Homebrew DesignRoll up your sleeves and get working: there's lots of homebrewin' to be done! Post your custom creation for critiques or review those of your peers.
Hello Playgrounders! This is my first publicly posted homebrew Project. Please PEACH or leave a comment telling me if you liked it or not.
Without any further ado, I introduce you formally to Project Wild, my take at the Ranger. Before I go any further, I would like to explain my thoughts behind the revisions below. Firstly, I am firm believer that martial classes need a hug. Secondly, I dislike being railroaded into any one build, unless that’s the build I already wanted to play. For me, the more options, the better. Thirdly, I am tired of this stereotype for the Ranger.
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I would prefer something more like this.
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But that’s not quite right either.
Huh. Well what if I tried to combine ALL the stereotypes about the Ranger into one giant class? While this will make creating Prestige Classes for the Ranger more difficult, I am confidant that I can make a base class so good, they won’t need them anymore. So that’s what I have done. Please let me know what you think.
The Ranger
A Ranger with the Reach Weapon Art of War and a Wilderness focused set of Paths "You can run for a long time, but you can't hide forever
Relyb-Arn, Elven Ranger
Rangers are a unique breed. Born stronger, faster, and smarter than all other predators, Rangers know how to survive. Be it city or forest, a Ranger can find his way and make his way anywhere. No matter how hard the fight he will walk away to fight another day, taking the better part of valor. Discretion. Rangers walk the world waiting for the one day they will receive their true calling, when they shrug off the mantle of the mundane and assume their true heritage, power over the world unmatched by anyone who has and will ever walk the earth. But until that day a Ranger is a deadly foe, willing to do whatever is necessary to continue waiting.
An excerpt from "The Life of King Telcontar"
Making A Ranger
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Abilities: Most Ranger value Strength above all, as it determines their effectiveness in combat. All Rangers value Constitution, as extra hit points are essential to any front line martial character. Most value Dexterity highly, and some over Strength. These are the ranged weapon focused Rangers, who can be very successful if they choose their Paths and Arts correctly. Charisma allows a select few abilities to last longer, but for the most part it is a dump stat. Those that plan on taking the Path of Kings should consider investing in it. Wisdom will help a Ranger throw off harmful effects by boosting his Will save as well as his spellcasting, if the takes the Path of the Divine. Races: Elves, Dwarves, and Drow all make excellent Rangers. They all bring weapon proficiencies to the table and two of them have boosts to Dex, which is always a boon. Humans make great Rangers because they make great anythings. Alignment: There are no alignment restrictions to becoming a Ranger, besides being awesome. Most Rangers are chaotic but a few are lawful. These are usually the lone hunters, tracking down criminals. As far as good and evil go, slightly more Rangers are good than evil if only because the races that usually become Rangers are generally good. Starting Age: As PHB Ranger Starting Gold: As PHB Ranger
Class Skills
The ranger class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), and Use Rope (Dex). Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) x4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier.
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Not much here except the addition of Tumble. I have no idea why It wasn't in there to begin with.
Weapons and Armor Proficiency: The Ranger gains proficiency with Simple and Martial weapons, as well as light and medium armor, and shield.
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Nothing much to see here
Tracker
Every Ranger gains the Track and Urban Track feats as bonus feats.
The Paths
Though every Ranger makes his own way through life, many choose to follow in the paths of others who have come before them. At every level listed on the table above where a Ranger receives a new Path, he can choose to either continue in a path he has already begun, or tread down a new one. Each time he follows the same path more than once, he unlocks the next tier of abilities granted by that path. A Ranger can only take the last tier in a path once he has reached 11th level. DN (Design Notes)
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This is the new core ability of the Ranger. With the paths they can now emulate as many of the original PrCs and variants as I could remember. I will update with more paths if anyone can remind me of any others. Each one is relatively balanced against the first ten levels or so of the class it was to emulate.
-Path of the King
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1st: A Ranger who is born with the ability to inspire men and, as a result of taking this path, learns to influence them, spurring them to new heights, to a greater degree. The ranger learns two Minor Auras, as T.G.Oskar’s Marshal. He may only project one of them at a time, and the effects stack with all other Auras. In addition, Diplomacy is now a class skill for him. The Retooled Marshal can be found here.
2nd: A Ranger who begins to understand the workings of man’s inner mind gains the ability to inspire courage in all those around him, and cower those who would strive against him. He gains one more Minor Aura and a Major aura from the Marshal’s list, as well as the Frightful Presence ability, described below.
Frightful Presence (Ex) This special quality makes the Ranger’s very presence unsettling to foes. It takes effect automatically when the Ranger performs some sort of dramatic action (such as charging, attacking, or calling out to his allies to rally). Opponents within range who witness the action may become frightened or shaken. The range is 30 feet, and the duration is usually 1d6 rounds. This ability affects only opponents with fewer Hit Dice or levels than the Ranger has. An affected opponent can resist the effects with a successful Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 Ranger’s HD + Ranger’s Cha modifier). An opponent that succeeds on the saving throw is immune to that same Ranger’s frightful presence for 24 hours. All fear attacks are mind-affecting fear effects.
3rd: A Ranger who finally unlocks the secrets of man’s morale achieves stunning success very quickly. He gains the Leadership as the feat on pg 106 of the DMG, with the following changes. His followers trickle in over the next 4 weeks, 1/16 of them showing up the first week, 3/16 the next, 5/16 the next, and 7/16 the last. His Cohort arrives with in a week of gaining this ability. He also learns a Greater Aura and one more of each of the other two. (NOTE: Your DM may want the change this ability to remove Leadership, if so, it is recommended that he grants a moral bonus equal to the number of paths he has taken total to Attack rolls, AC, (1/2 to Saves), and 4*as much in temp HP to all allies who are within 120 feet of him. This stacks with all Auras)
-Path of the Wild
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1st: A Ranger who seeks to be more in tune with his wild side gains the ability to Shapeshift as a Druid of his level with the Druid Variant “Shapeshifter” in the PHBII, as well as a Druids Animal Companion.
