SO.. whats wrong with the Ranger?

[Kenneth]

ive noticed that there are a LOT of paladin fix/re-tool threads over in the homebrew forum. but as for rangers i searched every single page and did not find a single one.

Is the ranger seriously that bad off that he cannot be fixed? or is it just such an unplayed class that nobody cares to fix becuase of?


For myself on my own campaigns one of the boons i gave was I just swapped the druid and ranger animal companion progession ( rangers get their's at first druid at 4th)

I am just wondering what if anything is wrong with Rangers?

[hex0]

ive noticed that there are a LOT of paladin fix/re-tool threads over in the homebrew forum. but as for rangers i searched every single page and did not find a single one.

Is the ranger seriously that bad off that he cannot be fixed? or is it just such an unplayed class that nobody cares to fix becuase of?


For myself on my own campaigns one of the boons i gave was I just swapped the druid and ranger animal companion progession ( rangers get their's at first druid at 4th)

I am just wondering what if anything is wrong with Rangers?

Rangers are better than Paladin in the tiers, actually. And there are nice ACFs/variants out there as well.

[Cog]

There have been fixes, too; at least a couple involving Tome of Battle. Search for "sublime way ranger" or such.

[Howler Dagger]

i think the main reason they are never fixed is because they dont need extensive fixing. Small house rules such as yours can help them. They are ranked at tier 4, which generally isnt bad. The classes that need fixes are the ones in tiers 5, 6, and 1, because they are useless (5&6) or overpowered(1).

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

Rangers are better than Paladin in the tiers, actually. And there are nice ACFs/variants out there as well.Exactly. The Ranger 'fix' is giving him full splat access. Actually, that works pretty well for the Paladin as well.

[Drelua]

I don't know what most people think about this, but I never liked favoured enemies just because it's hard to know what you'll fight, and asking the DM will either feel too much like metagaming or get no answer. They have a great chassis, but it seems to me that their abilities are all over the place, similar to the issue with monks but to a far lesser degree. There's also the lack of class features after level 11, and the ability to do pretty much everything a ranger does with a rogue. And they don't have anything to make TWF worthwhile - no bonus damage (like sneak attack) - and the problems with archery in general. That covers a lot of what's wrong with them.

As to ranger fixes, I really like Pathfinder's idea to get rid of dead levels, and I love Kobold Quarterly's Spell-less Ranger for Pathfinder.

[Piggy Knowles]

Honestly, the Mystic Ranger from Dragon and the wildshape variant from UA are pretty solid fixes on their own.

Really, though, the ranger is cursed by mediocrity. It's not really bad enough to warrant the monk/paladin treatment, where everyone and their brother tries to fix it. It has an excellent chassis, and mediocre but semi-interesting class features.

It is cursed because its two fighting styles are both iconic, and underwhelming in 3.5. Take them away and replace them with something useful (as the wildshape variant did), and you've actually got a pretty solid class. Add in some ways to augment those fighting styles, such as the superior casting of a Mystic Ranger or the Swift Hunter feat, and you can do alright. You won't knock anyone's socks off, but you could reasonably play alongside a Swordsage without it casting pitying glances at you every few rounds.

Sure, you could make a "fix" for the ranger that would keep it decent without requiring one of the above variants. It just doesn't need one quite as bad as the paladin...

[sreservoir]

even out of the box, rangers have decent skill ability, and their class features are still actually useful if you dump the standard dump stat.

[Kenneth]

:) wow, got my answer A LOT faster( as wella s more ind epth and well jst more) than I would have imagined.

I know for me a lot of what I wanted to give to rangers I relaized were better off as feats and not so much Class abilities, Like dazing shot, peircing shot, etc.

the ranger was probably the hardest class for me to 'make over' becuase of that simple fact.

[gkathellar]

T.G. Oskar, PID6 and Jiriku have all put out excellent ranger fixes, and Ziegander fused them with the Scout, Barbarian and Initiators to make the Wildheart. This isn't even getting into the dozen lesser-known Sublime Way rangers or pseudo-rangers on these boards.

[Coidzor]

I remember something with a tagline along the lines of "Ranging ain't just fightin' and shootin'" for a relatively nice rebalanced ranger here on the homebrew forums, but can't seem to find it.

Here's another one (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=170358) taking the whole mystic ranger/bard progression, and swift-hunter feat and mixing it together.

Couple of ToB-related ones. Here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174397), the Sublime Way (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19519074/Sublime_Way_Variant_Ranger), and here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=156145).

[BlueInc]

If you really think it needs tweaking, look at the Pathfinder Ranger (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/ranger) and Archetypes (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/ranger/archetypes/paizo---ranger-archetypes). Yes, Pathfinder is basically just a set of house rules, but they're mostly nice house rules.

[Big Fau]

I'd say just a few variant combat styles would be needed.

Basic Rangers get the normal combat styles, but also gain Duskblade-style spellcasting (still Wis-based if desired, but making it Int-based would help the class out). Divine Channeling optional, seeing as most of their spells are tactical/self-buffs.

Advanced Rangers would trade out all spellcasting for Maneuvers, but gain perks based on the number of maneuvers they know from a single style (kinda like what they did with the Shadowcaster, but not just bonus feats).

And then Wildshape Ranger, with better scaling on the Wildshape (IE: It starts out as Shapeshifting, ala PH2, and then progresses into eventually Large Animals, possibly Magical Beasts. Add in restrictions to forms known and done).

[Sith_Happens]

Exactly. The Ranger 'fix' is giving him full splat access. Actually, that works pretty well for the Paladin as well.

Especially the Spell Compendium. There are some nice things for Rangers in there.

[Draz74]

T.G. Oskar, PID6 and Jiriku have all put out excellent ranger fixes, and Ziegander fused them with the Scout, Barbarian and Initiators to make the Wildheart. This isn't even getting into the dozen lesser-known Sublime Way rangers or pseudo-rangers on these boards.

I did like PId6's fix ... a little wordy, still, but better than most. It's in the same thread with his Marshal, Swashbuckler, and some other fixes. Tome of Battle mechanics-based, incidentally.


:) wow, got my answer A LOT faster( as wella s more ind epth and well jst more) than I would have imagined.

