Unorthodox Rangers Are Better Than You Feared!
Le Game's
Unorthodox Rangers came to me (as many of you) as one of the
freebies for contributing to ENWorld's Server Fund Drive. Since I thought
that that was pretty generous, I felt the least I could do was to give them a
free review of one of their products, so I picked this one (Rangers being my
favorite class). You can decide for yourself whether or not you believe that
my review was influenced by the "freebie".
One minor foible with this book is that it was
obviously written for
WotC's D&D 3.0, not 3.5e. Animal Empathy, Intuit Direction, and Wilderness
Lore skills all get mentioned (Wild Empathy being a Druid/Ranger class
ability in 3.5e, and Intuit Direction and Wilderness Lore being rolled into
Survival), and some Unorthodox Rangers have Medium Armor Proficiency. Also,
no Unorthodox Rangers have Knowledge (Dungeoneering), and only one has
Knowledge (Geography). GMs will need to do a bit of adjustment, to make this
product work for 3.5e. Occassional bits of "wonkiness" are to be expected!
With that in mind,
Unorthodox Rangers offers five different types of
alternatives to the more-standard PHB Ranger, all as alternate 20-level
classes, each focused in a different direction. I was expecting the usual
bunch of so-called "Prestige Class" nonsense, but there's none of that, here!
Instead, you get a Beast Lord, a Hunter, an Outdoorsman, a Partisan, and a
Trapper.
All Unorthodox Rangers get different Weapon & Armor Proficiencies, all but one
(the Trapper) have 1D8 or better HPs/level, bonus feats, different saves, and
all (except MAYBE the Partisan - see below) get (8 + INT) skill points/level,
quadrupalled at first level, as usual. The class skills vary. None of these
Unorthodox Rangers get spells. (Hey! That really IS unorthodox!) None have
any alignment restrictions. All except the Outdoorsman have good BABs.
The
Beast Lord seems to me based off of the Movie (and later TV Show),
Beastmaster, with the ability to
Speak With Animals at will
(known as "beast speech"), and gains Track and Improved Unarmed Strike at
first level, as well as 1D6 damage unarmed (either as lethal or non-lethal
damage). Like all of the Unorthodox Rangers, Beast Lords also gain a number
of bonus feats at certain levels, chosen from a small list. In addition, he
gets an Animal Companion, and his level adds like the Druid's, not 1/2 as the
PHB Rangers, for purposes of determining its abilities. They have good
Fortitude & Reflex saves, and weak Will.
Now with all of that, you know he has to lose something, but what? Not skill
points (8 + INT, and with some extra skills, like Balance & Tumble), not Hit
Points (1D10/level)! Instead, he has proficiency with only simple weapons,
and no shields nor armor. From 5th level on up, he gains Natural Defense (a
Natural AC Bonus and DR 1/-), but that won't help him survive to that point.
The Beast Lord hates using armor so much that not only is he not proficient
with any, but he takes TWICE the normal Armor Check Penalty in any that he
does use, and PERMANENTLY loses any Natural Defense if he ever becomes
proficient in any armor type(s)! This is not a class that rewards
multiclassing! The Beast Lord, like Barbarians, also begins as an illiterate.
Like Dar, the Beastmaster, Beast Lords will tend to be armed with club, spear,
and staff, fight unarmed (doing up to 1D20 + STR damage, at 16th level+), and
wearing little to nothing, except Amulets of Natural Armor and/or Rings of
Protection. While they can take Shield Proficiency or Martial Weapon
Proficiency (Two-handed Sword), or even an Exotic Weapon Proficiency without
any problems, using anything other than Magical or Masterwork leather or a
Mithral Shirt will do them more harm than good (as far as their skills are
concerned)! By the time their Natural Defense maxes out (at 19th level), it
is only +6 AC and DR 6/-.
The strangest thing about Beast Lords, though, is that they are classed as
(Animal), not (Humanoid), regardless of type! Thus,
Hold Person will
not affect them, while
Charm Person or Mammal will.
So, this class requires some good DEX, at low levels, to survive, and is a
slow, less-well-armored Monk at higher levels. He will need bracers, or
something else, to help compensate him for the Monk's WIS and AC Bonuses that
he will not be receiving.
When played in the wilds, however, his beast speech will give him the ability
to Bluff, use Diplomacy, Intimidate, or try to Sense Motive upon any animals
encountered, without the use of magic. Only Intimidate and Sense Motive are
class skills, however.
