Just a handful of thoughts off the top of my head:

I don't know if this counts as an idea for new development or a fix, but I'd love to see more pet options for Rangers. Big task, I know, but it'd be great if pets for rangers were as versatile as familiars or capable in combat as avengers or, depending on the pet, both.

I'd also love to see sign language looked at and vocabulary expanded. Lihai's got a bit of a stutter and if she could say more with sign language that'd be swell.

For QOL, it'd be great if a couple provinces could have outdoor engineering/outfitting masters where we could obtain and turn in work orders. Is this even a thing? Are the outfitting/engineering societies indoor only? Frankly, I just assumed they were but haven't gone pacing in the rooms to find out.

Forage List! I'd love to see this verb implemented. I know especially with 3.0 the skill certainly isn't limited to Rangers, but it'd still be really nice to see (based on foraging ranks) what's able to be foraged, similar to the ability to see ore/stone/lumber.

>> it'd be great if a couple provinces could have outdoor engineering/outfitting masters where we could obtain and turn in work orders.

This - a stripped down remote outpost (only 1-2 rooms) with just the master and materials (no books, tools, or work rooms) would work for me. Boar Clan/El'Bain's or Lang/Aesry? The main focus being outdoor friendly. I wouldn't be opposed to an outdoor forge or two either (crucible, anvil/tub, grindstone).

Trail Markers - it would be nice if we could have more permanent personal trail markers and/or another way to use our Scouting. I think I would use PTM's more if they lasted longer at least. Either permanent or have the duration last a lot longer than an hour or whatnot (more like a week or two). Could base this on skill perhaps? 1000+ scouting and it would last a week? Special items/materials that allow permanent or longer lasting (within reason due to game room changes) would be pretty sweet. Patterns that could be carved from rare wood perhaps?

I always thought the Ranger cache's were pretty cool, though I'm not sure how much they actually get used (and I can only think of one right now), or even they are currently functioning.

Just a few thoughts for now.

- Player of Saracus

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Beekeeping.

---

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

Some things that would be awesome to varying degrees:

Uptick in exp from running trails/additional ways to train scouting

Awaken Forest: love the idea but cool down timer on this makes it kind of lame, also does it train any magics? I would love to trade this in for AoE targeted like Paladins have Smite Horde (or what ever it's called)

Hunters bows...miss these guys

Moving our guild affiliated crafting slot from carving to shaping...because Rangers love bows

In general (I realize I might be the minority) more development of anything besides companions


Gross. That's gross. You're gross.

---
NaOH+HI

// Beekeeping
>Benefits?
Raise your own bee army.
1: Use bees to make stronger herbs. Areas of the game with bees nearby have better herbs(?) Maybe they're deployable in a room like a wayerd pyramid, or there could be set locations with bees people could tend to. Maybe both.
2: With more skill, wearable bees. Impress your friends with your bee beard in your features. Cover yourself in bees, akin to the HE mask effect and make your foes feel the sting.
3: Honey could eventually be used in the cooking craft. Wax seems like it could be usable somewhere as well. Bees are pretty awesome man.
>Would it train a skill?
Outdoorsmanship, I guess. Maybe perception and appraisal too as you assess your hive's condition?
>How does it scale?
You start out being able to make less quality wax and honey, and have less duration on your "bee cosmetics" like the beard, and bee combat effect.
>What use would it have?
Oh wait I kind of covered that one.
>Where would a Ranger practice it?
IDK you can do bees in a lot of places in real life. Mainly they're just not big ice fans.
>Is it optional?
Optional.

---

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

skunk companions to eat all these bees people have

---

Vote:
http://www.topmudsites.com/vote-DragonRealms.html

My biggest desires for the ranger guild really relate to animals and companions. I just feel great need to have more outdoorsy/animal bonds in lore and in game to mesh with my idea of what a ranger is.

