Previous
// Animal Calls
How do we define natural? Non-cursed and non-undead?
// Companions
Tiering companions to make it desirable to "advance" them is definitely a good call. What those tiers are is a little more difficult to define.
In discussions about familiars and risen, the short term answer for companions is to remove "loss of companion." The long term is to completely revamp the system and expand it with 1. generic abilities or fluff and then 2. with a specific specailty use for each companion. (This is idle thought on my part and nothing to read into too deeply right now.)
Does a Ranger gain access to everything at once?
Does a Ranger gain access to certain companions by circle?
Is it possible for a Ranger to gain ALL companions, or would they have to choose?
What other "specialty" abilities should a companion have based on its type?
//Bowshot tricks
Doable, but should these be only in combat, or should it be something you can do at any time?
Is this like "coin slipping" for Thieves and Bards in that it's primarily useless but fun?
//Camo paint/props
An alchemy tie-in would be really good here, but until guild-restrictions, it would mean anyone could do it. Let's pretend guild-restrictions are done though..
Should only Rangers and Thieves get this?
Should they make different paints/props?
Besides a Stealth or Thievery boost, what other purpose could these have?
How do we tier the paints/props?
When should a Ranger get access to it?
Should it be less effective if a non-Ranger or non-Thief uses it / ie doesn't apply it as well?
Should non-Rangers/Thieves be able to make them? Would they be as effective with enough skill?
// Ability versus timed spell.
Consider the difference between Moon Mage traceback and Moon Mage locate. One is an ability that depends on a spell being completed. An ability might be a one-off type thing that shouldn't need to be "prepared" mentally. A spell is something that, resonably, is magical in nature, requires little to no mental prep, or has no REAL need to "pull in mana or concentration."
I think for the purpose of softstep, with your explanation, spell would be more appropriate.
// Watching without toe-stepping
WM/MM may have a foothold on spying (and Thieves), but I don't see any reason ONLY those two guilds would have the ability and never ever any others.
// Eco sense and training
I agree with the concept of caretaking an ecosystem being a better training than making piles of rocks. I could even see it being a good system to move Scouting training into, as it's clear the current systems are bottoming out for Rangers right now.
I'm not concerned with trying to make something anti afk. If I was, I'd probably never get anything done.
Would ecofixing be something ala Clerics and altars, then? Specific areas you can go do it at with a timer on popping by there again? I hesitate to go that route with anything, because I can see a bottleneck here where if you don't train it "the best way possible" you might not get the best result. See: Thaumateurgy feedback.
Should the exp pulse after the actions, like appraisal? How long should it pulse?
What would discourage someone from feeling like they NEED to camp in a spot to keep doing it over and over for best training?
// Verbs not atmos
Thanks for the clarification. While I'm sure most people would love atmos, I cannot imagine this would top the list for ranger dev for most. Entice could be an interesting addition and a fun small project to augment most guilds. Maybe Bards could finally get their songbirds. (I'm sort of joking.)
Again, I'm not addressing the things my original post said shouldn't be in this thread. I'm not rehashing current abilities/spells/beseeches/expgain/room settings. We're discussing NEW things for Rangers. Complaints about current stuff could go on and on and isn't the point of this thread. Please help keep the thread on topic.
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NaOH+HI
DR-NAOHHI
DR-NAOHHI
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/03/2015 08:25 AM CST
// Companions for bonuses
This sounds sort of like spell-type bonusing for WM based on their fir fams. Not out of the question, but it might be a higher tier release on companions under a new system.
What kind of low tier releases should they have?
// Beseech to speak through the companion
Companion lore right now is that these creatures are intristically natural, so they wouldn't be capable of speech. We could do something about unspoken types of communication without stepping onto Moon Mage territory, though, if it were presented and worded right. Ideas?
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NaOH+HI
This sounds sort of like spell-type bonusing for WM based on their fir fams. Not out of the question, but it might be a higher tier release on companions under a new system.
What kind of low tier releases should they have?
// Beseech to speak through the companion
Companion lore right now is that these creatures are intristically natural, so they wouldn't be capable of speech. We could do something about unspoken types of communication without stepping onto Moon Mage territory, though, if it were presented and worded right. Ideas?
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NaOH+HI
PRIMEQ
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/03/2015 11:54 PM CST
>>An ability might be a one-off type thing that shouldn't need to be "prepared" mentally.
Considering that several of the current beseeches seem like "spells" to me, it was just hard to tell. I agree that Softstep seems better as a spell.
>>WM/MM may have a foothold on spying (and Thieves), but I don't see any reason ONLY those two guilds would have the ability and never ever any others.
Well, cool. If that's the case then what I'd really like to see is a spell that is essentially DG but for a chosen wilderness room. Something like you're watching through the eyes of the creatures there. Possibly also an Alert spell you could place on another area (or several) that pings you if a specific thing happens (e.g., someone enters, a creature spawns, something advances on something else).
>>Would ecofixing be something ala Clerics and altars, then? Specific areas you can go do it at with a timer on popping by there again? I hesitate to go that route with anything, because I can see a bottleneck here where if you don't train it "the best way possible" you might not get the best result. See: Thaumateurgy feedback.
I've never played a Cleric so I don't quite know what you mean. I do envision the ability being on a rather long timer, yes. Here's a more detailed example of how I would work it:
Step 1. Ranger selects a room to become caretaker for. Greater skill means the Ranger could select more rooms, perhaps up to 5? 10?
Step 2. Ranger appraises the area for its ecological health. I imagine this would use some combination of Appraisal, Perception, and Scouting skills. Things that would show up would be some random problems (with a sense of their severity) and opportunities (with a sense of their potential). Problems would be things like there's too many of creature X here and it's devastating plant Y. Opportunities would represent potential for growth. For example, if you prune Z trees to provide more sunlight, W plant could grow here, or become more potent here. Keep in mind that everything is risky to tamper with. You might end up hurting a different species unexpectedly, or several. Some issues would be riskier than others, but likely provide greater rewards. Also, it might be that you have to address problems first before you can really work on opportunities.
Step 3. Ranger decides what problem/opportunity to focus on. Different ones might require more ability in different skills, but Outdoors and Scouting are always involved. Ranger puts in several RT-intensive commands to work on this problem, continually appraising progress. My favorite scenario would involve allowing players choices about which commands to use (some riskier), as this would allow for some player skill. With greater skill, more issues can be worked on at one time.
Step 4. Waiting. The Ranger must now wait and return later to see if the action taken affected the ecosystem positively. I would randomize the timer, and make it possible to head off various bad effects if you get back to them early. This would encourage the Ranger to check back often.
Step 5. Profit. If the skill check has succeeded, the Ranger improves the area for X amount of time (say a few RL days to a few RL weeks, depending on size of success). It might be possible that, with enough returns to the same spot, the improvement becomes permanent. Possible improvements: more of herb X, more potent herb X, increased/decreased spawn, better chance to spawn wood Y, better quality of wood in the area, maybe even increased/decreased creature skill. Also, any event that improves the ecological health of an area also increases the Life mana in that area for the same time period, in an amount proportional to the success.
This would allow Rangers, especially elder Rangers, to effectively cultivate their gathering spots (whether personal or shared). Eventually one could have a couple of local gathering spots, plus a couple of local hunting spots. They would know just where to go to get the best yelith, etc., and, if they communicate with other Rangers, might use their spots for different herbs/woods. Also, because the opportunities of different areas are random (perhaps in part affected by their zone or wilderness type), it would mean each Ranger would have plenty of chances to create something unique.
I'm not sure how I would handle multiple Rangers working on the same spot. It might be easiest to restrict each room to the first Ranger to get to it after the timer expires, unless maybe it's clear that an inexperienced Ranger has botched something badly, in which case an experienced one might be able to help correct the problem.
>>Should the exp pulse after the actions, like appraisal? How long should it pulse?
I've always hated exp that pulses after the action.
>>What would discourage someone from feeling like they NEED to camp in a spot to keep doing it over and over for best training?
The timer. Give out a lot of exp for spending a good chunk of time, maybe more exp for riskier actions. The way I would use this as a player is to go to my spot(s), fill up exp, and forget for a while. However, if it does happen to be your personal hangout, you could feel free to keep checking up on it and top off the exp a bit, plus be right there if any emergencies happen.
>>Entice could be an interesting addition and a fun small project to augment most guilds. Maybe Bards could finally get their songbirds. (I'm sort of joking.)
Don't joke about that! Seriously though, I think most guilds are starving for more flavor to throw into their RP (excepting maybe WMs, who have an amazing suite of cantrips).
>>We could do something about unspoken types of communication without stepping onto Moon Mage territory, though, if it were presented and worded right. Ideas?
My best thought here is something like the forest shakes and the wind moans in just the right way that you can pick out a few words. That or focus the magic on the companion slate, allowing new words to appear (auction item?).
>>// Poison resistance spell
Where poison is concerned, I would definitely like to see Rangers get a poison-causing spell (or do they have this already?). If we went with poison resistance I would see it as a Warding spell that immediately detects the poison and prevents it from getting in. I would probably make it a basic spell that scales with mana to prevent more types of poisons (like Aura of Tongues but for poison!).
>>What would make this Ranger-centric where previously this is a Thief and Empath ability?
Rangers are good at identifying and dealing with natural threats. Poison and webbing seem like pretty ideal things for them to be good at countering. They should also be exceptional at detecting ambushes.
>>//Camo paint/props.
What a great idea for an alchemy thing. Maybe even a special armor-crafting or enchanting process to create armor/clothing that has camouflaging properties.
>>Should only Rangers and Thieves get this? Should they make different paints/props? Besides a Stealth or Thievery boost, what other purpose could these have? How do we tier the paints/props? When should a Ranger get access to it? Should it be less effective if a non-Ranger or non-Thief uses it / ie doesn't apply it as well? Should non-Rangers/Thieves be able to make them? Would they be as effective with enough skill?
This is something I would really like to see open to all, and equally effective for all, but perhaps with special Ranger/Thief recipes. I'd imagine the camo one would use should align with the area one is hunting in -- maybe Thieves could provide some more city-focused camo, and Rangers could provide something that works well in multiple wilderness areas.
I can't really see it doing anything other than giving a Stealth/Thievery bonus. Maybe a Scouting bonus, if you want to argue that it puts the Ranger in the right emotional state, making him/her feel more connected to nature.
>>// Animal Calls. How do we define natural? Non-cursed and non-undead?
And non-intelligent? That seems right to me.
- Navesi
Considering that several of the current beseeches seem like "spells" to me, it was just hard to tell. I agree that Softstep seems better as a spell.
>>WM/MM may have a foothold on spying (and Thieves), but I don't see any reason ONLY those two guilds would have the ability and never ever any others.
Well, cool. If that's the case then what I'd really like to see is a spell that is essentially DG but for a chosen wilderness room. Something like you're watching through the eyes of the creatures there. Possibly also an Alert spell you could place on another area (or several) that pings you if a specific thing happens (e.g., someone enters, a creature spawns, something advances on something else).
>>Would ecofixing be something ala Clerics and altars, then? Specific areas you can go do it at with a timer on popping by there again? I hesitate to go that route with anything, because I can see a bottleneck here where if you don't train it "the best way possible" you might not get the best result. See: Thaumateurgy feedback.
I've never played a Cleric so I don't quite know what you mean. I do envision the ability being on a rather long timer, yes. Here's a more detailed example of how I would work it:
Step 1. Ranger selects a room to become caretaker for. Greater skill means the Ranger could select more rooms, perhaps up to 5? 10?
Step 2. Ranger appraises the area for its ecological health. I imagine this would use some combination of Appraisal, Perception, and Scouting skills. Things that would show up would be some random problems (with a sense of their severity) and opportunities (with a sense of their potential). Problems would be things like there's too many of creature X here and it's devastating plant Y. Opportunities would represent potential for growth. For example, if you prune Z trees to provide more sunlight, W plant could grow here, or become more potent here. Keep in mind that everything is risky to tamper with. You might end up hurting a different species unexpectedly, or several. Some issues would be riskier than others, but likely provide greater rewards. Also, it might be that you have to address problems first before you can really work on opportunities.
Step 3. Ranger decides what problem/opportunity to focus on. Different ones might require more ability in different skills, but Outdoors and Scouting are always involved. Ranger puts in several RT-intensive commands to work on this problem, continually appraising progress. My favorite scenario would involve allowing players choices about which commands to use (some riskier), as this would allow for some player skill. With greater skill, more issues can be worked on at one time.
Step 4. Waiting. The Ranger must now wait and return later to see if the action taken affected the ecosystem positively. I would randomize the timer, and make it possible to head off various bad effects if you get back to them early. This would encourage the Ranger to check back often.
Step 5. Profit. If the skill check has succeeded, the Ranger improves the area for X amount of time (say a few RL days to a few RL weeks, depending on size of success). It might be possible that, with enough returns to the same spot, the improvement becomes permanent. Possible improvements: more of herb X, more potent herb X, increased/decreased spawn, better chance to spawn wood Y, better quality of wood in the area, maybe even increased/decreased creature skill. Also, any event that improves the ecological health of an area also increases the Life mana in that area for the same time period, in an amount proportional to the success.