2nd: A Ranger who continues to roam the wilds gains the Druid’s Wild Empathy class feature and can always provide sustenance from the wild, and only has to rest 4 hours while in natural terrain for any abilities that require a full nights rest. His bond with his companion has also strengthened significantly. Once per day he can cast Heal as a cleric of his level (Even if such a cleric could not normally cast heal). In addition, once per week with an hour of meditation a Ranger can cast True Resurrection upon his animal companion. With a great deal of effort, he can also awaken his companion. With a ceremony that takes a whole day to complete, his animal companion receives the benefit of the Awaken Animal spell with no XP cost, but is treated as the animal companion of a Druid three levels lower.
3rd: A Ranger who has embraced his wild side even more than most gains several powerful abilities. While in a natural location, he receives +10 circumstantial bonus to his base speed and Woodland Stride feature of the Druid class. In addition, all ability bonuses received from his Shapeshift ability are multiplied by 1.5.
-Path of Blinding Anger
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1st: A Ranger who embraces his anger and learns to channel it gains the Rage class feature of a Barbarian as many times per day as you have tiers in this path. He also gains DR 2/- that stacks every time he takes a tier in this path.
2nd: A Ranger who continues down the path of anger gains a permanent class bonus to Strength equal to 2* the number of tiers you have in this path. He also gains a bonus to all Melee Weapon damage rolls equal to 4* the number of tiers you have in this path.
3rd: A Ranger who finally becomes one with the power of anger gains Berserkers Indomitability.
Berserker’s Indomitability (Ex): A Ranger who has advanced this far in the path of blinding anger has learned how to resist unusual and startling attacks with exceptional force of body. If he makes a successful Reflex or Fortitude save against an attack that normally would have a lesser effect on a successful save (such as any spell with a saving throw entry of Reflex half or Fortitude partial), he instead completely negates the effect. An unconscious or sleeping Ranger does not gain the benefit of Berserkers Indomitability. If the Ranger gains Evasion and Improved Evasion, he can instead reroll a failed reflex save when this ability would come into effect. This rerolling effect can only occur once for a failed save; it does not continue ad infinitum. Evasion and Improved Evasion still function as normal.
-Path of Fleet Hunter
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1st: A Ranger who takes this path learns how to move like the wind, and gains a 10 foot competence bonus to his base speed for as many tiers as he has taken in this Path. He also gains the ability to take an extra attack when he full attacks as many times per day as he has tiers in this path.
2nd: A Ranger who continues along this path gains the Skirmish feature of a scout (Xd6s extra damage and +X bonus to AC), with x being equal to the number of tiers he has in this path.
3rd: A Ranger who ventures even further along this path gains the Improved Skirmish feat and the ability to make an attack at any point during his movement if he chooses to move and attack in the same round.
-Path of the Xenophobic Predator
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1st: A Ranger who hates those he hunts with an unusual passion or feels they should be eliminated gains powerful bonuses toward them. All numerical bonuses he receives against Hunted foes are doubled. This includes spell effects and his hunted bonuses. He can also track his targets while moving at his normal speed.
2nd: A Ranger who continues to hunt a few particular creatures gains improved senses against them. He can now track favored enemies as if he had the scent ability and he gains Blindsense out to 60 feet, as well as Blindsight to 30, and Tremorsense to 15 but these abilities only function against them. He can also track his targets while running.
3rd: A Ranger who truly understand his prey and how to detect them and eliminate them as quickly as possible gains double the range of all the senses he had before (Range 60 becomes 120, 30 becomes 60, etc..) as well as the ability to defeat the magic that protects them, if it exists, and their very will. As an attack action, a Ranger can make an attack roll, and if it hits, deal damage equal to his total number of paths taken to their Spell Resistance or Damage Reduction for the next round. This damage regenerates at a rate equal to the creatures HD every round. If they don’t posses Spell Resistance or Damage Reduction, the ranger can take an attack action that, if it hits, deals his Charisma modifier (Minimum of 1) as a penalty to their wisdom score for one round. If the penalty would drop its wisdom score below 1, the creature cannot take actions for 1 round.
-Path of the Divine Tracker
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1st: A Ranger who follows in the path of a god gains the ability to cast a very limited number of divine spells. He gains the ability to cast the first Tier of spells as the table below indicates. He prepares spells every day as a cleric and receives bonus spells as one (Every time there is a 0 on the table he only receives bonus spells granted by a high spellcasting stat to cast). He draws his spells from the Ranger Spell list, except that every time he gains a new spell level, he can choose a number of spell with the total level sum equal to the level he gained the ability to cast from the Cleric or Druid spell list. His primary casting stat is Wisdom. In addition Spellcraft is now a class skill for him.
2nd: A Ranger who continues to follow in the path of the gods unlocks the ability to cast even more divine spells as well as grant himself a bonus on Saves equal to the number of total Paths he has taken 2/day. This bonus has a duration of his Cha modifier(Minimum of 1 round).
3rd: A Ranger who reaches the pinnacle of his path to devotion gains even more spellcasting ability, as well as the ability to request metamagic from his deity when he prepares spells. He may request any metamagic to be applied to any spell he can cast, provided that he can prepare it in the higher spells slot and that the total amount of metamagic levels he requests is no more than 3. This metamagic effect is granted by the god he follows and thus no metamagic reducers he may have affect it. No metamagic effect can be applied to a spell that it would not qualify for regularly. He may also not have any more than three spells affected by metamagic per day. (For example a 20th Ranger could request a 1st level spell with a +2 metamagic effect applied to it and prepare it in a 3rd level spell slot as well as a 4th level spell with a +1 metamagic effect applied to it and prepared in a 5th level slot.)
