DCC Ranger Class

So, to round out our expanded class list, we now have the Ranger.

A number of DCC treatments have been done on the ranger, but were overly complex (naming out skills and DCs seems very 3^rd edition and not very old school) or lean into the Mighty Deed die, which I believe gets more than enough play with Warriors and Dwarves. 

So what does a Ranger have that other classes don’t?  Favoured Enemies!  This is a long-standing unique ability to Rangers through the history of our games, so let’s lean into that.  Rather than make a broad, shallow bonus that has limited use in the game, such as a simple +1 to hit all lawful humanoids, let’s make it deep and specific, so starting at 1^st level, if the ranger chooses goblin-kin as his favoured enemy, he gets a +1 to hit, damage, and critical hit result charts.  That’s pretty potent.  And it goes up each level.  As well, to keep the Ranger from being a one trick pony, let them pick an additional favoured enemy each level, so they have a decent list of grudge-worthy opponents to shine against.  Lastly, let’s give them out of combat abilities to surprise their foe, read their languages, track them, and so on.

As well, let’s give Rangers a Wilderness skill bonus that applies to their environment, so in the forest (or their favourite wilderness backdrop) they get a utilitarian bonus to skill checks involving sneaking, climbing, tracking, foraging and the like so the Ranger can shine when outdoors and support their party.

How do we deal with the trope of the lightly armored ranger?  Well, we just apply Armor Check penalties to offset Favoured Enemy or Wilderness checks above -3 … so studded leather, leather and a shield, etc are all reasonable choices, and should our faithful ranger need to suit up in Chainmail and head to the gates of Barad-Dum to fight an evil army, forgoing their favoured enemy bonus, so be it.

Lastly, lets use the Luck bonus of the Ranger in a universal manner, and just add it to Initiative checks.

It’s not a super flashy class, with wild or random abilities, but a pretty solid and versatile fighting class, especially when you run into your Favoured Enemy while in the wilderness … a 5^th level Ranger against an Ogre might have +10 to hit and damage, and a very good chance to get the drop on it with a surprise round with two arrows from behind a tree … this also lets a player choose a class where 'I know I'm good at what I do' rather than 'I can make up Mighty Deeds and do variable but awesome things' for their personal style of play

Thoughts, ideas, comments?  Email me at archadethered@gmail.com …

 

 

 

RANGER

 

Rangers live in the wild, eking out a living on the fringe of civilization.  Some sell their services as guides, mercenaries, or bounty hunters, while others are content to live off the land and lead a peaceful life.

     Rangers, while not as dramatic as Warriors, are able to hold their own against their foes, especially those they have chosen to oppose.  They are also able to deftly navigate in the wild to outflank, and outwit opponents.

     Hit Die: A ranger gains 1d10 hit points at each level.

     Alignment: Rangers don’t hold tightly to the beliefs that civilized folk do, so they are often Neutral, but other alignments are certainly possible for a Ranger.

     Weapon training: Rangers are trained with these weapons: club, crossbow, dagger, dart, handaxe, javelin, longbow, longsword, mace, shortbow, shortsword, sling, spear, staff. Rangers tend to use light armor, and suffer any Check Penalty above -3 to their Favored Enemy or Wilderness checks.

     Wilderness Skills: A long life in the wilderness trains rangers to survive in natural hostile environments. Rangers are considered trained in skills involving climbing, sneaking silently and hiding, tracking, hunting, foraging, trapping, or finding shelter and receive a bonus to skill checks in the wild as shown on the chart below.

     If a ranger is unfamiliar with the type of terrain or environment, they do not receive their Wilderness bonus until they have experienced the natural environment by living in it for at least a week.

     Favoured Enemies: At 1^st level, the ranger must choose one type of favoured enemies from the following list: goblin-kin, orc-kin, kobolds, gnolls, giants, ogres, grues, boggards, or other specific species of creatures that prey on animals and travellers. At each subsequent level, they may choose another favored enemy, but the ranger must have already fought this enemy.  A Judge may allow the player to choose other types of favoured enemies, such as wolves, birds of prey, moles, slimes, undead, or even dwarves or elves.

     When the Ranger encounters their favoured enemies they use the Favored Enemy bonus for die rolls to surprise, follow tracks, read languages, and intimidate their sworn foes, as well as using this bonus on any attack, damage rolls, and critical hit result table rolls versus their chosen enemies.  The GM may also allow bonuses on other die rolls that they deem appropriate.

      Luck: Rangers add their Luck bonus to all Initiative checks.

     Action dice: A ranger always uses his action dice for attacks. At 5th level a ranger gains a second attack for each round with his second attack die.

Table R-1: Ranger

 

Level	Attack Bonus	Crit Die/Table*	Action Dice	Fort	Ref	Will	Favored Enemy	Wilderness	Title
1	+1	1d10/II	1d20	+1	+1	+0	+1	+2	Wanderer
2	+2	1d12/II	1d20	+1	+1	+0	+2	+3	Guide
3	+3	1d12/II	1d20	+1	+2	+1	+3	+3	Scout
4	+4	1d12/II	1d20	+2	+2	+1	+4	+4	Hunter
5	+5	1d14/II	1d20+1d14	+2	+3	+1	+5	+4	Tracker
6	+6	1d14/II	1d20+1d16	+2	+4	+2	+6	+5	Strider
7	+7	1d14/II	1d20+1d20	+3	+4	+2	+7	+5	Wayfarer
8	+8	1d16/II	1d20+1d20	+3	+5	+2	+8	+6	Warden
9	+9	1d16/II	1d20+1d20	+3	+5	+3	+9	+6	Ranger Knight
10	+10	1d20/II	1d20+1d20+1d14	+4	+6	+3	+10	+7	Ranger Lord

*A ranger’s Favoured Enemy bonus is added to any Critical Hit Result chart roll..