This would allow Rangers, especially elder Rangers, to effectively cultivate their gathering spots (whether personal or shared). Eventually one could have a couple of local gathering spots, plus a couple of local hunting spots. They would know just where to go to get the best yelith, etc., and, if they communicate with other Rangers, might use their spots for different herbs/woods. Also, because the opportunities of different areas are random (perhaps in part affected by their zone or wilderness type), it would mean each Ranger would have plenty of chances to create something unique.
I'm not sure how I would handle multiple Rangers working on the same spot. It might be easiest to restrict each room to the first Ranger to get to it after the timer expires, unless maybe it's clear that an inexperienced Ranger has botched something badly, in which case an experienced one might be able to help correct the problem.
>>Should the exp pulse after the actions, like appraisal? How long should it pulse?
I've always hated exp that pulses after the action.
>>What would discourage someone from feeling like they NEED to camp in a spot to keep doing it over and over for best training?
The timer. Give out a lot of exp for spending a good chunk of time, maybe more exp for riskier actions. The way I would use this as a player is to go to my spot(s), fill up exp, and forget for a while. However, if it does happen to be your personal hangout, you could feel free to keep checking up on it and top off the exp a bit, plus be right there if any emergencies happen.
>>Entice could be an interesting addition and a fun small project to augment most guilds. Maybe Bards could finally get their songbirds. (I'm sort of joking.)
Don't joke about that! Seriously though, I think most guilds are starving for more flavor to throw into their RP (excepting maybe WMs, who have an amazing suite of cantrips).
>>We could do something about unspoken types of communication without stepping onto Moon Mage territory, though, if it were presented and worded right. Ideas?
My best thought here is something like the forest shakes and the wind moans in just the right way that you can pick out a few words. That or focus the magic on the companion slate, allowing new words to appear (auction item?).
>>// Poison resistance spell
Where poison is concerned, I would definitely like to see Rangers get a poison-causing spell (or do they have this already?). If we went with poison resistance I would see it as a Warding spell that immediately detects the poison and prevents it from getting in. I would probably make it a basic spell that scales with mana to prevent more types of poisons (like Aura of Tongues but for poison!).
>>What would make this Ranger-centric where previously this is a Thief and Empath ability?
Rangers are good at identifying and dealing with natural threats. Poison and webbing seem like pretty ideal things for them to be good at countering. They should also be exceptional at detecting ambushes.
>>//Camo paint/props.
What a great idea for an alchemy thing. Maybe even a special armor-crafting or enchanting process to create armor/clothing that has camouflaging properties.
>>Should only Rangers and Thieves get this? Should they make different paints/props? Besides a Stealth or Thievery boost, what other purpose could these have? How do we tier the paints/props? When should a Ranger get access to it? Should it be less effective if a non-Ranger or non-Thief uses it / ie doesn't apply it as well? Should non-Rangers/Thieves be able to make them? Would they be as effective with enough skill?
This is something I would really like to see open to all, and equally effective for all, but perhaps with special Ranger/Thief recipes. I'd imagine the camo one would use should align with the area one is hunting in -- maybe Thieves could provide some more city-focused camo, and Rangers could provide something that works well in multiple wilderness areas.
I can't really see it doing anything other than giving a Stealth/Thievery bonus. Maybe a Scouting bonus, if you want to argue that it puts the Ranger in the right emotional state, making him/her feel more connected to nature.
>>// Animal Calls. How do we define natural? Non-cursed and non-undead?
And non-intelligent? That seems right to me.
- Navesi
DR-NAOHHI
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/04/2015 11:19 AM CST
Thanks for all the clarifications everyone. I'll be keeping an eye on the thread for another week and then I'll likely identify projects I intend on putting onto my 2016-17 dev list. Happy to share that info, too, because getting more ideas for each of those from all of you will help make sure it's something you WANT and enjoy.
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NaOH+HI
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NaOH+HI
DRFREAK3
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists (Offtopic)
12/06/2015 04:56 AM CST
Working on personal trail markers appears to be the best and easiest choice to 'fix' and/or expand upon.
Personal trail markers do not last long at all. As in...mere minutes. It would be nice to have one last long enough for a hunt, where you can at least come out after a few hours or so.
I'd like to be able to make a personal marker and use it to come out of a dense nature area after a few hours. Maybe make it last 24 RL hours.
Rangers have to go into hunting areas far away from cities...(side note-true nature areas are sorely lacking in Elanthia)...most rooms are neutral or negative...even rooms that are very far away from any civilization are usually not nature positive.
From what I can tell...most rooms that are positive are only FORESTED areas. It doesn't seem to take into account mountains, plains, beaches, or caves...these are in fact natural areas that should be positive, but the majority of them are neutral or negative.
So my suggestion: Fix the existing definition of 'natural areas'. Distance away from a civilized area appears to not matter at ALL. The type of flora (forest, rock, etc) seems to be the only thing that factors into what makes a room negative, positive, or neutral.
Then work on personal trail markers so Rangers can use them to hunt with. So we can make a personal marker, go into a hunting area (which is usually very far away from a city), and make it last long enough for us to use to get back to a semi-civilized area after the hunt.
Personal trail markers do not last long at all. As in...mere minutes. It would be nice to have one last long enough for a hunt, where you can at least come out after a few hours or so.
I'd like to be able to make a personal marker and use it to come out of a dense nature area after a few hours. Maybe make it last 24 RL hours.
Rangers have to go into hunting areas far away from cities...(side note-true nature areas are sorely lacking in Elanthia)...most rooms are neutral or negative...even rooms that are very far away from any civilization are usually not nature positive.
From what I can tell...most rooms that are positive are only FORESTED areas. It doesn't seem to take into account mountains, plains, beaches, or caves...these are in fact natural areas that should be positive, but the majority of them are neutral or negative.
So my suggestion: Fix the existing definition of 'natural areas'. Distance away from a civilized area appears to not matter at ALL. The type of flora (forest, rock, etc) seems to be the only thing that factors into what makes a room negative, positive, or neutral.
Then work on personal trail markers so Rangers can use them to hunt with. So we can make a personal marker, go into a hunting area (which is usually very far away from a city), and make it last long enough for us to use to get back to a semi-civilized area after the hunt.
DRFREAK3
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/06/2015 05:17 AM CST
Also, I think Rangers are one of the few guilds that have the 'forage precise' as a guild perk.
It would make sense for Rangers to have the ability to be able to sense what is foragable in a given area(room).
Maybe 'sense herb' or something so we can tell what is able to be foraged in a given room. Maybe it is skill based.
This would only apply to healing herbs with the new crafting system. Not EVERY single item that can be found in a room.
SARAGOS
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/06/2015 11:50 PM CST
> // 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.
Proposal - Remove the Animal Abilities book from Ranger spells and replace it with a suite of abilities. Add more to Ranger spells in other areas. I wouldn't normally go into this much detail in a post, but Naohhi asked for more details, so...
Rakash Moonskin Note: Rakash could get a nice bonus to their claw damage when in Moonskin, and a really nice visual upgrade to the appearances in the described system. I understand that Rakash are kind of lycanthropes and that's their niche. But honestly, Moonskin does so little and animal-warriors have such a HUGE historical-fictional footprint, I think it's worth considering adding more in a way that's respectful to Rakash as they are (and Prydaen, for that matter).
Wild Shape - The Proposal is to have three different Aspects that one can choose from - Predator (wolf, leopard), Juggernaut (bear, rhino, bull), and Scout (birds, bats, possibly some land-based one). Rangers can also choose a Form for each Aspect - essentially what animal they take on features of in each form. This may also be something that could be Altered at festivals or handed out as Auction prizes. Only one Aspect can be active at a time.
There would be several tiers of abilities and buffs which will be folded into Wild Shaping. Most of Ranger buffs will be folded into this system from spells. Depending on whether specialization by players is desired by the GM's, this could be a system where tiers are unlocked based on Circle for all Aspects, or tiers might be purchased by slots gained by circle. Each Aspect is meant to be a self-contained buff package, capable of sustaining the Ranger on its own. Each tier would also bring about subtle physical feature changes based on the Aspect used and the specific Form chosen (golden eyes, slender bones, broad, coarse features). It may also be desired to have some sort of drawback - there are many options for this.
Finally, there would be a cyclic spell that would enable gross physical changes and pack a bigger punch. Visually, think of the War Form from White Wolf werewolves or the Hybrid Form from D&D werewolves Some of the skill/stat boosts might be bundled here, but the big deal would be things that have a bigger effect on combat, such as the knockback effect of Grizzly Claws, the auto-stand feature of Cheetah Swiftness, or an auto-retreat mechanic for the Scout. Possibly multiple effects for each Aspect. Each Aspect would also have its own brawling damage boost - claws or bite or both, but I think it's important to have regular weapons still be not only usable, but desirable as well.
I was considering listing out which abilities would be appropriate for each form, but I figure that the internal logic for which abilities will go where is not something I could easily conform to. So instead, I'll speak more generally about what they're strong and weak on, and leave the specifics of which buffs go with which Aspects up for debate later. An additional interesting option might be to have a different SoI for each form, even though a specific buff might be shared.
Predator - Strong scouting, smaller weapons, offense, stealth.
Juggernaut - Strong defenses, larger weapons, toughness, shield.
Scout - Strong for ranged weapons, perception, defense.
- Saragos
> 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.
Proposal - Remove the Animal Abilities book from Ranger spells and replace it with a suite of abilities. Add more to Ranger spells in other areas. I wouldn't normally go into this much detail in a post, but Naohhi asked for more details, so...
Rakash Moonskin Note: Rakash could get a nice bonus to their claw damage when in Moonskin, and a really nice visual upgrade to the appearances in the described system. I understand that Rakash are kind of lycanthropes and that's their niche. But honestly, Moonskin does so little and animal-warriors have such a HUGE historical-fictional footprint, I think it's worth considering adding more in a way that's respectful to Rakash as they are (and Prydaen, for that matter).
Wild Shape - The Proposal is to have three different Aspects that one can choose from - Predator (wolf, leopard), Juggernaut (bear, rhino, bull), and Scout (birds, bats, possibly some land-based one). Rangers can also choose a Form for each Aspect - essentially what animal they take on features of in each form. This may also be something that could be Altered at festivals or handed out as Auction prizes. Only one Aspect can be active at a time.
There would be several tiers of abilities and buffs which will be folded into Wild Shaping. Most of Ranger buffs will be folded into this system from spells. Depending on whether specialization by players is desired by the GM's, this could be a system where tiers are unlocked based on Circle for all Aspects, or tiers might be purchased by slots gained by circle. Each Aspect is meant to be a self-contained buff package, capable of sustaining the Ranger on its own. Each tier would also bring about subtle physical feature changes based on the Aspect used and the specific Form chosen (golden eyes, slender bones, broad, coarse features). It may also be desired to have some sort of drawback - there are many options for this.
Finally, there would be a cyclic spell that would enable gross physical changes and pack a bigger punch. Visually, think of the War Form from White Wolf werewolves or the Hybrid Form from D&D werewolves Some of the skill/stat boosts might be bundled here, but the big deal would be things that have a bigger effect on combat, such as the knockback effect of Grizzly Claws, the auto-stand feature of Cheetah Swiftness, or an auto-retreat mechanic for the Scout. Possibly multiple effects for each Aspect. Each Aspect would also have its own brawling damage boost - claws or bite or both, but I think it's important to have regular weapons still be not only usable, but desirable as well.
I was considering listing out which abilities would be appropriate for each form, but I figure that the internal logic for which abilities will go where is not something I could easily conform to. So instead, I'll speak more generally about what they're strong and weak on, and leave the specifics of which buffs go with which Aspects up for debate later. An additional interesting option might be to have a different SoI for each form, even though a specific buff might be shared.
Predator - Strong scouting, smaller weapons, offense, stealth.
Juggernaut - Strong defenses, larger weapons, toughness, shield.
Scout - Strong for ranged weapons, perception, defense.
- Saragos
SARAGOS
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/06/2015 11:51 PM CST
> // 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?
Spells
Many of the spells are unappealing due to the weird flashy colors. Orange horses, purple Carrion's Call, blue-green Eagle's Cry? I understand the thought behind them - a cheat to make these spells work because of the desire to make the spell effect not clash with terrain or beg disbelief (are there really that many eagles around?). But we can do better than that. Remove all energy references. Have all of the spells show the Ranger commanding either actual animals or misty, fog creatures if absolutely necessary. Ideally, each room would have a terrain attribute and the spell would key appropriate messaging off of this. Hopefully something like this already exists behind the scenes with the updates to the gathering system. This might interface as well with an environmental system.
This isn't a full spell re-design, but I wanted to show the way I was thinking (and how this would sync with removing Animal Abilties) to get the ball rolling.