Level
Tier Required
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
1st
1
0
2nd
1
0
3rd
1
1
4th
1
1
5th
1
2
6th
1
2
0
7th
1
2
1
8th
1
2
1
9th
2
2
1
0
10th
2
3
2
1
11th
2
3
2
1
12th
2
3
2
1
13th
2
4
3
2
0
14th
2
4
3
2
0
15th
3
4
3
2
1
16th
3
4
3
2
2
17th
3
4
4
2
2
0
18th
3
4
4
3
2
0
19th
3
4
4
3
3
0
20th
3
4
4
3
3
1
-Path of the Street Fighter
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1st: A Ranger who is taught the hard way about life on the streets quickly picks up on the basics. He gains Improved Initiative or his Wisdom modifier to Initiative (whichever is higher), with a max of no more than 1/2 his current Initiative Bonus (For example, if a Ranger has a bonus of +6 from his Dexterity modifier, items, and the Improved Initiative feat, he can add no more than +3 of his wisdom modifier to his Initiative Bonus) In addition, if the Ranger ever gains the Improved Initiative feat he also gains his Wisdom modifier to his Initiative Bonus, as outlined above. In addition, Intimidate is a class Skill for him.
2nd: As a Ranger continues to prowl the streets and learn the dirtier side of fighting he becomes even better at hitting where it hurts. He gains Powerful Strike dice, which deal 1d4 per 3 levels of ranger if opponent is flat footed or otherwise denied his dex bonus to AC. This damage is not considered precision damage and can be used at any range, with any weapon.
3rd: When the Ranger finally realizes that the only way to win in a street fight is to forget about everything except the opponent, he learns how to take more damage than usual. He receives Temporary HP when in an urban environment equal to 2* his ranger level, and a bonus to attack and damage equal to 1/2 total paths taken as well. The Temporary HP refreshes completely after 2 hours if it is expended.
Hunter Training (Ex)
A Ranger learns how to combat specific creatures by learning as much about them as possible. At 2nd level and every three after he picks a subtype of creature, as the original PHB ranger. This helps him in many ways. He gains a bonus equal to the number of times he has taken any path on an skill checks made regarding that creature type, Attack, Damage, Extra Damage for the purpose of Overcoming all types of Damage Reduction and to his caster level for overcoming Spell Resistance against 1 subtype (Each race counts as a subtype) each time he receives this feature.
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This ability replaces Favored Enemy and any items that affect Favored Enemy should affect Hunter Training. They effects scale together so you are not forced to choose one thing to be good at, instead, you can have an even repertoire.
Arts of War (Ex)
Through out a Rangers travels in both rural and urban areas he picks up quite a few impressive tricks with weapons. A Ranger gains an Art at the 3rd, 9th and 16th levels. He chooses one from the list below . If he so desires, he can instead chooses two feats he qualifies for from the fighter or general feat list to receive as bonus feats.
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The new and improved combat mastery, only now you not only get something nice, you can diversify. Everything should scale now, instead o gaining new feats you now get slowly improving bonuses to things important to the combat style.
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Two Weapon fighting
A Ranger who learns to fight with two weapons does so with great skill, surpassing those who use a single blade easily. He gains the ability to Rend when he hits with both weapons for an additional number of d6s equal to the number of Arts he has. He also adds an additional bonus to his attacks with weapons while wielding a weapon in each hand equal to 1/3 of his BaB.
Two Handed fighting
A Ranger who learns to swing one weapon with all the power in his limbs gains the Power Attack feat as a bonus feat. He also deals bonus damage equal to his class levels in the Ranger class when he charges. While wielding a weapon in both hands and using the Power Attack feat, the ranger adds +3 to his damage roll per -1 penalty he takes to his attack rolls, rather than +2/-1.
One Handed fighting
A Ranger who finds perfection in fighting with one hand empty and a blade in his other gains a competence bonus to attack equal to his base reflex save and a competence bonus equal to twice his intelligence modifier (Minimum of 1) to damage. He also gains a Dodge bonus to his AC equal to his intelligence modifier (Minimum of 1) as well as the Combat expertise feat as a bonus feat regardless of his meeting the requirements for the feat.
Reach weapons
A Ranger who prefers to keep his enemies away from himself realizes that this is not always possible and threatens all squares within 5 foot as well as 10 feet away when wielding a reach weapon. He also learns to unleash a massive amount of attacks on those surrounding him and receives the Whirlwind Feat as a bonus feat regardless of him meeting the requirements with the following addition. Once per encounter he can make an additional attack against every enemy he attacks with this feat at -10 penalty. This ability only function when the Ranger is wielding a reach weapon in both hands.
Unarmed
A Ranger who learns a thing or two about unarmed combat understands how to make his punches hurt. All his unarmed attacks now count as armed attacks for all purposes(including weapon enhancement) and deal bludgeoning damage equal to a long sword of his current size. He can never be disarmed of his unarmed attacks. He deals bonus damage equal to twice his constitution modifier on his unarmed attacks. He receives the Snap Kick feat as a bonus feat, even if he would not normally meet the requirements. Being a Ranger, and not a Monk, he realizes that he needs to know more, and gains an understanding of how his body and that of his opponent flow. Once per encounter a Ranger with this Art can use an attack action to either knock out his opponent and end the fight quickly, or at least earn a respite. He makes a touch attack against an enemy and if he hits, the enemy must succeed on a Fortitude save. The DC is equal to 10+the Rangers HD+his Strength bonus. If the enemy fails the check he is stunned for 1 round and sickened for 1d6 rounds. If he makes the save he is instead sickened for 1d4.
