Variant Ranger:No Spells

[Ruavel]

FFG produced a "97% spell free" variant that I quite liked in Path of the Sword called the Hunter...

the replaced spells with further bonuses against chosen foes/favoured enemies...

a sneak attack of sorts against favoured enemies...
the ability to go for days with minimal sleep (to help Track)...
subdual damage with penalties to attack...
"auto" critical conversion on chosen foes once a day...

that's just a few of the items they included.... hope it helps...

 

[Trainz]

Wayyy back in first ed, the unearthed arcana ranger had access to weapon specializaiton, and only the fighter had greater weapon specialization (called double-weapon specialization IIRC).

So...

Remove the ranger's spells, give him access to the basic weapon specialization feat, give him back his d10, and allow him to bypass critter's DR by his favored enemy bonus for that particular critter. If he has a +4 versus demons, and a Demon has DR 5, his damage is only diminished by 1.

The ranger player will also be glad to not have to absolutely put a 14 on wis.

A player in a game I currently play in is a 9th level by-the-book ranger. He is so disgusted by it that he agreed to roll a new character one level lower.

He rolled a spiked-chain fighter. Talk about over-compensation.

 

[Felon]

The ranger isn't too different from the barbarian, except the way they fight, and rangers tend to give up stamina for skills. Hence, non-magical.

The barbarian's about being strong enough to dominate nature, the ranger's about understanding and becoming a part of the wild. It's more apt to say a PHB ranger gives up brute strength & stamina for skills and an understanding of nature magic.

Well, I don't see why learning how to hunt and survive in the wild is going to somehow make you magical. Do you wake up one morning and say "Mielikki! I can cast spells!"?

I suspect it takes longer than one morning. But over time (and levels), the PHB ranger becomes more attuned to nature and learns to tap into natural forces in a limited way. At least in D&D they do, and in that context it works because it seems like magic is a highly-accessible force. Moreover, it seems pretty self-evident that to be a full-blown character class that can pull its weight with a party through 20 levels and beyond, a ranger has to be about more than just mundane hunting and foraging skills.

About the only requirement is a magic sword (for when you face something with DR). You don't need the spells - kicking butt is all you need, just like the barbarian or fighter.

The fighter and barbarian classes are good for fighting certain types of foes, and poor at figthing others. The ranger needs its own niche where it kicks butt, and just co-opting fast movement, sneak attack dice, bonus fighter feats, or other class features that are already spoken for just isn't going to make that happen. If there's a way to make an effective ranger without magic, I'm all for it. But I'm not hearing that, rather I'm hearing people so intent on removing magic from the class that they let that goal override everything else that's an important class-design consideration. Giving the class druid magic makes it markedly from the barbarian or fighter or paladin or rogue, and that's the whole point.

Those spells aren't going to help you kill a dragon anyway (if that's what you're going after). You surely don't need unflavorful spells like entangle. You don't even need cure light wounds - you can scrounge in the forest and find some herbs like the other rangers.

Scrounging for herbs works at low levels, but inevitably it gets eclipsed by what other classes are capable of. Ultimately, there comes a point where foraging for berries just isn't going to cut it next to someone who can cast heal. Not that I think that the ranger's meager spellcasting ability holds up well (I've said as much) but stripping that and having his portfolio solely confined to mundane skills isn't progress.

 

[Steverooo]

Here's an idea that I have put out, many times, on these threads... You want a spell-less Ranger? For every spell that they would be able to cast (12 + bonus for high WIS, at 20th level), let them pick a spell of the appropriate level, and give them an (Ex) ability to do the same thing, at will (within reason... no Cure X Wounds, obviously!)

So, at fourth level, when a Ranger with a 14+ WIS would get a whopping 1 spell/day, they instead get one (Ex) ability... Looking at the list, the PC could pick Speak With Animals, and always be able to talk to his animal companion, but instead chooses Longstrider, and gains 40' movement, just like the Barbarian.

After gaining a few more first-level powers, when a Ranger would ordinarily get a second level spell, he can now choose a 2nd-level (Ex) ability, such as always being able to set a snare, if a rope/vine and tree are handy.

Upon obtaining acess to fourth leve3l spells, he could always be under the effects of an (Ex) Freedom of Movement, if he wanted. In any case, each Ranger would have 3+ special abilities which are constantly active, in return for losing acess to all of the other spells... A reasonably decent trade-off, if you ask me...

Now some common sense has to be used, here, as the Cure Light Wounds example shows... Sure, you could rig up something where a high-level Ranger can "find herbs" and cure 1D8+ HP/day, or something, but...

In any case, giving Rangers (Ex) abilities that let them do the things that spells used to seems fine, IMHO... ESPECIALLY since many of those spells (Snare, etc.) are replacements for missing abilities (Set & Disarm Traps).

YMMV, of course.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Check out the Wildlander class in the Midnight Setting Book. Since there is no divine magic in the setting the class was created to replace the Ranger.

 

[Davelozzi]

The Woodsman class from the Wheel of Time RPG is also a pretty good spell-less ranger, if I remember correctly.

 

[Desdichado]

Iron Kingdoms Ranger is spell-less.

Midnight Wildlander is a spell-less "Ranger."

FFG's Path of the Sword included too spell-less "Rangers" the Hunter and the Outdoorsman.

Ken Hood had a free download for a Bushfighter that was a spell-less ranger.

The d20 Wheel of Time RPG has a spell-less ranger called the Woodsman.

The Ranger Project, a website dedicated to alt.rangers has several spell-less rangers.

Personally, I love the Wildlander variant as my favorite, and one that is easy to slide into the mix with standard classes without any tweaking. Ken Hood's is also really good from that perspective, and it's free, but it's not as a la carte with its options.

 

[mmadsen]

Unearthed Arcana's Wilderness Rogue variant fits the ranger archetype quite nicely -- it's basically a Rogue with the Ranger's skill list (and a few other tweaks).

 

[Sejs]

Here's an idea that I have put out, many times, on these threads... You want a spell-less Ranger? For every spell that they would be able to cast (12 + bonus for high WIS, at 20th level), let them pick a spell of the appropriate level, and give them an (Ex) ability to do the same thing, at will (within reason... no Cure X Wounds, obviously!)

Interesting idea, though you'd have to make a speciffic list of what spells at what level would be available, and which ones arn't. Hunter's Mercy for example, would be just as big a no-no as cures. Same with the Summon Nature's Ally line.

When you get to the last ability (the 4th level spell one) things get scary. Commune with Nature... Tree Stride... eep

 

[Felon]

Personally, I love the Wildlander variant as my favorite, and one that is easy to slide into the mix with standard classes without any tweaking. Ken Hood's is also really good from that perspective, and it's free, but it's not as a la carte with its options.

Several folks have made this recommendation. What does the wildlander have going for it? What abilities does, say, a 13th-level wildlander contribute to an adventuring party?