Scavenger Command Book
Compost
Carrion Call - Hand clenched, area-appropriate insects scurry up to devour. DfA - ok, technically from below.
Swarm - Messaging-wise extends from an open hand.
Harawep's Bonds
Devolve - Re-named and re-skinned into Pestilence
Beastial Command Book
Animal Attack - Basic TM spell. Single attack by a smaller summoned animal. Works like Call of the Wild.
Call of the Wild - Combination of Eagle's Cry, Stampede, etc. Real animals of different types to strike at a foe. Different types based on terrain and a random roll for which type, and thus which damage type, you get. Pulsing damage in recurring attacks. Animal might appear in the room but not be attackable while spell is active. Possible Metaspell that lets Call of the Wild be AoE but with fewer pulses. Summons only animals and does work if no creatures are in the room.
Red in Tooth and Claw - Cyclic booster for wild shape
Animal Summoning - Cyclic summoning spell for the pet/companion system or to boost Companions. It's been implied that WM Summoning will require a cyclic, so this continues the theme and precludes use of other cyclics.
Calming spell for natural creatures - debilitation.
Pheromones - Calls creatures of a type appropriate to the area. Enhances hunt spawn.
Nature Manipulation Book - Make the messaging less energy-flashy.
Branch Break - Possibly renamed to Entangle with more different types of natural ways for people to be stunned based on terrain.
Curse of the Wilds
Nature's Fury - Cyclic AoE Debilitation/TM. Everything natural animates and tries to tear apart foes.
Barkskin - Reduces crit severity, cannot bleed.
Spike Growth - Snare spell to punish things advancing on the Ranger.
Wilderness Survival Book
Mostly the same, but I'd like to see the Stealth abilities enhanced.
- Saragos
> 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?
Spells
Many of the spells are unappealing due to the weird flashy colors. Orange horses, purple Carrion's Call, blue-green Eagle's Cry? I understand the thought behind them - a cheat to make these spells work because of the desire to make the spell effect not clash with terrain or beg disbelief (are there really that many eagles around?). But we can do better than that. Remove all energy references. Have all of the spells show the Ranger commanding either actual animals or misty, fog creatures if absolutely necessary. Ideally, each room would have a terrain attribute and the spell would key appropriate messaging off of this. Hopefully something like this already exists behind the scenes with the updates to the gathering system. This might interface as well with an environmental system.
This isn't a full spell re-design, but I wanted to show the way I was thinking (and how this would sync with removing Animal Abilties) to get the ball rolling.
Scavenger Command Book
Compost
Carrion Call - Hand clenched, area-appropriate insects scurry up to devour. DfA - ok, technically from below.
Swarm - Messaging-wise extends from an open hand.
Harawep's Bonds
Devolve - Re-named and re-skinned into Pestilence
Beastial Command Book
Animal Attack - Basic TM spell. Single attack by a smaller summoned animal. Works like Call of the Wild.
Call of the Wild - Combination of Eagle's Cry, Stampede, etc. Real animals of different types to strike at a foe. Different types based on terrain and a random roll for which type, and thus which damage type, you get. Pulsing damage in recurring attacks. Animal might appear in the room but not be attackable while spell is active. Possible Metaspell that lets Call of the Wild be AoE but with fewer pulses. Summons only animals and does work if no creatures are in the room.
Red in Tooth and Claw - Cyclic booster for wild shape
Animal Summoning - Cyclic summoning spell for the pet/companion system or to boost Companions. It's been implied that WM Summoning will require a cyclic, so this continues the theme and precludes use of other cyclics.
Calming spell for natural creatures - debilitation.
Pheromones - Calls creatures of a type appropriate to the area. Enhances hunt spawn.
Nature Manipulation Book - Make the messaging less energy-flashy.
Branch Break - Possibly renamed to Entangle with more different types of natural ways for people to be stunned based on terrain.
Curse of the Wilds
Nature's Fury - Cyclic AoE Debilitation/TM. Everything natural animates and tries to tear apart foes.
Barkskin - Reduces crit severity, cannot bleed.
Spike Growth - Snare spell to punish things advancing on the Ranger.
Wilderness Survival Book
Mostly the same, but I'd like to see the Stealth abilities enhanced.
- Saragos
SARAGOS
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/07/2015 12:02 AM CST
Sorry for the post-bomb. I had a lot to say and wanted to separate the various things into different posts for ease of reading.
> // 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?
When I played a Ranger, I took pride in REALLY knowing the areas. I had the maps practically memorized, could navigate the NTR by memory, and took pride in knowing the secret little cool out-of-the-way rooms. In many ways, the thoroughness of the maps and age of the game combines to make a lot of those secret areas not-so-secret. The purpose of this would be to enhance the idea that Rangers know the wilds like the back of their hands, but also that the Guild has a strong brotherhood, "takes care of their own" kind of feel to setup little protected areas that others might not find.
Some of these could be guild-taught by circle to get people to start looking, but others could be hidden all over and be little mini-quests to find. Sufficient Scouting skill might give you a hint that something's in the area, but nothing more. It's a cool little RP thing for socializing. Sure, everyone knows the good spots in the bars, but I know a neat spot with clean spring water, and tree boughs that look almost as if they were designed to be seats.
Honestly, no-locate doesn't even have to be a thing. I wasn't thinking about hiding from PvP consequences. But, well, there are several areas that require a member of the Guild to escort you into. Crossing and Shard Bard guilds come to mind. I mostly just thought it would be a cool thing to have more little hideaways around. Heck, if desired they don't even have to be Ranger only. They could be a roll that's a combo of Scouting, Perception, and Outdoorsmanship for Rangers, and everyone else just has to make do with the two skills plus a penalty, so ranks could overcome the Guild difference, especially for the easier ones.
- Saragos
> // 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?
When I played a Ranger, I took pride in REALLY knowing the areas. I had the maps practically memorized, could navigate the NTR by memory, and took pride in knowing the secret little cool out-of-the-way rooms. In many ways, the thoroughness of the maps and age of the game combines to make a lot of those secret areas not-so-secret. The purpose of this would be to enhance the idea that Rangers know the wilds like the back of their hands, but also that the Guild has a strong brotherhood, "takes care of their own" kind of feel to setup little protected areas that others might not find.
Some of these could be guild-taught by circle to get people to start looking, but others could be hidden all over and be little mini-quests to find. Sufficient Scouting skill might give you a hint that something's in the area, but nothing more. It's a cool little RP thing for socializing. Sure, everyone knows the good spots in the bars, but I know a neat spot with clean spring water, and tree boughs that look almost as if they were designed to be seats.
Honestly, no-locate doesn't even have to be a thing. I wasn't thinking about hiding from PvP consequences. But, well, there are several areas that require a member of the Guild to escort you into. Crossing and Shard Bard guilds come to mind. I mostly just thought it would be a cool thing to have more little hideaways around. Heck, if desired they don't even have to be Ranger only. They could be a roll that's a combo of Scouting, Perception, and Outdoorsmanship for Rangers, and everyone else just has to make do with the two skills plus a penalty, so ranks could overcome the Guild difference, especially for the easier ones.
- Saragos
DR-NAOHHI
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/07/2015 10:33 AM CST
Dear Saragos,
Please put in a GM application. OMG.
Thanks for the detailed ideas!
---
NaOH+HI
Please put in a GM application. OMG.
Thanks for the detailed ideas!
---
NaOH+HI
SHADOW7988
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/07/2015 01:19 PM CST
I like that whole Juggernaut defend stuff, seems to mix well with Rangers are Armor Secondary, and well I feel Armor stuff is over-looked a LOT.
---
"I think anything that forces you to do something no sane adventurer would do just in order to train is ridiculous."
DR-SOCHARIS
---
Victory Over Lyras, on the 397th year and 156 days since the Victory of Lanival the Redeemer.
---
"I think anything that forces you to do something no sane adventurer would do just in order to train is ridiculous."
DR-SOCHARIS
---
Victory Over Lyras, on the 397th year and 156 days since the Victory of Lanival the Redeemer.
PRIMEQ
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/07/2015 06:31 PM CST
>>Please put in a GM application. OMG.
...he's mine. ;D
For what it's worth, I love the idea of dropping those spells for shape-shifting type abilities (or spells). The primary reason I have never tried a Ranger is that their spell list is rather lackluster.
- Navesi
...he's mine. ;D
For what it's worth, I love the idea of dropping those spells for shape-shifting type abilities (or spells). The primary reason I have never tried a Ranger is that their spell list is rather lackluster.
- Navesi
SHADOWCHIEF2
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists (Offtopic)
12/07/2015 07:11 PM CST
Early April fools joke eh.
On a serious note, I'd love to see Rangers get some love. I have never really played a ranger for a long amount of time because of the lack of guild development. For somebody like me that's played forever, there's simply not enough motivation to make one at the moment.
On a serious note, I'd love to see Rangers get some love. I have never really played a ranger for a long amount of time because of the lack of guild development. For somebody like me that's played forever, there's simply not enough motivation to make one at the moment.
SARAGOS
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/07/2015 10:37 PM CST
> Thanks for the detailed ideas!
Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad they were appreciated!
- Saragos
Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad they were appreciated!
- Saragos
DR-SSRA
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/08/2015 02:10 AM CST
> Saragos
A+
/salute
-Ssra
"Following our will and whim.."
A+
/salute
-Ssra
"Following our will and whim.."
DR-NAOHHI
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists (offtopic)
12/08/2015 08:50 AM CST
>>...he's mine. ;D
We'd take both of you, I'm sure. I mean, I'd miss reading the Navesi's News posts, but hey, we REALLY need more staff.
Between this thread and the fun ideas thread, there are so many amazing concepts that could be done if we had the staff to do it.
>> Early April fools joke eh.
No.
>>because of the lack of guild development.
That's what this thread was aiming to help with. I believe I was fairly clear about my intentions to pick up projects from the thread. Some other GMs have indicated interest in a few as well. Getting a GM interested in a project is step 1 to getting it done.
While I'm not signing on to do Ranger dev primarily, I'm going to be doing a few things for Rangers and I'll probably open up design and project expansion projects on those to allow you guys to help create the things and be involved, as well as provide feedback and ideas along the way. (Also because doing this usually helps me churn something out quicker.)
---
NaOH+HI
We'd take both of you, I'm sure. I mean, I'd miss reading the Navesi's News posts, but hey, we REALLY need more staff.
Between this thread and the fun ideas thread, there are so many amazing concepts that could be done if we had the staff to do it.
>> Early April fools joke eh.
No.
>>because of the lack of guild development.
That's what this thread was aiming to help with. I believe I was fairly clear about my intentions to pick up projects from the thread. Some other GMs have indicated interest in a few as well. Getting a GM interested in a project is step 1 to getting it done.
While I'm not signing on to do Ranger dev primarily, I'm going to be doing a few things for Rangers and I'll probably open up design and project expansion projects on those to allow you guys to help create the things and be involved, as well as provide feedback and ideas along the way. (Also because doing this usually helps me churn something out quicker.)
---
NaOH+HI
PRIMEQ
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists (offtopic)
12/08/2015 10:37 PM CST
>>We'd take both of you, I'm sure. I mean, I'd miss reading the Navesi's News posts, but hey, we REALLY need more staff.
Man, as much as I would love to help out, I also really love being a player. Plus the 20 hr/week requirement is a little steep for me. However, I will definitely continue to help out as I can on the forums and in your Google docs.
- Navesi
Man, as much as I would love to help out, I also really love being a player. Plus the 20 hr/week requirement is a little steep for me. However, I will definitely continue to help out as I can on the forums and in your Google docs.
- Navesi
SPYRAUX
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/09/2015 08:19 PM CST
>>- 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.
A manifestation of this already kind of exists. As a ranger, you can clear any tracks you have left by using, SCOUT COVER MY TRACKS.
It will clear your tracks and prevent another ranger from being able to track you down, if they had a bead on you initially beforehand. I don't think it handles HUNT though, as this is more of a perception check, than a tracking mechanic. HIDE will work there.
> scout cover my tracks
>Moving with great care, you expertly cover all signs of your passing.
>Roundtime: 2 sec.
I guess I'll toss out a few ideas I've had over the years.
Personally, I have always viewed Rangers as scouts. Much the way Thieves are seen as stealth masters, I have always viewed Rangers as perception masters. We are hunters, scouts, trackers, watchers, etc. Essentially, we find the un-findable.
I'd like to see us have a "stealth" like maneuver, where we may SEARCH from hiding. This can actually be done in the wilderness(thickets) areas, if I recall. But it could be a ranger skill based check, much in the same way SNIPING is handled.
I'd also like to see some kind of enhanced range to the HUNT mechanic for Rangers. HUNT <person> could be expanded so that specific targets could be handled in similar to how the treasure map system works, giving the ranger a general direction from their current location. And with more skill, a more accurate/detailed sense of direction. I just always liked the idea of having an unassisted ability to deduce and track down where things/people are.
