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| The Ranger is the only class not provided with bad art, so you get the Dúnedain. |
From its humble beginnings of “what if Strider was a playable class” to the current generation’s dual-wielding, magic-slinging beastmaster, the Ranger has been through some changes over time. If you wish to dive into those changes, Stoddard is still your resource. 2e’s Ranger is the middle of this great shift, introducing new (and now iconic) powers while retaining old ideas. In Dragon #121, Zeb warned that the class would “mutate.” He wasn’t kidding.
Let’s dig into each feature and see what can be broken.
1. Two-Weapon Fighting
This Ranger feature is purely a 2e invention. It negates the penalties built into the two-weapon fighting rules, as long as you wear studded leather or lighter. It’s an odd choice for the class, as it is alien to the Aragorn baseline which the original version was attempting to meet. Whether this was created to give the Ranger a unique combat ability (to differentiate it from the Fighter), or as a cookie to get you to stop wearing heavy armor, or both, it would stay with the class for all time. There’s no reason to stop that train here.
There’s another weapon feature of the Ranger that has become inexorably tied to the class, but which is surprisingly not found in 2e: Archery. I say surprising only because the concept almost existed four years earlier in Unearthed Arcana, wherein the Ranger was required to choose a bow (or light crossbow) as one of their weapon proficiencies. The idea was there, but it didn’t become a core option in the class until 3e. As with Two-Weapon Fighting, it would become a staple, and I think it has a place in this hack due to its current connection to the class; it just feels like something the Ranger should have, and its absence is noticeable.
Two-Weapon Fighting stays as it is – unless I completely revise the way two weapon combat operates, which is a story for another day. Since a non-penalized Two-Weapon Fighting essentially grants an additional weapon attack per turn, Archery can just do the same. If I use the Multi-Attack rules as devised in the Fighter entry, that means they get Triple Attack.
3e gave the player a choice between archery and two-weapon combat, and later editions would open this up further, but I don’t think that’s the way to go. This is the Ranger; they should have both!
2. Woodsman
Here’s the bit of Strider that made it to 2e, with a ton of additions to make it all work.
2.1. Tracking
For the Ranger’s tracking ability, we see the replacement of 1e’s crunchy tracking rules with a simple grant of the Tracking Nonweapon Proficiency, which they get whether you’re using those optional rules or not, and which gets a +1 increase every three levels. This is clean, easy-to-understand, and shuttles the Tracking rules somewhere outside of the class description. So, Rangers get the Tracking Skill automatically, though we’ll work on the increase mechanic.
2.2. Survival
Since the Ranger is a ‘skilled woodsman,’ they should naturally gain Survival. What else would you give this warrior of the wild?
2.3. Hiding and Sneaking
The Ranger gets two new abilities in 2e: Hide in Shadows and Move Silently. Of course these are stolen from the Rogue, which is AD&D’s go-to solution for handing abilities to a class. They’re given the caveat of only working in ‘natural surroundings,’ with a half chance in the city or dungeon. This skill grant may be intended as a way to implement the 1e Ranger’s bonuses for surprise, which is not a bad way to handle it, though this does mean a loss of the Ranger’s bonus for their own chance to be surprised – something I’m in favor of returning to them in this hack.
The only issue with the thieving skills is that they’re designed to improve via point investment, rather than being tied to an ability check. The Ranger doesn’t get points to spend, but is instead given a base chance table reminiscent of the 1e Thief. This is just the worst; we escaped this table with the Rogue, yet we find ourselves shackled to it here.
Instead, let’s take a cue from the thieving skills and offer incremental improvements at the preference of the player. The Bard is a good starting point, receiving 30 points at 1st level to invest into their thieving skills, and 15 more with each level up. The Ranger can invest into Hide in Shadows and Move Silently (starting at low base scores), or improve Survival, Tracking, and (discussed later on) Animal Handling by +1. Let's toss Climbing in there, too.
Assuming that the character has the minimum Ability Score requisites, this roughly gives you a Ranger that ‘maxes out’ their Ability-based skills by 7th level, or their stealthy skills by level 10. By 15th level they’re good at everything, which is roughly when Thieves become fully skilled.
