Super Genius Games - Ranger Options - Knacks of Nature, RPG, Pathfinder
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T
he ranger has a strong tradition in fantasy
fiction and mythology. In myths and legends,
rangers borrow from ancient sources such as
the Greek and Roman goddess of Artemis and Diana.
Medieval and later tales included the vigilante and
guerilla freedom-fighter Robin Hood, the Huntsman
of Grimm’s Snow White fairy tale, and even Jack the
Giant-Killer. In modern fantasy fiction, the ranger
borrows from a wide range of royal-blooded striders,
dark elven renegades, and bowler-wearing steampunk
bounty hunters. Even real-world modern rangers
influence the class, including park rangers, the Texas
Rangers, and US Army Rangers.
Despite these extremely varied sources, the
ranger of the core rules is surprisingly lacking in
customization. While numerous archetypes have been
published to somewhat expand a ranger’s options,
outside of those the ranger only gets to decide what
his areas of specialization are – what kinds of combat
feats, what types of terrain, and what favored enemies
he is best at defeating. None of these choices have the
impact on play style or character focus that a cleric’s
choice of domains does, or a sorcerer’s choice of
bloodline. Further, a ranger’s customization is often
strongly suggested by a campaign’s setting (a game
set in the desert near a gnoll empire makes it unlikely
a ranger will choose to be at his best against giants in
a forest).
But where are the rangers who love plants, but
hate (and don’t get along with) animals? How does a
player build a ranger focused more on nature magic
than combat? Many players aren’t as concerned about
their rangers being particularly combat effective
(though it’s always helpful), as much as making
them feel like something more than a fighter with a
few multiclass levels of druid. To help in that regard,
Ranger Options: Knacks of Nature
presents a number
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of new ranger-specific abilities (knacks) that
can be taken in place of traditional ranger class
features to customize, expand, and enhance the
way a ranger can be played.
KnacKs
Knacks are special powers that rangers
can develop as their understanding of, and
mystic ties to, the forces of nature deepen with
experience and maturity. A character that gains
ranger levels may select a knack instead of a
specific choice of favored enemy (in which
case the ranger also may not raise a previously
selected favored enemy bonus by +2), favored
terrain, wild empathy, combat style feat,
hunter’s bond, woodland stride, swift tracker,
evasion, quarry, camouflage, improved evasion,
hide in plain sight, improved quarry, or master
hunter. (A ranger who has taken an archetype
that replaces one of these class features with a
different class feature may exchange the new
class feature for a knack). Though knacks can
be acquired by sacrificing bonus feat slots, they
do not count as feats for any other purpose and
a ranger must meet all the prerequisites of a
knack.
Attach (Ex)
: You have learned to latch onto
creatures much larger than yourself with the
tenacity of a weasel. You can make a grapple
CMB check against creatures at least 1 size larger
than you, and you gain a +4 bonus to your CMB
check. You are considered grappling, but the
target is not. You must use 1 hand to maintain
your attach, and as long as you maintain it you
remain adjacent to the target no matter where
it goes, and your weight counts against its
encumbrance. The target can attack or grapple
you as normal, or break the attach with a
successful grapple or Escape Artist check.
If the target scores a critical hit against
you while you are attached, it may make a
grapple check as a free action to knock you
lose.
Beast King Companion (Ex)
: Your animal
companion is a superior example of its kind,
and may have a unique appearance (such
as having unusual coloration, particularly
lean lines, a broader than normal head, or
unusually long tail, horns, claws, or teeth).
Your companion gains any one of the
following benefits (once this choice is made,
it cannot be changed), +4 to Str, Dex, or Con,
a 1-point evolution (as an eidolon), or one
bonus feat (the companion must meet all the
feat’s prerequisites). Additionally, for every
2 ranger levels you possess, you may choose
one trick (as defined in the handle Animal
skill) which you may instruct your animal
companion to perform as a swift action, as
long as it can see and hear you.
If your beast king animal companion
dies or you release it from service, you
cannot perform the ceremony to call a new
one for 30 days. When you do receive your
new beast king animal companion, you may
choose new bonuses and tricks from this
knack to apply to it. Once made, choices
cannot be changed until and unless you
gain a new beast king animal companion.
You must have selected an animal
companion with the hunter’s bond class
feature to select this knack.
Bounty Hunter (Ex)
: You treat all
humanoids as favored enemies, with a
total favored enemy bonus equal to half the
highest favored enemy bonus you have for
any humanoid. You must have selected a
humanoid as a favored enemy to take this
knack.
Ear to the Ground (Ex)
: If you successfully
find a creature’s tracks using Survival, you
may make a Perception check as a full-
round action to determine the approximate
range and direction to the creature’s current
location (with a 10% margin of error). The
DC for this Perception check is 25, +1 for
every 1,000 feet of distance between you
and the creature.
