Training your Ranger

Rangers are semi-spell users, combining skill at arms with spiritual magic. While they can only throw spells of limited power, their magic enhances their considerable skill with weapons. Ranger spells are especially potent outdoors, as many deal with manipulating nature. They are also fairly adept at learning to maneuver and use devices, both magical and mundane. One of the most versatile professions, Rangers have a flexibility that pure arms or spell users can not match.

Attack Strength (AS) is the first number seen in the attack formula we see in combat and represents the attacker's total attacking bonus. This number is then applied versus the defenders Defensive Strength (DS) which is the defender's total defensive bonus at the time. The next value seen is the Attack versus Defense modifier which is dependant upon what type of armor you are wearing. Lastly a d100 (100 sided dice) roll is added to represent the random factor. All of this equating to a total that if +101 or better creates a succesful attack.

There are 5 factors in figuring your roundtime (RT).
1) The type of weapon you use
2) The armor you wear, and your armor training
3) Encumbrance
4) Your DE bonus and your RE bonus
5) Whether you are ambushing or not

AS = Attack Strength
DS = Defensive Strength
AvD = Attack vs. Defense Comparison
d100 = Dice Roll of 1 to 100

The verb SENSE allows Rangers to determine the terrain and climate of an area by examining the flora and fauna.

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Shield Use Cost: 5/0 Train once per year for life.
Training in this skill will add to your DS (defensive strength). A shield also determines a major portion of your defense versus elemental attack spells.

Combat Maneuvers Cost: 6/4 Train once per year for life.
Combat maneuvers training is a rather broad skill that covers many of the subtle "tricks of the trade" for melee combat. The more obvious benefits of the skill are the bonuses to attack and defense it provides. The bonus is dependant upon the stance you are in. When in more offensive stances it will help you hit harder, while in more defensive stances it will help you defend better compared to someone without it. The subtle aspects of the skill are found when trying to dodge special "maneuver" type attacks that one might face. Combat maneuvers skill figures into some but not all of these situations.

Combat Focus
Mnemonic: focus
Hostile: no
Stamina Cost: 20
Other Requirements: none
Available to: Warriors, Rogues, Rangers, Bards, Monks, Paladins
Prerequisites: none
CMP cost:

	Squares	Semis
Rank 1	2	3
Rank 2	4	6
Rank 3	6	9
Rank 4	8	12
Rank 5	10	15

Description: +2 per rank to generic TD for 3 minutes (refreshable).

Combat Movement
Mnemonic: cmovement
Hostile: no
Stamina Cost: 20
Other Requirements: none
Available to: all
Prerequisites: none
CMP cost:

	Squares	Semis	Pures
Rank 1	2	3	4
Rank 2	3	4	6
Rank 3	4	6	8
Rank 4	5	7	10
Rank 5	6	9	12

Description: +2 per rank to physical DS for 3 minutes (refreshable).

Shield Bash
Mnemonic: sbash
Hostile: yes
Stamina Cost: base 15 (-5 rank 1, -3 rank 2)
Other Requirements: requires a shield and a standing target
Available to: Warriors, Rogues, Rangers, Bards, Paladins
Prerequisites: none
CMP cost:

	Squares	Semis
Rank 1	2	3
Rank 2	4	6
Rank 3	6	9
Rank 4	8	12
Rank 5	10	15

Description: With the Shield Bash maneuver, you attempt to wallop your target with your shield. The damage it causes tends to be very minor--but you can knock your target down, stun it and/or force it to a higher stance.

Edged Weapons Cost: 3/1 Train twice per year for life
Most rangers tend to train in edged weapons. Edged is the cheapest weapon skill available to our profession. Edged weapons are also very common in the game. Blunt weapon is more expensive to train in, and you may find it harder to come by a special blunt weapon. I don't recommend training in pole arms or two handed weapons since both are very expensive. Also two handed weapons and many pole arms require that you keep your left hand free so you cannot use a shield when wielding these types of weapons. This will lower your Defensive Strengh and make you extremely vulnerable to elemental attack spells.

Edged Weapon Types: dagger, bodkin, butcher knife, cinquedea, dirk, misericord, parazonium, pavade, poignard, pugio, scramasax, sgian achlais, sgian dubh, stiletto, bracelet dagger, crescent dagger, fantail dagger, forked dagger, kidney dagger, rapier, bilbo, colichemarde, epee, fleuret, foil, schlager, tuck (tock, tocke), verdun, falchion, badelaire, craquemarte, kopesh, machete, takouba, broadsword, carp's tongue, flyssa, goliah, katzbalger, machera, palache, schiavona, seax, spadroon, spatha, talon sword, xiphos, short sword, antler sword, braquemar, baselard, chereb, gladius, kris, sica, handaxe, balta, broad axe, crescent axe, francisca, hatchet, meat cleaver, miner's axe, moon axe, sparte, taper, toporok, main gauche, manople, scimitar, cutlass, kilij, palache, sabre, sapara, yataghan, longsword, kaskara, backsword, estoc, bastard sword.