I know for me a lot of what I wanted to give to rangers I relaized were better off as feats and not so much Class abilities, Like dazing shot, peircing shot, etc.

the ranger was probably the hardest class for me to 'make over' becuase of that simple fact.

Yeah, I've gotten the same impression. It's a hard class to write a "fix" for because, well, no one can agree on exactly which features it should have.

Some people love the animal companion, others hate it.

Some people add Trapfinding, others don't. Some people try to build an Urban Ranger variant into the class, others don't.

Some people embrace the spellcasting (especially with nice SpC spells), others are all too eager to throw it out in favor of ToB-style maneuvers.

Some people love adding Skirmish progression, others point out how Skirmish really doesn't make sense and leads to running back and forth between the same two squares over and over, looking like an idiot (and dipping Cleric entirely too often).

Some people want to keep the iconic TWF/archery focus, some people want just archery, some people create five new Combat Styles to pick from, and some people just get rid of the Combat Style and let the Ranger choose a combat style via feats like everybody else.

Most people seem to dislike Favored Enemy (although PId6 did a decent job of consolidating the categories to make them more flavorful and useful), but they have a hard time coming up with elegant replacement mechanics. (Favored Terrain is a popular alternative, but in my experience, it always ends up being a lot of text, a lot of situational die modifiers to remember, and fairly low impact on the game.)

In short, pretty much all that people can agree on about the Ranger is that it should be good at Tracking and nature-themed Skills. That's not really enough to base a class around.

Some otherwise-good-quality fixes include a giant menu for the Ranger to choose features from, trying to cover all of these options. (IIRC, Fax's and Jiriku's fixes fell into this category.) But now you have a class the length of a novel. To cover just one major archetype. Seems ... inelegant to me.

Long story short, the Ranger archetype was a major reason for me to decide that my own set of houserules would need to be built on a "pick your class features as you go" basis.

[JaronK]

Yeah, there's not many Ranger fixes because they don't need as much fixing as most classes. Heck, there's some ACFs that really boost their power (Mystic Ranger, Wild Shape Ranger) if you need, so RAW fixes exist anyway if you need a bump. Really, the class is okay as is.

JaronK

[Godskook]

Rangers are tier 4, and have enough ACFs to join tier 3. Tiers 3 is the 'best' tier, cause its both fun and powerful while still leaving room for a DM to make the campaign interesting.

That leaves very little room for improvement without pushing Ranger into tier 2 or 1 regions, which are where 'problem' classes sit. Or in other words, you don't really need to fix Ranger all that much, if at all.

[NineThePuma]

Swap Favored Enemy from a "this type of enemy" to "this target vie just designated with my swift action" and it becomes very strong, but I don't think it goes above tier 3.

[sonofzeal]

Eh.... I'll depart from the rest of the thread and say that I've always been underwhelmed by Core Rangers. They don't get the precision damage to back up TWF and archery is kind of nerf for the most part, so there goes their whole Combat Style chain, which is supposed to be how they contribute in combat. I like their skills, I like their spells, I like their miscellaneous assortment of class features... but as far as actions in combat go, all they get is a few mediocre bonus feats. In a campaign with a reasonable amount of combat and where contribution to that combat is important (you know, like most campaigns out there), they tend to lag badly and lack interesting options.

It's sort of the reverse of the problem Fighters have - Fighters can do alright in combat with good feat choices, but lack utility or flexibility. Rangers have all sorts of utility, especially with CLW Wands being so cheap, but without significant splat support they're just plinking.

That said, Wildshape Rangers are awesome machines of destruction, and Mystic Rangers are badasses too. But the Ranger as printed in the PHB is only a few steps ahead of Monk, imo.

[ericgrau]

True, the core ranger trades away combat ability for utility.

One day soonish when my life is in order I plan on DMing. One of the biggest things I want to emphasize are location based skill-checks. Survival is a big one. No big rules changes, just lots of wilderness encounters, city encounters and dungeon encounters revolving around the area itself and not monsters alone (though many might involve both). Plus encouraging them with no raised DCs (auto success is good), reminding players, or even making skills the only answer, etc., unlike many sadistic DMs that use them as a source of torture until smart PCs give up on them.

[Optimator]

I love Rangers. They're one of my favorite classes. Sure, they aren't powerhouses but I never thought they needed fixing. They already get a ton of neat stuff and do their jobs admirably. The Spell Compendium helps a lot. So does Swift Hunter.

[King Atticus]

Most people seem to dislike Favored Enemy (although PId6 did a decent job of consolidating the categories to make them more flavorful and useful), but they have a hard time coming up with elegant replacement mechanics. (Favored Terrain is a popular alternative, but in my experience, it always ends up being a lot of text, a lot of situational die modifiers to remember, and fairly low impact on the game.)

Would giving Knowledge Devotion in place of favored enemy, and some escalating bonuses (collector of stories-esque) to checks, as F.E. would have progressed, help this at all? It seems to me it would become more versatile and customizable as the game progresses and give a little more power without breaking anything.

[Amphetryon]

Personally, I'd swap the Druid's Animal Companion for the Ranger's Animal Companion, to make both classes marginally better balanced. This helps the Ranger much more than it nerfs the Druid, of course.

[Coidzor]

^: Would certainly be more fair to the fighter to give a pet one to a moderate martial chassis rather than a caster.
Would giving Knowledge Devotion in place of favored enemy, and some escalating bonuses (collector of stories-esque) to checks, as F.E. would have progressed, help this at all? It seems to me it would become more versatile and customizable as the game progresses and give a little more power without breaking anything.

Probably more of a hybridization would be better, but it would certainly make it more applicable.

[Tvtyrant]

Nothings wrong with them, their just weaker then a number of other classes. The fixes are meant to put them where the fixer feels the game should be played power wise.

[Kenneth]

WOW even more posst WOOT for ranger love!!


also Amphetryon, that is exactly what I did.

I altered favored enemy to closer to what it was in 2nd, youhave fewer but teh bonus you get are MUCH bigger. plus you get neat-o things like bane and extra dmg versus your favored enemy

[DonutBoy12321]

Ranger is fine where it is, basically. The number of ACFs for it is astounding, allowing you to customize it to your specific needs. If you really wanted to, you could make a ranger that Wildshapes, has better spell progression, had Trapfinding and Disable Device, and used Favored Enemy (spellcaster), if you wanted.