(There is the discrepancy here between this improvement style of +1 increments, and the Skill Points system of +2 increases. That needs a second look.)
Since we’re handing a bunch of skills to the Ranger, and a new way to improve them, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to restrict the other skills which they can access to ensure the class doesn’t become a skill farm. If using the optional Ability Skill system, Rangers only get a single Skill Point at character generation, which may only be used for Knowledge or Performance Skills. The single Skill Point earned every three levels can likewise only be used for the same purpose.
If the Ability Skill system is in use, this is a major restriction for the Ranger, which I find a suitable trade off for their features. If not used, this just stays out of the way, though it does create one more class that can improve their Climbing score. Either way, it focuses the Ranger onto specific skills which meet to their theme.
3. Favored Enemy
This one has been with the class from the beginning, but has been designed very differently throughout the editions. It has oscillated between providing attack or damage bonuses, and between applying to specific creatures or just the one you’re in front of.
In 2e, it applies to only one species of your choice, and gives you a +4 bonus on attack rolls. It’s a meaty bonus, but it is hyper-specific by limiting the feature to a single monster; if the DM doesn’t make the active decision to put that particular monster in front of you, this feature essentially does not exist. That issue isn’t isolated to 2e, but it’s much worse here.
2e also flavors this with an enmity angle: you get a –4 penalty on encounter reactions against “the hated type,” with an edict that you must attack that creature first during the fight (“unless,” the PHB states “someone else presents a much greater danger,” which is a strange way to hedge on this). It’s a bit off theme for the character; the Ranger is skilled at killing these creatures because they’re practiced at protecting their territory from them, not because they have some eternal vendetta against them. They might have an unrestrained hatred toward their favored enemy, but that’s the player’s call. It’s something that none of the other editions do, and one which I will not retain.
For the primary mechanic, it needs a fix. This is much easier said than done; experienced and brilliant designers have made the attempt long before me, and with only varying degrees of success. I will do my best.
The obvious first step is to expand the list of creatures you can apply this to. I could implement a type-subsystem for monsters and point the feature toward that, but I think that’s actually too broad, especially if I retain the +4 bonus to-hit. Instead, I’d prefer to just offer more than one monster; three sounds like a reasonable number.
This still creates the problem of leaving the feature toothless if the DM decides to never use your chosen monsters. 4e solved this by just making anything your chosen monster, through the use of the Hunter’s Quarry feature. This is overly permissive, making the reason for the feature almost meaningless; these are supposed to be the creatures which the Ranger has studied and had direct experience with, which explains why they’re so much better at killing them.
I like the ability to switch up your favored enemy when needed, but doing so instantaneously isn’t the answer. Instead, we can look to Gavin Norman’s Dolmenwood, which created a brilliant solution by allowing the Hunter class to take trophies from monsters, which confers a bonus when attacking and defending against those creatures. With this system, the character needs to put in the work before they can add the enemy to their list of preferred quarry. Let’s adapt it.
First, having the bonus apply to defenses is a reasonable addition, so let’s have it apply to Saving Throws against that creature.
For the ‘choose your enemy’ mechanic: If the Ranger spends at least one hour tracking and studying a creature, they can make that creature a ‘Tracked Enemy.’ The Ranger gains a +2 bonus to ATTAC and Saving Throws against their Tracked Enemy. They can only have one Tracked Enemy at a time. If the Ranger successfully tracks and kills one or more of those creatures, and does so three times before choosing a new Tracked Enemy, the creature becomes a Favored Enemy, granting the +4 bonus.
I think this will serve. The Ranger gets a big bonus right out of the gate against a handful of expected enemies, paired with a smaller bonus for acting like a Ranger and learning their quarry, which can itself be improved.
4. Animal Empathy
The Ranger has a few animal skills which look fairly close to the revised Animal Handling skill. Just giving the Ranger this skill should be fine, and will save us from implementing anything resembling 2e’s version of calming wild animals. That system uses Save vs. Rods to adjust placement on the reaction table, which is just a delightful mess of subsystems used for nothing resembling their original purpose.