Beast Lords also get Wilderness Stride and Trackless Step (the same things as
the Druid's Woodland Stride and similar). They also get a couple of "Advanced
Favored Enemies", which may need adjusting to 3.5e, as well. Thus, they
basically have three "magical" (Extraordinary) abilities, usable at will (at
higher levels, at least), but no spells. They gain these at first, fifth,
and ninth levels. They also gain Track & Improved Unarmed Strike at first
level, and an additional bonus feat at 3rd, 7th, 12th, and 17th level.
The next Unorthodox Ranger is the
Hunter. Hunters, oddly enough, have
a split Base Attack Bonus (BAB), one for Ranged Attacks (the higher), the
other for Melee. He also gets Balance (but not Tumble), no Crafts except
(Trapmaking), Disable Device (but not Search?), no Knowledge skills (except
(Nature)), and no Professions except (Hunter). Most of the other Ranger
skills he has. He gets 1D8 HPs/level, (8 + INT) skill points/level, and
proficiency with all Simple & Ranged weapons, and Light Armor, but no shields.
He also gets Track & Favoured Enemy as a normal Ranger does (although the
Favored Enemy will need updating to the 3.5e version). He has poor Fortitude
and good Reflex & Will saves, for some odd reason.
At 3rd and 9th levels, Hunters gain an Exotic Weapon Proficiency of their
choice, even if it's not a ranged weapon. They get no other bonus feats, just
their special abilities, and the usual Ranger's Favored Enemies.
Their Melee BAB increases to +15/10/5, while their Ranged attacks are
+20/15/10/5. All of their other special abilities apply to ranged attacks.
From 7th level, they gain (and improve upon) "Spot Weakness", which begins
with three uses/day, and allows ranged attacks which threaten a critical with
a natural 20, and are confirmed, to ignore non-natural armor. (Hmmm! By the
time the hit is confirmed, isn't that usually out of the way?)
At 12th level, his "Spot Weakness" becomes "Faster Tahn The Eye", and can be
used up to five times/day, ignoring DEX Bonuses and Uncanny Dodges, if
successful. At 17th level, this improves, again, to the "Soft Spot" ability,
now usable up to seven times/day, ignores Natural AC, Armor, and DEX/Uncanny
Dodge, threatens on whatever the ranged weapon does, and is pretty much
automatically a critical, on a threat. Because of this, high-level Hunters
will favor ranged weapons with high threat multipliers (and perhaps Improved
Critical)!
At 15th level, he gets "Sixth Sense", which is
Blindsight of
unspecified range, for free! This is probably the most powerful ability given
to any Unorthodox Ranger!
The
Outdoorsman is more of a survivalist in the wilds, and some of his
special abilities work only in certain terrain types (from which the
underdark is missing)! He has the usual Ranger skills, but adds Balance, no
Crafts, only Knowledge (Nature) and Profession (Outdoorsman), gets (8 + INT)
skill points/level, 1D10 HPs/level, Simple Weapons, Shield, and Light & Medium
Armor Proficiencies, but gets -1 AC in Medium Armor, and -2 in Heavy, if he
wears it! He gets good Fortitude & Will, but poor Reflex saves, and his BAB
maxes out at +15/+10/+5.
At first level, the Outdoorsman is both a Hunter-Gatherer and a Survivalist.
Hunter-Gatherer allows him to "Take 10" on finding food in one of eight
terrain types (gaining additional ones at 4th, 8th, 11th, 14th, and 18th
levels). This makes going without water and starvation in these terrains
impossible! "Survivalist" allows him to add his Outdoorsman class level to
Fortitude saves to resist cold, heat, lack of water, or starvation in one of
his terrain types. From 6th level on, he can also grant this ability to the
party!
At 3rd level, the Outdoorsman gains "Outdoor Defense", which grants +1 AC when
in a terrain where his Hunter-Gatherer skill applies. He gains another +1 AC
at 8th, 13th, & 17th levels. This ability makes no sense, to me, and little
explanation for it is given.
At 9th level, the Outdoorsman's "Superior Metabolism" halves all penalties for
Fatigue or Exhaustion. By 15th level, his metabolism has become "Superhuman",
and he ignores Fatigue, receiving only a -1 penalty from Exhaustion.
At 20th level, the Outdoorsman can turn his "Outdoor Defense" into "Outdoor
Offense" for two turns, using it to improve either BAB or damage. This is
only a +4, at maximum.
Without spells or Favored Enemy bonuses, the Outdoorsman is going to be even
weaker in combat than the PHB Ranger. There also seems to be some confusion
(on the Outdoorsman Progression Table) about when he gains his Superior
Metabolism. I assume that it is 9th level, as the ability says, and not
first, as the table states (but also lists it at 9th)!
