How do you learn spells at a ranger?

So I have been playing pathfinder for a while now and I am trying to learn all that I can but I can't seem to find anything in the core rulebook that says how rangers learn their divine spells. Please help me!

Uh... They work just like Clerics.
Neither need to "learn" spells, that concept is only relevant to Wizards with Spellbooks or Spontaneous Casters with Spells Known.
That is what is meant by the line in Ranger Spellcasting that says:
A ranger may prepare and cast any spell on the ranger spell list, provided that he can cast spells of that level, but he must choose which spells to prepare during his daily meditation.

FYI, the grammar of that title just sounded atrocious... I guess you meant "...as a ranger"?

Prepared divine spellcasters know all the spells they can cast. This means as more spells are published you have an enomity of options available to you.

Hit lvl 4 and have 1 spell slot? You have 60 spells you can put in it.

Prepared divine spellcasters know all the spells they can cast. This means as more spells are published you have an enomity of options available to you.

Hit lvl 4 and have 1 spell slot? You have 60 spells you can put in it.

This does raise an interesting question. Where do rangers learn these 60 spells?

I mean, clerics and druids, and to some extent even paladins, can have the excuse that they have formal training with divine powers, so they might have learned it from reading over some old book or seeing their master use it. But a ranger does not particularly need training in their background, and they can have spent their entire life a million miles from the nearest town (and their flavor supports such a lifestyle) without any casters in sight and still know all those spells by heart once they hit level 4.

You could argue that a lot of the spells they learn are the simple, straight forward, and commonly used ones (such as healing spells), but it still feels like a situation where spontaneous caster with a list of spells known might be better, since it would represent the ranger's experience experimenting with the divine forces within nature.

But I am probably over thinking this, aren't I?

One way to look at it: Clerics, druids and paladins don't learn their spells. They ask a divine agency for them. Rangers likewise.

But how do you learn what to ask for without learning which spells you can use? How does he know that he can protect himself from damage from fire or lightning unless someone tells him?

Heck, if you do not have a teacher to tell you can, how do you even tell that you can cast magic at all? From levels 1-3, he is hardly different from a fighter as far in what he can and cannot do. (this point is a bit nitpicky though, since you could just say "you feel it").

Anyway, these are the reasons why, if the ranger wasn't grandfathered in from D&D, I might be tempted to go the spontaneous route, much like a bard. That has enough trial and error that you feel that it was just a guy figuring it out.

IMC the ranger (just hitting 3rd level) is spending time with assorted fey, who will educate him in the more mysterious ways of the wild. In other words, bodge in some RP explanation.

But how do you learn what to ask for without learning which spells you can use? How does he know that he can protect himself from damage from fire or lightning unless someone tells him?

Heck, if you do not have a teacher to tell you can, how do you even tell that you can cast magic at all? From levels 1-3, he is hardly different from a fighter as far in what he can and cannot do. (this point is a bit nitpicky though, since you could just say "you feel it").

Anyway, these are the reasons why, if the ranger wasn't grandfathered in from D&D, I might be tempted to go the spontaneous route, much like a bard. That has enough trial and error that you feel that it was just a guy figuring it out.

Who says rangers don't have formal training? They learned proficiency in all martial weapons and medium armor somewhere, not to mention their combat styles.

Nothing says a ranger receives formal training in weapons and armor. They could just as easily have self-taught or have natural aptitude for it.

Nothing says a ranger receives formal training in weapons and armor. They could just as easily have self-taught or have natural aptitude for it.

True, but if you're grasping for reasons as to how rangers get their spells, you could easily say that your ranger did or does receive some sort of formal training. Nothing says you *have* to be self-taught. Even a sorcerer may have a mentor who teaches him to harness his inborn power.

The wisdom of the ranger allows him to shape the divine energies into any of the spells available to him, its part of his connection to the natural world.

blahpers wrote:

Nothing says a ranger receives formal training in weapons and armor. They could just as easily have self-taught or have natural aptitude for it.

