What is a ranger?

[Zhofe]

Alright, this is a debate I have been throwing around in my head for a while ... but I will put it to the community.

It seems that on this server, Rangers are protectors of the forests, of the animals. They live as one with nature and only take what they need, and get angry at people who chop trees. Note that this is just a generalization I made, and that many of you may not fit into this.

Now, on the other hand, my concept of a Ranger has always been very different. My impression has always been of a loner, a hunter who lives in the wild and knows and respects it's dangers. A ranger would know how to calm the animals, and also how to hunt them. A ranger would know which trees would be best for making a bow, and would make sure to choose carefully. He wouldn't live necessarily in tune with nature, but would understand it.

It seems that here on Layo, that Rangers are more like fighter/druids than what I would think of as a Ranger. Have I read something wrong somewhere and made a bad perception of Rangers? Or are the Ranger players that I have run into just on a more natury path than I have thought of?

[Leanthar]

In any online game (up to this point in history) things are based around combat, but that is because nobody (yet) has put out a well rounded and well balanced game that also supports every day life, ownership, organization, rulership etc.  So...with that said a Ranger will always be a cut between a woodsman with some magic and some combat ability (melle and ranged).
  In my belief (and you can see this in Krandor with the Inn) a Ranger should be those that settle the new lands, help to set up a stronghold (wooden walls etc.) and patrol the area and protect the area.  They are the loners that take no credit but do more than anybody could possibly know, they are the ones that everybody look at wearily but always know that he/she will always be there when the going gets tough. 
  All of that shows they are well rounded, not just combat oriented.  But until an online game gets the other systems designed and implemented and intertwined with other systems what you see right now is what you will get in any online game.

[Variable]

Zhofe - 10/17/2005  7:24 PM
Now, on the other hand, my concept of a Ranger has always been very different. My impression has always been of a loner, a hunter who lives in the wild and knows and respects it's dangers. A ranger would know how to calm the animals, and also how to hunt them. A ranger would know which trees would be best for making a bow, and would make sure to choose carefully. He wouldn't live necessarily in tune with nature, but would understand it.

This is what i think of a ranger as well, there are a few rangers that i know fit into this.

[Filatus]

It depends whether they actively serve their deity. If you'd make a ranger with a wisdom of 10 or lower he could just be that, a man of the woods.

But a ranger who has the ability to cast druidic/clerical spells would have to be a servant of a god in some way or another.This means he follows the dogma of this god.

Most rangers seem to be followers of Folian S'pae in their views of how to treat nature.

Although I would think a ranger who worhips Kithairien and gets spells, would be more like the ranger you are describing. It bascially depends of his own views.

[Talan Va'lash]

Rangers dont have to worship a diety to get spells.  Neither do druids.

This is something that gets VERY forgotten here since we have so many dieties and so many players have religious characters.

Its almost to the point that I think people think they HAVE to put something in the diety field.  This is not the case.  

Druids and Rangers are NOT granted their spells by any god.  Their spells represent the ways in which they can tap into and/or manipulate themselves and nature.

-TV

[Ioskeha]

My idea of a Ranger comes from playing a MUD for almost 10 years, so my idea for a Ranger probably doesn't fit in the DnD standard.  I'm still going to give my opinion though because this is how I see them and how I role-play my Druid as seeing them.

To me Rangers are a Druids that have trained in melee/ranged combat, and they are the first line of defence for whatever forest they are charged with in protecting.  The Druids of their forest will offten send them out first to deal with any dangers that faces the forest.  When there's no danger the Ranger is offten used as diplomats, or escorts for Druid diplomats, and work with the towns around their forest making sure that the settlers don't take from the forest more then they'll need.  They also guide in the harvesting of what lives in their forest; they pick what trees to harvest and how much to take, the amount of animals that can be killed for their skins and meat, etc.  A Rangers would also never use their forest for profit.  They keep the same ideals of Druids and only take what they need and nothing more.

[Prometheus]

Yes Talan a diety is not a must but the spells can be better with one. Like the summons i think can be better.

