Marc Radle's page

I have to admit, this thread has changed my mind. When I started reading it, I didn't really care. But the many snotty assertions that "It rhymes with cow, Duh! It's been made official!" have led me to believe that the cool, laid-back people must therefore be the outcasts who rhyme it with low. So I'll be joining them henceforth.

I've said this in various threads when it has come up, but my friends and I, going all the way back to First Edition AD&D in the late '70's and early '80's ALWAYS said Drow (rhymes with 'Go').

Funny side story ... the DM of my current group says Drow (rhymes with 'Now') and we sometimes have good-natured little snark battles about it. The other day, during our weekly game, he mentioned Drow in passing and pronounced it like 'Go'. I'm pretty sure he didn't even notice he did it, bit it made me chuckle ... I think I may have converted another one to the Light Side (or Dark Side, depending on your view :)

So, I guess I too am a proud member of the cool, laid-back people :)

Might I suggest that you look at the Vanguard from Super Genius Games?

A big part of this arcane warrior hybrid class is that it has an arcane bond weapon. Through this, he can do lots of cool things, including channel touch spells. If the Vanguard chooses a bow as his arcane bond weapon, he can deliver those touch spells through his arrows!

The Vanguard has proven to be a popular and well reviewed class - check it out :)

Thank you Foghammer!

Galnörag, as far as I could test it, this book has worked on iOS devices from day 1, though the choice of reader matters (GoodReader seems preferred). I haven't heard anything one way or the other for OSx, but of course we'd love to fix it if there's a problem.

Can anyone tell me what the OSx display issue is, or (even better) provide a screenshot?

I use a PC (Windows 7) at work and a Mac (OSX) at home. The PDF works perfectly for me on both platforms.

Quick question - If you apply the Falconer archetype to the Spell-Less Ranger, what would you replace the Share Spells ability with?

I'm not sure if I understand your question.

Unless I missed it, the Falconer archetype does not grant, replace or make any mention of a Share Spells ability.

Are you referring to the share spells ability that druid and core rules ranger animal companions get at 1st level? If so, the animal companion of a spell-less ranger would not get the share spells ability (no spell to share, after all:)

Did that answer your question?

Question for the author and editor- my GM says he'll only allow animal companions that are in the list... is the roc intended to be an allowed animal companion since it's listed in the bestiary as a possible ranger companion? If so, would you mind clarifying that in the document and gm's can just decide to tell players they can't find a roc egg to buy if they don't want to allow it?

Actually, could you clarify what you mean by "only allow animal companions that are in the list"?

When you say "on the list" do you mean the list of animal companions allowed to rangers in general? In other words, are you asking a question about the spell-less ranger specifically or the ranger class in general?

The list of animal companions a spell-less ranger may officially choose matches the list that a core rules ranger may choose. It is a basically a subset of the druid list. The roc, as well as a large number of other animals, are indeed presented with animal companion rules in the various Bestiaries, and are also available as additional animal companion choices as long as the GM is OK with it.

The list given in the Expanded Spell-less Ranger is correct, in other words, because it correctly matches the list given in the core rules ranger class. Additional animal companion choices given in the Paizo Bestiaries should be considered official as well, with GM approval.

Wow!

Just saw that the Expanded Spell-less Ranger was the second most downloaded Third Party product for the third week in a row!

That's so cool! :)

I like the idea of a shadow knight too! So much so that I created one for an adventure I wrote for Jon Brazer Enterprises :)

Wow - this sounds like it is gonna be COOL!!!!!

HeroLab goes both ways now

Sorry, that made me chuckle like Beavis and Butthead ... heh heh ...

Marc Radle wrote:

TriOmegaZero wrote:

Cheapy wrote:

So, what's next? :)

Spell-less paladin?

An update to Ryan Costello Jr's spell-less druid shifter?

offers the kobolds shiny things

I too would offer gold for these products.

Well, I can tell you that Wolfgang recently contacted me about doing an Expanded version of another class for a future New Paths product, so there are absolutely more coming. I probably shouldn't say which class though :)

Is it the spell-less wizard?

Ha!

It's called the commoner ... :)

No, the next expanded class I'll be tackling will definitely have spells :)

Very cool - can't wait to check this out!

Cheapy wrote:

So, what's next? :)

Spell-less paladin?

An update to Ryan Costello Jr's spell-less druid shifter?

offers the kobolds shiny things

I too would offer gold for these products.

