New Paths #1: The Expanded Spell-less Ranger (PFRPG) PDF

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Aragorn Didn't Cast Spells!

Just because some designer thought rangers should be spell-slingers doesn't make it right! With The Expanded Spell-Less Ranger, you can now play an authentic ranger without spells, but with great new abilities.

Welcome to the Expanded Spell-Less Ranger, a base class for the Pathfinder RPG that was first presented in Kobold Quarterly #11 and which reviewers called a "must-read" at RPG Geek.

The removal of spells makes this a true ranger-type, but the new powers and expanded abilities mean that the Spell-Less Ranger can hold his own in a fight. With new animal companion options and Ranger Talents, this class covers the hunter's bond, fast movement, expanded tracking, hunting, additional favored enemies, trap handling, and much more, all in keeping with the ranger you know from The Lord of the Rings.

The Expanded Spell-less Ranger includes much new material beyond the original magazine version, such as two new archetypes for the companion-bound ranger and the dual-style ranger, plus new feats specific to this ranger that make them masters of their terrain. Includes a full 20-level character progression plus tracking sheets for favored terrain, enemies, and companions.

Be a real ranger! Get The Expanded Spell-Less Ranger today!

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An RPG Resource Review

5/5

This base class variant is based around a premise that seems to strike the author rather hard: why should a ranger, of all people, cast spells? The argument is compelling. If you look at what a ranger can do - track and scout, live off the land, fight well, hunt - there doesn't seem to be much need for magic. Moreover, although ranger-style characters feature in fantasy literature, none of them have chucked spells around.

So here is presented a variant on the standard ranger class who doesn't use spells at all. Instead, he has a devastating stealth attack and an array of 'talents' to choose as he rises in level. There's also a nature's healing ability which grants bonuses to Heal checks when the ranger is in a favoured environment.

As well as all the information required to create and play a Spell-less Ranger, there are some new feats and a couple of archetypes - the Dual-Style Ranger (who hones his combat skills) and the Companion-Bound Ranger (who is exceptionally close to his animal companion). Finally there are some notes on ranger fighting styles, drawing on the Advanced Player's Guide, a character sheet for an animal companion and a couple of tracking sheets for the ranger's abilities.

Overall, it's a nice package. I've played many a ranger over the years and always felt that magic didn't sit well with the few of them that got high enough in level to use it, so this makes a useful addition to the options available.


Now we are talking

5/5

Every change is in most of cases both:, Flavorlful and utiity. im not going to specif what it has inside, the other reviewers do it so well that i have nothing more to tell about.

This is a mix between ranger and rogue, in fact, this is the way i always want to play a ranger without spells!!

it Must be into your "must to have it"


Rangers how they were meant to be

5/5

This pdf is 15 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving 12 pages of content, so let's check this one out!

For those of you not in the know: In KQ #11, Marc Radle created an alternate version (meaning no multiclassing with the regular ranger-class) of the ranger-class that fits closer with irl mythology: The spell-less ranger replaces spells with a selection of neat ranger talents - a great approach that has been expanded in this pdf, but let me give you the run-down:

The spell-less ranger gets full BAB, d10, 6+Int skills per level, good fort- and ref-saves, up to 5 favored terrains, up to 4 favored terrains and additionally stealth attack (which is a terrain/favored enemy-based, weaker variant of sneak attack), combat styles, 4 special uses of the healing-skill when in favored terrain (including treating deadly wounds, poisons and diseases) and so-called ranger talents: A total of 25 are provided and run the whole gamut from additional animal companions, bonus feats, less fall damage, scent, the ability to negate concealment via hawk's eyes, trackless stride and improved swimming and climbing capabilities. High-level rangers also can look forward to quarry, improved quarry, hide in plain sight etc.

The result of the changes made to the class are evident - looking at the ranger talents it becomes rather clear that a regular fighter won't outshine a guerilla-style archer ranger, for example, defining the niche of the class more closely. 18 new feats help the ranger by providing further customization options that range from the rather simple "Additional favored terrain" to very interesting feats: "Coordinated Attack" gives your companion access to all your teamwork feats. Another interesting one would be "Defensive Shot", which FINALLY gives you the chance to use ranged weapon in melee with a penalty. A godsend for campaigns without divine magic (or groups without primary healers) is "Improved Nature's Healing", which significantly improves the amount of Hp you may heal by using that ability. Add to that the increased damage output via "Deadly Accuracy" and its improved version (which let you reroll 1s and 2s of ranged attack-damage-rolls) and we have a great class to simulate e.g. the deadly elven guerilla fighter. All in all, I considered the feats to be well-crafted and none of them to be overpowered or utterly boring. (I'd btw. suggest to add SGG's Knacks from their Ranger-book to the list of available ranger talents!)