Ranged Sniper
A Ranger who seeks to eliminate his targets at range learns to fire his weapons with greater accuracy the farther they are away from him by entering a trance. His weapons have their ranges increased by 50%, he can shoot though all weather effects and natural miss chances with no penalty, and whenever he attacks a creature with a magical miss chance they roll a Caster level check against his attack roll. If he wins, he suffers no penalty. In addition, with a Swift action, a Ranger can enter into a Snipers stance, subtly adjusting his vision and posture. He no longer takes penalties for firing beyond his weapons range, and can see everything within its range well enough to distinguish objects. Instead, he gains a bonus to his attack roll equal to what the penalty would have been and instead takes the penalty x1.5 to his Armor Class. This stance ends after a number of successful attacks equal to twice the number he receives from having a high BaB have hit a target.
Ranged Rapid Fire
A Ranger who likes to turn everything that looks at him funny into a pincushion is guided by his instincts and muscle memory alone. When doing so, he may make one extra ranged attack in a round at her highest base attack bonus, but this attack takes a -2 penalty, as does each other attack made that round. This penalty applies for 1 round, so it also affects the attacks of Opportunity the Ranger might make before his next action. When a Ranger reaches 5th level, the penalty lessens to -1, and at 9th level it disappears. A Ranger must use a full attack action to strike with a flurry of arrows. In addition, if he hits with more than one ranged attack in a row, the next attack’s base weapon damage is multiplied by the number of consecutive attacks. He also gains a bonus to ranged weapon attack and damage rolls equal to his dexterity modifier (This doubles his to hit from dexterity unless he somehow has applied another stat modifier, in which case they stack). Weather effects no longer affect his ranged weapon attacks.
Thrown Weapons
A Ranger who find the idea of throwing small sharp objects realizes that by achieving a better form, he can throw farther and faster. His range increments on thrown weapons are now doubled, he deals double base damage within the first range increment, he no longer suffers the ill effects or weather effects with his thrown weapons, and his thrown weapons are treated as if he had the entire Weapon Focus Feat line with them as soon as he qualifies for them with his BaB.(This effect stacks with Weapon Focus line)
Natural Attacks
A Ranger who chooses to use the gifts nature provides as his primary offensive armament gains the Multiattack feat as a bonus feat. He also may add their full strength bonus to damage rolls made by their secondary attacks and 1.5 times to their primary attacks damage rolls. If he could already add 1.5 times their strength bonus to damage they instead add double their strength. He gains the ability to choose, one material and one alignment as a swift action that lasts until he changes it, for his natural attacks to count as. He may choose differently for each attack or the same for all. Additionally, for each additional attack he would receive for have high BaB after the first he increases the damage die for his natural attacks by one step. Finally, he gains a competence bonus to all his natural weapon attack rolls equal to the number of paths taken.
Naturally Skilled (Ex)
A Ranger is graced by Nature and his own experiences. At 6th, 10th, 13th and 19th levels he can choose two skill tricks he qualifies for and gains a competence bonus equal to the number of times he has received this ability to one skill of his choosing each time he receives this ability. He may not select the same skill twice. The skill must be on his class skill list.
Spoiler
This was a last minute ability I thought up to help fill dead levels. I think that allowing a Ranger to get better at a few skills is a nice boost, and it certainly helps the image of the Ranger I hoped to provoke.
Uncanny Dodge(Ex)
Starting at 6th level, a Ranger can react to danger before his senses would normally allow his to do so. He retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, he still loses his Dexterity bonus to
AC if immobilized. If a Ranger already has uncanny dodge from a different class (a
rogue with at least two levels of barbarian, for example), he automatically gains improved uncanny dodge (see below) instead.
Spoiler
I felt that all Rangers needed to be quick on their feet, and not as easy to be snuck up on.
Natural Selection (Ex)
At 7th level a Ranger has survived long enough that he has passed the first of Natures tests and gains Immunity to natural poisons and diseases.
At 12th level a Ranger has passed all of Natures tests and gains Immunity to all poisons and diseases.
Spoiler
Druids get this, so why shouldn't Rangers? They both spend just as much time in the wilderness...
Camouflage(Ex)
A ranger of 9th level or higher can use the Hide skill in any sort of natural or urban terrain, even if the terrain doesn’t grant cover or concealment.
This improves to Hide in Plain Sight(Ex) in any sort of natural or urban terrain at 15th level.
Spoiler
The addition of HiPS at higher level was important, not only in natural levels because I really want to stress that a Ranger is not only a country hick, but just as at home in the city. However, if he travels to another plane he is out of luck.
Evasion(Ex)
A Ranger of 10th level or higher can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If he makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save (such as the Flame Strike spell), he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if a Ranger is wearing armor he is proficient with or no armor. A helpless Ranger (such as one who is paralyzed) does not gain the benefit of evasion.
Spoiler
Evasion is good stuff. Not much to see here.
Improved Uncanny Dodge(Ex)
A Ranger of 12th level or higher can no longer be flanked; he can react to opponents on opposite sides of him as easily as he can react to a single attacker. This defense denies a rogue the ability to sneak attack the character by flanking him, unless the attacker has at least four more rogue levels than the target does Ranger levels.
If a character already has uncanny dodge (see above) from a second class, the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead, and the levels from the classes that grant uncanny dodge stack to determine the minimum rogue level required to flank the character.
Spoiler
Still reading? Awesome! Now move along.
Improved Evasion(Ex)
At 15th level, a Ranger’s evasion ability improves. He still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks such as a Flame Strike spell, but henceforth he takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless Ranger (such as one who is paralyzed) does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.
Spoiler
Nothing that hasn't already been said to say here.
Adaptive Evolution (Ex)
At 20th level the Ranger has truly mastered Nature. He now evolves as time goes by. Whenever a Ranger would be killed by a special ability of a creature or spell he dies as normal, but returns to life as before in 1 day, in a spot of his choosing up to 10 miles from where he died, with immunity to whatever ability killed him. He can have immunity to as many abilities as HD as he has. Only the special abilities of a deity with Divine Rank 1 or a Wish can kill him. He still dies from weapon damage as normal, but returns to life after 3 days with DR 10 against whatever damage type killed him. This DR increases by one every time this ability is activated, to a maximum of 1.5 times his HD.