[Incanur]

The appropriate variants - namely wild shape and Sword of the Arcane Order plus Order of the Shooting Star - get you a character that becomes powerhouse at level five (if you use that fleshraker nonsense) and downright ridiculous at level twelve thanks to Dragon Wild Shape. At that point, you basically are a dragon. Fulls stats including supernatural abilities and third-level wizard spells in addition to the ranger list. :smallsmile:

[Flickerdart]

The appropriate variants - namely wild shape and Sword of the Arcane Order plus Order of the Shooting Star - get you a character that becomes powerhouse at level five (if you use that fleshraker nonsense) and downright ridiculous at level twelve thanks to Dragon Wild Shape. At that point, you basically are a dragon. Fulls stats including supernatural abilities and third-level wizard spells in addition to the ranger list. :smallsmile:
Wildshape Rangers are limited to Medium or Small forms; at those sizes even dragons aren't much good.

Ranger doesn't get homebrew fixes because three levels of Scout and a feat give him the bonus damage that both his fighting styles desperately need, and from then on he can just do his thing. You will notice that this treatment is different from the Monk and Paladin's "take as few levels as possible and then get out" mindset.

[Zagaroth]

You grab wildshape ranger to fast track into shape changing PrCs and have a higher BaB while doing it.

[Incanur]

Wildshape Rangers are limited to Medium or Small forms; at those sizes even dragons aren't much good.

Laughably false. You won't be making any damage records, but Dragon Wild Shape provides decent offense with mind-blowing defense and utility. If you really want to just kill things, there's the fleshraker at 5 and then the legendary ape at 13. Or take Aberrant Wild Shape for further options.

Wild shape is stupidly stupid with an emphasis on the stupid. Haven't we established this by now? The character I outlined is a strong tier 3 starting at level five.

[Amphetryon]

Laughably false. You won't be making any damage records, but Dragon Wild Shape provides decent offense with mind-blowing defense and utility. If you really want to just kill things, there's the fleshraker at 5 and then the legendary ape at 13. Or take Aberrant Wild Shape for further options.

Wild shape is stupidly stupid with an emphasis on the stupid. Haven't we established this by now? The character I outlined is a strong tier 3 starting at level five.
From the SRD:


Ranger

A ranger might forgo training in weapon combat in exchange for the ability to take animal form and move swiftly through the woodlands.
Gain

Wild shape (as druid; Small or Medium animals only), fast movement (as barbarian).
Lose

Combat style, improved combat style, combat style mastery. Emphasis mine.

[Optimator]

Wildshape Rangers are limited to Medium or Small forms; at those sizes even dragons aren't much good.
Shadow Dragons.

[Kenneth]

Ok here is a now related question I must pose.


If the only feature a class had was wildshape, what tier would that be in?

average BAB, good fort bad, other 2 saves, maybe some animal like related abilities?

[Flickerdart]

Laughably false. You won't be making any damage records, but Dragon Wild Shape provides decent offense with mind-blowing defense and utility.
Being able to fly fast isn't mind-blowing. Sure, you get a bunch of movement modes, but it's not like other forms don't already have them. What else does being a medium dragon get you? Your frightful presence will suck since enemies usually have more HD than you, the small size means you get very few natural attacks, you can't grapple, your physical abilities are depressing compared to anything of your level...


Shadow Dragons.
Not seeing the advantage - you get some nice AC and a good flight speed, but not the breath or concealment abilities that make Shadow Dragons actually worth a damn.

[Big Fau]

Ok here is a now related question I must pose.


If the only feature a class had was wildshape, what tier would that be in?

average BAB, good fort bad, other 2 saves, maybe some animal like related abilities?

It's been stated in the various writings JaronK has done on the Tiers system that a Druid that lost spellcasting completely would still be Tier 3 as soon as the character his Druid 5.


If they lost the animal companion too, the class would largely be unplayable until 5th level or later.

[Coidzor]

Ok here is a now related question I must pose.


If the only feature a class had was wildshape, what tier would that be in?

average BAB, good fort bad, other 2 saves, maybe some animal like related abilities?

It seems like Totemist that's more Con-SAD, and can afford enough int to put some skills into the party in terms of scouting.

I've heard it proposed that Druid's Wildshape alone would be T3, so I imagine it'll either be T3 or high T4.

[Optimator]

Not seeing the advantage - you get some nice AC and a good flight speed, but not the breath or concealment abilities that make Shadow Dragons actually worth a damn.

Seriously? Read the feat again.

[Tvtyrant]

Also, in mid range levels the Fairy Dragon. Daze inducing breathe? Can I say yes loudly enough?

[Flickerdart]

Seriously? Read the feat again.
...

Who thought this was a good idea?

[Big Fau]

...

Who thought this was a good idea?

Andy Collins, one of the people responsible for bringing us the Planar Shepherd (he's credited as a developer of Faiths of Eberron).

[Person_Man]

Here's my homebrew fix:

Person Man's Ranger Scout

{table=head]Level | BAB | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special
1st | + 1 | + 2 | + 2 | + 0 | Ranger Talent, Track
2nd | + 2 | + 3 | + 3 | + 0 | Bonus feat, Keen Vision
3rd | + 3 | + 3 | + 3 | + 1 | Ranger Talent
4th | + 4 | + 4 | + 4 | + 1 | Uncanny Dodge
5th | + 5 | + 4 | + 4 | + 1 | Ranger Talent
6th | + 6 | + 5 | + 5 | + 2 | Bonus feat, Flawless Stride
7th | + 7 | + 5 | + 5 | + 2 | Ranger Talent
8th | + 8 | + 6 | + 6 | + 2 | Evasion
9th | + 9 | + 6 | + 6 | + 3 | Ranger Talent
10th | + 10 | + 7 | + 7 | + 3 | Bonus feat, Scent
11th | + 11 | + 7 | + 7 | + 3 | Ranger Talent
12th | + 12 | + 8 | + 8 | + 4 | Hide in Plain Sight
13th | + 13 | + 8 | + 8 | + 4 | Ranger Talent
14th | + 14 | + 9 | + 9 | + 4 | Bonus feat, Blindsight
15th | + 15 | + 9 | + 9 | + 5 | Ranger Talent
16th | + 16 | + 10 | + 10 | + 5 | Freedom of Movement
17th | + 17 | + 10 | + 10 | + 5 | Ranger Talent
18th | + 18 | + 11 | + 11 | + 6 | Bonus feat, True Seeing
19th | + 19 | + 11 | + 11 | + 6 | Ranger Talent
20th | + 20 | + 12 | + 12 | + 6 | Killing Blow
[/table]

Class Skills: Balance, Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Handle Animal, Heal, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (any, taken individually), Listen, Move Silently, Profession, Ride, Search, Spot, Sense Motive, Speak Language, Survival, Swim, Tumble, Use Rope, and Use Magic Device.

Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) ×4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the ranger.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A ranger is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with light armor and shields (except tower shields).

Ranger Talents: At every odd level, the Ranger gains one talent from the following list:

Battle Fortitude (Ex): The Ranger gains +1 to all Fort Saves, and +3 hit points. He also gains a +1 bonus to his AC and DR 1/- against any attack from a Favored Enemy. The Ranger can select this Talent multiple times, and the bonuses from Battle Fortitude stack.

Empathy (Ex): The Ranger gains the ability to sway the attitudes of certain creatures. Chose one of the categories from the following list:

Natural: Animals, Vermin, Plants, and Fey
Unnatural: Aberrations and Ooze
Magical: Magical Beasts, Giants, and Dragons
Unliving: Undead and Constructs
Extradimensional: Elementals and Outsiders

Once chosen, all creatures of that type with an Intelligence of 1, 2, or 3 (but not mindless creatures with an Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma of 0) can be effected by the ranger with the Handle Animal Skill as if it were the Diplomacy Skill. Within DM discretion, if the creature he encounters can be convinced to be Helpful, then the Ranger may gain a temporary companion to act as an ally for his adventures. However, this loyalty has its limits. The ranger cannot have a companion whose hit dice exceed his Ranger level. He cannot have more then one companion at once. If the companion is treated poorly or injured to the point of being near death, it may leave if the ranger has not proven his loyalty to his companion. Furthermore, the companion will rarely leave its natural environment in order to follow the ranger. The Ranger may take this Talent more then once. Each time the Ranger selects this Talent, he gains the ability to effect a new type of creature. But he is always limited to one companion at a time.

Favored Enemy (Ex): A ranger may select a category of creature from the list below.

Natural: Animals, Vermin, Plants, and Fey
Unnatural: Aberrations and Ooze
Magical: Magical Beasts, Giants, and Dragons
Unliving: Undead and Constructs
Extradimensional: Elementals and Outsiders
Civilized: Humanoids
Uncivilized: Monstrous Humanoids

The ranger gains a bonus to all Skill checks involving or opposed by any creature with that type equal to 4 + 1/3 his ranger level. The ranger may take this Talent more then once. Each time the ranger selects this talent, he may select a new category of creatures. But the bonuses are always limited to 4 + 1/3 his ranger level.

Favored Combat Maneuvers (Ex): Against his Favored Enemies, the Ranger gains a bonus to all opposed checks (including Trip, Grapple, Bull Rush, etc) equal to his Favored Enemy Skill bonus. The Ranger must have at least one Favored Enemy in order to select this Talent.

Deadly Strike (Ex): The ranger gains +1d6 Skirmish damage. In addition, the ranger may ignore all precision damage restrictions against his favored enemies. This allows him to use Skirmish, Sneak Attack, and Sudden Strike (gained from any source) against favored enemies that are immune to critical hits, more then 30 feet away, and/or on every attack roll (including volley attacks such as those gained from Manyshot or Scorching Ray). The Ranger can select this Talent multiple times, and the Skirmish bonuses stack.

Nature's Blessing (Sp): The ranger may select a ranger or druid spell with a spell level equal to 1/3 his ranger class level (rounded down, minimum 1). He may not select a spell with a costly material component or xp cost. He can cast that spell as a Spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to his Wisdom bonus, using Wisdom as the primary casting attribute, with a caster level equal to 1/2 his Ranger level (rounded down, minimum 1). The Ranger must have a minimum Wisdom of 10 + the spell level in order to cast the spell. The Ranger can select this Talent multiple times, selecting a new spell each time he selects this Talent.

Stalker (Ex): Enemies attempting to track or follow the Ranger with Survival or Gather Information add 5 + the ranger's class level to the difficulty of all such checks. The ranger may extend this ability to allies that he is traveling with if they are willing to follow the ranger's lead. The ranger may choose to leave tracks behind (lowering the DC to the normal amount) if he wishes. In addition, in combats involving the ranger's favored enemies, the ranger may still surprise those enemies that are not aware of his presence, even if his allies otherwise alert them. Thus, if his party is not using Hide and Move Silently (or does so less effectively then the ranger) but the ranger is, the ranger still has an opportunity to participate in a Surprise Round if his enemies are not aware of him.

Swift Movement (Ex): The ranger gains +1 to his Reflex Save and +10 feet to his base land speed as long as he is unarmored or only wearing light armor, and is not encumbered. In addition, he gains +1 Initiative at the beginning of any combat that involves a Favored Enemy. The Ranger can select this Talent multiple times, and the bonuses from Swift Movement stack.

Swift Tracker (Ex): If the ranger possesses the Track feat, then he may move at his normal speed while following tracks without taking the normal -5 penalty. He takes only a -10 penalty (instead of the normal -20) when moving at up to twice normal speed while tracking. If he possesses the Urban Tracking feat, then he may make a Gather Information check for his Urban Tracking feat every half hour without taking the normal -5 penalty. If he has both feats, he gains both abilities.

Trapfinding (Ex): The ranger adds Disable Device and Open Locks to his class Skills, and gains the Trapfinding ability (as per the Rogue). The ranger is always on the lookout for danger, and is automatically entitled to make a Search check once per round as a free action for any trap that passes within 5 feet of him as if he were taking a full round action to actively look for it. (Though the DM should make this roll in secret, so that the player does not become aware of traps that he missed, and this roll should not be repeated for any particular trap that the ranger fails to notice).

Wise to Your Ways (Ex): The ranger adds his Wisdom bonus (if positive) to Saving Throws against all Extraordinary and Supernatural effects from his Favored Enemies. The Ranger must have at least one Favored Enemy in order to select this Talent.