[Pankoki]

A Ranger... well this is a topic I love to discuss so here comes the long useless post.
  As far as DnD is concerned, Rangers base their lives around one thing. Their Favored Enemies. This basic principle implies that normally rangers restrict themselves to a particular area and become the protectors of it. Normally being the protectors of the area means that there is a certain creature, or a certain group of creatures that are a natural enemy to the area that is being protected. They are ever watchful and that means they have to learn the way of their enemies to keep their borders secure.
  Now you might see above that I mention "area" and not "forest". Simply because a ranger can also be guardians to other domains. There really is a type of ranger for each climate AND there is a city ranger as well. So you can have your desert ranger, your plains ranger, your grasslands ranger, even your mountain ranger. And of course the particular enemies of those lands.
  There is one true aspect from all the above posts that I consider rangers normally to follow. Rangers are either gruff loners or they normally have a darker less than pleasant side to them. Their ways normally mean learning things about their enemies that people simply do not want to know. I suppose that is what happens when you know the culture and habits of foul creatures or from people who NORMALLY mean harm to you. Thus they gain an insight into their enemy that eventually leaves a mark on their lives. This goes particularly deep for rangers who have to deal with the threat of undeath or outsiders.
  Now another important aspect that rangers have to deal with is of course the defense of their territories. So its important to understand that while NWN (or any online game) is indeed focused in battle. Rangers are martial classes who, unlike druids who choose peaceful intervention,  a ranger's way almost always leads to combat. While a particularly large amount of druids (not all!!) normally expend all their resources to make a peaceful settlement that benefits the land. A ranger sees a band of "insert favored enemy" and is already making preparations to end their lives or kick them away from their territories.
  A ranger doesn't have to be tied to a deity. While Layonara is very religious, there is no denying that. The ties to a territory have absolutely nothing to do with a dogma of religion. Granted Folian S'pae is a deity that encompasses most of the things that rangers are. However Folian is a deity tied to the forests and this automatically removes it from the other aspects rangers have. I can completely see a Desert Ranger worshiping the fire or destruction aspect of Pyrtechon. Just as much as I can see the same ranger not worshiping anyone due to the desolation normally found in the desert.
  Finally I suppose its important to discuss the aspect of the spells granted to rangers. Now in Layonara all spells come from the Weave. That has been set in stone and all spellcasting classes do so. There is no way around this, everyone gets spells from the Weave. Even the magic hating dwarves and those connected to nature like druids. Everyone gets spells from the Weave. Heh said that enough? Let me say that again. Everyone gets spells from the Weave. Now I said it plenty of times.
  But!! And this is the important but...
  The focus however from which you get your spells varies from class to class and even from player to player. Druids focus on the land and the land shapes the weave in natural manners. Voraxians shape the weave to increase their might in battle through their faith. And our friends the Rangers focus on their aspect of the hunt to such level that their abilities are enhanced to improve it. Focus on this bringing this particular magical touch. Though less than wise rangers may not particularly reach this level of insight and simply are good at what they do through mere physical matters.
  Oh and on the fighting aspect and the horrid horrid misconception that rangers are Bowmen. This is far far far far from the truth. A ranger uses the best means to eliminate their enemies, this simply means debilitate from afar then cleanup when up close. A ranger loneliness normally means that they have to be smarter than the normal fighter in combat. They have to normally deal with greater numbers and they need to do this in the loneliness of their territory. So what do they do? Well they set traps first of all, that should disable a few. Then when the trap triggers they shoot from a distance and try to disable as many as possible. Finally when he is finally spotted or the invaders take the protection of cover, the ranger sneaks in and eliminates the threat up close as fast as possible. How do you do this as fast as you can? Well... have as many weapons as you can. Hence the dual wielding.
  Now the role of the ranger in a party can be of many aspects. You can consider him a scout, a skilled trapster, a second line fighter who normally does significant amount of damage to particular creatures or a protector of mages. Truly its one of the most diverse classes.
  Maybe I've typed enough, though I love this subject as you can see, mostly because I think Rangers are one of the classes that have the most possibilities and are seriously downplayed sometimes as just bowmen. Heh I'll step of the podium for now and go get some work done.

