I love rangers, and edges are fun. Howver, I can't help but feel the current set of ranger edges is a bit, I don't know... one sided? Not that flashy compared to some other classes like assassins? After all like a quarter of their edges is just variations of the "XYZ Hatred". I've just been bored at work and as a result thought up some stuff with a buddy that might add some flair and customization *and* maybe help with one of their greatest downfalls, their limited usefulness in cabal battles.

• Calm Hunter: You can creep again sooner after combat.
  
• Invader: A caballed ranger, inspired by the goals of their cabal, gets no penalty to their wilderness time when staying on an enemy cabal's turf and in addition, they don't lose all their wilderness bonuses while fighting there (for instance, bearcharge isn't as badly nerfed, their wilderness familiarity kicks in somewhat to grant more defense, etc. but they still won't be camouflaging at the vanquisher).
  
• Guardian: Same bonuses as invader, but applied for fighting in the home cabal, assuming the cabal area is not wilderness.
  
• Natural Bond: The ranger is able to retain their bond with nature better, even if they spend some time outside of the wilds.
  
• Mystic Enchanter: The ranger can bestow a specialized enchantment on their weapon that makes the special properties (healing and any other special effects) work more often and to greater effect, but at the cost of slightly lowered raw power (less hit/dam). Mutually exclusive with Wild Enchanter.
  
• Wild Enchanter: The ranger can bestow a specialized enchantment on their weapon that makes the weapon more damaging (more hit/dam), but their special properties will not work as often. Mutually exclusive with Mystic Enchanter.
  
• Quick Rebound: A dextrous ranger can recover from failed bearcharges more quickly, especially on their hometerrain.
  
• Savage Rush: When closing in to engage an opponent in a brutal rush, a savage ranger can pair it up with an immediate bearcharge.
  
• Stormbringer: A ranger with this edge can make the weather worse with much greater effeciency.
  
• Expert Herbalist: Within their hometerrain, the ranger can find herbs that cure a wider variety of ailments (poison, weakness and potentially even crimson scourge) and much more often. Requires Herbalist.
  
• Sightless Herbalist: Even when rendered blind, a ranger with this edge can use their other senses to find herbs although at a reduced rate of success and heightened delay before more can be gathered. Requires Herbalist.
  
• Serpent Stance: A beastmaster with this edge can perform serpent strikes when fighting in the predator's stance, barehanded.
  
• Metal Tolerant: A savage with this edge can wear a little more metal without hindrance on their abilities.
  
• Elemental Insight: Fire: The rangers can focus their protection from heat and cold more effectively on heat, granting them a slight additional bonus to fire resistance as well as ability to negate or reduce the power of immolation-like effects. Elemental Insight edges are mutually exclusive.
  
• Elemental Insight: Ice: Protection heat cold is focused on cold, granting the ranger a slight additional bonus to cold resistance and often shrugging off or resisting cold based maledictions (chill touch, iceball, frigid doom of apocalyptic overture). Elemental Insight edges are mutually exclusive.
  
• Elemental Insight: Lightning: The ranger can focus their elemental protection to additionally shield them from electrical damage, not as effectively as heat and cold however. Elemental Insight edges are mutually exclusive.
  
• Elemental Insight: Water: The ranger can focus their elemental protection to additionally shield them from drowning damage, not as effectively as heat and cold however. Elemental Insight edges are mutually exclusive.
  
• Savior of Woodlands: The ranger is much more effective at putting out fires (not only in woodlands, really, but that was the best name I could think of).
  
• Sturdy Crafts: The weapons crafted by the ranger are sturdier than usual and much less susceptible to being broken.
  
• Clinging Vines: The ranger can find a variety of particularly thorny vines with the entangle spell that cling on to their target more effectively, making the effect last longer as well as causing minor damage on the next few steps the victim takes (in style of bloody shackles, but last only a handful of rooms and the damage really is minor).
  

Maybe more ideas later? MAYBE THE IMMS FIND EVEN ONE COOL!? Stay tuned (no, not really)!

A couple more ideas from looking at the ranger skill list:

TRACKER

Expert trackers find the tell-tale signs of someone's passing more easily in all weather conditions, and can also apply their skill outside of wilderness areas (though with lesser efficiency?).

WILD BRAWLER

Certain rangers can sometimes take advantage of their foe's proximity and land a free ELBOW or KNEE strike as their opponent closes in (e.g. to BASH, TRIP, THROW, KOTEGAESHI, FACESLASH, SHIELDBASH, CIRCLE, etc.), especially when their foe misses the maneuver completely.