Track: The ranger gains Track or Urban Tracking as a bonus feat at first level.

Bonus feats (Ex): At 2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th levels, the Ranger gains a bonus feat. He must otherwise meet the pre-requisites of the feat in order to qualify. The feat must be drawn from the following list: Combat Expertise, Die Hard, Dodge, Endurance, Far Shot, Great Fortitude, Greater Two Weapon Fighting, Improved Precise Shot, Improved Two Weapon Fighting, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Manyshot, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Quick Draw, Rapid Reload, Rapidshot, and Two Weapon Fighting.

Keen Vision (Ex): The Ranger gains low light vision and darkvision out to 60 feet. If he already has low light vision, then the Ranger can see three times as far as normal in dim light (instead of twice as far). If he already has darkvision, then the range of his darkvision is increased by 60 feet.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): The Ranger gains the Uncanny Dodge ability. If he already has or later gains the Uncanny Dodge ability from another class, he instead gains Improved Uncanny Dodge, and the levels of the classes stack to determine the maximum Rogue level needed to flank him.

Flawless Stride (Ex): The ranger ignores the movement penalty from any terrain, including magically created terrain. He also gains the pounce ability, and may make a full attack at the end of a Charge, and may make a Charge attack through difficult terrain. The ranger is still subject to other effects of difficult terrain (such as caltrops or the damage from lava), and may still have his movement reduced by other effects that aren't a part of the terrain he is moving on (such as Solid Fog).

Evasion (Ex): The ranger gains the Evasion ability. This ability only functions while wearing no armor or light armor and while unencumbered. If he already has or later gains this ability from another class, he instead gains Improved Evasion, with the same armor and encumbrance restrictions.

Scent (Ex): The ranger gains the Scent ability, which allows him to locate the square his enemy is in, track by scent, and recognize individuals by their scent.

Hide in Plain Sight (Ex): The ranger may use the Hide skill even when being observed.

Blindsight (Ex): The ranger gains blindsight out to 30 feet. If he has or later gains Blindsight from another source, it's range is extended by 30 feet.

Freedom of Movement (Su): The rangers gains the benefits of this spell as a continuous ability.

True Seeing (Su): The rangers gains the benefits of this spell as a continuous ability.

Killing Blow (Ex): Once per day before rolling to attack the ranger may designate any single attack roll against a single enemy as a Killing Blow. This attack roll ignores any miss chance that the enemy may possess from any source, including magic, psionics, soulmelds, stances, concealment, or total concealment. If this attack hits and deals damage, then the enemy must make a Fort Save or die. The DC for this save is equal to the ranger’s class level (DC 20 at Ranger level 20), or twice the ranger's class level if it is a Favored Enemy (DC 40 at ranger level 20). If the enemy passes this Save, it is still Dazed for 1 round. If the attack roll misses, the Killing Blow attempt for that day is wasted.

[gkathellar]

Here's my homebrew fix:

Person Man's Ranger Scout

{table=head]Level | BAB | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special
1st | + 1 | + 2 | + 2 | + 0 | Ranger Talent, Track
2nd | + 2 | + 3 | + 3 | + 0 | Bonus feat, Keen Vision
3rd | + 3 | + 3 | + 3 | + 1 | Ranger Talent
4th | + 4 | + 4 | + 4 | + 1 | Uncanny Dodge
5th | + 5 | + 4 | + 4 | + 1 | Ranger Talent
6th | + 6 | + 5 | + 5 | + 2 | Bonus feat, Flawless Stride
7th | + 7 | + 5 | + 5 | + 2 | Ranger Talent
8th | + 8 | + 6 | + 6 | + 2 | Evasion
9th | + 9 | + 6 | + 6 | + 3 | Ranger Talent
10th | + 10 | + 7 | + 7 | + 3 | Bonus feat, Scent
11th | + 11 | + 7 | + 7 | + 3 | Ranger Talent
12th | + 12 | + 8 | + 8 | + 4 | Hide in Plain Sight
13th | + 13 | + 8 | + 8 | + 4 | Ranger Talent
14th | + 14 | + 9 | + 9 | + 4 | Bonus feat, Blindsight
15th | + 15 | + 9 | + 9 | + 5 | Ranger Talent
16th | + 16 | + 10 | + 10 | + 5 | Freedom of Movement
17th | + 17 | + 10 | + 10 | + 5 | Ranger Talent
18th | + 18 | + 11 | + 11 | + 6 | Bonus feat, True Seeing
19th | + 19 | + 11 | + 11 | + 6 | Ranger Talent
20th | + 20 | + 12 | + 12 | + 6 | Killing Blow
[/table]

Class Skills: Balance, Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Handle Animal, Heal, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (any, taken individually), Listen, Move Silently, Profession, Ride, Search, Spot, Sense Motive, Speak Language, Survival, Swim, Tumble, Use Rope, and Use Magic Device.

Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) ×4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the ranger.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A ranger is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with light armor and shields (except tower shields).

Ranger Talents: At every odd level, the Ranger gains one talent from the following list:

Battle Fortitude (Ex): The Ranger gains +1 to all Fort Saves, and +3 hit points. and a +1 bonus to his AC against any attack from a Favored Enemy. The Ranger can select this Talent multiple times, and the bonuses from Battle Fortitude stack.

Empathy (Ex): The Ranger gains the ability to sway the attitudes of certain creatures. Chose one of the categories from the following list:

Natural: Animals, Vermin, Plants, and Fey
Unnatural: Aberrations and Ooze
Magical: Magical Beasts, Giants, and Dragons
Unliving: Undead and Constructs
Extradimensional: Elementals and Outsiders

Once chosen, all creatures of that type can be effected by the Ranger with the Handle Animal Skill as if it were the Diplomacy Skill. Within DM discretion, if the creature he encounters can be convinced to be Helpful, then the Ranger may gain a temporary companion to act as an ally for his adventures. However, this loyalty has its limits. The Ranger cannot have a companion whose hit dice exceed his Ranger level. He cannot have more then one companion at once. If the companion is treated poorly or injured to the point of being near death, it may leave if the Ranger has not proven his loyalty to his companion. Furthermore, the companion will rarely leave its natural environment in order to follow the Ranger. If he qualifies for the Leadership feat, he may choose to use it to make a companion a permanent cohort, again at the DM’s discretion. Such a cohort still follows the normal Leadership rules, however (hit dice progression, leaving if mistreated, etc). The Ranger may take this Talent more then once. Each time the Ranger selects this Talent, he gains the ability to effect a new type of creature. But he is always limited to one companion at a time.

