Ranger

Of course rangers tap the arcane. There's nothing more natural than magic.

— Gelez

Rough and wild looking, a human stalks alone through the shadows of trees, hunting the Gnoll he knows are planning a raid on a nearby farm. Clutching a shortsword in each hand, he becomes a whirlwind of steel, cutting down one enemy after another.
After tumbling away from a cone of freezing air, an elf finds her feet and draws back her bow to loose an arrow at the White Dragon. Shrugging off the wave of fear that emanates from the dragon like the cold of its breath, she sends one arrow after another to find the gaps between the dragon's thick scales.
Holding his hand high, a half-elf whistles to the hawk that circles high above him, calling the bird back to his side. Whispering instructions in Elvish, he points to the Owlbear he's been tracking and sends the hawk to distract the creature while he readies his bow.
Far from the bustle of cities and towns, past the hedges that shelter the most distant farms from the terrors of the wild, amid the dense-packed trees of trackless forests and across wide and empty plains, rangers keep their unending watch.
Warriors of the wilderness, rangers specialize in hunting the monsters that threaten the edges of civilization- humanoid raiders, rampaging beasts and monstrosities, terrible giants, and deadly dragons. They learn to track their quarry as a predator does, moving stealthily through the wilds and hiding themselves in brush and rubble. Rangers focus their combat training on techniques that are particularly useful against their specific favored foes.
Thanks to their familiarity with the wilds, rangers acquire the ability to cast spells that harness nature's power, much as a Druid does. Their spells, like their combat abilities, emphasize speed, stealth, and the hunt. A ranger's talents and abilities are honed with deadly focus on the grim task of protecting the borderlands.
Though a ranger might make a living as a hunter, a guide, or a tracker, a ranger's true calling is to defend the outskirts of civilization from the ravages of monsters and humanoid hordes that press in from the wild. In some places, rangers gather in secretive orders or join forces with Druidic circles. Many rangers, though, are independent almost to a fault, knowing that, when a dragon or a band of Gnoll attacks, a ranger might be the first-and possibly the last-line of defense.
This fierce independence makes rangers well suited to adventuring, since they are accustomed to life far from the comforts of a dry bed and a hot bath. Faced with city-bred adventurers who grouse and whine about the hardships of the wild, rangers respond with some mixture of amusement, frustration, and compassion. But they quickly learn that other adventurers who can carry their own weight in a fight against civilization's foes are worth any extra burden. Coddled city folk might not know how to feed themselves or find freshwater in the wild, but they make up for it in other ways.

Career

Career Progression

The path a ranger takes depends on many factors, but most fall into one of these loose categories that rangers use to refer to themselves and their peers:

• The Fey Wanderer - imbued with a fragment of fey energy, these rangers represent both the mortal and fey realms and display the duality of the Courts of the Fey.
• The Gloom Stalker - at home in the darkest places of Valine, venturing boldly into dim and dark places to neutralize threats before they can threaten innocents
• The Horizon Walker  - guardians against threats that originate form the extraplanar realms - the elemental planes, the Feywild, the Asylum and beyond.
• The Monster Slayer - hunter of the denizens of the night and unnatural threats to nature they train in supernatural techniques to overcome the monsters that haunt our dreams.
• The Rambler  - bulwarks between civilization and the wilderness, they bridge the gaps between the civilized species and the beasts of the world.
• The Swarmkeeper - reaching out to bond with the creatures that move in large groups, they use swarms, flocks and multitudes of small creatures as a potent force in battle.

Dwarven Ranger

Type

Intelligence Gathering

Now, the ramblers I understand. Too many civilizations encroach on the natural world and awaken things best left alone. Whatever side they're on, the ramblers keep the two worlds separate when one or the other strays too far into the other's turf.

— Thyichar

Different planes of existence? I don't think they're real. But to hear a ranger in a tavern boast of their planar journeys will make a believer out of the gullible.

— Nartlur

Focusing your attention on a nemesis I understand, but an entire species? Bit racist isn't it?

— Thyichar

by Rob Taylor

Human Ranger