Good to see these weren't all a waste to you people. Here's a couple more (slightly touching on the point of trib rangers; not that I think the ideas I gave were somehow pro-outlander-anti-tribunal, because no edge in the world will make trib rangers a good idea imho, rangers are just so nature-heavy):

• Ironwood Soul: Rangers that are of an orderly nature can learn to take their great tenacity even further with the discipline of their spirit. They gain a permanent +2 bonus to all stats (except charisma) when it comes to making saving throws of any kind, to a maximum of 25. Thus, a cloud giant with this edge would make str saving throws (not that I know if any exist, but humor me here a little) at 25, int saving throws at 18, wis at 19, dex at 18 and con at 24. Note that I really have no idea if this would be a big bonus or a small one, so it should be priced accordingly... just a bone for those orderly dudes.
  
• Prime Cuts: Some rangers have learned to find the most succulent cuts of the corpses they butcher. Depending on the size of the corpse (bigger = better), they can sometimes produce a "fine steak from the corpse of x", which has the morale-boost effect of gourmet meal items. Note that you can't get prime cuts from burnt or diseased corpses.
  
• Bright Harmony: Good-aligned rangers can find such a deep harmony with the world around them that they gain some resistance to some darker magics, such as blindness, curses and diseases. Needn't be a huge effect, again, it just seems good is the least popular alignment for rangers.
  
• Beast of the Wood: Some particularly unsavory rangers can effectively butcher their victims at the time of their death, tearing off potentially multiple body parts. All of these body parts confer a tiny hp boost for the ranger himself (but no one else), much like eating hearts does for everyone. Evil rangers need no real incentive, but this sounded like a nice, nasty idea.
  
• Lawn Gnome: Gnome plainsrunners with this edge can camo in the lawns of the middle-class homes in cities. Unfortunately their charisma is permanently set to 3, and will get attacked on sight by everyone.
  

My aim sucks.

>

Ironwood Soul: Rangers that are of an orderly nature can
>learn to take their great tenacity even further with the
>discipline of their spirit. They gain a permanent +2 bonus to
>all stats (except charisma) when it comes to making saving
>throws of any kind, to a maximum of 25. Thus, a cloud giant
>with this edge would make str saving throws (not that I know
>if any exist, but humor me here a little) at 25, int saving
>throws at 18, wis at 19, dex at 18 and con at 24. Note that I
>really have no idea if this would be a big bonus or a small
>one, so it should be priced accordingly... just a bone for
>those orderly dudes.

Would this stack, as in cloud with 20 str due to maledicts would make 22 str saving throws?

>

Prime Cuts: Some rangers have learned to find the most
>succulent cuts of the corpses they butcher. Depending on the
>size of the corpse (bigger = better), they can sometimes
>produce a "fine steak from the corpse of x", which has the
>morale-boost effect of gourmet meal items. Note that you can't
>get prime cuts from burnt or diseased corpses.

This is a nice idea. In addition, I'd like to see an edge that would give you little bonuses for steaks made from pc's that you have killed yourself(a la Nreisshe prep steaks, but possibly a slightly nerfed version of).


>

Lawn Gnome: Gnome plainsrunners with this edge can camo in
>the lawns of the middle-class homes in cities. Unfortunately
>their charisma is permanently set to 3, and will get attacked
>on sight by everyone.

This is overpowered.

We have been working on more ranger edges because a lot of them are only good for a certain terrain or specialization. I like what you have posted here as something to review and I will put it on the imm boards so we can do just that.

Then I think there should be a couple rangers edges that would make Empire or Tribunal Rangers more popular. Most of those choices are for making the already overpopular ranger cabal (outlander) even better. Which, I thought, was not the intent of edges... But that is just me :)

I meant that because they are so diverse, there aren't that many to actually choose from based upon certain builds.

Not yours. Sorry about that.

Admittance to the Empire is available only to those with dark hearts,
orderly ethos and begins with the bloodoath, which can be administered
by any citizen. Druids and rangers cannot join the Empire due to their
affinity with nature.

NT

>We have been working on more ranger edges because a lot of
>them are only good for a certain terrain or specialization. I
>like what you have posted here as something to review and I
>will put it on the imm boards so we can do just that.

Great, I'd welcome some immortal vetting/changes and really like the ideas posted. Current ranger edges need a little extra I would think.

Do you think there'd be interest in looking at armor? I could never understand why neo-rangers still have it? I mean, a savage can cast armor.