Favored Enemy (Ex): A ranger may select a category of creature. He gains a bonus to all opposed checks (including Skill checks, Trip, Bull Rush, Grapple, etc) involving any creature with that type equal to 2 + 1/2 his ranger level.

Natural: Animals, Vermin, Plants, and Fey
Unnatural: Aberrations and Ooze
Magical: Magical Beasts, Giants, and Dragons
Unliving: Undead and Constructs
Extradimensional: Elementals and Outsiders
Civilized: Humanoids
Uncivilized: Monstrous Humanoids

The ranger may take this Talent more then once. Each time the ranger selects this talent, he may select a new category of creatures. But the bonus is always limited to 2 + 1/2 his ranger class level.

Deadly Strike (Ex): The ranger gains +1d6 damage to any attack against any Favored Enemy. If the Ranger uses Manyshot or a similar volley effect, this bonus applies to every attack roll. The Ranger can select this Talent multiple times, and the damage bonuses stack. The Ranger must have at least one Favored Enemy in order to select this Talent.

Nature's Blessing (Sp): The ranger may select a ranger or druid spell with a spell level equal to 1/3 his Ranger level (rounded down, minimum 1). He can cast that spell as a Spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to his Wisdom bonus, using Wisdom as the primary casting attribute, with a caster level equal to 1/2 his Ranger level (rounded down, minimum 1). The Ranger must have a minimum Wisdom of 10 + the spell level in order to cast the spell. The Ranger can select this Talent multiple times, selecting a new spell each time he selects this Talent.

Stalker (Ex): Enemies attempting to track or follow the Ranger with Survival or Gather Information add 5 + the ranger's class level to the difficulty of all such checks. The ranger may extend this ability to allies that he is traveling with if they are willing to follow the ranger's lead. The ranger may choose to leave tracks behind (lowering the DC to the normal amount) if he wishes. In addition, in combats involving the ranger's favored enemies, the Ranger may still surprise those enemies that are not aware of his presence even if his allies otherwise alert them. Thus, his party is not using Hide and Move Silently but the Ranger is, he still has an opportunity to participate in a Surprise Round if his enemies are not aware of him.

Swift Movement (Ex): The ranger gains +1 to his Reflex Save and +5 feet to his base land speed as long as he is unarmored or only wearing light armor, and is not encumbered. In addition, he gains +1 Initiative at the beginning of any combat that involves a Favored Enemy. The Ranger can select this Talent multiple times, and the bonuses from Swift Movement stack.

Swift Tracker (Ex): If the ranger possesses the Track feat, then he may move at his normal speed while following tracks without taking the normal -5 penalty. He takes only a -10 penalty (instead of the normal -20) when moving at up to twice normal speed while tracking. If he possesses the Urban Tracking feat, then he may make a Gather Information check for his Urban Tracking feat every half hour without taking the normal -5 penalty. If he has both feats, he gains both abilities.

Trapfinding (Ex): The ranger adds Disable Device and Open Locks to his class Skills, and gains the Trapfinding ability (as per the Rogue).

Wise to Your Ways (Ex): The ranger adds his Wisdom bonus (if positive) to Saving Throws against all Extraordinary and Supernatural effects from his Favored Enemies. The Ranger must have at least one Favored Enemy in order to select this Talent.


Track: The ranger gains Track or Urban Tracking as a bonus feat at first level.

Bonus feats (Ex): At 2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th levels, the Ranger gains a bonus feat. He must otherwise meet the pre-requisites of the feat in order to qualify. The feat must be drawn from the following list: Combat Expertise, Die Hard, Dodge, Endurance, Far Shot, Great Fortitude, Greater Two Weapon Fighting, Improved Precise Shot, Improved Two Weapon Fighting, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Manyshot, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Quick Draw, Rapid Reload, Rapidshot, and Two Weapon Fighting.

Keen Vision (Ex): The Ranger gains low light vision and darkvision out to 60 feet. If he already has low light vision, then the Ranger can see three times as far as normal in dim light (instead of twice as far). If he already has darkvision, then the range of his darkvision is increased by 60 feet.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): The Ranger gains the Uncanny Dodge ability. If he already has the Uncanny Dodge ability from another class, he instead gains Improved Uncanny Dodge, and the levels of the classes stack to determine the maximum Rogue level needed to flank him.

Flawless Stride (Ex): The ranger ignores the movement penalty from any terrain, including magically created terrain. He also gains the pounce ability, and may make a full attack at the end of a Charge, and may make a Charge attack through difficult terrain. The ranger is still subject to other effects of difficult terrain (such as caltrops or the damage from lava), and may still have his movement reduced by other effects that aren't a part of the terrain he is moving on (such as Solid Fog).

Evasion (Ex): The ranger gains the Evasion ability. This ability only functions while wearing no armor or light armor and while unencumbered. If he already has this ability from another class, he instead gains Improved Evasion, with the same armor and encumbrance restrictions.

Scent (Ex): The ranger gains the Scent ability, which allows him to locate the square his enemy is in, track by scent, and recognize individuals by their scent.

Hide in Plain Sight (Ex): The ranger may use the Hide skill even when being observed.

Blindsight (Ex): The ranger gains blindsight out to 30 feet. If he has or later gains Blindsight from another source, it's range is extended by 30 feet.

Freedom of Movement (Su): The rangers gains this spell as a continuous ability.

True Seeing (Su): The rangers gains this spell as a continuous ability.

Killing Blow (Ex): Once per day before rolling to attack the Ranger may designate any single attack roll against a single enemy as a Killing Blow. This attack roll ignores any miss chance that the enemy may possess from any source, including concealment or total concealment. If this attack hits and deals damage, then the enemy must make a Fort Save or die. The DC for this save is equal to the Ranger’s class level (DC 20 at Ranger level 20), or twice the Ranger class level if it is a Favored Enemy (DC 40 at Ranger level 20). If the enemy passes this Save, it is still dazed for 1 round. If the attack roll misses, the Killing Blow attempt for that day is wasted.