While the idea that higher HD creatures may be less susceptible to the Ranger’s overtures is a clever one, it requires a bit more overhead than just beating your Animal Handling score, so the latter option wins out. The skill also gives an option to train animals, so there’s your pet if you really want one.
5. Cleric Spells
In the prior Paladin entry, I nixed these. I had a few arguments against them, including the concern that they came too late, had a weird implementation, and were too much added to an already overloaded class. I agree with all of those points as concerns the Ranger, but will add another one just for this class: they’re not on theme.
The Ranger is a warden of the woods, a skilled warrior who uses the natural environment to become a deadly warrior. They’re surviving off the land and hunting its enemies. They’re the dark, cloaked guardian who suddenly appears from behind the tree. Woe to their chosen enemies, from whom they are protecting the nature which surrounds civilization.
What they are not doing is communing with the spirit of the woods, coaxing the vines into doing their bidding and talking with bears. They aren’t assembling a menagerie of animal friends who send messages and attack their enemies. They aren’t turning into trees. The twenty spells available to the Ranger provide exactly these abilities. However, there’s already a class that does all of these things, or at least should be able to do all these things: The Druid. Giving all of these Druid-like powers to the Ranger via Cleric spells dilutes the uniqueness of the Druid, while simultaneously making the Ranger less iconic.
So, as with the Paladin, I’m tossing the spells.
However, of these Druidish spells, there are two that are on theme: Invisibility to Animals and Pass Without Trace. I can provide a version of these abilities to the Ranger without the need for a spell system, by providing some extra capabilities to the skills which they are provided. The Survival skill can allow Rangers to coat themselves in odd smells or camouflage to appear invisible to wild animals, and the Tracking skill can allow Rangers to not leave a trail of their own.
6. Castles and Animal Followers
They can make a stronghold, but they don’t get a bunch of warriors showing up at their door. However, 2e does provide them with 2d6 followers at 10th level, from a prescribed list of wild animals, woodland cryptids, and the occasional guy, all of who show up over the course of several months.
This, like all other follower and stronghold details, belongs in a separate chapter. That being said, I’m not a fan of what the Ranger gets; having a group of animal companions who serve you is Druid stuff. The Ranger is meant to be a loner, as detailed in the final paragraph of their entry in the PHB, where it is noted that they cannot use hirelings or henchmen until 8th level. Why then, two levels after finally being able to hire someone to take care of the horses, are they suddenly living in a keep filled with bears, satyrs, and ravens? That final paragraph also notes that Rangers can only keep wealth which they can carry: so what are they keeping in this castle of theirs? Spare satyrs?
The whole thing is off-brand. They’re loners – aside from the party, of course. They don’t get a bunch of NPC buddies, and that shouldn’t change just because the NPCs are weretigers. I’d say make it so they can’t ever hire Followers, nor establish a base, but they may train an animal to be their Follower or, in rare cases, they may take on a single Sworn Follower in the form of an apprentice.
7. Good Alignment
Finally, as with the Paladin, “the Ranger has a code of behavior.” They need to be Lawful Good, Neutral Good, or Chaotic Good. The penalty for evil acts is also as draconian as that of the Paladin: a total loss of all Ranger abilities and a demotion to a specialization-less Fighter, with no recourse. Unless the Ranger had “no choice”, in which case they just need to “cleanse” themselves through some form of moral recompense.
It doesn’t quite work here. With the Paladin, one can view their powers as coming directly from the strength of their holy conviction; the loss of those powers makes sense when turning away from their source. However, the Ranger doesn’t possess mystical powers given by a good-aligned Mother Nature. Instead, they have a collection of survival skills and combat proficiency honed while hunting their enemies. Taking these away because you didn’t play the Ranger as the good guy doesn’t make much sense.
This idea of playing to alignment or else suffering class demotion isn’t a defining feature of any other subclass. Druids and Bards “must” be neutral, but the rules provide no penalty for doing otherwise. I’d say it’s fair to extend this to the Ranger. We can indicate that they should be good, but it’s the player’s call. This way, the Paladin stands alone as an alignment-centric class, which is exactly how they’re thought of, in a way that the Ranger is not.
