Ranger

Rangers are warriors and hunters who excel at exploring the fringes of civilization. Hunters, scouts, trappers, and assassins rangers can be found wherever civilization borders the wilderness. Many rangers use only natural armor and benefit from a closeness to the wild. Nearly all rangers worship a god, and almost always this god is tied in some way to the natural world.

Rangers can be useful allies, but they can also be deadly enemies, disappearing into the wilderness after a devastating attack. When in combat, rangers generally rely on evasive hit-and-run tactics, darting in and out of harm's way. Generally speaking rangers have a reputation for good, but more than a few rangers are evil by nature.

The most famous of all Toril's rangers is by far the legendary drow Drizzt Do'Urden.

Abilities
Trained to be nimble and deadly, rangers of all kinds are essentially scouts or assassins who favor hit and run tactics to a straight fight. Some rangers prefer the wilderness of the surface world, while others dwell beneath in the caverns of the Underdark. In either case rangers train their senses to an extremely keen level. Many rangers hone their wilderness survival skills even further through the acquisition of an animal companion, either through a mutual friendship or outright slavery.

Rangers are skilled in archery and dual weapon melee combat, most often choosing to emphasize one or the other. Rangers who emphasize either style often become members of traditions that further specialize them, such as the High Forest Scouts or the Impilutran Demonslayers. Rangers of either type are nonetheless skilled in the other style, even though it is to a lesser degree, and all rangers are excellent archers and ambushers.

Ranger Disciplines
While all rangers are expert scouts and trackers their precise methodology and customs differs from individual to individual. Nearly all rangers, however, choose from one of the following three combat styles.

Archer Ranger
Archer rangers are masters of the bow or, less commonly, other missile weapons. Unlike other rangers who prefer to take their quarry on in a melee, archer rangers prefer to hunt from afar, resorting only to close combat when ranged attacks are no longer practical. Archer rangers are more nimble than their fellow rangers, focusing on finesse and delicate skill over brutal power in a fight, though most archer rangers are still strong by most standards and like all skilled rangers, a good archer ranger keeps his wits about him. Archer rangers who continue to emphasize skill with missile weapons might, among other choices, take on the path of the battlefield archers or beast stalkers.

Beastmaster Ranger


Beastmaster rangers take their strength from a primal bond with an animal companion, often a bear, boar, cat, lizard, raptor, serpent, spider, or wolf, though rarer and more exotic companions are also sometimes used. Through this bond, the ranger and their beast companion become a formidable team, acting out as extensions of one another. A skilled beastmaster and their companion can carry out flanks and other advanced maneuvers all on their own. As a result, most beastmaster ranger exploits focus on this spirit of coordinated action. In general, beastmaster rangers emphasize their physical strength for the purpose of athletics and melee combat but agility and wisdom remain important as well.

The strong bond between ranger and beast, which is more like two good friends than a master and slave, means that companions generally develop abilities similar to those of a ranger. Like rangers, beast companions are skilled in fighting those nearest to them and have the capability to act as extensions of the ranger's senses. Beast companions learn beside their rangers, improving in capability as the ranger does. When a beastmaster falls, a beast companion will often leap to the ranger's defense, carrying on the fight for them.

The training of a beastmaster does not come without its costs. Though a beastmaster ranger has an edge over their fellow rangers in maneuverability and combat flexibility the effort of coordination means that they cannot act as quickly as most others, dividing their time and focus between themselves and their companion. Likewise, beastmasters cannot take more than one companion at a time and can only gain a new companion when their old one has either left or been killed and new companions are typically difficult to acquire. For this reason, beastmasters are trained in the use of the raise beast companion ritual, which allows them to recall the fallen spirit of their companion. Rangers who become exceptionally close to their companions in mind and spirit might become feral spirits, among other examples.

Two-Blade Ranger
While many rangers prefer the elegancy of the bow or the companionship of a beast, two-blade rangers find more solace in their skill with weapons of steel. These rangers, who are often stronger than their more nimble colleagues, focus on closing in on their prey and engaging them with melee weapons, only to skim away when the combat gets too hot. Like all rangers, two-blade rangers prefer skirmishes to a straight fight, so speed and dexterity remain important to two-blade rangers, but if forced into a standstill they stand a better chance of surviving a melee than most of their kind. Unlike most individuals who train in the use of two melee weapons, two-blade rangers are trained to use two one-handed weapons of any size or type in either hand, giving them a higher potential for damage than most dual-wielding warriors. Rangers who continue to focus on the use of two weapons over other pursuits might take on the paths of either the pathfinder or the stormwarden, among other variations.