Hi Guys,
In many ways the role of the skirmishing scouting, man of the woods has been largely co-opted in my campaigns by the scout class from Complete Adventurer.
I feel that the skirmish ability has alot of traction and could be adapted to the ranger to reconcile these classes which though thematically very similar have wide diferences in the rules.
I would suggest phrasing it as a standard action attack (or part of a charge) that deals extra damage if the ranger has moved more than 10 feet earlier that round. I would advise extra damage akin to the rogue's sneak attack progression. This seems robust but considering that it would be limited to once a a round (as opposed to up to 8 times per round for a two weapon fighting hasted rogue) it's still fairly reasonable.
Could give it as an alternative to either spellcasting or hunter's bond.
To pre-empt Intellectual Property concerns around adapting rules from a closed content book I'll reference the following FAQs on the wizards site pertaining to copyright of game rules:
Open Game Definition:FAQ
In a nutshell, you can copywrite the words, the art, the typesetting in a close sourcebook, but not the rules themselves. Bern Copyright convention seems to permit reprinting rules so long as they are reasonably paraphrased or adapted.
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I would love to see this, as the scout is one of my favorite classes. I'm not sure how Paizo would rework it, as James has said he's not interested in cheating the system. (Referenced here talking about just renaming death knights.)
On the progression, remember a high level ranger can pick up Greater Manyshot and get that bonus damage 4x a round. Not that I see it as a problem, just want to keep it in mind.
I honestly think the scout is a better ranger than the ranger is in most respects. Trapfinding, a combat style unique to it, reasonable skill points, increased movement (why on earth would a barbarian have this if a ranger doesn't?). If I wasn't playtesting pathfinder, I'd have at least one of my rangers wanting to switch to that class.
Scout is alot weaker in combat due to BAB and lack of spells. Rangers can use rapid shot alot better tha scout for example.