[OD&D] Halenar Frosthelm: The Ultimate Ranger Thread

[ThePerilousDreamer]

The Original Ranger writeup is quite long and includes some tables, which I will not reproduce all of them here, but I will quote some sections of the writeup to show you the starting point and then after that I will post some other details and ideas, before posting my new writeup:

Rangers are a sub-class of Fighting Men, similar in many ways to the new sub-class Paladins, for they must always remain Lawful or lose all the benefits they gained (except, of course, experience as a fighter). Strength is their Prime Requisite, but they must also have both Intelligence and Wisdom scores of at least 12 each, and a Constitution of at least 15.

Rangers start with two HD.

**spell progression is as follows: when only 1st Level are usable, then only one spell is usable, when 2nd Level spells can be taken then the R-L gets 2 1st Level and 1 2nd Level, and at 3rd Level it is 3, 2 and 1 respectively. Until they attain the 8th level (Ranger-Knight) characters in the Ranger class are relatively weak, for they have a number of restrictions placed upon them, These restrictions are:
- They may own only that which they can carry with them, and excess treasure or goods must be donated to a worthy cause.
- They may not hire any men-at-arms or other servants or aides of any kind whatsoever.
- Only two of the class may operate together.
Advantages which accrue to low-level Rangers are:
+They receive no regular bonuses for advancement due to ability, but they automatically gain 4 experience points for every 3 earned.
+They have the ability to track the path of most creatures when outdoors, and even in dungeons they are often able to follow:
Monsters Action - - - - - - - - - - - - -Ranger Needs to Track
goes down a normal passage - - - - - -65% chance
goes through a normal door - - - - - - 55% chance
goes through a trap door - - - - - - - -50% chance
goes up/down a chimney - - - - - - - - 40% chance
goes through a secret door - - - - - - - 30% chance

The ranger so tracking must have observed the monster no more than six turns previously when in dungeon situations. On the outdoor he has a basic 90% chance of following a trail, with a 10% reduction for every day old the signs are. Because of their ability to track Rangers also are difficult to surprise, requiring a roll of 1 instead of 1 or 2.

All Rangers gain a special advantage when fighting against monsters of the Giant Class (Kobolds - Giants). For each level they have gained they add +1 to their damage die against these creatures, so a 1st Level Ranger adds +1, a 2nd Level +2, and so on. Upon reaching the 8th and higher levels, Rangers begin to accrue a number of advantages besides the use of spells already indicated.
+From 2-24 followers will join the character as soon as 9th level is attained by him. These followers are detailed later.
+Ranger-Knights are able to employ magic items which heal or cure disease, including scrolls.
+Ranger-Lords are able to employ all devices which deal with Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, ESP, Telepathy, Telekenesis, and Teleportation, including scrolls.
Drawbacks which apply to the 8th and higher levels are:
-The 4 experience points for every 3 earned bonus is lost.
-Followers who are killed cannot be replaced, although regular mercenaries can be.
-As already mentioned, if a Ranger turns Neutral or Chaotic he loses all benefits of the class, becoming an ordinary Fighting Man.
Special Followers: For each of the 2-24 followers the Ranger gains a dice roll must be made to determine what the follower is. Further dice rolls to determine type, class, and/or level will also be necessary.

Type
Class (Men Only)
01-60 Man
61 -75 Elf or Half-Elf
76 - 90 Dwarf
91 - 99 2 Hobbits
00 Extraordinary (see below)

Multi-Class (Elves Only)
01 - 50 Fighter
51 - 75 Fighter/Magic-User
76 - 90 Magic-User
91-00 Fighter/Magic-User/Thief

Class (Men Only)
01 - 50 Fighter
51 - 75 Cleric
75- 95 Magic-User
95- 00 Thief


Level of Ability (Roll for each)
01 - 50 2nd Level
51 - 65 3rd Level
66 - 80 4th Level
81 - 90 5th Level
91 - 99 6th Level
00 7th Level


Extraordinary Followers

01 - 20 Ranger, 3rd - 7th Level
21 - 40 Lawful Werebear
41 -55 2 Unicorns
65 - 70 Pegasus
71-80 Hill Giant
81 - 90 Stone Giant
91 - 99 Golden Dragon
00 Take two rolls ignoring any 00's which might come up
Where not otherwise specified Rangers perform as Fighting Men. They may build strongholds. In all cases the Ranger will prefer Lawful to Neutral types.