... I'm impressed. I've been looking for a solid non-ToB, non-magical ranger fix for some time. Consider this yoinked.

[Incanur]

The power of Dragon Wild Shape lies in its versatility more than anything else. Select whatever sort of energy immunities, movement types, and special abilities you need for the hour. Turn into a silver dragon and walk on clouds! Turn into a deep dragon and get true seeing! Turn into a steel dragon for spell resistance! And on and on.

The other overwhelming advantage of wild shape in general comes from replacing Str and Dex. The wild shape ranger has high Wis and/or Int with a pile of skills. Even if this character only turns into basic animal forms for mediocre combat ability, they're bringing a lot to the table overall.

[NineThePuma]

Here's my homebrew fix:

Person Man's Ranger Scout

{table=head]Level | BAB | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special
1st | + 1 | + 2 | + 2 | + 0 | Ranger Talent, Track
2nd | + 2 | + 3 | + 3 | + 0 | Bonus feat, Keen Vision
3rd | + 3 | + 3 | + 3 | + 1 | Ranger Talent
4th | + 4 | + 4 | + 4 | + 1 | Uncanny Dodge
5th | + 5 | + 4 | + 4 | + 1 | Ranger Talent
6th | + 6 | + 5 | + 5 | + 2 | Bonus feat, Flawless Stride
7th | + 7 | + 5 | + 5 | + 2 | Ranger Talent
8th | + 8 | + 6 | + 6 | + 2 | Evasion
9th | + 9 | + 6 | + 6 | + 3 | Ranger Talent
10th | + 10 | + 7 | + 7 | + 3 | Bonus feat, Scent
11th | + 11 | + 7 | + 7 | + 3 | Ranger Talent
12th | + 12 | + 8 | + 8 | + 4 | Hide in Plain Sight
13th | + 13 | + 8 | + 8 | + 4 | Ranger Talent
14th | + 14 | + 9 | + 9 | + 4 | Bonus feat, Blindsight
15th | + 15 | + 9 | + 9 | + 5 | Ranger Talent
16th | + 16 | + 10 | + 10 | + 5 | Freedom of Movement
17th | + 17 | + 10 | + 10 | + 5 | Ranger Talent
18th | + 18 | + 11 | + 11 | + 6 | Bonus feat, True Seeing
19th | + 19 | + 11 | + 11 | + 6 | Ranger Talent
20th | + 20 | + 12 | + 12 | + 6 | Killing Blow
[/table]

Class Skills: Balance, Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Handle Animal, Heal, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (any, taken individually), Listen, Move Silently, Profession, Ride, Search, Spot, Sense Motive, Speak Language, Survival, Swim, Tumble, Use Rope, and Use Magic Device.

Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) ×4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the ranger.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A ranger is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with light armor and shields (except tower shields).

Ranger Talents: At every odd level, the Ranger gains one talent from the following list:

Battle Fortitude (Ex): The Ranger gains +1 to all Fort Saves, and +3 hit points. and a +1 bonus to his AC against any attack from a Favored Enemy. The Ranger can select this Talent multiple times, and the bonuses from Battle Fortitude stack.

Empathy (Ex): The Ranger gains the ability to sway the attitudes of certain creatures. Chose one of the categories from the following list:

Natural: Animals, Vermin, Plants, and Fey
Unnatural: Aberrations and Ooze
Magical: Magical Beasts, Giants, and Dragons
Unliving: Undead and Constructs
Extradimensional: Elementals and Outsiders

Once chosen, all creatures of that type can be effected by the Ranger with the Handle Animal Skill as if it were the Diplomacy Skill. Within DM discretion, if the creature he encounters can be convinced to be Helpful, then the Ranger may gain a temporary companion to act as an ally for his adventures. However, this loyalty has its limits. The Ranger cannot have a companion whose hit dice exceed his Ranger level. He cannot have more then one companion at once. If the companion is treated poorly or injured to the point of being near death, it may leave if the Ranger has not proven his loyalty to his companion. Furthermore, the companion will rarely leave its natural environment in order to follow the Ranger. If he qualifies for the Leadership feat, he may choose to use it to make a companion a permanent cohort, again at the DM’s discretion. Such a cohort still follows the normal Leadership rules, however (hit dice progression, leaving if mistreated, etc). The Ranger may take this Talent more then once. Each time the Ranger selects this Talent, he gains the ability to effect a new type of creature. But he is always limited to one companion at a time.

Favored Enemy (Ex): A ranger may select a category of creature. He gains a bonus to all opposed checks (including Skill checks, Trip, Bull Rush, Grapple, etc) involving any creature with that type equal to 2 + 1/2 his ranger level.

Natural: Animals, Vermin, Plants, and Fey
Unnatural: Aberrations and Ooze
Magical: Magical Beasts, Giants, and Dragons
Unliving: Undead and Constructs
Extradimensional: Elementals and Outsiders
Civilized: Humanoids
Uncivilized: Monstrous Humanoids

The ranger may take this Talent more then once. Each time the ranger selects this talent, he may select a new category of creatures. But the bonus is always limited to 2 + 1/2 his ranger class level.

Deadly Strike (Ex): The ranger gains +1d6 damage to any attack against any Favored Enemy. If the Ranger uses Manyshot or a similar volley effect, this bonus applies to every attack roll. The Ranger can select this Talent multiple times, and the damage bonuses stack. The Ranger must have at least one Favored Enemy in order to select this Talent.

Nature's Blessing (Sp): The ranger may select a ranger or druid spell with a spell level equal to 1/3 his Ranger level (rounded down, minimum 1). He can cast that spell as a Spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to his Wisdom bonus, using Wisdom as the primary casting attribute, with a caster level equal to 1/2 his Ranger level (rounded down, minimum 1). The Ranger must have a minimum Wisdom of 10 + the spell level in order to cast the spell. The Ranger can select this Talent multiple times, selecting a new spell each time he selects this Talent.