Elemental Empathy (Ex)
: You get along
well with outsiders of the elemental type.
Select one elemental subtype (air, earth, fire,
or water). Once this selection is made, it
cannot be changed. This works as the animal
empathy ranger class feature, but applies
to creatures of the outsider (elemental)
type. Elementals of the same element you
select typically have a beginning attitude
of indifferent, while most others typically
have a beginning attitude of unfriendly.
Elementals opposed to your selected
element (air and earth are opposed, fire
and water are opposed) typically have a
beginning attitude of hostile.
Elemental Force (Su)
: When you
successfully make a weapon or natural
weapon attack, as a free action you may
deal 1 additional hp of damage of an
energy type determined by the element you
selected for the elemental empathy knack;
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air = 1 hp electricity damage, earth = 1 hp
acid damage, fire = 1 hp fire damage, water
= 1 hp cold damage. You must have the
elemental empathy knack before you can
select this knack.
Elemental Knight (Su)
: You can survive
on the elemental plane that corresponds to
the element you selected for the elemental
empathy knack, in addition to other
permanent benefits depending on what
element you selected. Air: You gain the air
subtype and a fly speed of 30 with perfect
maneuverability. Earth: You gain the earth
subtype, a burrow speed of 10 feet, can
burrow through rock, and have tremorsense
with a range of 15 feet. Fire: You gain the fire
subtype, and treat all weapons and natural
weapons as if they had the
flaming
and
flaming burst
weapon abilities. Water: You
gain the water subtype, have a swim speed
equal to your base move, can breath water,
and treat all weapons and natural weapons
as if they had the
frost
weapon ability. You
must have the elemental empathy, elemental
force, and elemental resistance knacks and
be 20th level before you can select this knack.
Elemental Resistance (Su)
: You gain
energy resistance equal to your ranger
level against an energy type determined by
the element you selected for the elemental
empathy knack; air = electricity resistance,
earth = acid resistance, fire = fire resistance,
water = cold resistance. You must have the
elemental empathy and elemental force
knacks before you can select this knack.
Greater Camouflage (Ex)
: You can apply
greater camouflage to yourself or another
creature, to match the natural coloration and
visual appearance of one of your favored
terrains. Applying greater camouflage takes
10 minutes and access to materials from the
appropriate terrain. Greater camouflage
lasts for 10 minutes/level, though each
round of combat you engage in reduces the
duration by 10 minutes.
While wearing appropriate greater
camouflage within a favored terrain, a
creature can use the Stealth skill to hide
even if in normal or brighter light, while
lacking cover, and while lacking concealment.
However, such Stealth checks only apply to
creatures 10 or more feet away – creatures less
than 10 feet away are unaffected. (Normally a
character cannot make a Stealth check without
cover or concealment, and cannot make a
Stealth check in normal or bright light.)
You must have a favored terrain and the
camouflage class feature before you can take
greater camouflage
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Improved Survival (Ex)
: You are a master
at keeping yourself and others alive in the
wilderness. You may make a DC 15 Survival
check to gain a +2 bonus on all Constitution
and Fortitude saves against severe temperature
and weather, or gain a +4 bonus if you move no
faster than half your overland speed, or gain a +6
bonus if you remain stationary. You may grant
the same bonus to one other character for every
1 point by which your Survival check result
exceeds 15, or increase the bonuses gained by +1
for every 2 points your Survival check exceeds
the DC required for the number of creatures
you are granting bonuses to. (Normal Survival
checks require you to move more slowly, and
cannot increase the value of the bonus granted.)
Initiate
: You have a much stronger bond to
the magic forces of nature than most rangers.
You can prepare 1st level druid spells using
your ranger spells slots. This knack can be taken
up to 4 times total. Each time, it allows you to
prepare druid spells 1 level higher using ranger
spell slots of the same spell level. You must be
able to prepare 1st level ranger spells to select
this knack.
Plant Empathy (Ex)
: You get along well
with creatures of the plant type. This works as
the animal empathy ranger class feature, but
applies to plant creatures. Plants with no natural
attacks typically have a beginning attitude of
indifferent, while plant creatures with natural
attacks typically have a starting attitude of
unfriendly.