Level	Material	Bonus
3-4	Mithril	+5 AS
5	Ora	+10 AS
6-7	Imflass	+12 AS
8-9	Mein	+15 AS
10+	Vultite	+20 AS

Perception Cost: 0/2 Train once per year for life
There are more than a few uses for this skill. For one it helps to prevent people from picking your pockets, and on occasion you will need to search for hidden/secret entrances to enter certain areas. Perception also helps you spot traps on boxes, so this is a definite must for rangers who want to pick.

Stalk and Hide Cost: 2/1 Train once per year for life
Hiding before you ambush allows you to use your ambush skill to get better critical hits. At high levels, ambush is the way to hunt for a ranger.

Ambush Cost: 3/3 At high levels, ambush is the way to hunt. I suggest training in this once every year.
Helps you to make aimed attacks against your foes. It is averaged with CM when you make an aimed attack from a non-hidden position to determine whether or not your strike will hit the part of your target you aimed for. From a hidden position only your ambush skill is used to determine whether or not you hit the intended location of your target. Additionally for ambushes made from hiding, part of your ambush skill will add to the chance that you will get a critical hit on your target, such as severing a limb or decapitation.

Dodging Cost: 7/5 I suggest training in this once every year.
A character training in this skill learns combat techniques to deflect or avoid blows, provided that the character is not completely incapacitated (sleeping, paralyzed, etc.). The character's Defensive Strength (DS) and ability to avoid many maneuver attacks take the Dodging skill into account.

Spell Research Cost: 0/32
This is the skill that allows you to learn spells. Every training in this skill allows you to learn one spell. Certain higher levels don't actually contain a spell but are prerequisites to get to a higher spell. This again is a personal choice... I switched between spirit and ranger circle until i got to 108. Then all the way through ranger circle.

Multi-Opponents Cost: 10/4
To attack multiple creatures, or to attack a single creature multiple times. Very expensive to learn, I suggest to leave it until you are older.

Unfocused MSTRIKE is first gained at 5 ranks of Multi-Opponent Combat skill, allowing the character to attack two different creatures at once. A third swing is gained at 15 ranks of MOC, a fourth swing at 35 ranks, and additional swings gained for every 25 ranks thereafter.

Focused MSTRIKE is first gained at 30 ranks of MOC, allowing the character to swing twice at a single opponent. Extra swings are gained for every 25 ranks of MOC beyond 30.

It is possible specify a maximum number of swings that you wish to take for both the mass attack and focused attack versions.

MSTRIKE Roundtime (RT): For medium-sized and larger weapons, it will not be likely that characters can swing twice in the same Roundtime as one swing. Similarly, it will not be likely that even extremely fast characters with light weapons can swing four or more times in the same RT as one swing.

MSTRIKE will fatigue a character for a short duration, during which the character cannot use MSTRIKE again. Typical durations are in the 30 to 45 second range, and are based on number of swings taken, weapon weight vs attacker Strength, Constitution bonus, and Physical Fitness training.

Haste spells will now aid with MSTRIKE roundtime, but they will expire immediately after the attack.

Command Entry Users

MSTRIKE - When used as a standalone command, MSTRIKE will attempt to strike as many creatures in the room as your skill allows.

MSTRIKE - This is a Focused MSTRIKE, which attempts to strike a single target multiple times.

MSTRIKE SET # - Sets the maximum strike attempts for multi-target MSTRIKE.

MSTRIKE SET FOCUS # - Sets the maximum strike attempts for Focused MSTRIKE.

MSTRIKE HELP - Displays this usage information.

MO Ranks	Ability Gained for the skill
5	Attack 2 Critters
15	Attack 3 Critters
35	Attack 4 Critters
60	Attack 5 Critters

Harness Power Cost: 0/4 Train once per year
By training in this skill, the character will increase their maximum Mana capacity.

Lore, Spiritual

Religion
This skill represents knowledge and understanding of the doctrine and principles of the Arkati pantheon, in general. Clerics with advanced training in this skill will have a focus on the doctrine and principles of the deity with which they are aligned, and will experience an improved ability to channel spiritual power from their patron deity.

Blessings
This skill represents knowledge and understanding of the many prayers, rituals, and invocations used to gain the favor of the lesser and greater spirits. While all casters with access to spells of blessing will gain benefits from those spells, knowledge of this lore improves the caster's ability when obtaining blessings.

Spirit Summoning
This skill represents advanced knowledge of summoning rites for lesser and greater spirits.