One day, I'll get around to finish destroying that spell. It has an ugly combination of blandness and lack of functionality.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

That for Imm characters, the armor spell functions like ABS and lifesurge + prot v EVERYTHING.

How else could you keep killing me with your gnome city ties thief?

I miss my ValgBOT.

I'd agree that ranger edges need a little more...Zazz (candy, it tastes like chicken if chicken were candy) and some of these sound pretty nice to me in addressing some of the class problems. Specificly Invader and sightless herbalist could really help two of the most annoying things about playing a ranger.

I know I always thought "Oh crap, I have to go get (insert item) back in (insert cabal) ....this is going to hurt... maybe I can pretend to be stuck in (insert explore area)..."

And of course being blind just really shuts down a ranger completely.

I have bolded my comments to Mort's ideas below.

>

>
• Calm Hunter: You can creep again sooner after combat.
  
  Maybe a one tick time reduction or so?
  
  >
• Invader: A caballed ranger, inspired by the goals of their
  >cabal, gets no penalty to their wilderness time when staying
  >on an enemy cabal's turf and in addition, they don't lose all
  >their wilderness bonuses while fighting there (for instance,
  >bearcharge isn't as badly nerfed, their wilderness familiarity
  >kicks in somewhat to grant more defense, etc. but they still
  >won't be camouflaging at the vanquisher).
  
  So, they are familiar with enemy cabal's terrain? A bit far-fetched in my opinion, but I'd say no penalty to wilderness time when enemy is holding your item or when you are fighting or have recently fought guardians there could work to some extent.
  
  >
• Guardian: Same bonuses as invader, but applied for
  >fighting in the home cabal, assuming the cabal area is not
  >wilderness.
  
  A bit far-fetched, just like invader. As long as you don't get wilderness time for spending time in Spire or similar.
  
  >
• Natural Bond: The ranger is able to retain their bond with
  >nature better, even if they spend some time outside of the
  >wilds.
  
  Nice, though explorer profession adresses some of this. It's sort of like giving a mini wanderlust as an edge, but I'm not against it. Edges making some cross-profession stuff isn't necessarily a bad idea. Offshoot of this would be an edge that would make an explorer's wanderlust better, so that they'd always (or more easier) have fast camo and stuff.
  
  >
• Mystic Enchanter: The ranger can bestow a specialized
  >enchantment on their weapon that makes the special properties
  >(healing and any other special effects) work more often and to
  >greater effect, but at the cost of slightly lowered raw power
  >(less hit/dam). Mutually exclusive with Wild Enchanter.
  >
• Wild Enchanter: The ranger can bestow a specialized
  >enchantment on their weapon that makes the weapon more
  >damaging (more hit/dam), but their special properties will not
  >work as often. Mutually exclusive with Mystic Enchanter.
  
  These could work for animists in particular, as they are more enchantey than other rangers.
  
  >
• Quick Rebound: A dextrous ranger can recover from failed
  >bearcharges more quickly, especially on their hometerrain.
  
  I'd say on their hometerrain only
  
  >
• Savage Rush: When closing in to engage an opponent in a
  >brutal rush, a savage ranger can pair it up with an immediate
  >bearcharge.
  >
• Stormbringer: A ranger with this edge can make the weather
  >worse with much greater effeciency.
  
  Maybe for mariners?
  
  >
• Expert Herbalist: Within their hometerrain, the ranger can
  >find herbs that cure a wider variety of ailments (poison,
  >weakness and potentially even crimson scourge) and much more
  >often. Requires Herbalist.
  >
• Sightless Herbalist: Even when rendered blind, a ranger
  >with this edge can use their other senses to find herbs
  >although at a reduced rate of success and heightened delay
  >before more can be gathered. Requires Herbalist.
  
  These seem like a good idea.
  
  >
• Serpent Stance: A beastmaster with this edge can perform
  >serpent strikes when fighting in the predator's stance,
  >barehanded.
  >
• Metal Tolerant: A savage with this edge can wear a little
  >more metal without hindrance on their abilities.
  
  Maybe with reduced damage. Dunno about Metal Tolerant, some kind of warpaint edge that allows smearing the armor with warpaint?
  