In addition, while I know we already do have an additional parse level in effect. But maybe we could get another 1-2 or so? These could be skill based feat(scouting) on top of our inherent +1. I don't know if this would be a large resource demand or not. However, this might be something that would require better text organization on the screen too, with all the extra data.
Awaken Forest - This is a spell that has long had a history of never really being a very popular for being such a high tier spell. Most of this is likely due to it's inflexible nature. My vision of this spell was always been something a little different and mysterious in nature. It would be to have it manifest as a continuous(limited duration), room AoE, pulsing debilitation effect, with randomized effect. The idea being nature as something that could be invoked to assist the ranger, but not something that can be completely tamed or controlled. This could be a range of effects like, debalances, knock downs, entanglement(RT bursts), stuns, debuffed defenses/offenses, etc. The range of effects would be dictated/limited/appear different based on environment, and the potential contests would change based on effect, making it hard to predict. But essentially every effect somehow gives the ranger some sort of edge/advantage of some sort. A sort of unpredictable assistance by the very land around you. This could be symbolized by something being present in the room as well, sort of like with Rising Mists, or Ethereal Fissure.
Beseeches - This is an idea that I feel like should almost be changed completely. Personally I can't find too much reason to use them, or even consider them something different than spells.
What I would like to see them become, is maybe something like animal forms. Certain feats or boosts that can be maintained or held, but drain/require certain amounts of concentration or spirit. And these would stack on top of magic based effects, as they aren't in direct competition with them.
Thoughts that come to mind are things like:
Strength of Bear: A large boost to vitality, rendering things like losing vitality to critical levels a very unlikely scenario.
Gazelle Sprint: Stamina and fatigue boost. Ability to flee success rate boost. Potentially requirement to retreat to move rooms negated. Able to do extremely fatiguing tasks are nearly limitless.
Mantis Strike: Boosts swift striking nature. Shaves 1-2 second off all combat attacks. Shortens delay to perform maneuvers.
Ant/Ox Might: Nearly indefinite ability to carry weight without penalty for short period.
Fox/Cat Silence: Most actions/entrances become silent. With creatures, due to silence, only attacked creatures will advance after spawning. Ambush success boost. (slight of movement/preemptive strike?)
~Van
Rangers disappear into the wilderness.
A manifestation of this already kind of exists. As a ranger, you can clear any tracks you have left by using, SCOUT COVER MY TRACKS.
It will clear your tracks and prevent another ranger from being able to track you down, if they had a bead on you initially beforehand. I don't think it handles HUNT though, as this is more of a perception check, than a tracking mechanic. HIDE will work there.
> scout cover my tracks
>Moving with great care, you expertly cover all signs of your passing.
>Roundtime: 2 sec.
I guess I'll toss out a few ideas I've had over the years.
Personally, I have always viewed Rangers as scouts. Much the way Thieves are seen as stealth masters, I have always viewed Rangers as perception masters. We are hunters, scouts, trackers, watchers, etc. Essentially, we find the un-findable.
I'd like to see us have a "stealth" like maneuver, where we may SEARCH from hiding. This can actually be done in the wilderness(thickets) areas, if I recall. But it could be a ranger skill based check, much in the same way SNIPING is handled.
I'd also like to see some kind of enhanced range to the HUNT mechanic for Rangers. HUNT <person> could be expanded so that specific targets could be handled in similar to how the treasure map system works, giving the ranger a general direction from their current location. And with more skill, a more accurate/detailed sense of direction. I just always liked the idea of having an unassisted ability to deduce and track down where things/people are.
In addition, while I know we already do have an additional parse level in effect. But maybe we could get another 1-2 or so? These could be skill based feat(scouting) on top of our inherent +1. I don't know if this would be a large resource demand or not. However, this might be something that would require better text organization on the screen too, with all the extra data.
Awaken Forest - This is a spell that has long had a history of never really being a very popular for being such a high tier spell. Most of this is likely due to it's inflexible nature. My vision of this spell was always been something a little different and mysterious in nature. It would be to have it manifest as a continuous(limited duration), room AoE, pulsing debilitation effect, with randomized effect. The idea being nature as something that could be invoked to assist the ranger, but not something that can be completely tamed or controlled. This could be a range of effects like, debalances, knock downs, entanglement(RT bursts), stuns, debuffed defenses/offenses, etc. The range of effects would be dictated/limited/appear different based on environment, and the potential contests would change based on effect, making it hard to predict. But essentially every effect somehow gives the ranger some sort of edge/advantage of some sort. A sort of unpredictable assistance by the very land around you. This could be symbolized by something being present in the room as well, sort of like with Rising Mists, or Ethereal Fissure.
Beseeches - This is an idea that I feel like should almost be changed completely. Personally I can't find too much reason to use them, or even consider them something different than spells.
What I would like to see them become, is maybe something like animal forms. Certain feats or boosts that can be maintained or held, but drain/require certain amounts of concentration or spirit. And these would stack on top of magic based effects, as they aren't in direct competition with them.
Thoughts that come to mind are things like:
Strength of Bear: A large boost to vitality, rendering things like losing vitality to critical levels a very unlikely scenario.
Gazelle Sprint: Stamina and fatigue boost. Ability to flee success rate boost. Potentially requirement to retreat to move rooms negated. Able to do extremely fatiguing tasks are nearly limitless.
Mantis Strike: Boosts swift striking nature. Shaves 1-2 second off all combat attacks. Shortens delay to perform maneuvers.
Ant/Ox Might: Nearly indefinite ability to carry weight without penalty for short period.
Fox/Cat Silence: Most actions/entrances become silent. With creatures, due to silence, only attacked creatures will advance after spawning. Ambush success boost. (slight of movement/preemptive strike?)
~Van
DRFREAK3
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/11/2015 02:58 AM CST
Ranger bonus needs to be revisited for sure.
As others have said, it is not consistent. It appears that the 'world' is actively against Rangers when it comes to their bonus.
Whether it be the LACK of true nature rooms, even though lots of rooms are away from cities or man made objects, yet are neutral or negative.
The amount of spells that are linked to being in nature. Rangers have a huge penalty to magic because you can't cast half of them in non nature areas.
If you want to help in an invasion or Pvp in a city, you are basically screwed if you want to use magic.
The 'world' is quick to take the bonus away quickly, but it takes a long time to regenerate if it is tanked.
Most societies are neutral. Some in Riverhaven are actually negative, such as the forging society.
The ranger guild tent in Haven is actually neutral. Our own guild does not like us!
There is no way to regain bonus except to wait it out. (except for Beseech Elanthia to Transfer, which has an 6-8 cool down and will not fully restore it. You can't use it if you are below 'wavering' with the bonus.)
Memory of Nature appears to barely do anything, even at an 80 mana cast. And you have to be in a 'strongly positive nature room' for it to work. Any other type of room it won't work.
ALSO, could bonus possibly be tied into circle, skill, or stat (or whatever is reasonable)?
You'd think a Ranger that is 150+ circle would be able to regenerate their bonus faster, or at least get back to neutral faster, than a newly born ranger, but this is not the case. It can be embarrassing for an experienced ranger to have to explain why he can't stay in the city meeting because 'I gotta go get right with nature'.
This bonus thing as a whole is really stacked against rangers in every way. If that was originally intended, so be it, but it appears it needs a revamp.
BENNETTJ13
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/11/2015 02:28 PM CST
I could totally see ranger bonus working like thief confidence. It would make sense really, and make a good viable way to revamp it.
Monster Elec
You hear the distant echo of a savage Horde snarling in barbaric disapproval of your deeds.
Monster Elec
You hear the distant echo of a savage Horde snarling in barbaric disapproval of your deeds.
SHADOWCHIEF2
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/11/2015 07:50 PM CST
<I could totally see ranger bonus working like thief confidence. It would make sense really, and make a good viable way to revamp it.
for sure, because unless i'm totally wrong, thief bonus used to be a bit different than currently. Just Thieves did get revamped and ranger's bonus hasn't seen the light of day since creation...
for sure, because unless i'm totally wrong, thief bonus used to be a bit different than currently. Just Thieves did get revamped and ranger's bonus hasn't seen the light of day since creation...
BENNETTJ13
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/11/2015 08:03 PM CST
Honestly "new" Ranger bonus would be perfect for a mimic of the existing thief bonus/confidence system. They'd actually benefit even more from it since our "bonus" only works in town, and there's vast amounts of wilderness in comparison to in town.
Monster Elec
You hear the distant echo of a savage Horde snarling in barbaric disapproval of your deeds.
Monster Elec
You hear the distant echo of a savage Horde snarling in barbaric disapproval of your deeds.
KDAKKARD
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/12/2015 02:19 AM CST
>>What I am looking for:
>>* It would be cool if we had this thing
>>* New ideas.
TL;DR = Kivi's Intro of "What Would Be Cool For Rangers"
I've kinda made several iterations of this post in my head and on different pieces of paper that have been scattered about by my two-year old. I don't mean to bulldoze anyone's ideas and there are quite a few that people have mentioned that I really like, which ultimately lead me to several questions that I hope will drive this post forward.
A) What were/are the current GM visions, directions, or philosophies for the Ranger guild?
B) Is DR a circle or skill based game?
C) Do we want fluff or practicality?
D) Do we make cookie-cutter characters, specialists characters, or allow flexibility and freedom?
E) What is the Ranger's place within Elanthia?
Ranger Guild
Past
-When I first started DR (back in the AOL days) my dear friend told me of the different guilds and what their perks were. The big Ranger perks that drew me in at the time were a bonus to all your survival skills, affinity for bows, and raccoon companions. Ranger Magic wasn't much of thing. Rangers were listed as Masters of the Wild, Nature's Caretakers, Hunting Masters or compared to a real life equivalents-a US Marine, survivalists, tree huggers, Snake Pliskin, Johnny Appleseed, Daniel Boon, Aragorn, Tanis, Drizzt, etc.
-You could circle chase or you could be content with where you were and admired the dedicated players who chose to circle chase. If I remember correctly, our circle requirements had hard rank requirements until 30th circle, which was followed by a survival average-allowing the player to tailor make their ranger, except the 6 primary weapon ranks/circle forced everyone into being combat rangers if they chose to circle.
-Over the years, the Ranger Guild received some practical stuff, not in chronological order: more variety of spells and better spell tweaks, Ranger Transit System/PTM (Ranger Trails), wolf companion, ARRANGE, BUNDLE, FORAGE PRECISE, SNIPE, LOAD ARROWS, AMBUSH, HUNT, etc
-Over the years, the Ranger guild received some fluff stuff, also not in chronological order: horse wrangling, wolf companion, ranger SIGNing, SLIP, BESEECHes
-Ranger PCs could specialize in their survival training and other guilds could rely on Rangers to perform different tasks, like dragging deaders out of Rock Guardians.
-PCs came to rangers for tanned leather armor, skins, and player-made bows&arrows
Present
-No Ranger Guild Development Leadership, with no direction (until now kind of). I recently resubbed and continue to play my ranger due to sentimental attachment and as an outlet from baby rearing & work. I can't devote too much focus to games like WoW, DotA, LoL, SWTOR, D&D-NW, UW, etc
because you can't pause or you have teammates depending on you. However, I do LOVE playing those types of games and get my gaming fix here.
-Circle requirements have been adjusted (good for some, bad for others). I love that I have enough survival skill training for >=~110s circle, but not combat skills, because I was never really into combat and "stuck" at 80. Besides I like circling in big batches at a time and spending time trying to figure out different systems through experimentation!
-Ranger Magic was made practical for DR 3.0. Scouting experience tweaked for DR 3.0. SNIPE semi-tweaked for Combat 3.0. Survival Bonus nerfed due to room designation/environment settings.
-Ranger Fluff hasn't been converted over to DR 3.0 or lack of Ranger Fluff development.
-PCs rarely come to rangers for anything, due to everyone just training everything. My perception is that Lore Primary/Secondary guilds have taken over the crafting aspect of things. Non-Ranger PCs have enough survival training to get around.
To be continued...
>>* It would be cool if we had this thing
>>* New ideas.
TL;DR = Kivi's Intro of "What Would Be Cool For Rangers"
I've kinda made several iterations of this post in my head and on different pieces of paper that have been scattered about by my two-year old. I don't mean to bulldoze anyone's ideas and there are quite a few that people have mentioned that I really like, which ultimately lead me to several questions that I hope will drive this post forward.
A) What were/are the current GM visions, directions, or philosophies for the Ranger guild?
B) Is DR a circle or skill based game?
C) Do we want fluff or practicality?
D) Do we make cookie-cutter characters, specialists characters, or allow flexibility and freedom?
E) What is the Ranger's place within Elanthia?