This is not where the pdf stops, though: We also get two new archetypes for the ranger: The Dual-style ranger gets only one favorite enemy, but two combat styles. The companion-bound ranger is rather complex and can select from a druid's companion-list, enhance his companion, gain aforementioned coordinated companion etc., but at the cost of his favored terrain, camouflage etc.

The pdf also includes info on the 5 styles introduced in the APG and does something EXTREMELY useful: It provides us with a favored-enemy/terrain-char-sheet to add to your regular char-sheet - useful, well-constructed, awesome! Even better, we get yet another extra sheet for animal companions that could also be used for familiars etc. and makes for one of the most clearly arranged ones I've seen so far. Kudos for this great bonus!

Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to an easy-to-read, relatively printer-friendly 2-column standard. The pdf has a beautiful front cover, but no bookmarks, which is a bummer in this day and age. Due to being relatively short, I'm willing to let that one slip, though. The spell-less ranger is popular for a reason - Marc Radle has crafted an excellent alternate class and with the new expanded material herein, there are even more reasons to go spell-less than before. This alternate class is awesome, well-designed and the additional content lacks any feats, crunch, etc. I'd consider badly designed or unbalanced. In fact, I absolutely love this take on the ranger, as it makes the class feel more unique and less than a fighter/druid-hybrid. After SGG's stellar "Ranger's Options: Knacks of Nature", this is the second book in a short space that easily can be considered to be a stellar pick for any fans of the concept of the ranger, but not its core-execution. Even for the adherents of spellcasting this pdf is well worth the pick for the archetypes/feats and if you can spare the bucks, combine its talents with SGG's knacks (by e.g. adding the talents as knacks or vice versa) - I guarantee you won't find the result unbalancing. When all's said and done, a great start for the new line, Marc Radle did an awesome job and I look forward to seeing more! My final verdict? 5 stars + Endzeitgeist seal of approval.

Endzeitgeist out.


15 Pages of Absolute Glory

5/5

Okay this is my first product review on the Paizo site, and I really feel like this was the book to receive my praise. I am very hard to please when it comes to OGL content, and most I have read are pretty good at best but this one definitely takes the cake. Marc, Wolfgang and the crew from Kobold Quarterly have brought forth this piece of magic (haha magic from a magic-less book) and have presented us with a way to play the original iconic rangers we grew up to love. From the complete list of Ranger Tricks to the new Feats and Archetypes, this is a book with enough options for anyone. Personally I found the Dual Style Ranger Archetype to be pretty awesome if you're into focusing on 2 different combat styles at the cost of only having 1 favored enemy. So all in all, if you are a ranger fan like I am or have always wanted to play the "classic" ranger then pick up this book...you will not be disappointed =D


4/5

Weighing in at 15 pages (Front cover -1 page, credit/PID – 1 page, 2 pages of tracking sheets, OGL) we’ve got roughly 10 pages of new material here to work with.

A spell-less Ranger…this class has long been plagued by the fact that whereas any class tossing spells about is kinda cool in its own right, the iconic characters who inspired this particular class were men existing by their own skill, and their ability to utilize the lands around them to some amazing feats. I’ve seen a few attempts to go spell-less with a ranger in the past, and it has always come out looking very much like a pigeon-holed fighter…so let us take a look and see if Mr. Radle has found the balance required to ground the ranger back in the land of the everyman, without taking away all that made this class one that people would want to play.

Interestingly enough, once again I find myself going through a Marc Radle design, missing his artwork, lol. Luckily the artists tapped for this piece were more than up to it, and the PDF comes off with a very good look and feel to it visually speaking. Now, having said that, I do have a complaint regarding artwork…the background image, as it is, makes it very hard to read the text in the corners of the pages from time to time. Perhaps a slight fade on the background image might have aided with that. Editing wise, I only found two mistakes, and they were essentially the same mistake, and an extremely minor one at that. An errant “s” was added in two different spots to a word, but truly did not alter enough of the meaning to disturb the reading of the text.