Spoiler
Ah! The good stuff. Capstones. I tried to capture that once a Ranger reaches epic levels, he is really, really really, hard to kill. Once he has surpassed everyone else, nothing can stop him. He can return from the dead as many times as he wants, provided he doesn't make a deity angry.
Credits and Thanks Yous: Thank you TravelLog, for all your help and ideas for class features. Thanks and credit to T.G. Oskar for allowing me to use his Marshal in my class, under the Path of Kings. And Thank you to all the other homebrews on this forum, you have all inspired me more than you know.
Change log
Spoiler
1.0 Class Posted
1.1 Minor edits
1.2 Larger scale edits made from PEACHing, clarifications mainly, and removal of bonus feats.
1.3 Changes to Arts, Paths, still revising based on peaching
1.4 Minor edits changing Path wordings
1.5 Beefed up Path of fleet Hunter and Blinding Anger as well as wording changes.
Re: Project Wild: Nature and Man(Or X race) combined
Skills: While on the subject of "Skills a Ranger Should Have Already Gotten", why don't you add Escape Artist here? Escape Artist is basically a combination of the skills necessary to Use Rope and Tumble, so if you have both of them, you should have Escape Artist as well.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The ranger needs them.
Tracker: You need to tack on the words "as bonus feats" to the end of that sentence.
Paths: Path of the Xenophobic Predator should reference Hunter's Training, not Favored Enemy.
For Path of the King, class features that allow saving throws generally base them off of 1/2 class level, not 1/2 HD. I suggest you follow this pattern for your Frightful Presence ability.
Path of the Wild: There is absolutely no reason you should be taking a penalty here. Druids are full spellcasters, and you're not. You don't even have spells unless you take Path of the Divine. Shapeshift isn't that strong of a feature anyway, it's flavorful and very useful, but the fact that the bonuses are enhancement bonuses rather than untyped waters down their value immensely. Besides, why should you have to wait until 9th level to get a new form? That's just way too much of a gap for that ability (especially since your second form will pale in comparison to your first form in combat)
If you have an issue with giving the AC and Shapeshift, you're mostly overthinking it. You don't have spells, which means you lose the Share Spells feature of the druid's animal companion, making it much worse. (It's basically just a warrior, not even a fighter). However, if that's your reasoning for penalizing the Shapeshift, penalize the AC instead. Just a -3 penalty to your effective druid level for all animal companions. Boom, done. Weaken the class feature, not the ranger.
Path of Blind Anger- Alright, this is decent, I suppose. Probably won't be nearly as useful to you as a barbarian, since you have less Con dependency and rely more on Dexterity and mobility, generally.
Hunter Training: ...So this no longer helps you track your enemies? I mean, yeah, I get that Xenophobic is supposed to be the main racist now, but why take away the Favored Enemy bonus to Survival?
Other than that, you need to state "to your caster level", for the part about overcoming spell resistance. As it stands now, you're dealing "extra damage" for the purposes of overcoming spell resistance.
Naturally Skilled: This is brilliant and it works really well. My problem? The bonus feats. Just take them out and only offer bonus skill tricks and competence bonuses. Bonus feats for versatility are the fighter's thing, and besides, a ranger is more suited to the skill monkey role anyway.
Arts of War: Okay, Two-Handed Fighting needs some editing. First of all, you should either say "gains the benefits of the Power Attack feat" or "gains the Power Attack feat as a bonus feat". Then, you state the bonus to your damage rolls while charging, in a separate sentence. Finally, the last sentence should read like this: "While wielding a weapon in both hands and using the Power Attack feat, the ranger adds +4 to his damage roll per -1 penalty he takes to his attack rolls, rather than +2/-1."
One Handed Fighting: Please state that the shield bonus is applied to his Armor Class. As it is now, you get a shield bonus, but you don't apply it to any relevant statistic or roll. Also, again, the ranger gains the Combat Expertise feat "as a bonus feat". Finally, you should state whether the ranger must meet the prerequisites for all these bonus feats you're offering or not.
Reach Weapons- Blah blah blah, Whirlwind Attack is a bonus feat, does he need to meet the prerequisites.
Unarmed- Oh good, here you state that he need not meet the prerequisites for Snap Kick, though you still need to add that he gains it "as a bonus feat". Sorry to keep getting on your case about this, but you asked for PEACH, and poor editing is what draws my attention most.
The DC for your special attack is incredibly high. Imagine if you were using it at 10th level, with, we'll say a Strength score of 20. Your saving throw DC is 30. A Frost Giant, which is a creature who has a ridiculously high Fortitude save and Constitution score for a CR 11, has a Fortitude save of +14, so even he only has a 25% chance of succeeding the saving throw.
Typically, the formula for the DC of an attack is 10+1/2 class level+Modifier. With this modifier, and the above scenario, the DC drops to 20, which is much more reasonable. The Frost Giant's chances of succeeding his saving throw against it triple, which is good, because his high Fortitude saves were part of the process for calculating his CR. Meanwhile, a rakshasa, which is an arguably much more threatening CR 10 than a frost giant, now has to roll a 12 on his save against your attack (whereas before he only succeeded on a natural 20).
Ranged Sniper- How long does the Sniper's Stance last? Also, snipers are known for both deadly accuracy and the "one shot, one kill" mentality. So I think you should add on to your Art to reflect the second one a bit better. Maybe something to make critical hits easier, but as a standard action (so you can't fire any other arrows during the round you use it).
Ranged Rapid Fire: The monk's Base Attack Bonus is lower than the rangers. He ends up with 5 attacks with his flurry, which is the same as a ranger with the Rapid Fire feat. You should just bite the bullet and copy the SRD monk's text from Flurry of Blows, allowing it to apply to ranged weapons. That way, the ranger ends up with 6 attacks instead of 5. Also, you should clarify that adding Dexterity to your attack and damage rolls only applies to your ranged attack and damage rolls.