With respect to Thayet's suggestion, it would be great if we could have a similar ability as Thieves' Khri Sensing or Moon Mages' Distant Gaze, provided there was an animal we could sense or meld with, so presumably we could meld our spirit with an owl in a tree in Pfanston's grove, but not in the Infirmary. It'd be better as a beseech, but I could see it as a spell too.

I'll have to go pace in crafting halls and get back to you on the room question. I have to admit I've just never checked, just assumed, though I do remember checking for autopaths being neutral. Hm. Nevertheless, an out of city, ranger bonus friendly room(s)/society master (even without the materials/shops) would still be much desired, even if just out in Boar Clan. See, even a neutral room over time tanks bonus to neutral which, in effect, is actually a penalty.

Overall, I think that Rangers are pretty awesome and the biggest problem I see is that all the things we do have just need to be updated, which wasn't what you were asking for. Like the existing companion system (companions take so long to grow and are too skittish), existing trail system (not quite enough training, not enough benefits to having the skill e.g. reduced trail-run time), existing foraging system (forage list?), beseeches (more expansion, more utility), and horses (I can't even start). It's got a great core, it just needs to be brought into 3.0.

>>I was discussing a similar concept with Kodius. Neither of us are ready to approach it, but it's at least hit discussions, which means it can go on a list to see how viable it is.

I'd actually just want rangers to be better at this, and I know there are issues with wanting it, but I kinda wish players could just tell what kind of biome/elevation a room has.

---

Uzmam! The Chairman will NOT be pleased to know you're trying to build outside of approved zones. I'd hate for you to be charged the taxes needed to have this place re-zoned. Head for the manor if you're feeling creative.

// Trail markers
>> I thought it was possible to do a personal one permanently, is it not?
Nope

>> How long do they last currently?
60-90 minutes of real time from what I recall. Didn't do a precise test, though one I just created lasted under two hours real time. Meaning I created the marker and logged out for a couple hours and it was expired when I logged back in. (You can log out and log back in within the time frame and it isn't destroyed). It seems like there was a way to see how long the trail would last, though I don't recall nor could I find the syntax if it ever did.

>> What skill base increment do you feel is fair based on when you learn the ability all the way to high end?
I believe you can start making them around 175 ranks.

Just a few ideas:

Gain ability (foraged rock - short range, expires after a few hours): 175 ranks
Persistent (rare material - short range never expires?, personal): 300 ranks
Shared (foraged rock - expires after a short time?): 400 ranks
2nd Persistent (rare material - long range never expires, personal): 500 ranks (little higher than a 100th circle skill req, but worth it)
Shared (rare material - short range/limited uses?): 650 ranks
Shared (rare material - long range/limited uses?): 800 ranks
Shared (rare material - long range ranger only, never expires/high uses?): 1000 ranks
Shared (rare material - long range never expires/high uses?): 1500 ranks

(My Ranger has 1150 ranks of Scouting, need at least one goal ;)

I like the idea of the permanent/shared ones requiring rare material to make, not just a foraged rock. Rare wood or stone. That would make it feel more of an achievement to me, not only needing the ranks but also the "quest" for the materials. Use that Outdoorsmanship to mine/chop down a tree!

The speed at which you can run a trail would be nice to control too. Such as running your own trail would be fairly fast (based on skill), vs. using another rangers (slower), vs. a non-ranger using one (much, much slower). The idea being if you don't know an area very well or just want to make it easier, you can use a trail to get there (see below).

>> Should you be able to make more than one?
You can make a second one currently as a 100th circle ability, I believe.

>> Should other Rangers of enough skill be able to use yours?
>> Should you be able to share your trail with another Ranger?

This is a neat idea, having the ability to share them. I could see having both - ones that you could share with other Rangers and some with non-Rangers too. Perhaps if it is a Ranger using it the roundtime is shorter. Could have it be an item that would be sold, like a Rune with limited uses? The trailmarker gets worn out after use? That could create a market, such as making a trail to bypass the ice road (we have one of those that I use often already). First time traveling to Boar Clan? Use a Ranger trail! (after you get off the boat) If we want this to be an "expensive/rare" item, then I would say it requires rare mats, such as rare wood or stone.