Well, I can tell you that Wolfgang recently contacted me about doing an Expanded version of another class for a future New Paths product, so there are absolutely more coming. I probably shouldn't say which class though :)

Nice review of Kobold Quarterly 21 over at the Tower of the Lonely GM

Design question: The spell-less ranger gains an animal companion through Hunter's Bond at full levels, not level -3. Okay. But why no corresponding boost to the alternate Hunter's Bond option companion boost?

Interesting question!

The spell-less ranger does indeed get his animal companion (if he chooses an animal companion via his Hunter's Bond class feature) at his full level.

This was done only because druids getting a more powerful animal companion than rangers in the core rules has rubbed me the wrong way for a long time and I saw the spell-less ranger as my chance to 'right that wrong' so to speak.

I don't think there is any corresponding need to right any similar wrong in the other Hunter's Bond option, so there was no need for a corresponding boost.

Marc, you did an awesome thing that we're very excited about and eager to discuss.

Thank you!!!!

Thank you sir! :)

As others have pointed out, there have been MANY threads on this :)

I think the bottom line is LOTS of people like point buy and LOTS of others like to roll. Heck, I'll bet if someone did a well done poll, the ratio would be close 50/50 ...

I personally NEVER use point buy. All the players in any group I have EVER played in roll stats. I'm not against point buy, and would certainly do so if I got into a group did prefered it. However, I would much rather roll those bones and see what happens!

I would like to see a lot more material to help me build a white necromancer style character. Almost like a non-cleric healer. Traditionally Necromancy has always been that form of magic that had a small selection of spells that made adventuring a heck of a lot easier.

Thats not really the case today. Its mostly involved in undead creation/control/manipulation and is no longer the school of "Life and death". It even has Fear spells in its school which really should fall under the school of enchantment.

I think pathfinder has lost what made necromancy cool back in 2nd edition and it really needs to be looked at

Jumping in just for a minute here ...

Have you checked out Kobold Quarterly 19? There is a White Necromancer base class for Pathfinder that might be just what you are looking for :)

Why in the world would you want to change the name of this class? The name is perfect, it's a straight forward, no confusion name. Calling the Spell-Less Ranger anything else would be deferring to the idea that the class is not in fact a Ranger, but something else, something similar to a Ranger, but at the end of the day, not. Given that we finally have a Ranger that is more than a Merlin in Green Tights, why, pray tell why would you consider changing the name of the class?

A friend of mine took this class for a test drive during our bi-weekly game the other night, making a dwarven spell-less ranger with his favored terrain options putting him at underground and urban....instantly fell in love with the immense amount of combat options and versatility. Has never, I repeat never, had any interest in the 20+ years I have known him in playing a Ranger due to the ridiculous addition of spells to them. So to see him not only play, but seriously embrace the class (he called me on his way home to discuss plans for the character, then called after work the next day to go over some more thoughts), that beyond anything was proof to me that I was right in the review I gave this product.

And my opinion regarding the name? I wasn't shopping the class to my playgroup, they had characters. He was updating his current character in my Hero Lab and saw the name in the list for classes. Had it been Strider or something short and boring, I doubt he would have even asked, as I have lots of classes already added to that list with variable names that say nothing of what the class is by name alone.

Could not have said it better! Strider is not a bad name, but it doesn't really SAY much unless you happen to know Lord of the Rings (and really, maybe not even then).

Spell-less Ranger says exactly what the class is, pure and simple, and it evokes exactly what the class is all about.

If I might pull the discussion away from such nonsense and malarkey for a moment ... ;)

It looks like the Expanded Spell-less Ranger was the second most downloaded non-Paizo PDF for the second week in a row - thanks everyone!!!!!!

I just downloaded one of these supposedly lite downloads. They are still terrible, giant, and slow. I won't buy another thing from you until you start offering a version that puts function ahead of form.

I will say they are significantly faster than the original terrible PDFs but not enough.

Classy ...

Normally to flank an opponent, you must be using a melee weapon.

For some reason I seem to recall a feat or something that allows an archer to flank with a bow within 30 feet.

Am I remembering correctly or am I nuts?

Thanks!

Hey Marc, what do you think about renaming this class the Strider?

Um ....

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, I really like that the name says in no uncertain terms what the class is. It's the spell-less ranger. Strider sounds cool enough, but it doesn't really say anything.

Kind of like an anti-paladin is the evil twin to the paladin.

