wilder_jw said:
Robin Hood didn't have spells. Aragorn didn't have spells. (Yes, Aragorn was a skilled herbalist and healer, but he wasn't a spellcaster.) Menion Leah didn't have spells. Are there any archetypal rangers that were spellcasters?
So, yeah, it's primarily a flavor issue. I think the Unearthed Arcana ranger is closer to perfect.
"But in the wild lands beyond Bree there were mysterious wanderers. The Bree-folk called them Rangers, and knew nothing of their origin. They were taller and darker than the Men of Bree
and were believed to have strange powers of sight and hearing, and to understand the languages of beasts and birds. They roamed at will southwards, and eastwards even as far as the Misty Mountains; but they were now few and rarely seen. When they appeared they brought news from afar, and told strange forgotten tales which were eagerly listened to; but the Bree-folk did not make friends of them." FotR:178-9.
Speak With Animals, anyone?
"'This is an evil door,' said Halbarad, 'and my death lies beyond it. I will dare to pass it nonetheless; but no horse will enter it.'" RotK:58.
Prognostication/Precognition...
"Then Aragorn led the way, and such was the strength of his will in that hour that all the Dunedain and their horses followed him. And indeed the love that the horses of the Rangers bore for their riders was so great that they were willing to face even the terror of the Door, if their masters' hearts were steady as they walked beside them. But Arod, the horse of Rohan, refused the way, and he stood sweating and trembling in a fear that was grievious to see." RotK:58-9.
Calm Animals?
"Aragorn stirred in his sleep, turned over, and sat up.
'What is it?' he whispered, springing up and coming to Frodo. 'I felt something in my sleep.'" FotR:434.
"Nonetheless as the night wore on Aragorn grew uneasy, tossing often in his sleep and waking. In the small hours he got up and came to Frodo, whose turn it was to watch.
'Why are you waking?' asked Frodo. 'It is not your watch.'
'I do not know,' answered Aragorn; 'but a shadow and a threat has been growing in my sleep. It would be well to draw your sword.'" FotR:446.
"There is mischief about. I feel it." FotR:457.
Alarm?
"When he had looked on the faces of the sick and seen their hurts he sighed. '
Here I must put forth all such power and skill as is given to me,' he said. 'Would that Elrond were here, for he is the eldest of all our race, and has the greatest power.'" RotK:145.
Not just skill, but
power, too.
Cure Light Wounds, anyone?
"Now Aragorn knelt beside Faramir, and held a hand upon his brow. And those that watched felt that some some great struggle was going on. For Aragorn's face grew grey with weariness; and ever and anon he called the name of Faramir, but each time more faintly to their hearing, as if Aragorn himself was removed from them, and walked afar in some dark vale, calling for one that was lost." RotK:147-8.
Healing is a struggle, requiring the use of some power.
"'I have, maybe, the power to heal her body, and to recall her from the dark valley. But to what she will awake: hope, or forgetfulness, or despair, I do not know. And if to despair, then she will die, unless other healing comes which I cannot bring. Alas! for her deeds have set her among the queens of great renown.'
Then Aragorn stooped and looked in her face, and it was indeed white as a lily, cold as frost, and hard as graven stone. But he bent and kissed her on the brow, and called her softly, saying:
'Eowyn Eomund's daughter, awake! For your enemy has passed away!'
She did not stir, but now she began again to breathe deeply, so that her breast rose and fell beneath the white linen of the sheets. Once more Aragorn bruised two leaves of
athelas and cast them into steaming water; and he laved her brow with it, and her right arm lying cold and nerveless on the coverlet.
Then, whether Aragorn had indeed some forgotten power of Westernesse, or whether it was but his words of the Lady Eowyn that wrought on them, as the sweet influence of the herb stole about the chamber it seemed to those who stood by that a keen wind blew through the window, and it bore no scent, but was an air wholly fresh and clean and young, as if it had not before been breathed by any living thing and came new-made from snowy mountains high beneath a dome of stars, or from shores of silver far away washed by seas of foam.
'Awake, Eowyn, Lady of Rohan!' said Aragorn again, and he took her right hand in his and felt it warm with life returning. 'Awake! The shade is gone and all darkness is washed clean!' Then he laid her hand in Eomer's and stepped away. 'Call her!" he said, and he passed silently from the chamber." RotK:149-50.
Power, again, aided by a "Power Component", Athelas.
"At the doors of the Houses many were already gathered to see Aragorn, and they followed after him; and when at last he had supped, men came and prayed that he would heal their kinsmen or their friends whose lives were in peril through hurt or wound, or who lay under the Black Shadow. And Aragorn arose and went out, and he sent for the sons of Elrond, and together they laboured far into the night." RotK:153.