>> See, even a neutral room over time tanks bonus to neutral which, in effect, is actually a penalty.

This, coupled with the the fact that the current societies are surrounded by non-neutral terrain. So as a 155th Ranger with pretty decent magic I have ~30 minutes (Memory of Nature) to get in, get stuff done and get out. MON is a fairly hard spell to cast so I feel for younger Rangers (though perhaps it matters less?).

I think it would be pretty neat to just have the Craft Master there, even with no materials. Could couple that with updating Ranger Cache's to be able to stock crafting mats.

All that being said, I honestly don't even know how much our bonus even gives us anymore. I have a sinking feeling that it isn't terribly high (on the positive), while noticeable on the negative (to the point of not being able to run trails, etc). Meaning - should we even care how much above neutral we are, as long as we're not below? I honestly don't know with all of the recent 3.0 changes.

- Player of Saracus

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Rangers were my first love, even though I'm focused primarily on WM's now. The first big thing is that, IMO, Rangers need in some ways a redesign. I know for Paladins the question was asked recently about archetypes. Fortunately, this game doesn't have Druids, so we can borrow liberally from all sorts of nature warrior archetypes. We should be aware that Rangers, though, are magic tert and that we should try to keep this from being "I have 50 spell ideas".

Naohhi, it might be nice if you could let us know which trees are the correct ones for us to bark up to give ideas? Because a lot of these are just sketches, and if there's interest I'm sure I and others can elaborate more on specific aspects.


Big Ideas - Many of these are suites of abilities. There might be a tree of abilities that one could pick, allowing specialization or jack-of-all-trades-ing, or we might just pick some of these and make DR's Rangers just have those and make DR's Rangers more unique to the game.

Rangers are Druids - Kill the D&D Druid and take some of its stuff. Make the spells more overtly magical, but also with some cyclics that enhance one of the other paths. Entangling with vines, a cooler Awaken Forest, more heavy dependence on Animal Summoning, possibly with some sort of phantom nature to ease the "no vines in the arctic" problem? Maybe a new lore addition that states that Life Force "imprints" on reality, and these imprints can be drawn out and enhanced using the Ranger confound? Some Charm-type options would be neat too.

Rangers are Animalistic - Wild Shape. Claws or more thorough transformations. Different animal type paths to go down with different benefits and different modifications and drawbacks. A cyclic spell might enhance these further. At the low end, things like darkvision. At the high end, something like lycanthropy. Drawing from diverse sources such as Bodvar Bjarki from the Saga of Hrolf Kraki, to Cu Chulainn's Warp Spasm, to Wolfbrothers from Wheel of Time.

Rangers are Predators - A set of abilities using their ability to detect life in a predatory way. "Summoning" critters to increase spawn rates. Tracking others like Hunt but with a MUCH bigger radius. Danger Sense. Other combat benefits. Heck, maybe even some creepier forbidden aspects that are somewhat life-energy vampiric?

Rangers are Stealthy - More in-depth, easily usable Invisibility with some more subtle limitations. Ability to avoid locates and being tracked / hunted.

Rangers See Everything - Spying. Ability to "hear" whispers without seeing content? Some other good ideas were mentioned elsewhere in the thread. I do think there's room for Locate/Spying abilities without causing a MM/WM revolt.

Rangers are Weapon Style Specialists - Other games have Rangers focusing on bows, spears, and double-weapons. There may be options here for benefits, but that turf may belong to Barbarians.

Rangers are Just Better - Some of the easiest ideas are that Rangers should be better at X aspect of Y Survival skill. While for most guilds this seems like a cop-out as far as abilities go (to me at least), I think for Rangers it's often appropriate. This could be one of the ranger "things".