These are most of the original information. After this I will post a number of different bits of information and ideas before I post my new writeup.

One change I am making is that in OD&D both Rangers and Paladins are LAWFUL and serve LAW so it would not be uncommon to find Rangers and Paladins working together and forming Partnerships.


Disclaimer: Please note that anything I post in any thread I create here in the Workshop is solely intended to illuminate what I do IMCs and, where applicable, the reasoning behind it. Anything I post here in the Workshop, is not intended to comment in anyway on anything you do in your campaign or on any opinion or belief that you may or may not hold in regard to anything, but to solely and exclusively be my opinion as it relates to my campaigns and game worlds alone.

[ThePerilousDreamer]

Advantages which accrue to low-level Rangers are:
+They receive no regular bonuses for advancement due to ability, but they automatically gain 4 experience points for every 3 earned.

This applies to Rangers for the first seven levels, so if we are simplifying the writeup the thing to do is to drop the rule that the ranger gains 4 XP for every 3 earned and just change the table governing level progression as follows:

Change from this:

Rangers Experience
Levels Points

Runner 0
Strider 2500
Scout 5000
Guide 12000
Pathfinder 25000
Warder 50000
Guardian 100000
Ranger-Knight 175000
Ranger-Lord 275000
Ranger-Lord, 10th 550000
Ranger-Lord, 11th 825000
Ranger-Lord, 12th 1100000
Ranger-Lord, 13th 1375000

To this:

Rangers Experience
Levels Points

Runner 0
Strider 1875
Scout 3750
Guide 9000
Pathfinder 18755
Warder 37500
Guardian 75000
Ranger-Knight 175000
Ranger-Lord 275000
Ranger-Lord, 10th 550000
Ranger-Lord, 11th 825000
Ranger-Lord, 12th 1100000
Ranger-Lord, 13th 1375000

Also keep the:

They receive no regular bonuses for advancement due to ability

This simplifies things and while the gap between 7th and 8th level looks huge now, in fact it is no bigger than it always was.

[ThePerilousDreamer]

Rangers are a sub-class of Fighting Men, similar in many ways to the new sub-class Paladins, for they must always remain Lawful or lose all the benefits they gained (except, of course, experience as a fighter). Strength is their Prime Requisite, but they must also have both Intelligence and Wisdom scores of at least 12 each, and a Constitution of at least 15.

To simplify this I suggest a few things: one change the first sentence to read as follows:

Rangers are a sub-class of Fighting-Men who must remain Lawful or lose all of the sub-class benefits and revert back to a Fighting-Man.

The second thing we notice is that Strength is the Prime Requisite but there is no minimum Strength and then we are told that both Intelligence and Wisdom must be at least 12 and Constitution must be at least 15.

I suggest changing this to:

Rangers must have Strength (PR) and Constitution Scores of at least 15 and Intelligence and Wisdom Scores of at least 12.

So to recap:

Rangers are a sub-class of Fighting-Men who must remain Lawful or lose all of the sub-class benefits and revert back to a Fighting-Man. Rangers must have Strength (PR) and Constitution Scores of at least 15 and Intelligence and Wisdom Scores of at least 12.

[ThePerilousDreamer]

Rangers start with two hit dice at first level and go up from there. Hit dice and spells are as follows:

Level -----------Hit Dice-----Spell Ability
Runner--------------2---------Nil
Strider--------------3---------Nil
Scout---------------4---------Nil
Guide----------------5---------Nil
Pathfinder-----------6---------Nil
Warder--------------7---------Nil
Guardian------------8---------Nil
Ranger-Knight-------9---------Cleric, 1st Level---------------1
Ranger-Lord---------10-------+Magic-User, 1st Level---------2
Ranger-Lord, 10th----10+2----+Cleric 2nd Level--------------2---1
Ranger-Lord, 11th----10 +4---+Magic-User 2nd Level---------2---2
Ranger-Lord, 12th----10 +6----+Cleric 3rd Level--------------3---2---1
Ranger-Lord, 13th----10 +8----+Magic-User 3rd Level---------3---2---2

I am thinking of making a change here, but I will come back and do that once I have put way more thought into it.