First Aid Cost: 2/1
Training in this skill lets you tend bleeding wounds on yourself and others. It also determines how well you can skin creatures for their pelts, hides, scalps, etc. Higher levels in First Aid will make tending wounds quicker and allow you to tend more severe wounds.

Physical Fitness Cost: 4/0 Train once per year until you reach your maximum health point total.
Training in this increases the number of Health Points you have up to your maximum value. Your max HP value possible is your racial max plus your constitution bonus. Additional training in this skill after your max HP value is reached allows you to recover lost HP faster

Skill in physical fitness is the primary factor that determines how many hits your character can withstand before succumbing to unconsciousness, shock or death. Every time you train in this, you achieve increases in the amount of health points you have. You can increase your health point total by an amount determined by your race (usually around 1 to 10 points) each time you train in this skill.

Physical Training also helps with Health Point (HP) recovery, stamina pool and stamina recovery, some swimming, some climbing, some maneuvers, as well as resisting disease and poison.

Race	Maximun HP
Human	150
Giant	200
Half Elf	135
Sylvan	135
Dark Elf	120
Elf	130
Dwarf	140
Halfling	100

Armor Use Cost: 5/0 Train once per year every time you have enough points.
This skill allows you to wear heavy armor without a time penalty to your attacks and ambushes. Most rangers train in armor until they can wear double leather without penalty, or until brigandine. I've even known a few rangers that have gone higher so that they can wear chain armors. However chain armors do have high hindrances for spell casting. Try to wear armor that covers as much as your body as possible, i.e., double leather, brigandine, chain hauberk, etc. Adding accessories such as greaves or helms to armor that doesn't cover as much will give you the same penalties as armor that would normally cover those parts of your body. Example: Adding a helm and greaves to a leather breast plate will give you the same RT and Spell hindrances as a set of brigandine armor.

Ranger Spell Hindrance

Spirit Spell Hindrance

RT Adder

Action Penalty

ASG

Skill to Work to Minimum

Skill to Work to Minimum

Skill to Work to Minimum

Calc'd into DS

1-4

0

0

0

0

5

0

0

0

0

6

0

0

1 - 10 Skill

0

7

0

0

2 - 30 Skill

-5

8

0

0

2 - 30 Skill

-8

9

3 - 50 skill

3 - 50 skill

3 - 50 skill

-5

10

4 - 70 skill

4 - 70 skill

4 - 70 skill

-7

11

5 - 90 skill

5 - 90 skill

5 - 90 skill

-10

12

6 - 110 skill

6 - 110 skill

6 - 110 skill

-13

13

7 - 130 skill

7 - 130 skill

7 - 130 skill

-12

14

8 - 150 skill

8 - 150 skill

8 - 150 skill

-14

15

9 - 170 skill

9 - 170 skill

8 - 150 skill

-16

16

11 - 210 Skill

11 - 210 Skill

9 - 170 skill

-18

17

21- 410 Skill

16 - 310 skill

9 - 170 skill

-20

18

24 - 470 skill

17 - 330 Skill

10 - 190 Skill

-25

19

27 - 530 skill

18 - 350 Skill

11 - 210 Skill

-30

20

30 - 590 Skill

20 - 390 Skill

12- 230 Skill

-35

Climbing Cost: 2/0 Alternate every other year with swimming (real cheap too) until you feel you have enough (10 to 20 trains is considered adequate)
Useful, but not vital skills. Eventually you will run into obstacles you will have to climb or swim to get into certain areas.

Swimming Cost: 2/0 Alternate every other year with climbing (real cheap too) until you feel you have enough (5 to 10 trains is considered adequate)
Useful, but not vital skills. Eventually you will run into obstacles you will have to climb or swim to get into certain areas.

Survival Cost: 1/1 A must have for a Ranger
This skill helps performing actions such as skinning an animal, foraging for edible or medicinal herbs, or building a fire.

Mana Control Spiritual Cost: 0/5 A must have for a Ranger
The skill of sharing mana involves the transfer of energy, or mana points, between individuals.

Arcane Symbols Cost: 0/5 This skill is handy to have, but not real useful until you are older.
Basically the same thing as Magic Item Use, but for used with scrolls instead. One major difference for Scroll Use is that you need several ranks in this skill otherwise spells will appear unreadable to you. I believe for most spells you need as many ranks in Arcane Symbols as the level of the spell. You will also need to have one hand free when you try to INVOKE a scroll.

Magic Item Use Cost: 0/5 Ranger's can imbue sticks (614) into wands, and eventually Rods (a rod will hold more mana). Training in this skill will allow you to use that wand/rod. It will be tough to get both scrolls AND Magic Item Use though. So pick one and stick with it.