Cool Survival Things to DO - Secret areas, tree doors, gathering spots. Not hunting areas, just secret places you need to be a Ranger or accompanied by one to get into. No locate type places. Sasuke/Ninja Warrior type setups would be great as well. Could be puzzle/timing based along with skill/stat checks to make it interesting. Could be additions to areas or a specific competition. Hostile environments that require not just skill, but preparation to survive - this might be harder.

Crafting - Odd suggestion, but flesh out the crafting system, to the extent that it's not already, that it's possible to bootstrap yourself entirely from nothing. Naked ranger hits wilds, forages rock, makes knife. Braids, finds wood, makes spear. Kills stuff / forages for materials, makes armor and gear. Make it happen, then make a special competition where we dump people in naked and see how they do. Annual gathering? Quest? Tiers by skill level? Not specifically Ranger, but totally their thing. Maybe make Rangers better than others when using "improvised" crafting materials.

Beseeches - I feel like beseeches are odd, and are spells but not spells. Thematically, I'm not a fan. I'd rather see a lot of these folded into other supernatural abilities.

- Saragos

Note, I do not play a Ranger. That said it is fun to think of ideas so here are a few.

- TRACK <person>. Allows you to see a message about how recently that person passed through (if at all). Alas, probably too system intensive.

- TRACK <person> version 2. Perhaps instead Rangers could have a more vague locate ability that allows the Ranger to have a sense of whether the person is in his/her Zone and, if possible, what direction they are in. Sort of like treasure maps for people?

- SOFT STEP. Allows the Ranger to avoid being tracked (as in the above abilities) or HUNTed. Possibly expand to no-locate/no-scry. Rangers disappear into the wilderness.

- WATCH TRAFFIC. Allows you to choose any wilderness room and gain a very basic Distant Gaze effect. You wouldn't be able to see or hear most of what was going on, except for who was coming and going. Possibly also other things that might leave "tracks" like someone sitting/lying down or advancing/retreating.

- HUNTING. I'd really like to have a fun system that involves hunting down an individual animal over time and shooting it from range, or possibly using traps. I don't think this should be Ranger exclusive but perhaps Scouting could play a role. Might teach Outdoorsmanship, Scouting, Stealth, and the weapon involved -- possibly Locksmithing for certain traps. Rewards for the system could be a) better treasure chance, or b) chance of higher quality and/or rarer skins. Maybe it's the only way to obtain certain skins, or there might be a few very rare ones in there (like mining for kertig/glaes/etc.). It would be nice even as a basic mining/lumberjacking clone, but also really fun if some player skill could somehow play a minor role.

- ECOSYSTEM SENSE. Is this area overrun by badgers? Is the bee population low? Performing some caretaking actions in the area might grant Scouting and/or Outdoorsmanship experience and possibly even affect the area in the long term. For example, it might grant a better bonus for a certain period, spawn rates might increase/decrease, foraging might become easier, and/or Life mana would improve. Creating permanent, long-term changes with enough attention would be amazing, although of course some limits would have to be in place.

- GROWING. Perhaps the Ranger could coax certain types of trees/plants to grow in a particular area (nothing too rare). For example, after one anlas a grove of Willow trees appear (which are harvestable), or junliar stems. Maybe also grow fruit trees/bushes just to get the edible fruits to pick.

- VERBS. I'd like to see a ton of verbs that reflect gently interacting with the environment, or even the environment reacting around the Ranger. E.g., grass bends out of the way, birds land on their shoulders, a fox curls up at their feet. (All totally optional and able to be chosen by the player -- or if they like they can choose to have a random one.)

>>1: Use bees to make stronger herbs. Areas of the game with bees nearby have better herbs(?) Maybe they're deployable in a room like a wayerd pyramid, or there could be set locations with bees people could tend to. Maybe both.

I both can't believe you seriously made this suggestion and <3 you for it. This is awesome. I submit that non-Rangers should get to do basic beekeeping in order to obtain wax/honey.

