offer new ideas for your GM to incorporate into her world.

Image courtesy of Deviant Art Creative Commons​

Rangers hail from a variety of backgrounds. They share in a common a willingness to both survive in the wilds away from civilization and to fight the enemies that prowl the frontier. Here are d12 reasons your ranger might prowl the wilderness.

1. Angry all the time. You have a temper. And you are skilled in killing people. It hasn’t been a safe combination in crowded settlements. So you roam the wilds and kill the enemies who threaten the settlements and the people you’ve chosen to avoid.
2. Falsely accused. They say you killed a man in cold blood. You were going to hang, no question. So you fled into the wilds. Whether you dream of trying to clear your name or not, you help greenhorns who stumble into your home and need help while you avoid the noose.
3. Forgotten nobility. You believe you are descended from an ancient line of nobility whose realm has fallen and whose people have been scattered. You guard the kingdoms of other people since yours has fallen.
4. Good at killing. You have a knack for killing people. You may not like it or you might actually enjoy it. Either way, you’ve decided working in the wilds makes it easier to find enemies that need to be killed and in larger numbers. You’ve never been happier.
5. Just a job. Guarding the frontier means you are in charge most of the time. Your success and survival are tied to just you and your decisions and that suits you just fine. Anything to avoid haughty nobles, corrupt watch, and drunken louts.
6. Loner. You don’t like many people or you don’t like crowds of people. There are less people in the wilds and your enemies are usually easier to spot and kill. You avoid going into settlements whenever possible.
7. Lost it all. Whatever you once had is now gone. Plague may have taken your family, a fire your home, or war your homeland. When in settlements you tend to get angry while off in the wilds you are simply quiet and melancholy so you try to avoid civilization.
8. Loves the wilds. You love the sound of the wind through trees, the crashing noise of waterfalls, the moon and stars on a dark night, and fresh air to breathe. You’re willing to fight for your small piece of the wilderness.
9. Running from the past. Something haunts you. Maybe you left behind your family, deserted from an army, refused a noble’s order, or risked a forbidden romance. Now you run and you cannot go back. If the bounty hunters close in it is time to move on.
10. Thrill of adventure. You love canoeing through rapids, scaling cliffs, traversing overgrown forests, swimming in oceans, exploring underground caves, and treading where no civilized person has walked before. You likely enjoy a good scrap too.
11. Trying to forget. Maybe you fought in wars and have memories you want to forget. You might have been an assassin for the realm and you tired of killing. You might have served on the watch and burned out while carting off knifed drunks from taverns and slain prostitutes killed by violent men. The wilderness is much quieter and the monsters here make more sense to you and are easier to deal with.
12. Wanderlust. You must see what is over the next hill, around the next river bend, and over the next mountain. If you stay in one place too long you become agitated and unsettled until you set out for somewhere new.

Some of these ideas will work better if you work with your GM to incorporate them into adventures. Your ranger will need at times to accompany his adventuring companions into settlements, but he will always be eager to leave civilization behind and return to the wilderness he calls home.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

44. You are an omen-watcher, living a life devoted to understanding every tremor of every leaf, every twitch of every animal, every water ripple, wind gust, and star track in hopes of seeing the fulfillment of The Prophesy.

 

[MarkB]

45. You grew up here, and are just following in your parents' lifestyle.

46. You are guarding your fellow orcs' and goblinoids' tribal lands against the encroachment of those trespassing humanoids.

 

[Dioltach]

47. You're actually just lost.

 

[bedir than]

48. Your dog started chasing a squirrel and the two of you never stopped

 

[MechaTarrasque]

49. A ranger saved your life when you were a kid and you want to follow in her footsteps.
50. A paladin saved your life when you were a kid, but when you asked about how to be a paladin, he said "swear an oath", but your mother raised you not to curse. When you told the paladin that, he said you were ranger material.

 

[Dire Bare]

Maybe they don't like to socialize with city folk or rural country folk.

Yeah, anti-social.

Being anti-social doesn't mean you are never social with anyone, or that you are a misanthrope. The word's use is actually a bit vague, being anti-social at it's extreme can be misanthropy, but at it's mildest is essentially being an introvert.

 

[Dire Bare]

Likewise Aragorn's people. Literally the primary origin of the Ranger character is large military organisations which happen to operate in wilderness areas. Aragorn is perceived by many of the folks he protects as being a dangerous, antisocial loner, when in fact he's a highly cultured scholar and leader.

These things are not mutually exclusive. Aragorn is a member of the "Rangers of the North", but we never meet any of the other rangers as they all tend to work solo (or, at least Aragorn does). Aragorn is most definitely a scholar and leader, he also enjoys his time with the elves in Rivendell (or at least, with one of the elves in particular). But he is also dangerous (to evil!) and more than a bit anti-social, in the sense he comes across as an introvert uncomfortable with the trappings of civilization (human and elven) and his responsibilities as heir-to-the-throne. His reputation as "Strider" is one he leans into.

Or at least, that's my interpretation of the character having not read the books for decades and taking in Viggo Mortensen's performance in the movies.

 

[Marandahir]

51. You manage the parks and woodlands within the urban metropolis so that the people can relax and enjoy their time off work without worry of being mugged, attack by a Twig Blight or Myconid infestation, or taken captive by Robin o' the Wood and her "merry folk." You also collect tithes from and bring in people you catch illegally logging or hunting in the parks.

52. You ARE Robin o' the Wood or one of her "merry folk," and besides robbing the rich and giving to the poor, you also practice swordsmanship, archery, and heal the sick and injured in your woodland camp within the urban metropolis – especially since that wins you the good will of the common folk in your mad crusade against the Sheriff and his "Park Rangers."

 

[PsyzhranV2]

Yeah, anti-social.

Being anti-social doesn't mean you are never social with anyone, or that you are a misanthrope. The word's use is actually a bit vague, being anti-social at it's extreme can be misanthropy, but at it's mildest is essentially being an introvert.

The term "anti-social" or "anti-social behaviour" has a pretty long history of being used to refer specifically to hostile behaviour towards other people or other forms lack of consideration for others, particularly in psychosocial studies. The word for simply not being interested in social interaction is "asociality".

 

[Minigiant]

Yeah, anti-social.

Being anti-social doesn't mean you are never social with anyone, or that you are a misanthrope. The word's use is actually a bit vague, being anti-social at it's extreme can be misanthropy, but at it's mildest is essentially being an introvert.

My point is there are other people for a ranger to socialize with than the people of the city.

A ranger might prefer the society of the mountain folk or a faerie court or the wastelanders or a tribal village.

Not wanting to live in the city does not make you anti-social. There are plenty of folk in the wild to interact with.