Ranger Guild
Past
-When I first started DR (back in the AOL days) my dear friend told me of the different guilds and what their perks were. The big Ranger perks that drew me in at the time were a bonus to all your survival skills, affinity for bows, and raccoon companions. Ranger Magic wasn't much of thing. Rangers were listed as Masters of the Wild, Nature's Caretakers, Hunting Masters or compared to a real life equivalents-a US Marine, survivalists, tree huggers, Snake Pliskin, Johnny Appleseed, Daniel Boon, Aragorn, Tanis, Drizzt, etc.
-You could circle chase or you could be content with where you were and admired the dedicated players who chose to circle chase. If I remember correctly, our circle requirements had hard rank requirements until 30th circle, which was followed by a survival average-allowing the player to tailor make their ranger, except the 6 primary weapon ranks/circle forced everyone into being combat rangers if they chose to circle.
-Over the years, the Ranger Guild received some practical stuff, not in chronological order: more variety of spells and better spell tweaks, Ranger Transit System/PTM (Ranger Trails), wolf companion, ARRANGE, BUNDLE, FORAGE PRECISE, SNIPE, LOAD ARROWS, AMBUSH, HUNT, etc
-Over the years, the Ranger guild received some fluff stuff, also not in chronological order: horse wrangling, wolf companion, ranger SIGNing, SLIP, BESEECHes
-Ranger PCs could specialize in their survival training and other guilds could rely on Rangers to perform different tasks, like dragging deaders out of Rock Guardians.
-PCs came to rangers for tanned leather armor, skins, and player-made bows&arrows
Present
-No Ranger Guild Development Leadership, with no direction (until now kind of). I recently resubbed and continue to play my ranger due to sentimental attachment and as an outlet from baby rearing & work. I can't devote too much focus to games like WoW, DotA, LoL, SWTOR, D&D-NW, UW, etc
because you can't pause or you have teammates depending on you. However, I do LOVE playing those types of games and get my gaming fix here.
-Circle requirements have been adjusted (good for some, bad for others). I love that I have enough survival skill training for >=~110s circle, but not combat skills, because I was never really into combat and "stuck" at 80. Besides I like circling in big batches at a time and spending time trying to figure out different systems through experimentation!
-Ranger Magic was made practical for DR 3.0. Scouting experience tweaked for DR 3.0. SNIPE semi-tweaked for Combat 3.0. Survival Bonus nerfed due to room designation/environment settings.
-Ranger Fluff hasn't been converted over to DR 3.0 or lack of Ranger Fluff development.
-PCs rarely come to rangers for anything, due to everyone just training everything. My perception is that Lore Primary/Secondary guilds have taken over the crafting aspect of things. Non-Ranger PCs have enough survival training to get around.
To be continued...
KDAKKARD
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/12/2015 03:54 AM CST
Continuing with these questions in mind:
>>* It would be cool if we had this thing
>>* New ideas.
A) What were/are the current GM visions, directions, or philosophies for the Ranger guild?
B) Is DR a circle or skill based game?
C) Do we want fluff or practicality?
D) Do we make cookie-cutter characters, specialists characters, or allow flexibility and freedom?
E) What is the Ranger's place within Elanthia?
TL;DR Practical Ranger Abilities Based on Scouting = BAIT-critter spawn; Terrain Mastery-survival skill benefits; GUIDE-different option to learn certain survival skills. Rangers need a way to assess Terrain/Environmental Setting either by WATCH, SCOUT or HUNT.
Survival Skills & Possible Uses
Scouting
I'm starting with this one since it is our signature skill and my favorite survival. I feel it represents our intuition with the Nature and how to interact with the Nature. As of right now, I believe the only current party function is that is helps the ranger lead a group over CLIMBing and SWIMming obstacles. I remember reading awhile back that is was also supposed to provide a slight bonus to SNIPE.
-Enhance Critter Spawn Rate = BAIT: I think someone mentioned creating an item, based on Scouting, that would allow a higher critter spawn rate, I love this practical idea! I think this feature usage should be combined with Outdoorsmanship and Scholarship skill. Outdoorsmanship, Scholarship, and Intelligence would determine how long the BAIT would last, whereas Scouting and Charisma would determine how many extra critters would spawn in the hunting grounds. I would say at Legendary ranks in those skills, there should be a chance of spawning a SuperMegaUltraRare critter, which drops one of the rare crafting materials (platinum white leucro yielding a platinum white leucro hide?).
-Terrain Mastery = This is a Scouting skill based ability that grows over time. I believe that rangers should be masters of the terrain. This ability would be able to supplement the Ranger Bonus(RB) by either adding a small bonus when performing certain tasks or help the ranger regain RB quicker when in certain terrain. Since there are many different types of terrain like bogs, swamps, fluvial, alluvial, lacustrine, deserts, forests, plains, mountains, hills/hummocks, marine, caves, jungles, beaches, steppes, tundras, etc. The terrain mastery would help in ways such as:
-reducing foraging/collecting/lumberjacking/mining roundtime by a determined amount (ex: 3-4 seconds?)
-better chance at finding rare materials (ex: +.0001%?)
-reduced obstacle requirements (ex: 350 min ranks to swim a river instead of 380 required minimum ranks if the ranger chose a fluvial terrain mastery)
-bonus to tactics, if I maneuver the critter into this dry stream bed it'll trip on a river cobble.
-better stealth bonus, you know how the shadows fall in the area
-reduced ARRANGE rt as you have intimate knowledge of fauna in the terrain area
How to get a Terrain Mastery? Ask a Guildleader when you have a combined Scouting and Outdoors total of 100 for the first mastery, 200 for the second mastery, 400 for the third mastery, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, 3500.
What we need? Ability to determine terrain type. We have this pseudo ability via room description, casting Awaken Forest (gives you a terrain spawn), and Lumberjacking/Mining(example: Tropical/Volcanic).
-GUIDE = Another Scouting ability which brings Ranger + PCs to a Wilderness Rooom (similar to the Ranger Trail Room teaching scouting). This room will test the group's ability to Survive in the Wilderness. This might sound crazy, but this room will train Outdoorsmanship, First Aid, Athletics, Perception and in addition to Scouting for the Ranger. Wilderness Room's can only be accessed once a day, but more times available day based on circle (& Terrain Mastery?). The learning generated is based on the amount of people in the party. More people (more exp) the less resources available for people in the room to survive in. Rangers could set up Wilderness GUIDE tours to help involve Character interaction. GUIDE could have an Easy, Medium, Hard, Extreme Option that have general skill learning caps. To prevent abuse, Wilderness Rooms need time to become wild again or often shift where it is Wild. I believe this ability will help Ranger & Character interactions. In the Extreme option, there is a high risk of dying, yet highly rewarding experience in a short amount of time.
Will attempt to spit out more ideas for the different Survival Skills.
>>* It would be cool if we had this thing
>>* New ideas.
A) What were/are the current GM visions, directions, or philosophies for the Ranger guild?
B) Is DR a circle or skill based game?
C) Do we want fluff or practicality?
D) Do we make cookie-cutter characters, specialists characters, or allow flexibility and freedom?
E) What is the Ranger's place within Elanthia?
TL;DR Practical Ranger Abilities Based on Scouting = BAIT-critter spawn; Terrain Mastery-survival skill benefits; GUIDE-different option to learn certain survival skills. Rangers need a way to assess Terrain/Environmental Setting either by WATCH, SCOUT or HUNT.
Survival Skills & Possible Uses
Scouting
I'm starting with this one since it is our signature skill and my favorite survival. I feel it represents our intuition with the Nature and how to interact with the Nature. As of right now, I believe the only current party function is that is helps the ranger lead a group over CLIMBing and SWIMming obstacles. I remember reading awhile back that is was also supposed to provide a slight bonus to SNIPE.
-Enhance Critter Spawn Rate = BAIT: I think someone mentioned creating an item, based on Scouting, that would allow a higher critter spawn rate, I love this practical idea! I think this feature usage should be combined with Outdoorsmanship and Scholarship skill. Outdoorsmanship, Scholarship, and Intelligence would determine how long the BAIT would last, whereas Scouting and Charisma would determine how many extra critters would spawn in the hunting grounds. I would say at Legendary ranks in those skills, there should be a chance of spawning a SuperMegaUltraRare critter, which drops one of the rare crafting materials (platinum white leucro yielding a platinum white leucro hide?).
| Skill | Rank | Effect |
| Scouting | 100 | 1 extra critter spawned |
| Scouting | 200 | 2 extra critters |
| Scouting | 500 | 3 extra critters |
| Scouting | >1000 | 4 extra critters |
| Outdoors.. | 100 | Pulse check every 3 minutes to spawn that extra critter |
| Outdoors.. | 200 | Quicker Pulse check |
| Outdoors.. | 500 | even quicker pulses |
| Schola.. | 100 | BAIT lasts 5 minutes |
| Schola.. | 200 | BAIT lasts 10 minutes |
| Schola.. | >1000 | BAIT lasts 20+ minutes |
-Terrain Mastery = This is a Scouting skill based ability that grows over time. I believe that rangers should be masters of the terrain. This ability would be able to supplement the Ranger Bonus(RB) by either adding a small bonus when performing certain tasks or help the ranger regain RB quicker when in certain terrain. Since there are many different types of terrain like bogs, swamps, fluvial, alluvial, lacustrine, deserts, forests, plains, mountains, hills/hummocks, marine, caves, jungles, beaches, steppes, tundras, etc. The terrain mastery would help in ways such as:
-reducing foraging/collecting/lumberjacking/mining roundtime by a determined amount (ex: 3-4 seconds?)
-better chance at finding rare materials (ex: +.0001%?)
-reduced obstacle requirements (ex: 350 min ranks to swim a river instead of 380 required minimum ranks if the ranger chose a fluvial terrain mastery)
-bonus to tactics, if I maneuver the critter into this dry stream bed it'll trip on a river cobble.
-better stealth bonus, you know how the shadows fall in the area
-reduced ARRANGE rt as you have intimate knowledge of fauna in the terrain area
How to get a Terrain Mastery? Ask a Guildleader when you have a combined Scouting and Outdoors total of 100 for the first mastery, 200 for the second mastery, 400 for the third mastery, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, 3500.
What we need? Ability to determine terrain type. We have this pseudo ability via room description, casting Awaken Forest (gives you a terrain spawn), and Lumberjacking/Mining(example: Tropical/Volcanic).
-GUIDE = Another Scouting ability which brings Ranger + PCs to a Wilderness Rooom (similar to the Ranger Trail Room teaching scouting). This room will test the group's ability to Survive in the Wilderness. This might sound crazy, but this room will train Outdoorsmanship, First Aid, Athletics, Perception and in addition to Scouting for the Ranger. Wilderness Room's can only be accessed once a day, but more times available day based on circle (& Terrain Mastery?). The learning generated is based on the amount of people in the party. More people (more exp) the less resources available for people in the room to survive in. Rangers could set up Wilderness GUIDE tours to help involve Character interaction. GUIDE could have an Easy, Medium, Hard, Extreme Option that have general skill learning caps. To prevent abuse, Wilderness Rooms need time to become wild again or often shift where it is Wild. I believe this ability will help Ranger & Character interactions. In the Extreme option, there is a high risk of dying, yet highly rewarding experience in a short amount of time.
Will attempt to spit out more ideas for the different Survival Skills.
KDAKKARD
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/12/2015 11:31 AM CST
>>Player Owned Mounts
What was the purpose of the Mount system? Are they practical, are they fluff or practical fluff?
(Sidenote: I have a title Trail Rider, but I cannot ride a Horse down a Ranger Trail. Horses / Mgounts should allow faster transit through a Ranger Trail)
Currently, rangers are the only guild that are able to get wild horses, from the horse herd, by the Horse Clan. Maybe we can get more mount options say by being able to tame boars to mount near Boar Clan (moderate Outdoorsman skill difficulty); Giant Wolves by Wolf Clan (easy difficulty); Riding Tigers near Tiger Clan (easy difficulty).
Which brings me to think about harder difficulty mounts via flying mounts or swimming mounts. Rangers can wrangle these mounts and give them to traders through the exisiting voucher system. People would either need to spend TDPs or coins to learn how to ride these exotic mounts.
Flying mounts examples: giant eagles/hawks somewhere from the apes hunting area (extremely hard difficulty test), yvhh la'tami (slightly hard), giant wasps (moderately hard), gryphons slighty hard), lava drakes (almost impossible). The different levels of mounts can either be better at flying up and across the Shard gorge or flying short distances across rivers (Faldesu).
Swimming mount examples: giant otters, whales, sea turtles. This would help with inter-island travel or inter-province. They aren't as fast as boats, but it is an outdoorsy option.
More to come..
What was the purpose of the Mount system? Are they practical, are they fluff or practical fluff?
(Sidenote: I have a title Trail Rider, but I cannot ride a Horse down a Ranger Trail. Horses / Mgounts should allow faster transit through a Ranger Trail)
Currently, rangers are the only guild that are able to get wild horses, from the horse herd, by the Horse Clan. Maybe we can get more mount options say by being able to tame boars to mount near Boar Clan (moderate Outdoorsman skill difficulty); Giant Wolves by Wolf Clan (easy difficulty); Riding Tigers near Tiger Clan (easy difficulty).