For me, this class will always be the spell-less ranger and, personally, I would hate to see it get a new name.

Having said that, you are the Great Kobold-in-Chief and I but your humble servant ... I'll defer to whatever you decide.

(did I mention how much I'd hate to see the name changed? :)

Marc Radle wrote:

A spell-less ranger (or core ranger) using both of these archetypes was still very balanced in playtesting. Such a character could become VERY useful (and quite powerful) in a campaign that takes place completely in only one terrain type with only one primary enemy, such as in the City of the Spider Queen campaign hinted at

HERE :) so a DM should of course keep that in mind.

What about Kingmaker...? :D

Sure! A spell-less ranger using both archetypes would be great in Kingmaker!!! :)

(sorry, I missed this from the other day :)

Bardess wrote:

Query sent... I'm crossing my fingers.

Steve's a great guy to work for, too. :)

-Ben.

Agreed. Admittedly, I've only really worked with him once or twice, but the experience was very positive!

Expanded Spell-less Ranger reviewd over at Game Knight Reviews

Interesting thread!

There will actually be an article in the next issue of Kobold Quarterly (summer, #22) that addresses feat bloat - specifically regarding combat feats.

I forgot about this thread ... :)

Just in case anyone missed it, the Expanded Spell-less Ranger is now available!

I'm finally getting to play (rather than DMing), and my first reaction was "I want to play that spell-less ranger!" Looking more closely at my options now, I wonder about the archetypes and how they interact. It seems that they stack (at the cost of all but one favored enemy and one favored terrain), and make the ranger even more front-loaded than normal. Was this combination play-tested and did it seem to upset the balance of the game at all at those levels? Getting a full progression animal companion a level early and an additional feat at 2nd level for virtually no immediate cost sound like a no-brainer trade at 3rd level.

I understand that at higher levels you're giving up a vast amount of versatility, blah blah blah...[/ramble] Just curious.

I just noticed that you can't take the additional companion feat with the companion bound archetype. That's only a bit disappointing, but I can totally understand why it's that way; my inner munchkin, however small, was just squished a bit more. ;)

If you do play one, I'd love to hear some reports!

The two archetypes do indeed stack (since neither replaces the same class feature/ability). I know some DMs frown on letting players use more than one archetype, but as long as your DM is OK with it, the Dual-Style and the Companion-Bound archetypes would indeed make a cool, although very specialized spell-less ranger (or core ranger, since both archetypes work with the core ranger as well)

A spell-less ranger (or core ranger) using both of these archetypes was still very balanced in playtesting. Such a character could become VERY useful (and quite powerful) in a campaign that takes place completely in only one terrain type with only one primary enemy, such as in the City of the Spider Queen campaign hinted at
HERE :) so a DM should of course keep that in mind.

Sorry to squish your inner munchkin :) A Companion Bound ranger is all about spending long hours learning about and training with a single animal compainion so that the ranger and animal companion learn to work amazingly well together ... additional companions just don't fit into that mindset.

Really glad you are digging the spell-less ranger!!!

More than worth the download price. Aside from Paizo itself I find the best material in Open Design products. Excellent work Mr. Raddle!

Thank you sir!

That really means a lot!!!

That's odd - didn't this just come out fairly recently? Sounds like they didn't print many ...

It's a shame too because I hear it's a pretty good book. I'd pick this up if I could find it somewhere!

New review by tenletter for your reading pleasure :)

From reading the comments on the conversation about it, it looks like it's supposed to be your full ranger level. There are a few other questions that people asked there as well. You should check it out. That's also the best place to ask questions because the developers always chime in with answers and insight.

Correct indeed! Additional Animal Companion grants the new animal companion based on the full ranger level :)

May I suggest that you take a look at the Expanded Spell-less Ranger?

Check the above link out, read the reviews and then decide for yourself. From what you say you are looking for, I think you will find the Spell-less Ranger is just what you are looking for :)

Robespierre wrote:

I guess do you know of just a sheet in general for animal companions?

Sorry, no.

I just tend to write 'em on the back of character sheets long-hand. Or type them up in the same format as anything else.

May I suggest that you take a look at the Expanded Spell-less Ranger?

It includes a complete animal companion character sheet and since it's a PDF, you can print out as many as you need.

Also, assuming third party material is permitted by your DM, the Expanded Spell-less Ranger also includes a number of feats specifically for your animal companion.

Woo hoo!