Thrown Weapons: You get your first Art of War at 3rd level. The "Weapon Focus line" consists of Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, Greater Weapon Specialization, Melee Weapon Mastery, and Weapon Supremacy. Weapon Supremacy is a feat that is only available to fighters of 18th level or higher, and it grants you a large number of impressive bonuses, including the ability to take 10 on one attack roll per round. I think you should seriously consider whether granting all of that at 3rd level is balanced.
And no love for a shield-bearing ranger?
Uncanny Dodge: This comes late. I would put this in at 6th level at the latest.
All in all, the class looks good. Ranger is useful in a wider variety of settings now, which is always a plus. Perhaps you'd like to take a look at the PF SRD ranger and maybe see if you like its Favored Terrain ability? You could add it in, for urban and natural terrains only.
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Wrote a 10 page research paper titled "Servants of Heaven: The Symbolism of the Angel in Modern Spirituality and Morality". Got a B+. Stupid English professor.
Re: Project Wild: Nature and Man(Or X race) combined
Firstly, does anybody know the name of this artist that Wizards and Paizo appear to love so much.
I wanna check out his deviantart page.
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Thirdly, I am tired of this stereotype for the Ranger.
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I would prefer something more like this.
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Huh. Well what if I tried to combine ALL the stereotypes about the Ranger into one giant class?
Secondly, from which sources did you draw your inspirations?
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Every Ranger gains the Track and Urban Track feats.
Ooooh, Idunno, I think they should have to choose...
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At every level listed on the table where a Ranger receives a new Path, he can choose to either continue in a path he has already begun, or tread down a new one. Each time he follows the same path more than once, he unlocks the next tier of abilities granted by that path.
Nice mechanic.
Introduces a career-based versatility to a class. I'd hesitate to give it to casters though.
But if you were making more martial classes-specifically fighter or paladin, I'd say this would work well.
I'm not a game-designer, and make I'm talking from out of my butt, but mechanics like this I wouldn't mind seeing in 5th Edition.
Reminds me a bit of 4th.
As for the distinct Paths, I think picking them apart is a fruitless task based on what one wishes to accomplish with the character or a DM chooses to allow.
Me, personally, if I were making a Ranger character...
...would just go all xenophobic predator...
Makes for good assassin-
...
However, inevitably Elfstone, mechanics like this will force you to abandon three tiers, and create Paths with varied tiers...
The Paths will become the ranger's own Prestige Classes.
Not that that's a bad thing.
Its just a foreseeable result.
Nobody will ever be satisfied with just three.
With a mechanic like this that offers so much, inevitably, they're gonna want more?
So, why hobble yourself?
Not too sure about Arts of War, but eh, whatever...
Adaptive Evolution is where I'd come to a halt...
...makes my head hurt just thinking about it...
At the end of it, seems like an interesting expression of the ranger...
...and while I admit homebrews don't usually hold my attention, I found the Path's mechanic particularly worth examining.
Why not five tiers for each path?
Re: Project Wild: Nature and Man(Or X race) combined
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Originally Posted by NeoSeraphi
Skills: While on the subject of "Skills a Ranger Should Have Already Gotten", why don't you add Escape Artist here? Escape Artist is basically a combination of the skills necessary to Use Rope and Tumble, so if you have both of them, you should have Escape Artist as well.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The ranger needs them.
Tracker: You need to tack on the words "as bonus feats" to the end of that sentence.
Paths: Path of the Xenophobic Predator should reference Hunter's Training, not Favored Enemy.
*Snip*
And no love for a shield-bearing ranger?
Uncanny Dodge: This comes late. I would put this in at 6th level at the latest.
All in all, the class looks good. Ranger is useful in a wider variety of settings now, which is always a plus. Perhaps you'd like to take a look at the PF SRD ranger and maybe see if you like its Favored Terrain ability? You could add it in, for urban and natural terrains only.
Thank you! I don't have much time today, but tomorrow I will correct all the mistakes you pointed out and write a full response. As for the PEACHing, poor editing is what I need help with, so thanks again. No love for the shield ranger because.. well.. I havent gotten there yet.
@Oasys
There are several artists, are you referencing the unspoilered picture?
All most all WotC Ranger PrCs and wild based classes, T.G. Oskars Ranger, Jarians Ranger(to a lesser degree, as it has been some time since I have read it), several of Neo's wild oriented classes, and a bunch of other homebrews. Oh and Lord of the Rings most of all.
I forsaw the elimination of PrCs when I created the paths. However I never want to elinate any possibility, so I would say that PrCs are certainly possible.
Why not five tiers you say? Well that was the original idea, but I couldn't make 5 for each path. Its the next stepping stone toward my goal of completion and balance. AKA 4 hours tomorrow.
Thanks to both of you for the PEACHing and comments, and I urge everyone who reads this to follow in their footsteps.
Re: Project Wild: Nature and Man(Or X race) combined
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There are several artists, are you referencing the unspoilered picture?
Yeah...
...this artist's style is rather unique...
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All most all WotC Ranger PrCs and wild based classes, T.G. Oskars Ranger, Jarians Ranger(to a lesser degree, as it has been some time since I have read it), several of Neo's wild oriented classes, and a bunch of other homebrews. Oh and Lord of the Rings most of all.
Hmmm.
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I forsaw the elimination of PrCs when I created the paths. However I never want to elinate any possibility, so I would say that PrCs are certainly possible.
Yeah, its possible they'd become obsolete...
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Well that was the original idea, but I couldn't make 5 for each path.
Right right, I was just saying with this mechanic there seems to be no reason to hobble one's self at three tiers, and that entire trees or career paths with twenty tiers would be possible.
Re: Project Wild: Nature and Man(Or X race) combined
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Originally Posted by TheOasysMaster
Yeah...