The next "Ranger" is the
Partisan, who is someone who is an underdog,
fighting against numerically superior odds, and using the terrain as a weapon.
They get D8s for hit dice, add Balance and Disguise, but get no Crafts other
than (Trapmaking), get no Knowledge other than (Geography), get no
Professions, but add Tumble. Their skill points are debatable, as
Unorthodox Rangers says that they get (6 + INT)x4 skill points at
first level, and (8 + INT) at every level thereafter (I assume that this is a
typo)! They have good Fortitude & Will saves, but poor Reflex (which seems
very odd for unarmored tumblers)!
Even odder, the poor Partisan, while proficient with all Simple & Martial
Weapons, is not proficient with ANY types of armor, nor shields! I can only
assume that some text was cut off, here, as well!
At first level, Partisans can wield any non-weapon as an improvised weapon,
WITHOUT the usual -4 penalty to their BAB. Thus, they can wang-up on their
opponents with a shovel, for instance, with full BAB, but not with Exotic
Weapons, without the usual penalty! He also gets the first of his bonus feats
from a small list, and gets additional ones one level after his non-class
feats (4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 16th, & 19th).
At 5th level, Partisans become more skilled at fighting "Against The Odds",
gaining a +1 to hit for every adjacent opponent after the first (+2 to hit
when surrounded by three, for example), to a maximum of +3. At 8th level, he
gains an oddly-titled ability, "Fast Enough For You, Old Elf?", which allows
him to attempt a DC:18 Reflex save to avoid Attacks of Opportunity (AoO).
Again, this strikes me as odd, since Reflex is his poor save! At 15th level
(if he can live that long), the DC drops to 13.
By 10th level, the Partisan has gained the "Advantage Of Surprise", which
gives him a full attack, instead of a partial one, whenever he surprises an
opponent. At 18th level, he also grants this to any allies in the fight.
By 12th level, Partisans are so adept at fighting against the odds that they
receive "Against The Grind", which gives them the same bonus as "Against The
Odds" to damage, as well as to hit, and increases the maximum to +5. This
still doesn't help him avoid getting hit, though!
By 20th level, this becomes "Against The Wall", and the bonus now applies to
to hit rolls, damage, and AC, and the maximum bonus is +7 when surrounded by
eight opponents. Too bad no unarmored Partisans will ever live long enough to
gain that ability!
The
Trapper is not what you think. Trappers are unorthodox Rangers who
try to "bring'em back alive", using less-lethal techniques to capture their
enemies, instead of kill them. They get only D6 HPs/level, get Balance but
not Climb, no Crafts other than (Trapmaking), Disable Device & Escape Artist,
no Knowledges, no Professions other than (Trapper), and no Search nor Spot.
They are proficient in Simple Weapons, all flails (does that include the
Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Dire Flail)?), nets, spiked chains, Light & Medium
Armor, and shields. They get bonus feats just like the Partisan. Their only
good save is Reflex, all the others are poor.
At first level, they get "Expert Moves", which gives them a +1 Competence
Bonus on attack rolls to disarm, grapple, sunder, or trip. This bonus
increases to +2 @ 8th, and +3 @ 17th.
At 2nd level, the Trapper gains "Trapper's Paralysis", which allows them to
select a Favored Enemy, and against that creature type, only, attempt a
paralyzing strike in lieu of all other attacks. If the attack succeeds, the
Favored Enemy (FE) must make a Fortitude save against DC
5 + the Trapper's
level), or be paralyzed for 1D4 rounds. The Trapper may attempt this every
other turn (I assume, here, that "turn" means "round"). Additional FEs are
selected at 9th, 14th, & 18th levels.
At 5th level, Trappers gain "Trappers Subdue" (sic), which allows them to
halve the non-proficiency penalty when using a lethal weapon to deal
non-lethal damage. By 11th level, this becomes "Take Them Alive", which is
the same as Merciful Blow, allowing full BAB attacks.
By 20th level, "Advanced Subdue" allows Trappers to render opponents
unconscious on a critical, unless their opponent makes a Fortitude save equal
to the Trapper's critical roll, regardless of how many HPs they had!
=
All of these alternates seem playable, and more or less fun, although some of
them seem less survivable than others (the unarmored Beast Lords & Partisans,
in particular). If you're tired of playing the same old Rangers, perhaps one
of the Unorthodox Rangers is for you!