Right off the bat, taking away spells from the progression of this class, the spell-less ranger finds himself the beneficiary of a host of new class abilities, and Ranger Talents (similar in nature to Rogue Talents)…at 2nd level the decision must be made what path of combat you are looking to advance your character down with the Combat Style Feat. Now, the PDF opts for the up close and gritty two-weapon combat style or the archery combat style , but does leave it open for you to choose from any of the ranger combat styles available under your GM. The advantages behind this particular class ability is that the combat styles come with a pool of feats that you will be picking from as you progress that allow you to ignore prerequisites. Next up in the realm of cool has got to be Nature’s Healing, gained at 3rd level. Giving game mechanics to bring to the table the fact that a ranger, in their favored terrain, knows which root, which mushroom, snail, leaf or mud is going to allow them to gain the absolute best results out of their Heal skill checks. Therefore, this ability grants bonuses to heal checks, in various differing manners. Hunter’s Bond is another of those choice situations, this time with the options of sharing a percentage of your favored enemy bonuses with allies, or picking up an animal companion (trust me, looking through all the different options here, you want the animal companion). Now, I did think there were a few animals that would have been obvious choices for the list of animal companion options, but that would be a personal choice issue. It would be wrong of me to not mention the Stealth Attack class ability, as any ranger worth his salt had better be able to attack unseen within their own terrain.

The Ranger Talents, 25 of them, are an interesting alternative to a spell progression for a ranger class, and offer everything from extra feats, to additional animal companions. Faster movement, farther range, and critical hit modifiers. There is enough here to allow for several different styles of play to evolve in comfort never feeling limited by choice.

Following this we are given 18 new Feats, covering everything from Additional Favored Enemies or Terrain, Extra Ranger Talents, an Expert or Master option for Favored Terrain granting additional bonuses on top of the normal ones already given by Favored Terrain. Coordinated Companion allows your animal companion to benefit from teamwork feats you possess as if they also had them. And Savage Terrain Warrior (my personal favorite of this batch) gives what every ranger needs…HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE!! For the animal companions, on top of the coordinated companion feat, we also get an Improved, Greater and Invulnerable – adding a DR to yer critter companion.

We are presented with two archetypes here that are both limited in their way, but in taking the limitation are both extremely more powerful within their parameters.
The Dual Style Ranger gives up multiple favored enemies in favor of learning a second combat style, and applying all further advancements that would normally give a new favored enemy back into the single enemy.
The Companion Bound Ranger gives up multiple favored terrain for a singular concept, but forms a bond with their animal that hearkens back to the classic ranger/animal duos of literary history.

The APG’s list of ranger combat styles is re-presented here in appendix form for ease of character build, in case one wishes to choose a style outside of the two presented here as options.
Following the appendix are two tracking sheets for ease of handling favored enemy/terrain and animal companions. They remind me greatly of sheets I remember using during the 3.0 days, and have that feel to me.

So, final thoughts…did this PDF present a ranger sans magic that is worth playing? That is what it comes down to, right? The answer to that is resting on my printer, in the form of an NPC I will be introducing tomorrow evening at my regular game night. This class is not only playable, its exciting and intriguing. For a player like myself, there are a massive amount of options presented to really explore the concept of an animal companion. Or go the complete other direction, and create that whisper in the trees, who’s only detected when his arrow is in your throat. Now, flipping to the other side, the background on the pages make some pages hard to read, and I would have preferred to have seen the background done with a lighter hand perhaps, but that is truly the only design/layout choice I can see worth complaining about or even pinging against the rating. Yes, I know I stated that the letter S shows up twice for no reason, but again, it does not change the meaning of the text it is within, nor does it make it any harder to understand. So, final tally…this is going to be one of those I want to give a 5 to, as the design is excellent, but layout is going to hold it back, and am finalizing with a 4.5. For those sites where I must go 4 or 5, I’ll have to round down to a 4.


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Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber
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.

The Exchange Kobold Press

Thanks for the suggestions! I think we'll see at least one of those happen this year.


If Aragorn is the model for a spell-less Ranger, who (or what) would the model for a spell-less Paladin be? A medieval version of Captain America?

Dark Archive

Divine Bond (Weapon) Paladin would be awesome indeed. You could call it Holy Avenger, in fact.


dbass wrote:
If Aragorn is the model for a spell-less Ranger, who (or what) would the model for a spell-less Paladin be? A medieval version of Captain America?

I don't think Roland cast spells either.