...this artist's style is rather unique...
Hmmm.
Yeah, its possible they'd become obsolete...
Right right, I was just saying with this mechanic there seems to be no reason to hobble one's self at three tiers, and that entire trees or career paths with twenty tiers would be possible.
Google is your friend. After searching by image, I found that the art is by Wayne Reynolds.
Re: Project Wild: Nature and Man(Or X race) combined
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Originally Posted by NeoSeraphi
Skills: While on the subject of "Skills a Ranger Should Have Already Gotten", why don't you add Escape Artist here? Escape Artist is basically a combination of the skills necessary to Use Rope and Tumble, so if you have both of them, you should have Escape Artist as well. Yup Yup Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The ranger needs them. Ooops. My bad. Tracker: You need to tack on the words "as bonus feats" to the end of that sentence. Done Paths: Path of the Xenophobic Predator should reference Hunter's Training, not Favored Enemy. Yep
For Path of the King, class features that allow saving throws generally base them off of 1/2 class level, not 1/2 HD. I suggest you follow this pattern for your Frightful Presence ability. Hmmm.... I think I'll keep it as is, I like it scaling even if the ranger takes a different class. That and thats what Dragons have.
Path of the Wild: There is absolutely no reason you should be taking a penalty here. Druids are full spellcasters, and you're not. You don't even have spells unless you take Path of the Divine. Shapeshift isn't that strong of a feature anyway, it's flavorful and very useful, but the fact that the bonuses are enhancement bonuses rather than untyped waters down their value immensely. Besides, why should you have to wait until 9th level to get a new form? That's just way too much of a gap for that ability (especially since your second form will pale in comparison to your first form in combat) Indeed. I have also added some other goodies.
If you have an issue with giving the AC and Shapeshift, you're mostly overthinking it. You don't have spells, which means you lose the Share Spells feature of the druid's animal companion, making it much worse. (It's basically just a warrior, not even a fighter). However, if that's your reasoning for penalizing the Shapeshift, penalize the AC instead. Just a -3 penalty to your effective druid level for all animal companions. Boom, done. Weaken the class feature, not the ranger. See above.
Path of Blind Anger- Alright, this is decent, I suppose. Probably won't be nearly as useful to you as a barbarian, since you have less Con dependency and rely more on Dexterity and mobility, generally. Thanks you! Hunter Training: ...So this no longer helps you track your enemies? I mean, yeah, I get that Xenophobic is supposed to be the main racist now, but why take away the Favored Enemy bonus to Survival? I forgot about that. I think I'll change it to all skill checks made vs that creature type.
Other than that, you need to state "to your caster level", for the part about overcoming spell resistance. As it stands now, you're dealing "extra damage" for the purposes of overcoming spell resistance. Good catch Naturally Skilled: This is brilliant and it works really well. My problem? The bonus feats. Just take them out and only offer bonus skill tricks and competence bonuses. Bonus feats for versatility are the fighter's thing, and besides, a ranger is more suited to the skill monkey role anyway. But everyone should have the ability to customize... However Im not entirely sure about 4 bonus feats.... I'll change it and see how I like it. Arts of War: Okay, Two-Handed Fighting needs some editing. First of all, you should either say "gains the benefits of the Power Attack feat" or "gains the Power Attack feat as a bonus feat". Then, you state the bonus to your damage rolls while charging, in a separate sentence. Finally, the last sentence should read like this: "While wielding a weapon in both hands and using the Power Attack feat, the ranger adds +4 to his damage roll per -1 penalty he takes to his attack rolls, rather than +2/-1." Thanks. I think I will be chaning this to scale more, but for now thats much better.
One Handed Fighting: Please state that the shield bonus is applied to his Armor Class. As it is now, you get a shield bonus, but you don't apply it to any relevant statistic or roll. Also, again, the ranger gains the Combat Expertise feat "as a bonus feat". Finally, you should state whether the ranger must meet the prerequisites for all these bonus feats you're offering or not. Check
Reach Weapons- Blah blah blah, Whirlwind Attack is a bonus feat, does he need to meet the prerequisites. Righto
Unarmed- Oh good, here you state that he need not meet the prerequisites for Snap Kick, though you still need to add that he gains it "as a bonus feat". Sorry to keep getting on your case about this, but you asked for PEACH, and poor editing is what draws my attention most.
The DC for your special attack is incredibly high. Imagine if you were using it at 10th level, with, we'll say a Strength score of 20. Your saving throw DC is 30. A Frost Giant, which is a creature who has a ridiculously high Fortitude save and Constitution score for a CR 11, has a Fortitude save of +14, so even he only has a 25% chance of succeeding the saving throw. Yep. Thats how I want it. Its almost an assured stun, so he can get away and find some real weapons. However Im still working on the whole idea...
Typically, the formula for the DC of an attack is 10+1/2 class level+Modifier. With this modifier, and the above scenario, the DC drops to 20, which is much more reasonable. The Frost Giant's chances of succeeding his saving throw against it triple, which is good, because his high Fortitude saves were part of the process for calculating his CR. Meanwhile, a rakshasa, which is an arguably much more threatening CR 10 than a frost giant, now has to roll a 12 on his save against your attack (whereas before he only succeeded on a natural 20).
Ranged Sniper- How long does the Sniper's Stance last? Also, snipers are known for both deadly accuracy and the "one shot, one kill" mentality. So I think you should add on to your Art to reflect the second one a bit better. Maybe something to make critical hits easier, but as a standard action (so you can't fire any other arrows during the round you use it).
Ranged Rapid Fire: The monk's Base Attack Bonus is lower than the rangers. He ends up with 5 attacks with his flurry, which is the same as a ranger with the Rapid Fire feat. You should just bite the bullet and copy the SRD monk's text from Flurry of Blows, allowing it to apply to ranged weapons. That way, the ranger ends up with 6 attacks instead of 5. Also, you should clarify that adding Dexterity to your attack and damage rolls only applies to your ranged attack and damage rolls. Got it. Thanks.