Quick Tracking (Ex)
: You can move at your
normal speed while using Survival to follow
tracks without taking any penalty. You take only
a -10 penalty when moving at up to twice your
normal speed while tracking. Additionally,
adding new KnacKs
Once a campaign has decided to allow knacks, it’s natural for players and GMs to
look for way to add new knack options to their characters and NPCs. One good source
is ranger archetypes, as nearly anything that replaces a single choice of favored enemy,
favored terrain, or hunter’s bond is likely a good choice to be a balanced knack. A GM
should be sure such options pass his common-sense-test, and not turn the special abilities
of any archetype actually in use by a player character into easily-obtained knacks, but
adding such items does allow knacks to naturally expand as more ranger options are
published in various sources.
A special note should be made regarding knacks and the skirmisher archetype (from
the
Advanced Player’s Guide
). All the hunter’s tricks presented in that class make good
options for an expanded knacks of nature list. Similarly, a ranger with the skirmisher
archetype should probably be allowed to take a knack as a hunter’s trick. This both greatly
expands the list of potential knacks, and helps the skirmisher be a growing, evolving
option for a spell-free ranger.
you may move at full speed when making
Survival checks for hunting and foraging. If
you have 10 or more ranks of Survival, you
take no penalty to Survival checks made to
follow tracks, even when moving up to twice
your normal speed. (Normally characters
making a Survival check to follow tracks
take a -5 penalty if moving at their normal
speed, and a -20 penalty if moving at up to
double their speed, and must move at half
speed when making a Survival check for
hunting and foraging.)
Read Tracks (Ex)
: If you successfully
find a creature’s tracks using Survival, you
may immediately make an appropriate
Knowledge check as a free action to identify
and learn about the creature (as the monster
lore use of the Knowledge skill). You may
make this check untrained if in favored
terrain, or if the tracks belong to a favored
enemy.
Ranger Sigils (Ex)
: You know how to
read marks left in natural terrain, either by
other rangers or by the forces of nature itself.
You may leave ranger sigils to warn other
rangers of some specific danger or leave
them a message. This works as making a
Bluff check to pass secret messages, but may
only be done in a natural setting, you make
a Survival check rather than a Bluff check,
and the message is received by any ranger
who has selected the area as a favored
terrain or also has the ranger sigils knack.
The Bluff check takes a -1 penalty for every
day that passes since you left your message.
You may also use
commune with nature
as an
extraordinary ability once per day, but your
caster level is 1st, and you learn only one
fact about the area.
Spearhead (Ex)
: You can brief allies
on the dangers and secrets of an area you
understand well. This allows you to take
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spells
The following spells are designed
to highlight the ranger’s connections to
nature and its mystic powers.
1st LeveL RangeR speLLs
Blood Scent
: Allow subject to sniff out a
creature you’ve drawn blood from.
Scentless
: Make subject immune to
detection by scent.
Sigil of Training
: Give subject creature 1
bonus trick/rank in Handle Animal.
2nd LeveL RangeR speLLs
Fire Bolt
: Imbue a thrown weapon or 1
piece of ammunition with a fiery explosive.
Musk Spray
: Sicken living creatures in
a 20-ft.-cone.
3Rd LeveL RangeR speLLs
Inaudibility
: Cause a subject to be free
of any unintentional noises.
Trailbreaker
: Give subject +10 to skill
checks to move through terrain, and +4 to
saves against terrain effects.
4th LeveL RangeR speLLs
Garden Path
: Turn an area of difficult
terrain into normal terrain.
Spell Bolt
: Imbue a thrown weapon or
1 piece of ammunition with another spell.
one hour to grant half your favored terrain
bonus for a single terrain to all allies within
30 feet who can see or hear you. This bonus
lasts for a number of hours equal to your
level. This bonus does not stack with any
favored terrain possessed by your allies;
they use whichever bonus is higher.
Squeeze (Ex)
: You have learned to
compress and contort your body as a cat
does, to fit into spaces clearly too small
for you. You can move through an area as
small as one-quarter your space without
squeezing or one-eighth your space when
squeezing.
Trailblazer (Ex)
: You are a master guide,
able to lead groups through the wilderness
with increased speed. When calculating
the overland travel rate of a group you are
trailblazing for, you increase the rate by
a number of miles per day equal to your
wisdom bonus (minimum +1). Additionally
when trailblazing for a group through
favored terrain, your treat a 1/4 terrain
modifier as x1/2, a x1/2 terrain modifier
as x3/4, and a x 3/4 terrain modifier as x1.
You can trailblaze for a number of creatures
equal to your total Wisdom score plus your
ranger level. The DC to track a group you
are trailblazing for is 5 higher than normal.
Vermin Empathy (Ex)
: You get along
well with ants, centipedes, gnats, spiders,
wasps, and other creatures thought of as
“bugs.” This works as the animal empathy
ranger class feature, but applies to vermin.
Normal vermin typically have a beginning
attitude of indifferent, while monstrous
and giant vermin typically have a starting
attitude of unfriendly.
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