The next section to look at reads as follows:

Until they attain the 8th level (Ranger-Knight) characters in the Ranger class are relatively weak, for they have a number of restrictions placed upon them, These restrictions are:
They may own only that which they can carry with them, and excess treasure or goods must be donated to a worthy cause. They may not hire any men-at-arms or other servants or aides
of any kind whatsoever. Only two of the class may operate together.

This definitely needs rewritten especially since the statement relatively weak is completely untrue. So rewrite as follows:

Rangers under 8th level may only own what they can carry with them and everything else must be put to charitable uses and they may not have any hirelings of any kind.

But I would drop the limitations on how many Rangers can operate together, since using 3d6 in order you should not have very many as PCs. I would also add that Rangers and Paladins and Lawful Fighting-Men work well together.

The next section reads:

Advantages which accrue to low-level Rangers are:

+They receive no regular bonuses for advancement due to ability, but they automatically gain 4 experience points for every 3 earned.
+They have the ability to track the path of most creatures when outdoors, and even in dungeons they are often able to follow:

Monster's Action Regular Needs to Track

goes down a normal passage 01 -65
goes through a normal door 01 -55
goes through a trap door 01 - 50
goes up/down a chimney 01 - 40
goes through a secret door 01 -30

The ranger so tracking must have observed the monster no more than six turns previously when in dungeon situations. On the outdoor he has a basic 90% chance of following a trail, with a 10% reduction for every day old the signs are.

Rewrite as follows:

An advantage accruing to all Rangers is the ability to track the path of most creatures when outdoors, with a basic 9 in 10 chance of following a trail with a reduction of 1 in 10 for every day old the signs are. In dungeons they are often able to follow as detailed when no more than six turns has elasped:
Monster's Action----------------Regular Needs to Track
goes down a normal passage-------1-13 on a d20
goes through a normal door--------1-11 on a d20
goes through a trap door----------1-10 on a d20
goes up/down a chimney----------1-8 on a d20
goes through a secret door--------1-6 on a d20

The next section to look at is:

Because of their ability to track Rangers also are difficult to surprise, requiring a roll of 1 instead of 1 or 2.
All Rangers gain a special advantage when fighting against monsters of the Giant Class (Kobolds - Giants). For each level they have gained they add +1 to their damage die against these creatures, so a 1st Level Ranger adds +1, a 2nd Level +2, and so on.
Upon reaching the 8th and higher levels, Rangers begin to accrue a number of advantages besides the use of spells already indicated.
+From 2-24 followers will join the character as soon as 9th level is attained by him. These followers are detailed later.
+Ranger-Knights are able to employ magic items which heal or cure disease, including scrolls.
+Ranger-Lords are able to employ all devices which deal with Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, ESP, Telepathy, Telekenesis, and Teleportation, including scrolls.
Drawbacks which apply to the 8th and higher levels are:
-The 4 experience points for every 3 earned bonus is lost.
- Followers who are killed cannot be replaced, although regular mercenaries can be.
-As already mentioned, if a Ranger turns Neutral or Chaotic he loses all benefits of the class, becoming an ordinary Fighting Man.

Rewrite as follows:

Rangers can only be surprised on a roll of 1 in 6. Rangers fight with ferocity against the enemies of mankind especially the Chaotic Humanoid Races and for each level they have gained they add a +1 to their damage against such creatures. (+1 - 1st level, +2 - 2nd level and so on) Upon reaching 8th level and higher Rangers begin to accrue a number of advantages: Spells as already mentioned, then at 9th level, they are able to employ magic items which heal or cure disease, including scrolls. In addition, at 9th level from 2-24 followers will join the character as detailed below. They will give away all treasure that they win, save that which is necessary to maintain themselves, their men, and a modest castle. Rangers may not obtain a castle until they reach 10th level. Followers that are killed may not be replaced, although regular hirelings may be replaced.

I would delete the whole sentence that says:

+Ranger-Lords are able to employ all devices which deal with Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, ESP, Telepathy, Telekenesis, and Teleportation, including scrolls.

More to follow:

[ThePerilousDreamer]

The last section to look at reads as follows:

Special Followers: For each of the 2-24 followers the Ranger gains a dice roll must be made to determine what the follower is. Further dice rolls to determine type, class, and/or level will also be necessary.