Dark Archive

dbass wrote:
If Aragorn is the model for a spell-less Ranger, who (or what) would the model for a spell-less Paladin be? A medieval version of Captain America?

Galahad?

Liberty's Edge

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 :)

The Exchange Kobold Press

Rampant speculation is much more fun. But yes, I think the series will have a great second installment.


We have ways of figuring out what the next class is.

Usually they involve waiting for it to be released...


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?


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 :)

im guessing druid

Liberty's Edge

Bob_Loblaw wrote:
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 :)

Dark Archive

2 people marked this as a favorite.

I hope it's White Necro.


You know, I would love a New Path of the Savant.


Feat-less Fighter?


The rage-less barbarian?


Cheapy wrote:

We have ways of figuring out what the next class is.

Usually they involve waiting for it to be released...

I needed a good laugh. Grading papers / tests is depressing. Thanks Cheapy :)


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?

Liberty's Edge

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! :)


Well earned! Hopefully this propels you to make more cool classes.


+1 to that

The Exchange Kobold Press

NybbleMe, yes, the Roc should be on the list. The omission is an error.

Liberty's Edge

NybbleMe wrote:
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.


My GM was only going to allow the animal companions listed on the spel-less ranger addendum, and not allowing the rock listed in the bestiary since it wasn't specifically mentioned. He seemed like he might have otherwise considered allowing it, should circumstances allow, much later in the jade regent campaign.


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

Shadow Lodge

KTFish7 wrote:
Matthew Winn wrote:


Did I read that right and you've managed to enter this into Hero Lab? Any intention to share? I'd love to save myself some coding on this one.
Wolfgang Baur wrote:
KTFish7, if you have finished the Hero Lab files, please send them my way. I'll make sure that everyone who buys the PDF gets a copy of the data files as well.

I am in fact still working out a few issues with some feats, but the files are almost complete, and yes, I will be sending them over as soon as they are.

Hopefully by the end of the weekend at most.

Was there any update to the Hero Lab version?

The Exchange Kobold Press

I don't have a HeroLab data set in hand. When I get one, I will absolutely share it with everyone who picked up the PDF.

Liberty's Edge

Arknight wrote:
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?

Liberty's Edge

Marc Radle wrote:
Arknight wrote:
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?

Hey Arknight, I'm curious to hear what you ended up doing!

Liberty's Edge

New review up ...

Check it out HERE :)


Heya Marc,

I noticd you have the feats Deadly Accuracy and Defensive shot using almost exactly the same wording as the same feats in SGG's Feats of Combat, but its not listed in your section 15. Oversight?

Liberty's Edge

Dungeon Grrrl wrote:

Heya Marc,

I noticd you have the feats Deadly Accuracy and Defensive shot using almost exactly the same wording as the same feats in SGG's Feats of Combat, but its not listed in your section 15. Oversight?

Hmmm ... I don't think I even have SGG's Feats of Combat ...

It's certainly possible it's a case of parallel design though - those feats are pretty obvious needs for an archer type character.

If they are really that similar, I'll talk to Wolfgang to see if we want to include SGG's Feats of Combat in the Section 15, even if only so we error on the side of doing the 'right thing", so to speak :)

Thanks for bring it to our attention!!!


Marc Radle wrote:
If they are really that similar, I'll talk to Wolfgang to see if we want to include SGG's Feats of Combat in the Section 15, even if only so we error on the side of doing the 'right thing", so to speak :)

Well since you don't have The Genius Guide to Feats of Battle, here are both versions of both feats:

First, Deadly Accuracy from SGG's Feats of Battle
Deadly Accuracy (Combat)
Your aim is too good to deal minimum damage.
Prerequisites: Dex 15, base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: You have deadly accuracy with your agility-based weapon attacks. When dealing damage with a weapon to which you add your Dexterity to your attack rolls (all ranged weapon attacks, and melee weapon attacks made with Weapon Finesse), you can reroll any result of 1 on your weapon's damage dice. Only weapon attacks that require an attack roll benefit from this feat. You must keep the result of the reroll, even if it is another 1.

And the same feat from Spell-Less Ranger
Deadly Accuracy (Combat)
You have deadly accuracy with your ranged weapon attacks.
Prerequisites: Dex 13, base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: When dealing damage with a ranged weapon, you can reroll any result of 1 on your weapon's damage dice. Only weapon attacks that require an attack roll benefit from this feat. You must keep the result of the reroll, even if it is another 1.