  >
• Elemental Insight: Fire: The rangers can focus their
  >protection from heat and cold more effectively on heat,
  >granting them a slight additional bonus to fire resistance as
  >well as ability to negate or reduce the power of
  >immolation-like effects. Elemental Insight edges are mutually
  >exclusive.
  >
• Elemental Insight: Ice: Protection heat cold is focused on
  >cold, granting the ranger a slight additional bonus to cold
  >resistance and often shrugging off or resisting cold based
  >maledictions (chill touch, iceball, frigid doom of apocalyptic
  >overture). Elemental Insight edges are mutually exclusive.
  >
• Elemental Insight: Lightning: The ranger can focus their
  >elemental protection to additionally shield them from
  >electrical damage, not as effectively as heat and cold
  >however. Elemental Insight edges are mutually exclusive.
  >
• Elemental Insight: Water: The ranger can focus their
  >elemental protection to additionally shield them from drowning
  >damage, not as effectively as heat and cold however. Elemental
  >Insight edges are mutually exclusive.
  
  These are kind of semi-bleh as common options. I think that the resistances should be governed by hometerrain mainly, and so should the options if these are implemented. There should be restrictions by hometerrain.
  
  >
• Savior of Woodlands: The ranger is much more effective at
  >putting out fires (not only in woodlands, really, but that was
  >the best name I could think of).
  
  Saviour of wilderness, as general putting down fires in wilderness edge. Would not work in cities. Or possibly very efficient version that works on home terrain only, where ranger would use his knowledge of terrain to put the fires down more efficiently?
  
  >
• Sturdy Crafts: The weapons crafted by the ranger are
  >sturdier than usual and much less susceptible to being
  >broken.
  >
• Clinging Vines: The ranger can find a variety of
  >particularly thorny vines with the entangle spell that cling
  >on to their target more effectively, making the effect last
  >longer as well as causing minor damage on the next few steps
  >the victim takes (in style of bloody shackles, but last only a
  >handful of rooms and the damage really is minor).
  
  Maybe for animists, those vines.
  
  >

>
>Maybe more ideas later? MAYBE THE IMMS FIND EVEN ONE COOL!?
>Stay tuned (no, not really)!

Thanks for the response.

>>
• Calm Hunter: You can creep again sooner after combat.
  >
  > Maybe a one tick time reduction or so?
  
  That's along what I was thinking.
  
  >>
• Invader: A caballed ranger, inspired by the goals of
  >their
  >>cabal, gets no penalty to their wilderness time when staying
  >>on an enemy cabal's turf and in addition, they don't lose
  >all
  >>their wilderness bonuses while fighting there (for instance,
  >>bearcharge isn't as badly nerfed, their wilderness
  >familiarity
  >>kicks in somewhat to grant more defense, etc. but they still
  >>won't be camouflaging at the vanquisher).
  >
  >So, they are familiar with enemy cabal's terrain? A bit
  >far-fetched in my opinion, but I'd say no penalty to
  >wilderness time when enemy is holding your item or when you
  >are fighting or have recently fought guardians there could
  >work to some extent.
  
  A lot of abilities in CF are far-fetched, I don't see this being much more so than usual. :P
  My point was more that rangers could really use some incentive to take a bigger part in cabal battles, something to make up for their great loss of power in most cabal areas. And it shouldn't only just count for counter-raiding, but attacking as well, because as it is now raiding most cabals as a ranger is just asking for an ass-kicking.
  
  >>
• Guardian: Same bonuses as invader, but applied for
  >>fighting in the home cabal, assuming the cabal area is not
  >>wilderness.
  >
  >A bit far-fetched, just like invader. As long as you don't
  >get wilderness time for spending time in Spire or
  >similar.
  
  The idea was that ticks spent wouldn't count towards anything, neither increasing or decreasing your wilderness%.
  
  >>
• Natural Bond: The ranger is able to retain their bond
  >with
  >>nature better, even if they spend some time outside of the
  >>wilds.
  >
  >Nice, though explorer profession adresses some of this.
  >It's sort of like giving a mini wanderlust as an edge, but I'm
  >not against it. Edges making some cross-profession stuff isn't
  >necessarily a bad idea. Offshoot of this would be an edge that
  >would make an explorer's wanderlust better, so that they'd
  >always (or more easier) have fast camo and stuff.
  
  Yeah, this wasn't one of my favorite ideas, but I wrote it down nonetheless. It could be cumulative with explorers' ability, and of course not as potent.
  
  >>
• Mystic Enchanter: The ranger can bestow a specialized
  >>enchantment on their weapon that makes the special
  >properties
  >>(healing and any other special effects) work more often and
  >to
  >>greater effect, but at the cost of slightly lowered raw
  >power
  >>(less hit/dam). Mutually exclusive with Wild Enchanter.
  >>
• Wild Enchanter: The ranger can bestow a specialized
  >>enchantment on their weapon that makes the weapon more
  >>damaging (more hit/dam), but their special properties will
  >not
  >>work as often. Mutually exclusive with Mystic Enchanter.
  >
  >These could work for animists in particular, as they are
  >more enchantey than other rangers.
  
