The Enchiridion of Elided Enduements of the Expanse

[The Sigil]

The heady, experienced survivor leading a small band across the trackless wastes. The grizzled veteran of a dozen doomed campaigns, whose intricate knowledge of his foes allows him to cut them down quickly and efficiently. The dark figure, moving at the fringes of sight, seen only when he wants to be seen as he crosses the wilderness. All of these, and more, are the ranger.

Rangers are masters, not children, of nature. Their sword arms are formidable, as would be expected for one who spends his time in the unforgiving, unrelenting expanses provided by nature. But his true strength comes from knowledge – he knows how to do things right, and that is why he survives.

Within this 48-page work you will find options, suggestions, and methods for demonstrating the knowledge your ranger character has. From new feats, which expand and illumine his abilities, to prestige classes to allow him to reach the pinnacle of a certain skill, to new spells to help him show his stuff in the wild, you’ll find everything you expect here. You’ll also find something you may not expect – a new “twist” that allows you to quickly and easily make your ranger stand out – the “Synergist Class” – a class that you take just once to open up whole new avenues for your ranger.

Also included is a brief section on combat with thrown weapons, which will let you enliven a campaign by allowing for a wider range of options for characters who don’t – or can’t – pack a bow everywhere they go.

And in the tradition of the Enchiridion series, everything presented here is completely modular. You may add as little or as much as you like to your campaign. In fact, there are little tips here and there for multiple ways to use the ideas brought in this book. Designed for both the 3.0 and 3.5 versions of the most famous fantasy role-playing game rule set, the Enchiridion of Elided Enduements of the Expanse brings new life and freshness to any ranger – or even those who aren’t, but would like to be one.

 

[DMH]

The Enchiridion of Elided Enduements of the Expanse mean a book on hidden endowment of the wilderness, in other words an expansion on rangers.

The pdf is broken up in to seven chapters over 48 pages.

Chapter one is an reiteration and expansion of the material for rangers found in the SRD. The added material are two new fighting styles- weapon of choice and hurling style. 4/5

Chapter two are new prestige classes. The cliffscrabbler gains abilities related to climbing and combat on vertical surfaces, which happen to include very large creatures. The natural trapsman can burn xp to make traps out of natural objects and faster and faster (down to minutes). Seekers are scouts that work best in wilderness areas. 4/5

Chapter three has the most interesting part of this book- synergist classes. They are one level classes that uses feat like class features. When the PCs makes the prerequisites and then gains the class feature. The cost is 5% on exp earned for every synergist class taken by the PC. An example is the zephyrkith feature camel's skin:

Camel’s Skin (Ex)
I do my best work when it’s hot – after all, it means I don’t have to waste energy keeping myself warm.
Prerequisites: Endurance, Great Fortitude, Concentration 12+ Ranks, Survival 12+ Ranks
Benefit: The character with this ability is resistant to the effects of hot weather, able to endure extremes
in heat better than other characters. The character can withstand temperatures up to 40 degrees F hotter
than normal. That means that a character treats 130 degrees F as “very hot weather,” treats 150 degrees
F as “severe heat,” and 180 degrees F as “extreme heat.”

Beast walkers gain methods of attack of wild animals. Death blossoms are experts on hurling weapons. Fearsome slayers focus on one favored enemy. Peerless stalkers can track anything over long distances. And the zephyrkith move through any terrain in any condition as if it was a road. 5/5

Chapter four looks at thrown weapon combat. Actions like disarming, sundering, tripping and sticking weapons in objects without destroying them. 3/5

Chapter five has feats. Most of them relate to hurled weapons and a few are prereqs for the prestige and synergist classes. It is also mentioned that the features for the synergist classes can be used as feats if the DM doesn't want to use the classes. 4/5

Chapter six deals with animal companions and how to train them and advance them. 3/5

Chapter seven has spells for rangers and druids related to combat and survival. Useful, but nothing stuck out at me. 4/5

Personally I think that chapter three is worth the cost of the pdf alone. If you play rangers on a regular basis, this should have material for you.