It wasn't just Aragorn, either... Elrond was the greatest healer, and Elladan & Elrohir, his two (Ranger) sons were, also.
"The wood was full of the rumour of him, dreadful tales even among beasts and birds." FotR:75.
Speak With Animals, again...
"He sat down on the ground, and taking the dagger-hilt laid it on his knees, and he sang over it a slow song in a strange tongue. Then setting it aside, he turned to Frodo and in a soft tone spoke words the others could not catch. From the pouch at his belt he drew out the long leaves of a plant." FotR:233.
This is certainly the most convincing... Aragorn isn't the type to waste either words OR time, yet he takes time out, while Frodo lies wounded & dying, to do SOMETHING with the hilt of the Morgul-blade! If it's not a divination spell, then what IS he doing?
"'I have no fitting gifts to give you at our parting,' said Faramir; 'but take these staves. They may be of service to those who walk or climb in the wild. The men of the White Mountains use them; though these have been cut down to your height and newly shod. They are made of the fair tree
lebethron, beloved of the woodwrights of Gondor, and a virtue has been set upon them of finding and returning. May that virtue not wholly fail under the Shadow into which you go!" TT:319-20.
Faramir, too, displays talents, including item creation.
"If any wanderer had chanced to pass, little would he have seen or heard, and it would have seemed to him only that he saw grey figures, carved in stone, memorials of forgotten things now lost in unpeopled lands. For they did not move or speak with mouth, looking from mind to mind; and only their shining eyes stirred and kindled as their thoughts went to and fro." RotK:278.
Mindreading (an ability shared by all The Wise, which is why only Aragorn & Legolas could long hold Galadriel's gaze).
So, you could do a spell-less Ranger, but look at all the special abilities you'd have to invent, to replace the spells...
Precognition, Mindreading, Speaking With Birds & Beasts, Animal Calming, Stealthyness, Swiftness, and Perception, in general. Then, you'd have to add a small host of special abilities that Rangers should have, which are covered by spells in 3.5:
A power of perception to awaken you to danger (
Alarm).
Sending a message by Carrier-Pigeon, War-Dog, etc. (
Animal Messenger).
Calming Animals, as the Rangers did upon the Paths of the Dead (
Calm Animals).
Befriend wild beasts (
Charm Animal).
Speaking With Birds and Beasts (
Speak With Animals, Summon Nature's Ally I-IV).
Otherwise dealing with animals (
Hold Animal, Reduce Animal, Animal Growth).
Sundry assorted healing abilities (
Detect Poison, Delay Poison, Neutralize Poison, Cure Light Wounds, Cure Moderate Wounds, Cure Serious Wounds, Remove Disease).
Finding Athelas, etc., at night, in the dark, in a ditch (
Detect Animals or Plants).
Finding traps (
Detect Snares and Pits, Search).
Resisting the weather (
Endure Elements, Resist Energy).
Making traps (
Entangle, Snare, Trip).
Stealth (
Hide From Animals, Pass Without Trace, Nondetection).
Travelling (
Jump, Freedom of Movement, Tree Stride).
Swiftness (
Longstrider, Cat's Grace).
Knowledge/Lore (
Read Magic, Owl's Wisdom, Speak With Plants, Commune With Nature).
Hardy/Enduring (
Resist Energy, Barkskin, Bear's Endurance, Protection From Energy).
Nature Manipulation (
(Greater) Magic Fang, Spike Growth, Wind Wall, Command Plants, Diminish Plants, Plant Growth, Repel Vermin, Tree Shape, Water Walk, Commune With Nature).
Perceptions (
Alarm, Darkvision)...
Now, a new, spell-less, variant Ranger could be devised, with new rules for all of these skills, and/or new, special abilities... but what would happen, then?
"The Ranger can
Speak With Animals at will, while the Druid can't?!"
"The Ranger can set traps, while the Rogue can't?!"
"Now the Ranger has the Barbarian's fast movement, PLUS Freedom of Action AND Tree Stride?! Unbalanced!"
Nope, it's better to just use the already-existing mechanic, and call'em "spells". No need to have a whole host of new tasks for Animal Handling/Animal Training, Craft (Trapmaking), Heal, etc., and explain why the Ranger can do it, but the Fighter can't. No need to invent a whole slew of new Extraordinary Abilities, and explain why the Ranger "isn't unbalanced".
Nope, it's easier just to give the Ranger a few spells. You want a Spell-less Ranger? Give him/her/it a Wisdom of 10 or less. Boom! You're done!