Which brings me to think about harder difficulty mounts via flying mounts or swimming mounts. Rangers can wrangle these mounts and give them to traders through the exisiting voucher system. People would either need to spend TDPs or coins to learn how to ride these exotic mounts.
Flying mounts examples: giant eagles/hawks somewhere from the apes hunting area (extremely hard difficulty test), yvhh la'tami (slightly hard), giant wasps (moderately hard), gryphons slighty hard), lava drakes (almost impossible). The different levels of mounts can either be better at flying up and across the Shard gorge or flying short distances across rivers (Faldesu).
Swimming mount examples: giant otters, whales, sea turtles. This would help with inter-island travel or inter-province. They aren't as fast as boats, but it is an outdoorsy option.
More to come..
TEVESHSZAT
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/14/2015 06:48 AM CST
>>Are they practical, are they fluff or practical fluff?
The latter in spirit the middle in effect.
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.
The latter in spirit the middle in effect.
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.
GALLAHAN
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/14/2015 02:27 PM CST
First Aid
I remember some discussions in the forums about FA taking a role in using remedies, either the FA of the person applying the remedy factors into how effective it is, or it determines how many parts of the remedy are used when applying a remedy.
If that is an option, it could be another use for FA and a way to train FA. Maybe each pulse each remedy heals, you gain FA based on the amount that was healed that pulse, possibly training a little bit more the larger the amount of healing? That way using a powerful remedy would teach a little bit more than using two of a remedy half the strength.
Someone brought up making splints as another way to heal wounds and train FA. They mentioned ranger only and costing bonus to make..which I'm not sure I like, but it got me to thinking.
Not a ranger only thing, more like another part of remedies. You apply a splint to an area, it stops any (external?) bleeding and it (very) slowly heals internal and external wounds until they are gone. If that body part takes any damage, the splint will break and be gone.
Break a leg while hunting out in the middle of nowhere? Splint it up and either go to town to get healed or train something else while it heals and your mind slowly fills with FA while it slowly heals you.
Scouting
As others mentioned, there are only a few trails worth taking: bypassing the rope bridge between Rossman's and Lang/Theren, and bypassing the ice road.
I wouldn't mind seeing some more trails that bypass things like that, although I'm not real sure where to place them. I know you wouldn't want to give rangers too many ways to bypass obstacles that others can't.
The Rakash Village in Therengia and the Vela'tohr Woods are pretty close, according to gweth/moongate range (Zone Map). I doubt you'd want to put a trail between the two without also having a way non-rangers could travel it (with obstacles), but that would be a nice one.
The ePedia Zone Map shows Throne City being east of the Zaulfung, and other maps make me think it is on the south side of the Faldesu. If that is the case, maybe a trail from the south side of the Faldesu to Throne City.
Maybe a trail from Hvaral to the oasis and/or the oasis to Muspar'i..although there is already an overland path there.
Out of all of those, I think the Rakash Village to Vela'tohr Woods would be the most heavily used (well, I sure would have loved it a few years ago)
I wouldn't mind having some of the longer trails have their times reduced with more skill, but I don't think making trails compete with travel scripts is feasible. You are fighting against computer and internet speed.
I loved some of the ideas with Personal Trail Markers. Right now with enough skill you can have up to two personal trailmarkers. I believe the more skill you have the longer distance they can be, but they still can't pass obstacles.
There is also some ability to teach or learn another ranger's trailmarker, but I have never messed with that (or know if it really works..)
I think the amount of time a trailmarker lasts is based on skill. There is a verb to determine how much time is left. I can never remember what it is.. Look, study, appraise, something to the rock. If I remember correctly mine last about an hour. It has been a while though. I could be way off.
The only thing I use the trailmarker for now is when leading groups under the Zaulfung, I'll run ahead and set up a trailmarker at the altar leading under the swamp and run back to Riverhaven, pick the group up and lead them to the entrance of the swamp and follow the trailmarker to bypass the maze. (oh, that could be a normal trail..)
I would like to see more of sharing trailmarkers.
At a certain amount of skill you can make a permanent trail.
At a milestone past that you get the ability to learn another ranger's permanent trail
At the end, each ranger gets 1 permanent trail of their own and gets to learn the trail of 2 other rangers. Each ranger is only allowed to share their permanent trail with 2 other rangers..so you'd want to pick trails that count.
There could be a quest to get Trailmarker Rock/Item Type A which is used for your own marker.
A quest that two rangers have to go on together for one ranger to teach another ranger their trail, that starts with getting a trailmarker item and ends with traveling the trail, memorizing it and marking the item.
I would like the trailmarkers to be a long term decision, but still possible to reverse. Maybe you can only go on the quest to get a trailmarker once a year, so once you pick one you won't be able to change your mind and get a new one until a year has passed.
Memory of Nature (I put this as part of my complaints thread post..then realized it isn't a complaint)
I do find this spell useful, but reading the other post I might be one of the few.
I would be happy if it was more effective, boosted nature attunement more, and lasted longer.
Another thing that would be nice is if there was a way for younger rangers to boost their bonus in town.
Could this become a ritual spell where the more mana you put into it the longer it will last, and different tiers of mana will boost it additional levels? 40 mana cast = +1 nature level for 10 minutes, 2000 mana cast = +4 nature level for 2 hours? I have no idea if those mana amounts and nature boost amounts are realistic.
We don't have any ritual spells. At first I figured because magic tert, but paladins have one so that must not be it.
....that, or maybe have MoN boost the nature level for everyone in the room, so if two rangers with a +1 boost are in a room then everyone in the room has a +2 boost.
A large enough group of rangers helping with an invasion could take full wilderness wherever they go.. or at least close to full wilderness if you have to cap the boost.
I remember some discussions in the forums about FA taking a role in using remedies, either the FA of the person applying the remedy factors into how effective it is, or it determines how many parts of the remedy are used when applying a remedy.
If that is an option, it could be another use for FA and a way to train FA. Maybe each pulse each remedy heals, you gain FA based on the amount that was healed that pulse, possibly training a little bit more the larger the amount of healing? That way using a powerful remedy would teach a little bit more than using two of a remedy half the strength.
Someone brought up making splints as another way to heal wounds and train FA. They mentioned ranger only and costing bonus to make..which I'm not sure I like, but it got me to thinking.
Not a ranger only thing, more like another part of remedies. You apply a splint to an area, it stops any (external?) bleeding and it (very) slowly heals internal and external wounds until they are gone. If that body part takes any damage, the splint will break and be gone.
Break a leg while hunting out in the middle of nowhere? Splint it up and either go to town to get healed or train something else while it heals and your mind slowly fills with FA while it slowly heals you.
Scouting
As others mentioned, there are only a few trails worth taking: bypassing the rope bridge between Rossman's and Lang/Theren, and bypassing the ice road.
I wouldn't mind seeing some more trails that bypass things like that, although I'm not real sure where to place them. I know you wouldn't want to give rangers too many ways to bypass obstacles that others can't.
The Rakash Village in Therengia and the Vela'tohr Woods are pretty close, according to gweth/moongate range (Zone Map). I doubt you'd want to put a trail between the two without also having a way non-rangers could travel it (with obstacles), but that would be a nice one.
The ePedia Zone Map shows Throne City being east of the Zaulfung, and other maps make me think it is on the south side of the Faldesu. If that is the case, maybe a trail from the south side of the Faldesu to Throne City.
Maybe a trail from Hvaral to the oasis and/or the oasis to Muspar'i..although there is already an overland path there.
Out of all of those, I think the Rakash Village to Vela'tohr Woods would be the most heavily used (well, I sure would have loved it a few years ago)
I wouldn't mind having some of the longer trails have their times reduced with more skill, but I don't think making trails compete with travel scripts is feasible. You are fighting against computer and internet speed.
I loved some of the ideas with Personal Trail Markers. Right now with enough skill you can have up to two personal trailmarkers. I believe the more skill you have the longer distance they can be, but they still can't pass obstacles.
There is also some ability to teach or learn another ranger's trailmarker, but I have never messed with that (or know if it really works..)
I think the amount of time a trailmarker lasts is based on skill. There is a verb to determine how much time is left. I can never remember what it is.. Look, study, appraise, something to the rock. If I remember correctly mine last about an hour. It has been a while though. I could be way off.
The only thing I use the trailmarker for now is when leading groups under the Zaulfung, I'll run ahead and set up a trailmarker at the altar leading under the swamp and run back to Riverhaven, pick the group up and lead them to the entrance of the swamp and follow the trailmarker to bypass the maze. (oh, that could be a normal trail..)
I would like to see more of sharing trailmarkers.
At a certain amount of skill you can make a permanent trail.
At a milestone past that you get the ability to learn another ranger's permanent trail
At the end, each ranger gets 1 permanent trail of their own and gets to learn the trail of 2 other rangers. Each ranger is only allowed to share their permanent trail with 2 other rangers..so you'd want to pick trails that count.
There could be a quest to get Trailmarker Rock/Item Type A which is used for your own marker.
A quest that two rangers have to go on together for one ranger to teach another ranger their trail, that starts with getting a trailmarker item and ends with traveling the trail, memorizing it and marking the item.
I would like the trailmarkers to be a long term decision, but still possible to reverse. Maybe you can only go on the quest to get a trailmarker once a year, so once you pick one you won't be able to change your mind and get a new one until a year has passed.
Memory of Nature (I put this as part of my complaints thread post..then realized it isn't a complaint)
I do find this spell useful, but reading the other post I might be one of the few.
I would be happy if it was more effective, boosted nature attunement more, and lasted longer.
Another thing that would be nice is if there was a way for younger rangers to boost their bonus in town.
Could this become a ritual spell where the more mana you put into it the longer it will last, and different tiers of mana will boost it additional levels? 40 mana cast = +1 nature level for 10 minutes, 2000 mana cast = +4 nature level for 2 hours? I have no idea if those mana amounts and nature boost amounts are realistic.
We don't have any ritual spells. At first I figured because magic tert, but paladins have one so that must not be it.
....that, or maybe have MoN boost the nature level for everyone in the room, so if two rangers with a +1 boost are in a room then everyone in the room has a +2 boost.
A large enough group of rangers helping with an invasion could take full wilderness wherever they go.. or at least close to full wilderness if you have to cap the boost.
GALLAHAN
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/14/2015 03:48 PM CST
Maybe I have the personal trail marker part backwards.
A ranger should be able to learn another ranger's trailmarker before they can blaze their own trail.
No idea what the numbers should be
600 skill - have the ability to learn 1 other ranger's permanent trail
800 skill - learn a second ranger's permanent trail
1000 skill - blaze their own permanent trail (teach to X people)
1200 skill - teach X more people
A ranger should be able to learn another ranger's trailmarker before they can blaze their own trail.
No idea what the numbers should be
600 skill - have the ability to learn 1 other ranger's permanent trail
800 skill - learn a second ranger's permanent trail
1000 skill - blaze their own permanent trail (teach to X people)
1200 skill - teach X more people
ENDOJ5
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/16/2015 11:36 PM CST
I'll bite.
Here's the list of abilities I proposed circa 2005 (according to my emailed notes to myself) - some of these kinda exist given the new spells and such but others are still fair game? Not tied to spells/beseeches/etc specifically but more the ideas. Caveat: just came back like 6 months ago so don't know if/how any of these have aged in the last 10 years (!) or given DR3 stuff I don't know about.
Spell Ideas:
Elanthia's Embrace
Prereqs: Blend, Awaken Forest
While this spell is in effect, the caster is more tightly linked to
the heart of the land. Upon receiving a blow that would otherwise
stun them, they utilize this link to seek refuge in their
surroundings, temporarily surrendering their body.
On casting:
You extend your senses downward, seeking out the tendrils of force
coursing through the land beneath your feet.
Others see (similar to EM messaging):
Ranger's eyes flare a brilliant green, slowly fading to a dark jade hue.
(Could even change the 'look' of the person while in effect to include
some cool shade of green eyes, as (I believe) WM's AC does.)
On stun:
<Tripping into better position, just as you are distracted by a fly
whizzing about your face, some baddie claws at you. You fail to
evade, moving like molasses going uphill in a blizzard. The claws
land an obliterating hit to your abdomen, stunning you.>
You are stunned!
Your mind scrambles to find the links connecting you to the lines of
force in the earth beneath you. Finding one, you reach out to grasp
it and feel your body fall to dust behind you.
<enter Blend>
Others see:
<Ranger gets pwnt.>
Ranger's body shines with coruscating green light for a brief instant
before exploding into a cloud of dust which slowly settles onto the
ground.
<Ranger is now inviso>
At end of stun:
Drawing strength from the land around you, you push your senses
upward, gathering (leaves|dust|stones|other AF-type stuff) into a
semblence of your body, into which you pour yourself.
<exit Blend>
Others see:
(Leaves|dust|stones|whatever) swiftly converge into a humanoid form,
which gives a brief shudder and solidifies into Ranger.
