druid / ranger advanced classes + multiclassing re Wild vs Vermin Empathy

[C P]

In another thread, I read that basically the druid and ranger levels stack for the purposes of Wild Empathy. That seems perfectly sensible to me.

However, for example, the Blight Druid replaces Wild Empathy with Vermin empathy. How does/should adding a Ranger level work re VE? Some of the other advanced druid archetypes also modify WE to apply only to specific creature types (e.g., Aquatic, Cave druids).

It seems like according to RAW, the character would add WE and that ability would only use the ranger levels (and those levels wouldn't contribute to VE or the altered WE).

However, from an RP perspective, said character might not be changing his/her attunement with the Nature to shift away from the archetypal region, just perhaps learning about it from a more martial perspective (i.e., the ranger level) - does it seem reasonable/balanced/whathaveyou that s/he continue in the original altered WE vein for those ranger level(s) instead of gaining the plain ranger version on its own track?

[mdt]

VE is a direct replacement for WE. In ways, it's unusual, as it's basically less of a replacement of the power than it is a modification to it. It's turning it from animals to vermin.

Personally, as the GM, if a druid multiclassed into ranger, I'd let them choose at the time.

Either : Ranger WE becomes VE, or the character gains WE as a Ranger, and keeps VE.

However, I would make the player choose once and live with it. Once you choose either stack or both, you can't go back and change it.

[C P]

mdt wrote:

However, I would make the player choose once and live with it. Once you choose either stack or both, you can't go back and change it.

Totally agree on choose once - either add the plain WE and have it advance separately, or subsume the ranger WE into VE/other alt druid WE (and vice versa, if a horse lord or some homebrew w/ mod WE ranger is multiclassing into druid).