>>At first, perhaps all it might do is increase wilderness bonus regen when you're in that room ... Then you can get a "locate" effect on it remotely ..., which can progress to an actual ongoing "watching" effect, then being able to "speak" into that room, and finally you can actually scout back to it, with the distance you can cover being determined by your scouting ranks.

Love this idea.


- Navesi

// Animals and companions
What types of outdoorsy/animal bonds?
What's your idea of a ranger?

// Scout flora/area
We sort of already went over this concept. As a support system for gathering, it's ideal, of course, but I think it touches too much of Crafting for me to step into without Kodius.

// Lumberjacking
Is there a reason this would be Ranger only?
Are there other crafting abilities for other guilds that do something similar for a different craft thing?

// Faster chopping for Rangers and less dangers
I could present the idea to Kodius.

// Ranger only lumberjacking spots
Without creating NEW rooms, what areas are Ranger only that could have lumberjacking?
Should there be more than one?
Should there be a circle or skill requirement to get in?
Should there be a time limit to staying to prevent zombies?

// Companions
They might be too difficult, they might not. It's a big project and one I've looked at before, but it needs a lot of thought and a lot of planning.

// Fishing
Having recently tried to make fresh-water fishing, I found the fishing system to be completely undocumented and intensely confusing. Doing this one would be an overhaul for the system itself and then introducing spear-fishing. This one might be outside the scope for Ranger dev, if I'm being totally honest, but it could benefit future crafting systems.

// Shaping
Again somthing for Crafting-land that would have to wait on guild-only templates. Right now, there is not a way to limit who can make what.
What kind of arrowheads?
What would the benefits of each be?

// First-Aiid
Is there a reason this would be Ranger only?
What is the infection potential by skill?
Are there already abilities that cost Ranger bonus?

// Locksmithing
Lockpick carving is slated to go into crafting, so this again would be something that I'd be inclined to wait on rather than pickup in the next year.

// Athletics
This actually might be something I could work into JUMP instead, and I already have an active proposal to work on JUMP that I could potentially edit to include some of this if you could elaborate.
What type if stunts?
Should you be able to pick the stunt?
Do different stunts train differently?
What if you fail, should you get injured?
Is there a cooldown?

// scout climbable thing
This is already present in APPRAISE (item), but I suspect you were including this as a tag-along for the stunt system?

// Instruments
Why are Rangers playing instruments?

// Permanent Trail Markers
Thanks for the expansion of the concept.
*Is use-base or time-base preferred typically?
*Should the speed of trail running and any additional players with you negatively or positively alter the experience gain?
*When sharing perm personal ranger trails, should the item be able to be purchased, or should the Ranger have to make it? Ideally, we need the Ranger to fiddle with it with any existing trail marker to "share" the info to the new one, but we can do this a few ways.

// Neutral just as bad.
Point taken. If it's killing bonus that quickly, the argument for outpost crafting halls is much stronger than I originally thought, especially for smaller circles.
Should the outposts be Ranger only?

// Ability to change environment level
In concept, I like this more along the lines of Raise Power, but for the enviro setting. I could see something like this hitting your ranger bonus, but I could also see an argument for it NOT doing so.
How would you scale this ability, or should it be flat?
Where would this ability NOT work?
If it became a cyclic, would that be ideal?

// Ranger Lore
I think the idea was to NOT make Rangers carbon copies of D&D, but we could certainly stand to borrow things.

// Animalistic
I actually had some thoughts on comparing DR Rangers to WoD Gangrels in minor ways, such as spawning claws and gaining a brawling bonus for awhile.
Are you proposing Barbarian-like paths here?
Lycanthropy would be blurring lines with Rakash, which shouldn't happen for a Guild.

// Summoning creatures
I could see the argument. How do you scale it?
Should it only work in wilderness?
Should it work on bipedals?
Should it work if there are no creatures in the room?