<Ranger no longer inviso>
On duration end:
Swiftly unraveling, the links connecting you to the land fade away and
disappear.
It's basically Anti-Stun plus Blend, kinda like polos have. When you
a stunning attack occurs, you go into Blend for the amount of time you
would be stunned for. With AF as a prereq, it'd be 4th tier, and
appropiately difficult to cast. Mana range probably from like
15-65ish, capping duration at about 20-something minutes.
Blood of the Beast
Prereqs: Grizzly Claw, Claws of the Cougar, Quest
Seeking out a fearsome opponent, the caster must take some of it's
essence into his own self. In times of great stress, the beast within
asserts itself to fight for it's life.
Quest:
Ranger must seek out some specially-made baddie and commence battle.
Rather than killing it (when a normal critter would die, special
mechanics kick in), Ranger instead performs some ritual which involves
sharing blood between the two. As beastie's blood enters Ranger's
body, some mystical wall is broken which releases the spirit of the
beast into the Ranger's consciousness, and spell is obtained. Not
quite sure on details, there could be two different creatures; ursine
and feline. Either you choose one to seek out, one is assigned to you
by Guildleader when you try to choose spell, or you must find both to
gain the spell.
On casting:
A low (growl|snarl|roar) rising in your throat, you feel the beast
within you rising to the surface. Held in check by your will, you
sense it's presence prowling at the edges of your consciousness,
seeking release.
On stun:
<Blah blah, combat messaging.>
You are stunned!
Swatting aside it's bindings, the beast within asserts itself.
(Screaming|Roaring) in rage, you push aside the pain to concentrate on
sheer survival.
On duration end:
You feel the beast within turn away, although it's presence is not
gone completely.
This would be like Anti-Stun in that it allows you to shake off stuns,
either completely or just reducing the severity of them. Perhaps a
small Charisma penalty while it's active?
Tongue of the Viper
Prereqs: See the Wind, (Wolf Scent?)
The Tongue of the Viper spell allows the caster to sense minute
changes in the air around him, much as the pit viper sees more than
just his eyes pick up. These subtle clues allow the caster to react
faster to incoming attacks, improving their skill at parrying.
Basic idea is that we take on the senses of a snake, picking up the
little shift in pheromones and whatever that precede an attack, so we
are able to move into position to parry just a tad bit sooner. Based
on the Jacobson's organ in snakes (excerpt from Wikipedia):
The vomeronasal organ (VNO) or Jacobson's organ (sometimes misspelled
"Jacobsen's") is an auxiliary olfactory sense organ in some
vertebrates, all of which are tetrapods. It is located in the vomer
bone, between the nose and the mouth. The sensory neurons within the
vomeronasal organ detect distinct chemical compounds, usually large
molecules. Snakes use it to smell prey, sticking their tongue out and
touching it to the opening to the organ... Most animals with a
vomeronasal organ utilize it in the detection of pheromones, though
some pheromones are detected by the regular olfactory organ, and the
vomeronasal organ seems to detect other compounds in addition to
pheromones.
Ability Ideas (based on proposed Nature Pool):
The way I see these ideas is somewhat similar to Barb dances, crossed
with mana/Harness pool. You have your Nature Pool, size dictated by
some formula possibly involving Circle, certain stats (Charisma and
Discipline come to mind) and modified by some constant based on your
Bonus status. Each of these abilities would consume a certain number
of 'points' from your pool, which refills over time based on your
Bonus status. Steadfast (idea number 1) would probably drain the pool
steadily, a small number of points being spent at each pulse. The
others would involve a heavier, one-off spending. Beseeches would be
one-off spenditures also, for the most part.
Simple formula would look something like this:
Pool size = 100 + (Circle x Bonus Modifier)
Bonus Modifier = 0.5 (blown bonus) to 1.5 (full bonus)
Pool regenerates at 4 points per minute times Bonus Modifier: 2 per
minute at worst possible bonus, 6 per minute at best bonus. Also
possibly modified by the room, with heavy nature rooms adding a small
bonus and heavy urban ones a small penalty to the regeneration rate.
Using these numbers, the pools look something like this at various
Circles and bonus states:
10th: Full Bonus: 115 points, Blown Bonus: 105 points, average of 27.5
minutes to fill from empty
30th: Full Bonus: 145 points, Blown Bonus: 115 points, average of 32.5
minutes to fill from empty
50th: Full Bonus: 175 points, Blown Bonus: 125 points, average of 37.5
minutes to fill from empty
70th: Full Bonus: 205 points, Blown Bonus: 135 points, average of 42.5
minutes to fill from empty
90th: Full Bonus: 235 points, Blown Bonus: 145 points, average of 47.5
minutes to fill from empty
125th: Full Bonus: 287/8 points, Blown Bonus: 162/3 points, average of
56.25 minutes to fill from empty
Based on this basic framework, I laid out some possible point
expenditures for my abilities to show how taxing I think they should
be. This is all somewhat simplified, to show the basic idea behind
how often these should be usable, and how long it takes to recover the
points back from using them.
Steadfast: Drawing inspiration from the earth and rocks beneath you,
you resolve to remain steadfast and immovable as they are.
-Pulse based balance boost, ala Cleric's Centering or Barb's Swan
Dance. Could also be a one-off jump to nimbly/incredibly balanced
perhaps. Gained at 30th circle. Possible Pool cost: 10 points per
pulse, coming once per minute. Even at best bonus state, not possible
to keep up forever, although a high circle character gets a good
duration if they leave it in effect until their entire pool is
drained. Able to be stopped at any point by the user.
Raptor's Aegis: Summoned by your voiceless call, a passing
(falcon|hawk|eagle|some other bird of prey) plummets out of the sky
towards your target. Pulling up just short of their face in a flapping
of wings and a gust of wind, the bird glides up and away on a passing
breeze.
-Balance hit, small RT incurred on target, ala Moon Mage's Dazzle.
Gained at 50th circle. Possible Pool cost: 45 points. At neutral
bonus, takes about 10 minutes to recover the cost fully. However,
rather large cost means it's not possible to use it many times in a
row.
Bloodboil: As the fires of the earth burn with the heart of a volcano,
so too does it burn within the confines of your body. Bringing this
raging inferno to the forefront of your consciousness, you seek to
cleanse the poison from your bloodstream.
-Poison reduction/dispel ala Thieve's Purge or Empath's Flush Poison.
Gained at 70th circle. Note: Possibly affect disease/infection rather
than poison? Possible Pool cost: 50 points. High cost ability, yet
low enough to use more than once consecutively if the first does time
not achieve full effect. About 10 minutes to full recovery.
The Living Earth: In answer to your summons, the very earth around you
becomes alive! Branches reach out to whip at your opponent's body,
roots claw to the surface to snarl his feet, and vines spring from
nowhere to hold his arms fast.
-Entanglement type ability, combining aspects of Moon Mage's Tezirah's
Veil with our own Harawep's Bonds. Reflex/Agility penalty, with chance
to web (entangle). Gained at 90th circle. Possible Pool cost: 85
points. Basically the ultimate ability, with a very large cost. At
the point it's gained, a couple uses in a row and the pool is
completely drained. 20+ minutes to recover fully from one use.
Beseech Ideas
Beseech the Thorn to Bite
Requires: a rose held in one hand, non-metal type weapon in the other
(ie, staves, arrows, some clubs)
Bringing your hands together and calling upon the rose to share it's
prickly bite, you cause your weapon to grow wicked looking thorns.
-Adds some puncture-type damage to the weapon for a short period of
time. To keep it from being uber-scary powerful, arrows would have to
be beseeched individually, making it not very practical for everyday
use, however it may be useful for that run into a higher-level hunting
ground to collect skins for tanning, or the final battle against some
Quest end-monster. Especially beneficial for staves, which I see as
very Rangerly weapons but suffer from a marked lack of combat
effectiveness.
Beseech Elanthia to Calm
Note: Only works on natural (non-humanoid)/four legged creatures
Calling upon your link with the natural world, you extend your senses
outwards, projecting a wave of soothing calm.
-Effect similar to Moon Mage's Calm or Empath's Innocence. Causes
creatures to lose interest in you for a very brief period of time.
Mainly designed to give you a momentary respite to turn tail and run.
Might have an enraging effect on humanoid/intelligent creatures, and
no effect on undead (they have no link to Nature).
Beseech the Wind to Howl
A raging wind blasts through the area, kicking up a large cloud of
dust and dirt, obscuring the air for a brief moment before dying down.
-Effect similar to War Mage's Rising Mist. Perception penalty imposed
on those in the room not in the Beseecher's group.
Other Random Ideas
Desert's Touch
Channeling the deep thirst of the open desert, your next open-handed
attack will sap the strength from your opponent, as if they had spent
all day in the baking sun.
-Similar to Grizzly Claw in a way. One-off brawling enhancement,
where the next strike, if it connects, will drain fatigue from the
target. Basically you dehydrate them. Can be defended against with
Stamina, also requires you to actually be able to hit the target
using a brawling attack.
Hunter's Balm/Hunter's Lure
Using your knowledge of the creatures that roam the wilds, combined
with the alchemical properties of certain substances, you create what
are basically 'stink bombs' with differing effects.
Hunter's Balm infuses some porous material with naturally
calming/soporific scents, causing those wild animals who are within
it's scent radius to lose their aggressiveness. If you act against
them, however, they will shake off it's effects and retaliate.
-Similar to Moon Mage Calm. You create some sort of item that, when
dropped, releases the scent into the room. Components could include:
wooly sheepskin or sea sponge to hold the scent, chamomile (somehow
prepared to enhance it's calming effect), some sort of oil. Cook,
apply to wool/sponge, wrap in leaves until you want to use it.
Hunter's Lure mimics the scent of fresh prey, drawing creatures from
all around to the promise of food.
-Item that acts as if there were another character in the room,
increasing gen rates. Components could include: some sort of meat-y
thing (vulture heart, meat carved from animals like for wolf
companions, caiman paw), some sort of oil. Let meat steep in oil
(catalysts could possibly speed up the process), wrap in moss to
increase surface area, then wrap in leaves until ready for use.
-Vision
Here's the list of abilities I proposed circa 2005 (according to my emailed notes to myself) - some of these kinda exist given the new spells and such but others are still fair game? Not tied to spells/beseeches/etc specifically but more the ideas. Caveat: just came back like 6 months ago so don't know if/how any of these have aged in the last 10 years (!) or given DR3 stuff I don't know about.
Spell Ideas:
Elanthia's Embrace
Prereqs: Blend, Awaken Forest
While this spell is in effect, the caster is more tightly linked to
the heart of the land. Upon receiving a blow that would otherwise
stun them, they utilize this link to seek refuge in their
surroundings, temporarily surrendering their body.
On casting:
You extend your senses downward, seeking out the tendrils of force
coursing through the land beneath your feet.
Others see (similar to EM messaging):
Ranger's eyes flare a brilliant green, slowly fading to a dark jade hue.
(Could even change the 'look' of the person while in effect to include
some cool shade of green eyes, as (I believe) WM's AC does.)
On stun:
<Tripping into better position, just as you are distracted by a fly
whizzing about your face, some baddie claws at you. You fail to
evade, moving like molasses going uphill in a blizzard. The claws
land an obliterating hit to your abdomen, stunning you.>
You are stunned!
Your mind scrambles to find the links connecting you to the lines of
force in the earth beneath you. Finding one, you reach out to grasp
it and feel your body fall to dust behind you.
<enter Blend>
Others see:
<Ranger gets pwnt.>
Ranger's body shines with coruscating green light for a brief instant
before exploding into a cloud of dust which slowly settles onto the
ground.
<Ranger is now inviso>
At end of stun:
Drawing strength from the land around you, you push your senses
upward, gathering (leaves|dust|stones|other AF-type stuff) into a
semblence of your body, into which you pour yourself.
<exit Blend>
Others see:
(Leaves|dust|stones|whatever) swiftly converge into a humanoid form,
which gives a brief shudder and solidifies into Ranger.
<Ranger no longer inviso>
On duration end:
Swiftly unraveling, the links connecting you to the land fade away and
disappear.
It's basically Anti-Stun plus Blend, kinda like polos have. When you
a stunning attack occurs, you go into Blend for the amount of time you
would be stunned for. With AF as a prereq, it'd be 4th tier, and
appropiately difficult to cast. Mana range probably from like
15-65ish, capping duration at about 20-something minutes.
Blood of the Beast
Prereqs: Grizzly Claw, Claws of the Cougar, Quest
Seeking out a fearsome opponent, the caster must take some of it's
essence into his own self. In times of great stress, the beast within
asserts itself to fight for it's life.
Quest:
Ranger must seek out some specially-made baddie and commence battle.