Here's Defensive Shot from SGG's Feats of Battle
Defensive Shot (Combat)
You can make a ranged attack without distracting yourself from immediate threats.
Prerequisites: Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot.
Benefit: You may decide to make a ranged attack defensively, taking a –2 penalty to all ranged attacks you make during the round. Such
attacks do not provoke attacks of opportunity. If you take any other actions during the round that does provoke an attack of opportunity (such as casting a spell) you suffer the consequences normally.
Normal: Making a ranged attack normally provokes attacks of opportunity from threatening foes.

And here's Defensive Shot from Spell-Less Ranger
Defensive Shot (Combat)
You can make ranged attacks without being distracted by immediate threats.
Prerequisites: Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot.
Benefit: You may make ranged attacks defensively. To do so, you must take a –2 penalty to all ranged attacks you make during the round. Such attacks do not provoke attacks of opportunity. If you take other actions during the round which do provoke an attack of opportunity, you suffer those consequences normally.

As you can see not only are the game rules nearly identical, but the wording is much closer than I'd expect from parallel development,

Both those feats are also up on pfsrd.com, from Feats of Battle, so maybe you ran into them there?

Liberty's Edge

Thanks for posting these!

Yeah, there are certainly similarities in wording etc (although, it should be noted, there are also differences)

I'm not sure on this one! As I said, I don't have that SGG book (although I DO have a number of SGG releases).

When you say the feats are also up on pfsrd.com, do you mean http://www.d20pfsrd.com? If so, I don't check that site very much (although I certainly have on a couple occasions). The vast amount of my time I tend to spend on a site like that is on Paizo's official one: http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd so I wouldn't think I saw the feats there and somehow remembered them without, you know, remembering that I remembered them :)

Honestly, the best I can offer is that it really is a case of parallel design. And heck, since the SGG feats were, I assume, designed by Owen K. C. Stephens (whom I have a HUGE amount of respect for!) I guess I should be quite happy that I came up with a couple feats that are similar to ones he came up with! I guess I'm doing something right! :)


Marc Radle wrote:


Honestly, the best I can offer is that it really is a case of parallel design. And heck, since the SGG feats were, I assume, designed by Owen K. C. Stephens (whom I have a HUGE amount of respect for!) I guess I should be quite happy that I came up with a couple feats that are similar to ones he came up with! I guess I'm doing something right! :)

How true!

When working on a past product with a partner, "Owen did it." became high praise when coming up with novel ideas :) It meant we were on the right track!

The Exchange Kobold Press

On reflection, I would be more convinced of parallel development if they didn't have the same name for the feats. They both might come from some other source (like Advanced Feats, netbook of feats, etc). I just don't know.

Since it's open content, I'm not worried about it one way or the other, but I think it's best to add the SGG title to the OGL listing. Which means I have an excuse to go buy a copy of Feats of Battle! :)


Deadly Accuracy does appear in other places too. I recall it being in the SGG Archer Archetypes, the Adventurer's Handbook, and here and there. It's one of those feats where I distinctly remember thinking "Oh, it's here too?" It's also worth noting that the SGG book also had a Greater version of deadly accuracy.

The Exchange Kobold Press

Then maybe it's a case of everyone drawing from the same official source? Except that in Ultimate Combat, that feat name is a rage power.

I would love to learn the original source, so it could be credited properly. Sounds like Feats of Battle ain't it, as the AH is older.

Dark Archive

Isn't the AH just a compilation of previous works, including Feats of Battle?


I had meant this Adventure's Handbook, which does include Feats of Battle. Pretty strange.


Marc Radle wrote:

When you say the feats are also up on pfsrd.com, do you mean http://www.d20pfsrd.com?

Sorry, yes that is what I meant.

Marc Radle wrote:
Honestly, the best I can offer is that it really is a case of parallel design. And heck, since the SGG feats were, I assume, designed by Owen K. C. Stephens (whom I have a HUGE amount of respect for!)

Yes, Mr. Stephens is credited as the designer in Feats of Battle.


Cheapy wrote:
Deadly Accuracy does appear in other places too. I recall it being in the SGG Archer Archetypes, the Adventurer's Handbook, and here and there.

Yes, it is in SGG's AH (also by Mr. Stephens). Which made me remeber something else.

AH has the feat Resolute, as follows:

Resolute
While not fearless, you stand fast in the face
of even the most overwhelming mundane and
mystic fears.
Prerequisites: Iron Will.
Benefit: Any time you would normally be cowering, frightened, or panicked, you are instead shaken for the same duration. You take only half the penalties from similar effects.