Expanded Spell-less Ranger #2 on Paizo's Top Ten Downloads from Other Companies List!

That's awesome :) Thanks so much to everyone who has downloaded this so far!

(It's also currently #24 over on RPGNow's Top 100 :)

I've never put much stock in that whole tier thing.

It's certainly interesting, but mostly just in an academic, geeky, theorizing-just-for-the-sake-of-theorizing sort of way ...

Kind of like those 'what number comes up most if I roll a given dice 1,000 times' theories you used to see.

Woo hoo!

Expanded Spell-less Ranger #2 on Paizo's Top Ten Downloads from Other Companies List!

That's awesome :) Thanks so much to everyone who has downloaded this so far!

(It's also currently #24 over on RPGNow's Top 100 :)

The Tower of the Lonely GM had some nice things to say about the Expanded Spell-less Ranger (and Tales of Midgard too!)

This sounds so cool!

I want to say, too, that I feel like this version of the Ranger should be the default. It feels much more unique and - what's the word? - gritty doesn't sound right, but it keeps coming to mind. It's just awesome is what it is.

You, my friend, have excellent taste! ;) Now, to convince Paizo ...

In all seriousness, thanks so much! Really glad you like it!

Forget stock tips ... who's gonna win the World Cup???

Just purchased the PDF and am reading through it slowly. I went through the anxiety of trying to keep up with 3.5's explosion of Wotc and 3PP and found out I couldn't do it. So I am taking care in what 3PP I buy now. I have decided I like Open Design and anything Wolfgang signs his name to. There are a couple of others that I follow, but I like this one just fine.

Excellent! Glad you like it :)

I'm absolutely thrilled and, quite honestly humbled, by the response the Expanded Spell-less Ranger has received :)

Marc Radle wrote:

Andrew Betts wrote:

A couple small things I noticed. One is that it references a table for favored enemy and it says it is "below" but since I didn't see a table I'm assuming it actually should have referenced the PFCRB. Also, it might just be me, but in the PDF readers I use on my tablet the last page of the class (the one with the picture and the 20th level ability) is messed up with the picture showing up clear on top and everything else kind of grey out and difficult to read.

The Favored Enemies and Favored Terrains are both listed on page 7. However, since that seems to also be the page you indicate is giving you a display problem, I suspect you might not be able to see the list.

What table (and what PDF reader) are you using? It sounds like it might be an issue with the PDF reader? Maybe download the PDF again?

That did it. I think my file was corrupted when extracted. It's all working well now.

Awesome!

You might also want to check out The Spell-less Ranger ...

Although obviously ranger specific, there are a bunch of new animal companion feats, including some specifically designed to make the character (ranger or druid) and his animal companion better able to work and fight together, use teamwork feats etc.

There's also an animal companion character sheet which can be used by any character with an animal companion.

Really nice review over at the examiner.com ... you can check it out HERE :)

Very interesting!

Owen Uncensored and Unbound, as it were :)

Nice review over at the examiner.com ... you can check it out HERE

Does a level 4 Spell-less Ranger with the Additional Animal Companion ranger talent have two "level 4" animal companions? A level 20 Spell-less Ranger have two "level 20" animal companions?

Correct - the spell-less ranger's animal companion is based on his full ranger level, so a level 4 Spell-less Ranger with the Additional Animal Companion ranger talent would indeed have two "level 4" animal companions.

Thanks, Foghammer! And you should totally write a review, because sometimes it is encouraging to the writers, artists, and publishers to hear from the people who just love it. Totally up to you, but really, lack of objectivity can be ok.

Well said!!!

(sorry, I missed this comment before, but it's such a great comment, I had to respond :)

An extra question for the 3PPs. Are any of you making your books available on Hero Lab?

I know the rather popular Genius Guide to the Vanguard was recently released and includes a file for use with Hero Lab

A couple small things I noticed. One is that it references a table for favored enemy and it says it is "below" but since I didn't see a table I'm assuming it actually should have referenced the PFCRB. Also, it might just be me, but in the PDF readers I use on my tablet the last page of the class (the one with the picture and the 20th level ability) is messed up with the picture showing up clear on top and everything else kind of grey out and difficult to read.

The Favored Enemies and Favored Terrains are both listed on page 7. However, since that seems to also be the page you indicate is giving you a display problem, I suspect you might not be able to see the list.

What table (and what PDF reader) are you using? It sounds like it might be an issue with the PDF reader? Maybe download the PDF again?