  I was trying to steer away from too many expertise/hometerrain specifics, as these count for a fraction of people. No reason in my mind why any ranger couldn't devise a specific enchantment style.
  
  >>
• Quick Rebound: A dextrous ranger can recover from failed
  >>bearcharges more quickly, especially on their hometerrain.
  >
  >I'd say on their hometerrain only
  
  I was also trying to steer away from adding "hometerrain only" to every edge idea. Hometerrain already offers big boons, it's pointless to try to stack everything in the same place, especially since in many cases you won't get to fight in your hometerrain very often at all (bedouins, marshdwellers come to mind).
  
  >>
• Stormbringer: A ranger with this edge can make the
  >weather
  >>worse with much greater effeciency.
  >
  >Maybe for mariners?
  
  I think stormcalling was already a superior, instant-storm spell, so mariners would find little use for this one. It would just make the weather change quicker towards worse.
  
  >>
• Serpent Stance: A beastmaster with this edge can perform
  >>serpent strikes when fighting in the predator's stance,
  >>barehanded.
  >>
• Metal Tolerant: A savage with this edge can wear a
  >little
  >>more metal without hindrance on their abilities.
  >
  >Maybe with reduced damage. Dunno about Metal Tolerant, some
  >kind of warpaint edge that allows smearing the armor with
  >warpaint?
  
  Considering predator's stance can hit fairly hard, a drop in damage would be reasonable I guess. Metal tolerant is based on my experience that savages can handle a piece or two of metal with no ill effects towards their general rangering skills. Tolerant would simply allow them to wear another piece or two on top of that, it wouldn't help you one bit with skills that require empty armor slots.
  
  >>
• Elemental Insight: Fire: The rangers can focus their
  >>protection from heat and cold more effectively on heat,
  >>granting them a slight additional bonus to fire resistance
  >as
  >>well as ability to negate or reduce the power of
  >>immolation-like effects. Elemental Insight edges are
  >mutually
  >>exclusive.
  >>
• Elemental Insight: Ice: Protection heat cold is focused
  >on
  >>cold, granting the ranger a slight additional bonus to cold
  >>resistance and often shrugging off or resisting cold based
  >>maledictions (chill touch, iceball, frigid doom of
  >apocalyptic
  >>overture). Elemental Insight edges are mutually exclusive.
  >>
• Elemental Insight: Lightning: The ranger can focus their
  >>elemental protection to additionally shield them from
  >>electrical damage, not as effectively as heat and cold
  >>however. Elemental Insight edges are mutually exclusive.
  >>
• Elemental Insight: Water: The ranger can focus their
  >>elemental protection to additionally shield them from
  >drowning
  >>damage, not as effectively as heat and cold however.
  >Elemental
  >>Insight edges are mutually exclusive.
  >
  >These are kind of semi-bleh as common options. I think that
  >the resistances should be governed by hometerrain mainly, and
  >so should the options if these are implemented. There should
  >be restrictions by hometerrain.
  
  Hometerrains already offer specific boosts; giving rangers (who get this skill, not all do) an option to further focus their protection with ONE choice doesn't seem too unreasonable to me. Hell, druids get a protection vs. metals that protects from flesh (or other material of their choice).
  
  >>
• Savior of Woodlands: The ranger is much more effective
  >at
  >>putting out fires (not only in woodlands, really, but that
  >was
  >>the best name I could think of).
  >
  >Saviour of wilderness, as general putting down fires in
  >wilderness edge. Would not work in cities. Or possibly very
  >efficient version that works on home terrain only, where
  >ranger would use his knowledge of terrain to put the fires
  >down more efficiently?
  
  Right, of course, wilderness. Duh. Again, none of this "hometerrain only" stuff, especially since that would make no sense for at least 4 hometerrains (caves, sand, water and swamp don't burn very well).
  
  >>
• Clinging Vines: The ranger can find a variety of
  >>particularly thorny vines with the entangle spell that cling
  >>on to their target more effectively, making the effect last
  >>longer as well as causing minor damage on the next few steps
  >>the victim takes (in style of bloody shackles, but last only
  >a
  >>handful of rooms and the damage really is minor).
  >
  >Maybe for animists, those vines.
  
  Again, I disagree with limiting them solely to one expertise.