While Spell-Less ranger has:

Greater Iron Will
Your superior force of will allows you to resist both
magical and mundane fear.
Prerequisite: Improved Iron Will.
Benefit: Any effect that would normally cause you to become cowering, frightened, or panicked, instead only makes you shaken for the same duration.

Which again isn't exactly the same (and DOES have a different name), but it's another very-similar feat from a source with the other two, and I haven't seen the "take a lesser version of fear" effect anywhere else.


I've seen it a few different places.

Scarab Sages

Hey folks,

I'd suggest no one read too much into finding similar wording in different products. No d20 designer works in a vacuum, and a lot of language exists because it's the easiest and most obvious way to express a specific rule. Indeed, wording for feats (and other rules elements) is often based on existing wording because it's already proven clear. There's no way to compare any two d20 books on similar themes without finding a lot of similar wording.

Wolfgang Baur wrote:

Then maybe it's a case of everyone drawing from the same official source? Except that in Ultimate Combat, that feat name is a rage power.

I would love to learn the original source, so it could be credited properly. Sounds like Feats of Battle ain't it, as the AH is older.

To the best of my knowledge, Feats of Battle is the first place I included such a feat. The SGG Adventurer's Handbook came out later, and included the feats from Feats of Battle.

IIRC, I got the idea for my Deadly Accuracy from the powerful sneak rogue talent from the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Resource Document.

Defensive Shot is so obvious, both in name and basic implementation, I assume it's been invented many times by GMs for house rules. Indeed, a quick Google search for "Defensive Shot" d20, shows a houserule version that works basically the same way for 3.0 from 2002. I've worked with Marc, and he's a smart guy. I'm totally prepared to believe he invented this one in parallel development.

Wolf, if you want the section 15 from Feats of Battle because you'd prefer to include it anyway, just drop me a line. I'm happy to send it to you. :)


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber
Owen K. C. Stephens wrote:

Defensive Shot is so obvious, both in name and basic implementation, I assume it's been invented many times by GMs for house rules. Indeed, a quick Google search for "Defensive Shot" d20, shows a houserule version that works basically the same way for 3.0 from 2002.

Some 3.x d20 book had a nearly identical feat (-2 to ranged attacks & then you don't provoke AoOs); the Deepwood Sniper PC in my 3e game used it. Heck if I can remember which one of the zillion I own had it, though. I know it was a print book, though -- it'd be much easier to find it if I could run Find on a folder of PDFs. :)

The Exchange Kobold Press

Owen and Jadeite, thanks for the correction on the AH pub date. I clearly misremembered whether AH or FOB came first..

Owen, send me the Section 15, it just seems simpler to say this is substantially the same as the FOB feat and credit accordingly. I agree that the rogue talent in the SRD is the likely source of inspiration for both you and Marc on this one, but hey, no reason not to point people to the good stuff in FoB.

Liberty's Edge

Thanks everyone (and a HUGE special thanks to Owen for taking the time to add his comments!)

Although the feats do have differences, they are admittedly similar enough that adding SGG's Feats of Battle to the product's section 15 seems like kinda a no brainer (in fact, I said as much earlier in the thread :)

There honestly was no nefarious conspiracy or intentional wrong-doing here but it still makes complete sense to give credit where it is due and since the feats have similarities, giving credit to Owen and Feats of Battle is 100% cool with me!

An interesting side note - I pulled out my notes for the Expanded Spell-less Ranger last evening and turned to the feats section. I hadn't remembered this until now, but when I first conceived of the Deadly Accuracy feat, I called it Pinpoint Aim, then I crossed that out and called it Pinpoint Accuracy, crossed that out and scribbled something I can’t quite read now ;) I then crossed THAT out and changed the feat to Deadly Accuracy …

Anyway, hopefully we can maybe turn the discussion back to the Spell-less Ranger class itself again :)


Any progress on the Hero Lab files?

The Exchange Kobold Press

Sadly, I have nothing to report on the Hero Lab files. When I do, I'll definitely shout about it here.

However, there is a nice review of the class up at Stargazer's World.

Stargazer wrote:
this is a solid expansion to the original concept. If you like the Ranger class, whether the spell-casting bothers you or not, make sure you check it out.

Liberty's Edge

Nice review indeed :)

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