Ranger

**Alignment:** | Any good

The ranger is a hunter and woodsman who lives by not only their sword, but also their wits. The abilities of the ranger make them particularly good at tracking, woodcraft, and spying.

The ranger must have scores not less than 13 in Strength, 14 in Constitution, 13 in Dexterity, and 14 in Wisdom. The prime requisites of the ranger are Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom. A ranger who has Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom scores of 16 or more gains a 10% bonus to the experience points they earn.

## The Ranger's Code

Like the paladin, the ranger has a code of behavior, though it is less formal. Rangers are always virtuous in nature, but they can be lawful, neutral, or chaotic. It is in the ranger's heart to do good, but not always by the rules.

If the ranger intentionally commits a malicious or cruel act, they automatically lose their ranger status. Thereafter they are considered a fighter of the same level. Their ranger status can never be regained. If the ranger involuntarily commits an evil act (perhaps in a situation of no choice), they cannot earn any more experience points until they have cleansed themselves of that evil. This can be accomplished by correcting the wrongs they committed, revenging themselves on the person who forced them to commit the act, or releasing those oppressed by evil. The ranger instinctively knows what things they must do to regain their status.

## Special Benefits

Although they have the basic skills of a warrior, the ranger also has several advantages.

When wearing studded leather or lighter armor, a ranger can fight two-handed with no penalty to his attack rolls (see "Attacking with Two Weapons" in Combat). Obviously, the ranger cannot use a shield when fighting this way. A ranger can still fight with two weapons while wearing heavier armor than studded leather, but they suffer the standard attack roll penalties.

The ranger is a skilled woodsman, and has tracking proficiency. This skill improves by +1 for every three levels the ranger has earned (3rd to 5th level, +1; 6th to 8th level, +2, etc.).

While wearing studded leather or lighter armor, the ranger can try to *move silently* and *hide in shadows*. Their chance to succeed in natural surroundings is given on the table below (modified by the ranger's race and Dexterity, as given in the table of Rogue Skills). When attempting these actions in non-natural surroundings (a musty crypt or city streets), the chance of success is halved. *Hiding in shadows* and *moving silently* are not possible in any armor heavier than studded leather - the armor is inflexible and makes too much noise.

In their roles as protectors of the weak and downtrodden, rangers tend to focus their efforts against some
particular creature, usually one that marauds their homeland. Before advancing to 2nd level, every ranger must select a species enemy; the DM has final approval on the choice. Thereafter, whenever the ranger encounters that enemy, they gain a +4 bonus to their attack rolls. This enmity can be concealed only with great difficulty, so the ranger suffers a -4 penalty on all encounter reactions with creatures of the hated type. Furthermore, the ranger will actively seek out this enemy in combat in preference to all other foes unless someone else presents a much greater danger.

**Rangers are adept with both trained and untamed creatures**, having a limited degree of animal empathy. If a ranger carefully approaches or tends any natural animal, they can try to modify the animal's reactions. (A natural animal is one that can be found in the real world - a bear, snake, zebra, etc.) When dealing with domestic or non-hostile animals, a ranger can approach the animal and befriend it automatically. They can easily discern the qualities of the creature (spotting the best horse in the corral, or seeing that the runt of the litter actually has great promise). When dealing with a wild animal or an animal trained to attack, the animal must roll a saving throw vs. rods to resist the ranger's overtures. (This table is used even though the ranger's power is non-magical.) The ranger imposes a -1 penalty on the die roll for every three experience levels they have earned (-1 at 1st to 3rd, -2 at 4th to 6th, etc.). If the creature fails the saving throw, its reaction can be shifted one category as the ranger chooses. Of course, the ranger must be at the front of the party and must approach the creature fearlessly.

**A ranger can learn divine spells**, but only those of the plant or animal spheres, when they reach 8th level (see Table 18). They gain and use their spells according to the rules given for priests. They do not gain bonus spells for a high Wisdom score, nor are they ever able to use divine scrolls or magical items unless specially noted otherwise.

## Restrictions

Rangers tend to be loners, men and women constantly on the move. They cannot have henchmen, hirelings, mercenaries, or even servants until they reach 8th level. While they can have any monetary amount of treasure, they cannot have more treasure than they can carry. Excess treasure must either be converted to a portable form or donated to a worthy institution (an NPC group, not a player character).

## Name Level

At 10th level, a ranger attracts 2d6 followers. These followers might be normal humans or demi-humans, but they are often animals or even stranger denizens of the land. These followers arrive over the course of several months. Often they are encountered during the ranger's adventures. While the followers are automatically loyal and friendly toward the ranger, their future behavior depends on the ranger's treatment of them. In all cases, the ranger does not gain any special method of communicating with their followers. They must either have some way of speaking to them, or they simply mutely accompany the ranger on their journeys. Of course, the ranger is not obligated to take on followers. If they prefer to remain independent, they can release their followers at any time. They reluctantly depart, but stand ready to answer any call for aid they might put out at a later time.

Rangers can build castles, forts, or strongholds, but do not gain any special followers by doing so.