Rather than killing it (when a normal critter would die, special
mechanics kick in), Ranger instead performs some ritual which involves
sharing blood between the two. As beastie's blood enters Ranger's
body, some mystical wall is broken which releases the spirit of the
beast into the Ranger's consciousness, and spell is obtained. Not
quite sure on details, there could be two different creatures; ursine
and feline. Either you choose one to seek out, one is assigned to you
by Guildleader when you try to choose spell, or you must find both to
gain the spell.
On casting:
A low (growl|snarl|roar) rising in your throat, you feel the beast
within you rising to the surface. Held in check by your will, you
sense it's presence prowling at the edges of your consciousness,
seeking release.
On stun:
<Blah blah, combat messaging.>
You are stunned!
Swatting aside it's bindings, the beast within asserts itself.
(Screaming|Roaring) in rage, you push aside the pain to concentrate on
sheer survival.
On duration end:
You feel the beast within turn away, although it's presence is not
gone completely.
This would be like Anti-Stun in that it allows you to shake off stuns,
either completely or just reducing the severity of them. Perhaps a
small Charisma penalty while it's active?
Tongue of the Viper
Prereqs: See the Wind, (Wolf Scent?)
The Tongue of the Viper spell allows the caster to sense minute
changes in the air around him, much as the pit viper sees more than
just his eyes pick up. These subtle clues allow the caster to react
faster to incoming attacks, improving their skill at parrying.
Basic idea is that we take on the senses of a snake, picking up the
little shift in pheromones and whatever that precede an attack, so we
are able to move into position to parry just a tad bit sooner. Based
on the Jacobson's organ in snakes (excerpt from Wikipedia):
The vomeronasal organ (VNO) or Jacobson's organ (sometimes misspelled
"Jacobsen's") is an auxiliary olfactory sense organ in some
vertebrates, all of which are tetrapods. It is located in the vomer
bone, between the nose and the mouth. The sensory neurons within the
vomeronasal organ detect distinct chemical compounds, usually large
molecules. Snakes use it to smell prey, sticking their tongue out and
touching it to the opening to the organ... Most animals with a
vomeronasal organ utilize it in the detection of pheromones, though
some pheromones are detected by the regular olfactory organ, and the
vomeronasal organ seems to detect other compounds in addition to
pheromones.
Ability Ideas (based on proposed Nature Pool):
The way I see these ideas is somewhat similar to Barb dances, crossed
with mana/Harness pool. You have your Nature Pool, size dictated by
some formula possibly involving Circle, certain stats (Charisma and
Discipline come to mind) and modified by some constant based on your
Bonus status. Each of these abilities would consume a certain number
of 'points' from your pool, which refills over time based on your
Bonus status. Steadfast (idea number 1) would probably drain the pool
steadily, a small number of points being spent at each pulse. The
others would involve a heavier, one-off spending. Beseeches would be
one-off spenditures also, for the most part.
Simple formula would look something like this:
Pool size = 100 + (Circle x Bonus Modifier)
Bonus Modifier = 0.5 (blown bonus) to 1.5 (full bonus)
Pool regenerates at 4 points per minute times Bonus Modifier: 2 per
minute at worst possible bonus, 6 per minute at best bonus. Also
possibly modified by the room, with heavy nature rooms adding a small
bonus and heavy urban ones a small penalty to the regeneration rate.
Using these numbers, the pools look something like this at various
Circles and bonus states:
10th: Full Bonus: 115 points, Blown Bonus: 105 points, average of 27.5
minutes to fill from empty
30th: Full Bonus: 145 points, Blown Bonus: 115 points, average of 32.5
minutes to fill from empty
50th: Full Bonus: 175 points, Blown Bonus: 125 points, average of 37.5
minutes to fill from empty
70th: Full Bonus: 205 points, Blown Bonus: 135 points, average of 42.5
minutes to fill from empty
90th: Full Bonus: 235 points, Blown Bonus: 145 points, average of 47.5
minutes to fill from empty
125th: Full Bonus: 287/8 points, Blown Bonus: 162/3 points, average of
56.25 minutes to fill from empty
Based on this basic framework, I laid out some possible point
expenditures for my abilities to show how taxing I think they should
be. This is all somewhat simplified, to show the basic idea behind
how often these should be usable, and how long it takes to recover the
points back from using them.
Steadfast: Drawing inspiration from the earth and rocks beneath you,
you resolve to remain steadfast and immovable as they are.
-Pulse based balance boost, ala Cleric's Centering or Barb's Swan
Dance. Could also be a one-off jump to nimbly/incredibly balanced
perhaps. Gained at 30th circle. Possible Pool cost: 10 points per
pulse, coming once per minute. Even at best bonus state, not possible
to keep up forever, although a high circle character gets a good
duration if they leave it in effect until their entire pool is
drained. Able to be stopped at any point by the user.
Raptor's Aegis: Summoned by your voiceless call, a passing
(falcon|hawk|eagle|some other bird of prey) plummets out of the sky
towards your target. Pulling up just short of their face in a flapping
of wings and a gust of wind, the bird glides up and away on a passing
breeze.
-Balance hit, small RT incurred on target, ala Moon Mage's Dazzle.
Gained at 50th circle. Possible Pool cost: 45 points. At neutral
bonus, takes about 10 minutes to recover the cost fully. However,
rather large cost means it's not possible to use it many times in a
row.
Bloodboil: As the fires of the earth burn with the heart of a volcano,
so too does it burn within the confines of your body. Bringing this
raging inferno to the forefront of your consciousness, you seek to
cleanse the poison from your bloodstream.
-Poison reduction/dispel ala Thieve's Purge or Empath's Flush Poison.
Gained at 70th circle. Note: Possibly affect disease/infection rather
than poison? Possible Pool cost: 50 points. High cost ability, yet
low enough to use more than once consecutively if the first does time
not achieve full effect. About 10 minutes to full recovery.
The Living Earth: In answer to your summons, the very earth around you
becomes alive! Branches reach out to whip at your opponent's body,
roots claw to the surface to snarl his feet, and vines spring from
nowhere to hold his arms fast.
-Entanglement type ability, combining aspects of Moon Mage's Tezirah's
Veil with our own Harawep's Bonds. Reflex/Agility penalty, with chance
to web (entangle). Gained at 90th circle. Possible Pool cost: 85
points. Basically the ultimate ability, with a very large cost. At
the point it's gained, a couple uses in a row and the pool is
completely drained. 20+ minutes to recover fully from one use.
Beseech Ideas
Beseech the Thorn to Bite
Requires: a rose held in one hand, non-metal type weapon in the other
(ie, staves, arrows, some clubs)
Bringing your hands together and calling upon the rose to share it's
prickly bite, you cause your weapon to grow wicked looking thorns.
-Adds some puncture-type damage to the weapon for a short period of
time. To keep it from being uber-scary powerful, arrows would have to
be beseeched individually, making it not very practical for everyday
use, however it may be useful for that run into a higher-level hunting
ground to collect skins for tanning, or the final battle against some
Quest end-monster. Especially beneficial for staves, which I see as
very Rangerly weapons but suffer from a marked lack of combat
effectiveness.
Beseech Elanthia to Calm
Note: Only works on natural (non-humanoid)/four legged creatures
Calling upon your link with the natural world, you extend your senses
outwards, projecting a wave of soothing calm.
-Effect similar to Moon Mage's Calm or Empath's Innocence. Causes
creatures to lose interest in you for a very brief period of time.
Mainly designed to give you a momentary respite to turn tail and run.
Might have an enraging effect on humanoid/intelligent creatures, and
no effect on undead (they have no link to Nature).
Beseech the Wind to Howl
A raging wind blasts through the area, kicking up a large cloud of
dust and dirt, obscuring the air for a brief moment before dying down.
-Effect similar to War Mage's Rising Mist. Perception penalty imposed
on those in the room not in the Beseecher's group.
Other Random Ideas
Desert's Touch
Channeling the deep thirst of the open desert, your next open-handed
attack will sap the strength from your opponent, as if they had spent
all day in the baking sun.
-Similar to Grizzly Claw in a way. One-off brawling enhancement,
where the next strike, if it connects, will drain fatigue from the
target. Basically you dehydrate them. Can be defended against with
Stamina, also requires you to actually be able to hit the target
using a brawling attack.
Hunter's Balm/Hunter's Lure
Using your knowledge of the creatures that roam the wilds, combined
with the alchemical properties of certain substances, you create what
are basically 'stink bombs' with differing effects.
Hunter's Balm infuses some porous material with naturally
calming/soporific scents, causing those wild animals who are within
it's scent radius to lose their aggressiveness. If you act against
them, however, they will shake off it's effects and retaliate.
-Similar to Moon Mage Calm. You create some sort of item that, when
dropped, releases the scent into the room. Components could include:
wooly sheepskin or sea sponge to hold the scent, chamomile (somehow
prepared to enhance it's calming effect), some sort of oil. Cook,
apply to wool/sponge, wrap in leaves until you want to use it.
Hunter's Lure mimics the scent of fresh prey, drawing creatures from
all around to the promise of food.
-Item that acts as if there were another character in the room,
increasing gen rates. Components could include: some sort of meat-y
thing (vulture heart, meat carved from animals like for wolf
companions, caiman paw), some sort of oil. Let meat steep in oil
(catalysts could possibly speed up the process), wrap in moss to
increase surface area, then wrap in leaves until ready for use.
-Vision
GALLAHAN
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/17/2015 04:07 PM CST
There were a few projects that were mentioned at a ranger meeting in 2010.
I know they might not have been anywhere close to done, and even if any of it was done it'd have to be updated to current standards, QC'd again and might require as much work as writing them from scratch.
Just figured I'd mention them, in case they are floating around out there in dev and close to usable:
Audacia says, "First off, is the Ranger Retreat. 70% done and fully approved."
Audacia says, "For those of you who don't know what it is.."
Audacia says, "A while back, one of you suggested a retreat-like area for Rangers only..."
Audacia says, "Expanding on the idea what we have is an area that will move around about every 7-10 days or so to one of 10+ designated locations.. randomly."
Audacia says, "It will have a furrier, bank, gemsmith .. the Ranger only shop- though much expanded - that you saw at Guildfest.."
Audacia says, "And some other cool stuff."
Audacia says, "The premise is some really nifty NPCs like to travel around. It will be heavy wilderness and just be a fun place to hang out."
Audacia says, "I don't want to give you all of the specifics but there will be a lot of cool roleplay surrounding this, for those of you who like that."
Audacia says, "Next thing I have about 40% done is the Ranger obstacle course."
Audacia says, "Another player suggestion from the forums."
Audacia says, "It will be an army bootcamp like obstacle course of varying skill levels and checks, with a little bit of experience gain."
I know they might not have been anywhere close to done, and even if any of it was done it'd have to be updated to current standards, QC'd again and might require as much work as writing them from scratch.
Just figured I'd mention them, in case they are floating around out there in dev and close to usable:
Audacia says, "First off, is the Ranger Retreat. 70% done and fully approved."
Audacia says, "For those of you who don't know what it is.."
Audacia says, "A while back, one of you suggested a retreat-like area for Rangers only..."
Audacia says, "Expanding on the idea what we have is an area that will move around about every 7-10 days or so to one of 10+ designated locations.. randomly."
Audacia says, "It will have a furrier, bank, gemsmith .. the Ranger only shop- though much expanded - that you saw at Guildfest.."
Audacia says, "And some other cool stuff."
Audacia says, "The premise is some really nifty NPCs like to travel around. It will be heavy wilderness and just be a fun place to hang out."
Audacia says, "I don't want to give you all of the specifics but there will be a lot of cool roleplay surrounding this, for those of you who like that."
Audacia says, "Next thing I have about 40% done is the Ranger obstacle course."
Audacia says, "Another player suggestion from the forums."
Audacia says, "It will be an army bootcamp like obstacle course of varying skill levels and checks, with a little bit of experience gain."
SHADOW7988
Re: Ranger Dev Wishlists
12/20/2015 06:44 PM CST
>Audacia says, "Next thing I have about 40% done is the Ranger obstacle course."
>Audacia says, "Another player suggestion from the forums."
>Audacia says, "It will be an army bootcamp like obstacle course of varying skill levels and checks, with a little bit of experience gain."
My Thief would totally want to break in (Thief style because it adds to the obstacle course and use that sucker). Just saying.
Awesome post though, I hope some of that sees reality.
---
"I think anything that forces you to do something no sane adventurer would do just in order to train is ridiculous."
DR-SOCHARIS
---
Victory Over Lyras, on the 397th year and 156 days since the Victory of Lanival the Redeemer.
>Audacia says, "Another player suggestion from the forums."
>Audacia says, "It will be an army bootcamp like obstacle course of varying skill levels and checks, with a little bit of experience gain."
My Thief would totally want to break in (Thief style because it adds to the obstacle course and use that sucker). Just saying.
Awesome post though, I hope some of that sees reality.
---
"I think anything that forces you to do something no sane adventurer would do just in order to train is ridiculous."
DR-SOCHARIS
---
Victory Over Lyras, on the 397th year and 156 days since the Victory of Lanival the Redeemer.