// Sorcery for Rangers
Life-energy vampiric abilities may be touching too much into Necromancy rather than sorcery, actually. Got any suggestions for sorcery that isn't life-stealing?

// Stealth
What would it be called?
How does it scale?
What circle should it be available at?


// Weapon Style
It's easy to slap a bow in a Ranger's hand. I think we've stripped out a lot of blanket bonuses, but a spell/ability provided one might not be out of line.
What skills would be ideal for a Ranger?
What makes the ability Ranger-centric and not something a Barbarian would have?

// Survival things
What purpose would secret areas serve besides being an area only a Ranger could find?
Are secret areas unlocked at circles or always available?
No locate and no familiar would be fine, but these would NOT be safehavens and should not become viable places to "hide from PvP consequence."
Should there be a time limit on how long you can stay in one?
Should you be able to go to one if you attacked someone recently?
Should you be able to gweth from one or gwethsmash from one?

Explain what you mean by tree doors?

// Crafting
I'm really not stepping into the crafting system for these projects, but I'm always happy to take the suggestions to Kodius. Primarily, I believe he usually very much appreciates new template ideas.

// Ranger Guild in Reshalia
There is one, last I was told, in Aesry Surlaenis'a, which is a part of Qi Reshalia.

// Track
If we used fake data, it would be easier. Real data would be really intensive and potentially damaging to resources.

// Vague location tracking
I could see this idea being viable as an ability.

// Soft step
Does this tier at all?
Is it better as an ability as a cooldown, or a timed spell?

//Watch traffic
Interesting, but it's easier to allow full vision than to block parts of it. This same concept was proposed as a potential "ride-along" with a creature a few posts up.

// Hunting
Might be even better to refer to it as trapping. Using snares, etc. This might be even more viable as a system once craftable mechanisms are out.

//Eco sense
How does this scale across circles and skill?
Right now, COLLECT ROCK is the afk king of outdoorsmanship. Would this be a better trainer?

// Growing
As a concept, interesting, but it, like crafting would require a LOT of setup. For the food parts, that might be a really low return on investment. For harvesting, this could be possible, with a hefty cooldown or a severe cost that would keep it from being spammed.
What circle should something like that become available at?
How does the ability grow?

// Verbs
Ranger-optional atmos would really encourage me to make atmos for all guilds. I'm not saying the idea is bad, but it IS another thing that would get routed to the atmo window.
Should it modify your post-name string? (ie: Also here: Navesi who has a fox curled up at her feet) Keep in mind that if it does, room-looks could become severely long, which is also horrifyingly awful when several people come together.
If done, how does the ability grow with circle?

// Beekeeping for all
Probably in a limited scope, for the purposes of crafting. The Cooking system isn't on board right now, so there's no rush on this, I think.

---
NaOH+HI

Beekeeping would be pretty neat for a night time source of honeycomb/wax.

---

Vote:
http://www.topmudsites.com/vote-DragonRealms.html

Sorry forgot to mention this could also later be expanded to perform stunts with you companion as well. A circus :)

//Instruments
Why are Rangers playing instruments?
To lull the animals into submission, to stave off our own loneliness, to sing to Mother Nature the way it sings to us with all the noises of the forest, to hypnotize the animals into doing our bidding. I don't know. Music fills the void when alone. If you don't like rangers playing instruments. Why not allow us to chant or hum to learn performance or maybe blow reeds of grass. As those are all waterproof. The less zills on the world the BETTER.

// Scout flora/area
We sort of already went over this concept. As a support system for gathering, it's ideal, of course, but I think it touches too much of Crafting for me to step into without Kodius.>>

The idea of scout flora to find what is foragable there is really nice and would be a wonderful way to train scouting. the tree/wood scouting maybe so also. my ranger is young but really enjoy playing him the biggest hang up or down side was scouting. It would be much more enjoyable to learn if you could work in outdoorsmanship foraging. great idea

DR-NAOHHI>>> Point taken. If it's killing bonus that quickly, the argument for outpost crafting halls is much stronger than I originally thought, especially for smaller circles.
Should the outposts be Ranger only?