[Falreign]

I suddenly feel the compelling urge to play ten more characters and all of them rangers. Thanks for that Pankoki, really awesome.

[Acacea]

Yeah, said it a lot better than I would have, and I probably would have tried with an essay or something.

[Guardian 452]

[freemen2]

Heh heh, yeah what Pan said

[miltonyorkcastle]

Great insight, Pankoki.  I could not have said it better myself.

[Simplistic]

So basically Pan just said they are versatile, agile, and mobile ready to perform a variety of functions based on your present desires or needs

And throwing my two cents in, Layo isn't a MUD in order to compare and I haven't seen anything as of yet that says Rangers answer to Druids or Priests in the handbook.

[Ioskeha]

And, I didn't read anything in the handbook that said that they wouldn't answer to Druids either.  I guess you'll just have to role-play with my character if you, or anyone, wants to know why she sees Rangers this way.

[cappyra]

Nice read Pan.  Excellent examples all.

Just add a bit more...

I always kind of compaired Rangers to Special Forces.  They set traps, snipe from a distance or sneak in quietly for the silent kill.  While their methods might be distasteful to some (*cough Paladins) like stated by Pan they are protecting an area typically against a large number of foes so a frontal assault in shiney armor would end their protection quickly.

Shunned by decent folk (think of Strider/Aragorn from LoTR which I am fairly certian was the origin of the DnD Ranger) because once again like Pan said, they know far more about the enemy than the commoner.  The commoner may have heard stories but the Ranger has seen it up close and personal.  Likely as well they seem shady due to their ability (through necessity) to move quietly and stay hidden, unkempt due to the time spent in the environment which sort of breeds mistrust just because they are seen infrequently and seem sneaky and secretive.

Also they would be survivalist, able to live off the specific environment they were in for long periods of time.

Oh...  and what Pan said =)

[miltonyorkcastle]

I'm going to attempt to sum up the views on rangers I have seen in this thread into three neat categories:

1) Wild Paladin
2) Robin Hood
3) Bounty hunter

Any questions?  

[Shotgunbunny]

I just want to add to what pan said, in real life, rangers used to be like a police force in places where there was no police, frontier life you might say, so i find it pretty hard to believe that part about city rangers, but the rest is perfect and has always been my view of a ranger.

[Zhofe]

A city ranger makes sense. Think of The Punisher, or Batman. Someone with alot of tools, who knows how to fight, and does what the city guard can't or won't. Someone beyond corruption, but who acts beyond the reach of the law.

[Pankoki]

Hehehehe
  Ranger Variant: Urban Ranger
  The urban ranger stalks the treacherous streets of the city, relying on his knowledge of alleyways and underworld contacts to keep him alive.
  Class skills: Normal ranger skills except no knowledge (nature) and (dungeoneering), and no survival skill. Add Gather information, Knowledge (local) and Sense Motive.
  Class features
  The urban ranger has all the standard ranger class features, except as noted below.
  Animal companion: An urban ranger cannot have an animal larger than Medium as his animal companion.
  Urban Tracking: An urban ranger does not gain the Track feat at 1st level. Instead, he gains the Urban Tracking feat (see sidebar), which allows him to use Gather Information to track down a missing person, suspect, or other individual within a community.
  Wild empathy: An urban ranger adds only one-half his class level to wild empathy checks, reflecting his limited connection with the natural world.
  Favored Enemy: At the DM's discretion, an urban ranger may select an organization instead of a creature type as his favored enemy. For example, a character might select a particular thieve's guild, merchant house, or even the city guard. The favored enemy bonuses would apply to all memebers of the chosen organization, regardless of their creature type or subtype.
  Spellcasting: The urban ranger's spell list is different from the standard ranger spell list.
  - Here goes spell list -
  Woodland Stride: An urban ranger does not gain this ability
  Swift Tracker (Ex): Beginning at 8th level, an uban ranger may make a Gather Information check for his Urban Tracking feat every half hour without taking the normal -5 penalty.
  Camouflage: An urban ranger does not gain this ability.
  Hide in Plain Sight (Ex): An urban ranger can use this ability in any area, whether natural terrain or not.
    *coughs* There you have it