CONCEPT Ranger, sub-class of Fighter DESCRIPTION Rangers are a sub-class of fighter who are adept at woodcraft and tracking, scouting, infiltrating and spying. Rangers are not permitted to join other classes, as per all sub-classes. Rangers may not join thief, mage, and the other standard classes. While they have some clerical, mage, and fighter skills, they only pay x1 the exp cost, rather than the standard x2-3 for having so many skills. Rangers gain 12 hit points per advancement of constitution. When a player becomes a ranger, his original hit points are recalculated to this new HP multiplier. RACES Only certain races may become rangers, these are those that are familiar with the forest wilderness. Such include all types of elves, forest gnomes, halflings, humans, and hill dwarves. RANGERS AND GODS Rangers follow the teachings of Antaaries, the goddess of the forests. RANGER ALIGNMENT Antaaries only grants rangers their special abilities of spell casting and prayer while they are of relatively good alignment. While a woodsman's code is not as strict as those of the Paladin, he still must not harm those good creatures who dwell in the forest. If a ranger's alignment falls, then all his spell ability becomes forfeit. If a ranger falls into evil alignments then Antaaries has been known to strip a ranger of all his abilities, and transform him into a simple fighter. RANGERS ARMOUR A ranger's abilities in tracking, stealth, and spying require minimal noise and maximum freedom of movement. To this end, rangers will only don chainmail armour, leathers, scalemail, and padded armours. RANGER SKILLS AND ABILITIES Fighting Abilities ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All rangers gain the following fighter skills: Multi attack, Multi opponent, and Two weapon. A ranger's two weapon skill, however, is superior to a fighters. A ranger is able to wield weapons of equal length, or even large ones, significantly sooner than their parent class. See also 'help fighter'. Spell-like Abilities ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All ranger's gain access to the following druidic-like clerical spheres, granted to them by Antaaries: Nature sphere. Ranger's also learn some magic, pertaining especially to the summoning of creatures, and charming them in order to enlist their help. These schools of magic are: Charm, Conjuration. See also the cleric and mage help on these topics. Stealth/Tracking Abilities ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A ranger can follow any opponent by virtue of his tracking skills. Usage: track <opponent> The tracking ability of a ranger also enables him to perform stealth-like functions, akin to thieves. A ranger can, hence, move silently, and hide in shadows just as a thief can. See also the thief help on these topics. Tracking also enables a ranger to search a room more effectively than other classes. To this end he is also able to ascertain where creatures may be hiding close by, and determine what ones have passed through the immediate area. Usage: track <creature> Usage: search room|<item> Rangers knowledge of wilderness areas enables them to gather specific knowledge of unique areas in reference to game trails and the like. If a ranger finds a game trail when searching an area, he may follow that trail, making the time it takes to pass between areas much shorter. Usage: trail Ranger's can also guide others onto game trails they find. Usage: guide <creature|person> Ranger Specific Abilities ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rangers find giants and their kindred bane to the forests they protect. Hence, rangers gain damage bonuses when attacking such creatures. Ranger's are skilled craftsmen, and have a bowyer/fletcher skill. This enables them to craft bows and arrows. A ranger must first locate some dead wood to carve, and then proceed to construct a bow, or arrow. This process is long and time consuming. Only the best bowyers are able to make weapons of fine quality. Usage: craft <bow|arrow>. This skill also determines the ranger's skill at using this weapon in combat. While other classes may be able to employ such a weapon, a ranger's ability almost always exceeds theirs. The higher a ranger's bowyer skill, the more accurate he is in shooting, and the more damage he is thereby able to inflict upon an opponent with his arrows. RANGER TITLES ------------------------------------ Level Title ------------------------------------ 1 the Lesser Runner 2 the Amateur Runner 3 the Prominent Runner 4 the Amateur Strider 5 the Prominent Strider 6 the Renowned Strider 7 the Amateur Scout 8 the Prominent Scout 9 the Renowned Scout 10 the Amateur Courser 11 the Prominent Courser 12 the Renowned Courser 13 the Amateur Tracker 14 the Prominent Tracker 15 the Renowned Tracker 16 the Amateur Guide 17 the Prominent Guide 18 the Renowned Guide 19 the Amateur Pathfinder 20 the Prominent Pathfinder 21 the Renowned Pathfinder 22 the Amateur Woodsman/woman 23 the Prominent Woodsman/woman 24 the Renowned Woodsman/woman 25 the Amateur Ranger 26 the Prominent Ranger 27 the Renowned Ranger 28 the Keeper of the Forest 29 the Guardian of the Forest Pretitles after approximately 30th level include: Captain, Major, Colonel, General, Marshall, and Lord. RANGER WEAPONS Ranger's are able to employ all weapons, but prefer to become skilled in the following, before all others: Either a bow or a light crossbow a dagger or a knife a spear or an axe, and a sword (of any type). HISTORY Originally created for Heaven7 development as a further example of the sub-class system. Sections of this sub-class are based on Zilanthius' ranger-guild on GUMBImud, and intended as being an improvement upon/and replacement for Shwaine's ranger guild on MALEVOLENCE. AUTHOR Angel, August 1996.