8. Final Ranger Kit
Kit: Ranger
Ability Requirements: Strength 13, Dexterity 13, Constitution 14, Wisdom 14
Alignment: Usually GoodRangers are guardians who defend the edges of civilization from monsters and evil creatures. At home in the wild, they are skilled trackers, hunters, and survivalists. They are experts with bows and fighting with two weapons.
Rangers have the following restrictions:
Rangers lose the Weapon Specialization feature.
Loner: Cannot hire Followers. Only animals which the Ranger has tamed may become Followers, and only a single character who is apprenticing in the ways of the Ranger may be a Sworn Follower.
Wanderer: Cannot own property. May only keep as much wealth as can be carried. Excess treasure must be donated to a worthy cause, and never to a member of their own party, including Followers.
Lightly Armored: When wearing armor heavier than studded leather, cannot use the Dual-Wield or Archer features, or the Hide in Shadows and Move Silently Skills.
Non-Ranger Skills: Rangers focus on the skills needed to patrol and defend the wilds, to the exclusion of others. If using the optional Ability Skills rules, Rangers receive only one (1) Skill Point at character generation, which may only be spent on a Knowledge or Performance Skill. Additional earned Skill Points may likewise only be spent to gain or improve Knowledge or Performance Skills. Improvement of any other skill uses the rules found in Ranger Skills.
Rangers gain the following features:
Dual-Wield: Rangers have no penalty to their ATTAC when fighting with a weapon in each hand.
Archer: Gains Triple Attack when firing a bow.
Alert: Gains a +2 bonus to Surprise score.
Ranger Skills: Gains the Tracking, Survival, and Animal Handling Skills, even if not using the optional Ability Skills rules. In addition, the Tracking Skill can be tested to avoid leaving evidence of movement through natural environments, and the Survival Skill can be tested to mask the Ranger’s odor from animals.
Also gains two Rogue Skills: Hide in Shadows at a score of 2 and Move Silently at a score of 3. These skills can be used in natural environments at their full score. If used in dungeons or civilized areas, the score is halved.
At character generation, gain 6 points to distribute among Tracking, Survival, Animal Handling, Hide in Shadows, Move Silently, and Climbing, as desired. When leveling up, gain 3 more points. Rogue Skills and Climbing have their scores increased by the amount allocated, while Ability Skills gain a +1 bonus for each point allocated.Favored and Tracked Enemies: At character generation, choose three creatures to be the Ranger’s Favored Enemy. When fighting a Favored Enemy, gain +4 ATTAC against those creatures and a +4 Saving Throw bonus against their attacks and abilities.
If the Ranger spends at least one hour tracking and studying any creature, they may declare that creature to be a Tracked Enemy. A Ranger may only have one Tracked Enemy at a time. When fighting a Tracked Enemy, gain a +2 ATTAC against that creature and a +2 Saving Throw bonus against their attacks and abilities.
If the Ranger successfully tracks and kills their Tracked Enemy (or a group of those creatures), and does so on three separate occasions before choosing a new Tracked Enemy, the creature becomes a Favored Enemy.
9. Conclusion
As did Zeb before me, I’ve ‘mutated’ this class.
By stripping magic spells from the Ranger, it’s certainly no longer the same beast as the one found in 2e (as is true of my hacked Paladin kit), but it is my belief that the added functionality makes up for the loss of Goodberry and Barkskin. Archer provides a new, but now familiar, way for the Ranger to attack. The surprise bonus is returned to the class. The Ranger’s various skills are codified into a single skill system, which can improve as a Rogue improves their thieving skills. Most significantly, the Favored Enemy feature now provides more enemies, and an ability to add enemies – ones which the character is actually fighting against during the course of the campaign – to the list.
At this point, I can’t tell whether the kit is terribly unbalanced, thought its massive +4 bonus (now spread around a bit more liberally) makes me feel that the Fighter’s Weapon Specialization feature could use a kick. Perhaps a leveled increase is warranted.
That’ll do. Next time, I’ll tackle the Wizard, or at least as far as I can without developing a full magic system.
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