Thrown Weapons: You get your first Art of War at 3rd level. The "Weapon Focus line" consists of Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, Greater Weapon Specialization, Melee Weapon Mastery, and Weapon Supremacy. Weapon Supremacy is a feat that is only available to fighters of 18th level or higher, and it grants you a large number of impressive bonuses, including the ability to take 10 on one attack roll per round. I think you should seriously consider whether granting all of that at 3rd level is balanced. Its not.. Working on that right now. I think I will just drop it for now.
And no love for a shield-bearing ranger?
Uncanny Dodge: This comes late. I would put this in at 6th level at the latest. Okay, I didnt know where to put it. Earlier is fine by me.
All in all, the class looks good. Ranger is useful in a wider variety of settings now, which is always a plus. Perhaps you'd like to take a look at the PF SRD ranger and maybe see if you like its Favored Terrain ability? You could add it in, for urban and natural terrains only.
Re: Project Wild: Nature and Man(Or X race) combined
One thing I would consider adding is a ranged-based path. The Art of War is excellent for them, but unless I'm missing something, there is no path that really helps out the ranged ranger specifically.
Re: Project Wild: Nature and Man(Or X race) combined
Tracker
Not many people even bother using the Track and Urban Track from my experience, so in many ways its like the Dragontouched feat for Dragonfire Adepts in that its nice to have but not nesessary.
The Paths
An interesting alternate to let people choose what kind of ranger they want to play. Being able to choose your style of play is an important selling point to me, especially if the class allows flexibility. Now lets see what we have to work with...
-Path of the King
Gaining multiple auras, frightful presence, and finally Leadership/moral bonus makes this an interesting set of options for a Ranger, especially since you don't typically think of one being a leader of an army.
-Path of the Wild
Quite frankly, despite the Shapeshifter variant not being very powerful compared to the Wildshape ability I can see that at least I would go for this ability to its full tier.
-Path of Blinding Anger
Another interesting path granting a max of 3/day rages, a permanent class bonus to Str of +6, bonus to all melee weapon damage equal to +12, and a ability similar to Mettle. Doesn't say if this is gained only while in Rage, so I'm assuming that these are just flat bonuses you have access to 24/7. Considering that you can get the third tier by 8th level I'm not sure if that would be such a hot idea.
-Path of Fleet Hunter
Nothing that a bit of a dip into Scout and several magic items can't replicate.
-Path of the Xenophobic Predator
Definitely a obvious path people will take in specific type heavy settings [ex: Undead in Ravenloft] gaining double their favored enemy bonus (is this before or after modifiers such as magic item bonuses), special senses to hunt them down specifically (which can help if they are disguised or even invisible), max of 14 'damage' to SR and DR (which is easily countered by anything with 14+ HD) or a penalty to Wis = your Cha mod?
An interesting ability all around.
-Path of the Divine Tracker
An option to have spellcasting from the Ranger, Cleric, and/or Druid spell list can be quite powerful if you know the right spells. Especially considering 2/3rds of your choices are tier 1 classes. If it weren't for the fact you get spellcasting from Clerics and Druids I was going to ask why do you have 5th level spells when Rangers only get 4th. Along with up to 3 levels of free metamagic modifier per day is nice to have as well.
-Path of the Street Fighter
A bonus to Initiative and the Powerful Strike dice makes these options alot nicer for classes like the Rogue that desire for a better initiative and more damage, especially against creatures immune to their Sneak attacks. The third level I would only take for the bonus to attack and damage, but then I could just go with the Blinding Anger for better results.
All in all, I personally think that maybe certain tiers should have a 'minimum' level to take requirement such as for the Blinding Rage. As to what levels, I have no idea.
Hunter Training
So from what I am reading, +1/3 'Favored Enemies' gets us 6 compared to 5 from the original version with a max bonus of +3 (able to take any certain path 3 times) to all of them. I guess the part that is confusing me the most is the "He gains a bonus equal to the number of times he has taken any path", does this mean if I take the Xenophobic Predator x3 but several others only x1 that I get a max bonus of +3, or combined total of +7 by 20th level?
Naturally Skilled
Max of 5 bonus feats, or 10 Skill tricks is certainly a nice way to fill up the dead levels, but I like the Skill part more. If only it had a better order since there is a 4 lvl gap between the first and second, 3 after that, and 6 before the last.
Natural Selection
Gaining immunity to poisons and diseases is an easy enough thing to get by 12th level, so its only natural to offer it by a class ability.
Arts of War
I'm honestly kind of disappointed at the lack of Natural Weapon mastery, especially with the Shapeshifting ability as an option. After all the Fangshield Ranger [Champions of Valor] was a Ranger ACF that gave Multiattack and such as bonus feats in place of TWF or Archery.
Also kinda missing the TWF bonus feats, but then I guess that's somewhat Naturally Skilled is supposed to be now huh?
Camouflage
This is key for a hunter in both natural and urban terrain.
Evasion
As said, not much to see here.
Uncanny Dodge
An ability that I thought the Ranger should of got in the first place. Good show. Comes late though.
Improved Evasion
Same as the first.
Improved Uncanny Dodge
Same as the first.
Adaptive Evolution
A very interesting capstone ability. Not exactly sure how it fits in my frame of mind, but having the ability to be completely immune to death from 20+ (should be Class levels rather then HD) possible ways of dying seems to be more of a Epic thing imho.
Don't know if this helps you since I'm not typically a good critique giver, but here are my 2 cp.
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Avvie by the awesome Ceika
"Words ought to be chosen with greater care then either clothing or weaponry. For they can last much longer than the former, and cut deeper than the latter." -Doomraga's Revenge by T.A. Barron
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Project Wild: Nature and Man(Or X race) combined
