AD&D Military Ranger Kit

Description: Military Rangers come from all walks of life. Either impressed into military service, or fool-hearty enough to sign up, they are always the first infantry units to see combat in battle. Fierce, quiet, and disciplined in the field, these men tend to be much the same off of it, as well. When not in combat, they are a very attentive group, always on the look out for the next ambush. They are military precise in appearance; though, when ‘at ease’, the wry smile or practical joke may prevail. Some take to drinking or loosing themselve in hobbies when they know that their special abilities will not be needed. All in all, they tend to be fiercely loyal and protective of their fellows, willing to take amazing punishment in order to save a friend or comrade, or in order to dispatch an enemy.

Requirements: The Military Ranger must have a Strength of 16, and a Dexterity of 16.

Primary Terrain: Any.

Role: It is their duty to find or create trails, explore hostile territories, investigate enemy movements, and eliminate opponents in the field. They also serve as flanking and rear guards, protecting larger convoys from ambush or surprise assaults. Their primary attribute in the field is stealth, and when stealth fails, heavy ordnance. Another purpose of Military Rangers is as shock troops; being more specially trained than the average infantry, they soften up the enemy before the allies arrive.

Secondary Skills: Hunter

Weapon Proficiencies: They recieve an unarmed combat style of their choice automatically; it is free to them (see weapons styles listing for full selection). Military Rangers are fit into a mold, true enough; but, because of their elite status within the military ranks, they have plenty of individuality. As such, each works with weapons more suited to his own tastes. Some prefer quiet, ranged weapons, while others prefer the damage of melee weapons if things get out of control.

Nonweapon Proficiencies: Bonus: Alertness, Camouflage. Required: Hunting, Signaling. Recommended: Running, Endurance, Land-based Riding, Blindfighting, Swimming, Direction Sense. Since they are essentially scouts in the field, they must be able to signal their home camps, and quickly, regarding troop movements, enemy positions, and casualties.

Armor/Equipment: Armor must be fairly silent, as these rangers place so much more emphasis on stealth; thus, armor has a maximum of 3 points protection (or a base AC of 7). When Military Rangers hit the field, they must have camouflage paint kits, a combination rain poncho and terrain suit (primary terrain), waterproof ‘all weather’ boots, a wilderness harness, a healing kit, a survival kit, and weapon-black. The total value of these items alone is roughly 100GP; as such, the Military Ranger often start out either in debt, or with their equipment and armor given to them at no charge by the military.

Species Enemy: Any. He can optionally declare that all members of a given army are his enemy, though he must specify the majority races of that army to receive his bonuses to hit.

Followers: He recieves the standard 2d6 followers, over the course of his career; however, no more than one follower may serve a Military Ranger at any given time. A new follower won’t appear until the old follower dies or is dismissed. A new follower will not appear even if the Military Ranger releases his current follower or arranges for its care elsewhere; he must sever all ties with the old follower before another will arrive. Also, followers must be of medium size or less (sizes M, S, or T). They also tend to be of a silent nature; otherwise, they don’t last long in the field.

Special Benefits:

Stealth: They receive a +10% bonus to their base chance to Move Silent, and a +5% bonus to their base chance to Hide in Shadows.

Will to Duty: A Military Ranger can take punishment that would kill any other man; he can remain concious and fight, until his Hit Points are equal to his negative Constitution, beyond which, he dies. If his enemies are dispatched, while his Hit Points are negative (but not lower than his negative Constitution), he immediately succumbs to exhaustion and wounds, and passes out. Thus, a Military Ranger with a Constitution of 18 could remain concious and fight down to -18 Hit Points; if his Hit Points drop any lower, he dies; if he kills all of his opponents while negative, he passes out, losing 1d4 HP per round to wounds and bleeding.

They can also take the ‘tumbling’ non-weapon proficiency as though they were thieves, at one slot.

Special Hindrances:

Limited Spells: Because of their duties, Military Rangers often are overwhelmed with responsibilities; but when they set goals, they achieve them. They eventually attain all the spell abilities of normal rangers, but they do so in leaps and bounds, rather than at a steady pace. Thus, Military Rangers lose out on some of the intermediate spell numbers.

Limited Empathy: Military Rangers have limited animal empathy; when dealing with wild or attack-trained animals, the animal’s saving throw versus rods has a +2 bonus. Further, they must make a successful Wisdom check when trying to calm or befriend domestic animals. This is because their intense military training has subtely altered their way of thinking, towards animals and life in general.

Also, since Military Rangers are often the first, and the last, infantry to see combat, they tend to have fairly short careers; they are either promoted so that they no longer fight, or they die on the battle field. Any NPC’s that have no great love of the military or the government, may take their aggressions out on the Military Rangers; in many instances, they are not allowed to battle with unarmed peasants. Their behavior reflects on their commanders, and they can be penalized for inappropriate behavior, when in active service.