Ranger Archive
Thread: Random Thoughts of a Master Ranger
As anyonecan see with a quick perusal of this very board, many Rangers have concerns about the viability (and even the level of development)of our chosen profession. With that in mind,instead of echoing those concernsand sentiments, I thought I would take a different tack,andover the course ofa few minutes propose some ideas and changes that I thinkmight benefit us all as Rangers. My hope here is to do my best to notfall into a rant (as I do so often ingame, to the...delight...of my friends, I'msure... 
), but, rather, to do my best to provide some possiblesolutions.
Ranger: Adventurer well-suited to travel, tracking, and defending others in combat.
Setting the vaguery of "Adventurer" aside for a moment, the first word that stands out there is "travel", which would fall under the auspices of the Wayfaring branch. My first suggestion is a simple one: grant Rangers additional Burst Run Efficiency, which is currently capped at +50, the level gainedby aMaster Scout. What I propose is a Burst Run ability that at +100, reached at the Master Ranger level, would have an extremely short (or nonexistant) recycle time. This would be of clear benefit in the "travel" department on one hand, but on the other hand it would avoid balance issues that other solutions -- namely a change to Terrain Negotiation (although maybe that should be addressed as well...)--might cause, simply because there's a limit on the number of times you can burst run before you drain your Action points.
Second, I would suggest including skill gains similar to those granted under the Mobility branch of the Squad Leader tree, which includes bothGroup Terrain Negotiation and Group Burst Run Efficiency. Simply put, I don't see why our aptitude for travel shouldn't include bonuses to those lucky enough totravel with us. Nowhere in the class description do I see anything indicating that the Ranger is supposed to be a solo-oriented class (although I do solo primarily, by choice...), and in fact, it does say we are capable of 'defending others in combat', indicating an interest in helping or assisting other players. Why shouldn't the same be true of travel? If nothing else, it could make us somewhat useful to groups, something we currently are not, at least where our Ranger-specific skills are concerned.
Moving on, the next word that stands out is "tracking". Since I, Q'antum V'kyrie of Radient, know absolutely nothing about that, I'll simply leave it alone, and hope something is in the works for the not too awfully distant future. I guess we should all keep our collective fingers crossed...
Finally, I'll move on to 'defending others in combat', which at this time seems to be limited to the much-maligned Rescue skill. My proposal in this area would, as with travel,involve group-wide skill gains, namely a group to-hit bonus against creatures (say +10 by Master Ranger) as well as moderate group bonuses in Ranged and Melee Defense. I think these skills could fit under either the Field Bioscience branch (Hunt Master...) or the Frontiering branch (Wilderness Survival Master). Additionally, I'd like to see more of a gain in the area of Ranged and Melee Defense for the Ranger himself, rather than just the +10 we gain upon achieving the rank of Master Ranger.
And that's about it for now, at least regarding major changes, beyond the obvious ones like implementing a number of additional Ranger traps (preferably ones that *work*) and eventually getting the Conceal skill back into play. There are probably some smaller things I'd like to see, not the least of which isthe addition of a "creature speed" categorywhen we Examine, so we can tell how quickly something moves (i.e.whether it's Snorbal speed or Kimogila speed), but I think that I've thrown outenough for one post. Hopefully some of you fine Rangers will read this and share your thoughts or ideas of your own.
Best of luck to all and good hunting!
Q'antum V'lkyrie, Master Ranger of Radiant
great post. very nicely stated.
I'll see about getting this added to the submission.
Some ressurection of Conceal is another interest of mine. However, group bonuses, especially ones directly comparable to Squad Leader skills, might be too much of an imbalance. But something to fill the "defending others" bit beyond rescue would be nice...Hmmmm, how about a group combat assisting camp like a foxhole or bunker, that forgoes the regen boost for some combat bonuses? Or a camo tent allowing those inside to be in a state similar to "cover"?