LIHAIDR>>>I did check the societies in Shard and Crossing. The rooms I checked were neutral, so at least they won't make me moo like a cow. The only reason I could see to making outposts Ranger restricted would be if there simply were so much demand that the Rangers, who need it to keep from losing their bonus, couldn't get into the space because it was taken up by a Trader or something.

I will admit I don't really play a ranger (I have one I dust off every once in a while), but I thought I would post a hopefully helpful comment. I would ask what exactly you need the outpost for? I have at least one character training every crafting skill and forging is the only one that actually requires that you stay in town long enough to change your bonus. This means that any ranger outpost would, in my opinion, either need to be a forge, be a place to turn in deeds for materials that are too bulky to carry around (engineering) or serve as a gathering area. The former should probably be Ranger restricted if it is in anything resembling a populated area (forge spots can be hard to come by even in more remote locations like Shard. I have had to go the premium forge in Leth a few times). The second purpose is hardly affected by either decision and the final purpose would best be achieved by making outposts open to all.

Now that I think about it, I wonder if inefficient crafting training strategies are causing the lost bonuses. To those of you that have this problem, are you asking the master for an order and then crafting items to fill it? If you are, stop. Instead pick an item and make a ton of them. It is especially useful to pick one that requires either a small amount or convenient to obtain materials (unless you are trying to make money quickly, in which case you want items that use large amounts of rare mats). When you have a full contained you run to the society and then keep asking the master for orders until you get the item you made. Of course this is all unhelpful if the problem is bulky/heavy materials that you need to deed to manage effectively.

IMO Boar Clan would be the ideal place for stuff like small outfitting/forging societies since it's already an established wilderness-y Ranger haunt.

I would also vote they not be guild-restricted, merely thematic, but I'll admit that is a completely selfish request.

---

Thayet
Twitter: @thayelf
Tumblr: thayette.tumblr.com

Rangers used to need music lore for a beseech. Echo? I'm guessing its moved to performance now.

Animal calls. Temporary boost to number max number of spawn an in area. Doesn't effect engagement cap. Natural creatures only. Performance and outdoorsmanship?

Companions. Right now, there is basically zero reason to call a companion out short of needing to deliver a package. Ferret to gather gems into your store container. Bear (wolf?) to dismantle your box without RT. Small QOL upgrades that aren't unbalancing. Perhaps companions have tiers of tasks they can achieve, based off your current ranger "balance". Pristine balance and they can complete a tier 3 task. Mooing and they won't help you at all.

Bow trickshots. Mostly flavor.

Camouflage paints/props. Maybe thieves to? Temporary boost to stealth/thievery with timed decay. Kind of like how climbing ropes aid athletics. Alchemy tie in? Transferable to other characters, but application should require skill check for effectiveness.



Jalika

>>// Soft step. Does this tier at all? Is it better as an ability as a cooldown, or a timed spell?

Well, keep in mind that Bards have Sanctuary, which is similar. It is a cyclic area spell that has mana tiers: 1) no critter spawn, 2) no clairvoyance, 3) no hiding/stealth. I could certainly see a similar spell becoming available for Rangers, but I'd work in some key differences to keep things fresh: 1) Have it affect the Ranger only, 2) focus on the no clairvoyance. I'd make it tiered so that the first tier prevents any Ranger tracking or HUNTing revealing the caster, the second tier prevents locates of any sort, and the third tier prevents familiars and Shadewatch Mirror. Mirrors/fams sent to other people in the same room as the Ranger would still see the Ranger acting. Also no effect on DG. Cyclic makes sense to me.

That said, I don't yet really understand what, from a design perspective, should be an ability rather than a spell. It seems like that's a pretty nebulous area still. I would have no objection if you deemed it better as an ability, but to make up for the lack of mana cost I would imagine it would be tiered by Scouting/Stealth/Outdoors skill, last a set amount of time, and have a significant cooldown (a few hours?).