Type


01-60 Man
61 -75 Elf or Half-Elf
76 - 90 Dwarf
91 - 99 2 Hobbits
00 Extraordinary (see below)

Multi-Class (Elves Only)
01 - 50 Fighter
51 - 75 Fighter/Magic-User
76 - 90 Magic-User
91-00 Fighter/Magic-User/Thief

Class (Men Only)
01 - 50 Fighter
51 - 75 Cleric
75- 95 Magic-User
95- 00 Thief


Level of Ability (Roll for each)
01 - 50 2nd Level
51 - 65 3rd Level
66 - 80 4th Level
81 - 90 5th Level
91 - 99 6th Level
00 7th Level


Extraordinary Followers

01 - 20 Ranger, 3rd - 7th Level
21 - 40 Lawful Werebear
41 -55 2 Unicorns
65 - 70 Pegasus
71-80 Hill Giant
81 - 90 Stone Giant
91 - 99 Golden Dragon
00 Take two rolls ignoring any 00's which might come up

Where not otherwise specified Rangers perform as Fighting Men. They may build strongholds. In all cases the Ranger will prefer Lawful to Neutral types.

Rewrite this as follows:

Special Followers: For each of the 2-24 followers the Ranger gains a dice roll must be made to determine what the follower is. Further dice rolls to determine type, class, and/or level will also be necessary and rolls should be made using a d20.

Type
1-10 Man
11-13 Elf or Half-Elf
14-16 Dwarf
17-18 2 Hobbits
19-20 Extraordinary (see below)

Multi-Class (Elves Only)
1-10 Fighter
11-16 Fighter/Magic-User
17-20 Magic-User

Class (Men Only)
1-10 Fighter
11-15 Cleric
16-20 Magic-User

Level of Ability (Roll for each)
1-10 2nd Level
11-13 3rd Level
14-16 4th Level
17-18 5th Level
19 6th Level
20 7th Level

Extraordinary Followers

1-5 Ranger, 3rd - 7th Level
5-10 Lawful Werebear
11-12 2 Unicorns
13-14 Pegasus
15-16 Hill Giant
17-18 Stone Giant
19 Golden Dragon
20 Take two rolls ignoring any 00's which might come up

Where not otherwise specified Rangers perform as Fighting Men and they will prefer Lawful characters to Neutral characters.

[ThePerilousDreamer]

So we have the first draft of a revised Ranger description as follows:

Rangers:

Rangers are a sub-class of Fighting-Men who must remain Lawful or lose all of the sub-class benefits and revert back to a Fighting-Man. Rangers must have Strength (PR) and Constitution Scores of at least 15 and Intelligence and Wisdom Scores of at least 12. They receive no regular bonuses for advancement due to ability. Rangers start with two hit dice at first level and go up from there.

Rangers----------------Experience-------------------------------------------Total Spells/Level
Levels------------------Points-----------Hit Dice-----Spell Ability-------------------1st----2nd----3rd

Runner, 1st ------------------0--------------2---------Nil
Strider, 2nd ----------------1875------------3---------Nil
Scout, 3rd -----------------3750------------4---------Nil
Guide, 4th -----------------9000------------5---------Nil
Pathfinder, 5th ------------18755-----------6---------Nil
Warder, 6th ---------------37500-----------7---------Nil
Guardian, 7th --------------75000----------8---------Nil
Ranger-Knight, 8th --------175000----------9---------Cleric, 1st Level---------------1
Ranger-Lord, 9th ----------275000---------10--------+Magic-User, 1st Level---------2
Ranger-Lord, 10th ---------550000---------10+2------+Cleric 2nd Level--------------2------1
Ranger-Lord, 11th ---------825000---------10 +4-----+Magic-User 2nd Level---------2------2
Ranger-Lord, 12th --------1100000---------10 +6-----+Cleric 3rd Level---------------3-------2-------1
Ranger-Lord, 13th --------1375000---------10 +8-----+Magic-User 3rd Level----------3-------2-------2

Rangers under 8th level may only own what they can carry with them; everything else must be put to charitable uses. Rangers may not have any hirelings of any kind. Rangers, Paladins, Clerics, Lawful Fighting-Men and Lawful Magic-Users work well together.