True, but if you're grasping for reasons as to how rangers get their spells, you could easily say that your ranger did or does receive some sort of formal training. Nothing says you *have* to be self-taught. Even a sorcerer may have a mentor who teaches him to harness his inborn power.

Yup. Or you're just in tune with nature enough to know how to ask it for what you want.

None of this is really a rules question, though.

Ultimately, the only response to 'how does a character learn anything?' is 'how do you want him to learn it?' It's your character, you get to decide.

=Who says rangers don't have formal training? They learned proficiency in all martial weapons and medium armor somewhere, not to mention their combat styles.

I meant formal training in magic, for the most part. If I remember it correctly (from half remembered discussions on various threads on in game demographics...so don't cite me on this), only the most accomplished characters ever make it to level 5.

So, even if you do receive training, there is a possibility that it is by another ranger who is between levels 1 and 3, where they have no actual ability to use magic. What if that guy was also trained by a ranger in the same level range? Where does the magic start?

I can't seem to find anything in the core rulebook that says how rangers learn their divine spells. Please help me!

It's really up to you!

The specifics are deliberately left vague for story the GM and players want to tell.

So... If the PC is part of some kind of ranger military organization (like Aragorn's Rangers of the North from Lord of the Rings), you can just say that spellcasting is part of normal training for members that move up in the ranks. If not, maybe she has a mentor of some sort (maybe another ranger, maybe a druid, maybe a fey creature) with whom she studies in some capacity. Or, perhaps the spirits of nature simply bless her with divine spellcasting, which she comes to recognize in a sudden flash of insight.

Here's how divine casters learn spells: go through the celestial bureaucracy.

Link: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0007.html

Bizbag wrote:

=Who says rangers don't have formal training? They learned proficiency in all martial weapons and medium armor somewhere, not to mention their combat styles.

I meant formal training in magic, for the most part. If I remember it correctly (from half remembered discussions on various threads on in game demographics...so don't cite me on this), only the most accomplished characters ever make it to level 5.

So, even if you do receive training, there is a possibility that it is by another ranger who is between levels 1 and 3, where they have no actual ability to use magic. What if that guy was also trained by a ranger in the same level range? Where does the magic start?

Don't you see? It's rangers all the way down!

Who says druids need formal training to cast spells? See the feral child archetype under Humans in the Advanced Race Guide. Rangers are typically granted spells from the same sources as druids.

Learn spells AT a ranger? I guess keep walking into him while studying your spell book? Make him carry your books for you as you study? Strap scrolls to his animal companion to study while adventuring?

Rangers like other prepared divine spell casters do not learn spells, they are granted spell. To memorize their spells they spend time praying to the powers that grant them spells. The knowledge of the spells existence is also granted by the same source. Think of it as having a TV with a menu system. You don’t need to know what is playing because you can scroll down and see the listing.

Rangers also get spellcraft as a class skill. A fighter with a 10 INT spends a point on spell craft and has gets a +1. The ranger with the same stats and investment gets a +4. This to me would imply the ranger been taught more about magic than the fighter. Add in the fact that rangers can use spell trigger items like wands even when they cannot cast further implies they have received training in magic.

If you want a fluffy way to see it look at it like this...

The spell system is mechanical...most of the spells are named and learned because someone thought it up and through collaborative effort balanced it out for the game

In the actual game your ranger doesn't "know" the spell "insert spell name." He prays for power from whatever it is he prays to...that entity gives him said power but for mechanical reasons you have to have a name, effect, and general rules for that power

So if Jeff the ranger prays for the ability to increase his strength for a limited time...he is granted that ability, but for mechanical purposes we name it Bull's Strength and have a set way for it to work

That's at least how I like to see it

On a side note I had hell the first time I played a Druid...I pretty much just found a few key spells I liked and always prepared those because the spell list is extremely long if you count from all the books

I think we should hold off before answering the OP's question for a 6th time, he might just be dead...