>>//Watch traffic. Interesting, but it's easier to allow full vision than to block parts of it. This same concept was proposed as a potential "ride-along" with a creature a few posts up.

I thought that might be the case. Basically I was grasping for some sort of "watching" ability for Rangers without stepping on MM/WM toes too much. I do think it would be neat for Rangers to have SOMETHING in this regard. Rangers are silent watchers.

>>// Hunting. Might be even better to refer to it as trapping. Using snares, etc. This might be even more viable as a system once craftable mechanisms are out.

Awesome.

>>//Eco sense. How does this scale across circles and skill? Right now, COLLECT ROCK is the afk king of outdoorsmanship. Would this be a better trainer?

In my opinion, collecting rocks has almost nothing to do with Outdoorsmanship. Actually taking care of an ecosystem seems, to me, like it should be the king of training. I could see it training Scouting too, as the Ranger is developing a sense of where things are and how nature fits together. Of course, one would hope it is actually a little challenging to the player and, at the very least, requires you to go to a certain area and do nothing other than be outdoorsy for a while. I can't really offer anti-afk ideas because anything can be afk scripted, but at the least I'd like it to have the complexity of the crafting system. Then at least you have to work to create/find a good script -- AND it's more fun for those who do pay attention.

As for scaling, I could see it happening a couple of different ways, scaling with skill. 1) Tend more areas at once (still very few), 2) gain greater effects in your areas, 3) gain MORE effects in your areas (e.g. better foraging for yelith AND hisan AND a spawn increase), 4) "unlock" harder ecosystems. I could see boreal and tropical forests being more difficult than coniferous/deciduous, and affecting stronger creatures would be harder than weaker.

>>// Growing. As a concept, interesting, but it, like crafting would require a LOT of setup. For the food parts, that might be a really low return on investment. For harvesting, this could be possible, with a hefty cooldown or a severe cost that would keep it from being spammed. What circle should something like that become available at? How does the ability grow?

For the food parts, make it a cantrip. The tree/bush grows immediately and provides some food. Everyone could use a few cantrips! For harvesting, honestly, I could see it being available pretty early. I don't know as much about lumberjacking, but I know that in mining it's pretty hard going at first because you can't tell what you're mining. This ability might be nice as a way for lower level Rangers to get a head start on gathering, because they can produce a wood they KNOW will be useful to them. Then again, perhaps any wood will do for low level crafting?

As for growing, I would have tiered unlocks based on wood rarity and forest type: common easier than uncommon, and coniferous/deciduous easier than boreal/tropical. Maybe the final, high level ability would increase one's chances of a rare or very rare stick dropping during lumberjacking.

>>// Verbs. Ranger-optional atmos would really encourage me to make atmos for all guilds. I'm not saying the idea is bad, but it IS another thing that would get routed to the atmo window.

I didn't actually mean atmos, I meant verbs. For example, let's say you introduce the ENTICE verb. You might do something like:

>entice
You sense that in this area you could entice a fox, a sparrow, or some grass.

>entice sparrow
A tiny sparrow hops over to you, then flits up and lands on your shoulder.

I would LOVE more verbs for other guilds too! I'd be happy to discuss those in other guild folders.

>>Should it modify your post-name string? (ie: Also here: Navesi who has a fox curled up at her feet) Keep in mind that if it does, room-looks could become severely long, which is also horrifyingly awful when several people come together.

I personally would like it to modify the post-name string. People like that, and I don't know of any Ranger spells that give it to them (though, to be clear, I know almost nothing about Ranger spells).

>>If done, how does the ability grow with circle?

Have more options open up with Scouting skill (which, by the way, should really be renamed to be more encompassing of nature abilities in general). Entice larger and more impressive creatures/plants. Unlock more verbs for interacting with creatures you've enticed -- e.g., allowing petting, gentle feeding, etc.


- Navesi