An advantage accruing to all Rangers is the ability to track the path of most creatures when outdoors, with a basic 9 in 10 chance of following a trail with a reduction of 1 in 10 for every day old the signs are. In dungeons they are often able to follow as detailed when no more than six turns has elasped:
Monster's Action----------------Regular Needs to Track
goes down a normal passage-------1-13 on a d20
goes through a normal door--------1-11 on a d20
goes through a trap door----------1-10 on a d20
goes up/down a chimney----------1-8 on a d20
goes through a secret door--------1-6 on a d20

Rangers can only be surprised on a roll of 1 in 6. Rangers fight with ferocity against the enemies of mankind especially the Chaotic Humanoid Races and for each level they have gained they add a +1 to their damage against such creatures. (+1 - 1st level, +2 - 2nd level and so on) Upon reaching 8th level and higher Rangers begin to accrue a number of advantages: Spells as already mentioned, then at 9th level, they are able to employ magic items which heal or cure disease, including scrolls. In addition, at 9th level from 2-24 followers will join the character as detailed below. They will give away all treasure that they win, save that which is necessary to maintain themselves, their men, and a modest castle. Rangers may not obtain a castle until they reach 10th level. Followers that are killed may not be replaced, although regular hirelings may be replaced.

Rangers can only be surprised on a roll of 1 in 6. Rangers fight with ferocity against the enemies of mankind especially the Chaotic Humanoid Races and for each level they have gained they add a +1 to their damage against such creatures. (+1 - 1st level, +2 - 2nd level and so on) Upon reaching 8th level and higher Rangers begin to accrue a number of advantages: Spells as already mentioned, then at 9th level, they are able to employ magic items which heal or cure disease, including scrolls. In addition, at 9th level from 2-24 followers will join the character as detailed below. They will give away all treasure that they win, save that which is necessary to maintain themselves, their men, and a modest castle. Rangers may not obtain a castle until they reach 10th level. Followers that are killed may not be replaced, although regular hirelings may be replaced.

Special Followers: For each of the 2-24 followers the Ranger gains a dice roll must be made to determine what the follower is. Further dice rolls to determine type, class, and/or level will also be necessary and rolls should be made using a d20.

Type
1-10 ---Man
11-13 --Elf or Half-Elf
14-16 --Dwarf
17-18 --2 Hobbits
19-20 --Extraordinary (see below)

Multi-Class (Elves Only)
1-10 ---Fighter
11-16 --Fighter/Magic-User
17-20 --Magic-User

Class (Men Only)
1-10 ---Fighter
11-15 --Cleric
16-20 --Magic-User

Level of Ability (Roll for each)
1-10 ---2nd Level
11-13 --3rd Level
14-16 --4th Level
17-18 --5th Level
19 -----6th Level
20 -----7th Level

Extraordinary Followers
1-5 ----Ranger, 3rd - 7th Level
5-10 ---Lawful Werebear
11-12 --2 Unicorns
13-14 --Pegasus
15-16 --Hill Giant
17-18 --Stone Giant
19 -----Golden Dragon
20 -----Take two rolls ignoring any 00's which might come up

Where not otherwise specified Rangers perform as Fighting Men and they will strongly prefer Lawful characters to Neutral characters.

*****************************

Other thoughts and ideas to follow.

As always comments are welcome!

[ThePerilousDreamer]

Ok, so I have cleaned up the description and eliminated the worst things that never made any sense to begin with and now I will be looking at anything else that should be deleted or added. I have also been reading some other blogs about Hobbit Rangers and some early Tolkien information, so I will also be trying my hand at a version of that.

[ThePerilousDreamer]

For the Ranger write-up I have been thinking about the Extraordinary Followers part and I am revising it at this time. In addition I am revising the Level of Ability for the "Ordinary Followers".

From:
Level of Ability (Roll for each)
1-10 2nd Level
11-13 3rd Level
14-16 4th Level
17-18 5th Level
19 6th Level
20 7th Level

To:
Level of Ability (Roll for each)
1-10 2nd Level
11-15 3rd Level
16-18 4th Level
19 5th Level
20 6th Level

and

Extraordinary Followers
From
1-5 Ranger, 3rd - 7th Level
5-10 Lawful Werebear
11-12 2 Unicorns
13-14 Pegasus
15-16 Hill Giant
17-18 Stone Giant
19 Golden Dragon
20 Take two rolls ignoring any 00's which might come up

To
1-4 Ranger, 3rd - 5th Level
5-8 Lawful Werebear
9-10 Pegasus
11-12 Lawful Roc
13-14 Hippogriff
15-16 Lawful Centaur
17 2 Unicorns
18 Golden Dragon
19 Ent
20 Take two rolls ignoring any 20's which might come up