Stalker (Ex): Enemies attempting to track or follow the Ranger with Survival or Gather Information add 5 + the ranger's class level to the difficulty of all such checks. The ranger may extend this ability to allies that he is traveling with if they are willing to follow the ranger's lead. The ranger may choose to leave tracks behind (lowering the DC to the normal amount) if he wishes. In addition, in combats involving the ranger's favored enemies, the Ranger may still surprise those enemies that are not aware of his presence even if his allies otherwise alert them. Thus, his party is not using Hide and Move Silently but the Ranger is, he still has an opportunity to participate in a Surprise Round if his enemies are not aware of him.

Swift Movement (Ex): The ranger gains +1 to his Reflex Save and +5 feet to his base land speed as long as he is unarmored or only wearing light armor, and is not encumbered. In addition, he gains +1 Initiative at the beginning of any combat that involves a Favored Enemy. The Ranger can select this Talent multiple times, and the bonuses from Swift Movement stack.

Swift Tracker (Ex): If the ranger possesses the Track feat, then he may move at his normal speed while following tracks without taking the normal -5 penalty. He takes only a -10 penalty (instead of the normal -20) when moving at up to twice normal speed while tracking. If he possesses the Urban Tracking feat, then he may make a Gather Information check for his Urban Tracking feat every half hour without taking the normal -5 penalty. If he has both feats, he gains both abilities.

Trapfinding (Ex): The ranger adds Disable Device and Open Locks to his class Skills, and gains the Trapfinding ability (as per the Rogue).

Wise to Your Ways (Ex): The ranger adds his Wisdom bonus (if positive) to Saving Throws against all Extraordinary and Supernatural effects from his Favored Enemies. The Ranger must have at least one Favored Enemy in order to select this Talent.


Track: The ranger gains Track or Urban Tracking as a bonus feat at first level.

Bonus feats (Ex): At 2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th levels, the Ranger gains a bonus feat. He must otherwise meet the pre-requisites of the feat in order to qualify. The feat must be drawn from the following list: Combat Expertise, Die Hard, Dodge, Endurance, Far Shot, Great Fortitude, Greater Two Weapon Fighting, Improved Precise Shot, Improved Two Weapon Fighting, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Manyshot, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Quick Draw, Rapid Reload, Rapidshot, and Two Weapon Fighting.

Keen Vision (Ex): The Ranger gains low light vision and darkvision out to 60 feet. If he already has low light vision, then the Ranger can see three times as far as normal in dim light (instead of twice as far). If he already has darkvision, then the range of his darkvision is increased by 60 feet.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): The Ranger gains the Uncanny Dodge ability. If he already has the Uncanny Dodge ability from another class, he instead gains Improved Uncanny Dodge, and the levels of the classes stack to determine the maximum Rogue level needed to flank him.

Flawless Stride (Ex): The ranger ignores the movement penalty from any terrain, including magically created terrain. He also gains the pounce ability, and may make a full attack at the end of a Charge, and may make a Charge attack through difficult terrain. The ranger is still subject to other effects of difficult terrain (such as caltrops or the damage from lava), and may still have his movement reduced by other effects that aren't a part of the terrain he is moving on (such as Solid Fog).

Evasion (Ex): The ranger gains the Evasion ability. This ability only functions while wearing no armor or light armor and while unencumbered. If he already has this ability from another class, he instead gains Improved Evasion, with the same armor and encumbrance restrictions.

Scent (Ex): The ranger gains the Scent ability, which allows him to locate the square his enemy is in, track by scent, and recognize individuals by their scent.

Hide in Plain Sight (Ex): The ranger may use the Hide skill even when being observed.

Blindsight (Ex): The ranger gains blindsight out to 30 feet. If he has or later gains Blindsight from another source, it's range is extended by 30 feet.

Freedom of Movement (Su): The rangers gains this spell as a continuous ability.

True Seeing (Su): The rangers gains this spell as a continuous ability.

Killing Blow (Ex): Once per day before rolling to attack the Ranger may designate any single attack roll against a single enemy as a Killing Blow. This attack roll ignores any miss chance that the enemy may possess from any source, including concealment or total concealment. If this attack hits and deals damage, then the enemy must make a Fort Save or die. The DC for this save is equal to the Ranger’s class level (DC 20 at Ranger level 20), or twice the Ranger class level if it is a Favored Enemy (DC 40 at Ranger level 20). If the enemy passes this Save, it is still dazed for 1 round. If the attack roll misses, the Killing Blow attempt for that day is wasted.

Don't take this the wrong way, but I demand that you post all your fixes somewhere so that they can be used. I recall that your Magitech Templar turned up in a random thread in here before it got to the homebrew forum.

You're so awesome that such homebrew might burn out minds, but that doesn't stop me from wanting it.

[Grendus]

I'll join the crowd saying that there aren't many fixes because they're a fairly decent class. A little puny in core, but SpC gives them some awesome spells, and they have plenty of access to ACF's that give them utility. Of course, they need help to cap out their potential (look up Saphs Seven Kingdoms campaign to see exactly how ridiculous a ranger can get when a party of T1's sees her as a force multiplier), and archery in 3.5 is poorly supported, but archery focused rangers aren't that bad. Wild shape rangers are downright scary powerful, go into the MoMF PrC and maybe a little Warshaper for immunities.

I've always thought that swapping the Ranger and Druid Animal Companion class features would make sense. Rangers are the more martial of the two, after all, it would make sense for them to have a more powerful animal companion. Plus druids are already overpowered, they really don't need such a powerful companion, they do just fine with Wild Shape, Spellcasting, and a moderate martial chassis.

[Telonius]

I'll join the chorus - Ranger is really not that bad of a class. Full BAB, has a spell list, has an animal companion, lots of nice and useful skills. Its biggest problems are that its niches (TWF and Archery) aren't really that well supported by the mechanics.

Part of my own houserule half-fix for Rangers is contained in a houserule Feat fix. TWF scales with level, to include all iteratives. Improved TWF lessens the total penalty by 1 on each attack; Greater by an additional 1. So a TWF Ranger is going to be getting 20/20/15/15/10/10/5/5 at level 20, if he's using a light weapon in his off-hand (and not benefitting from other feats, etc). This is a decent boost in damage.

The other part of my fix is that Ranger and Druid trade animal companions. This is where the damage output really starts to look nice.

Unfortunately I still haven't come up with a good, easy fix for Rangers who pick the Archery combat style. Archery doesn't get nearly the support it ought to in 3.5.

[Person_Man]

Don't take this the wrong way, but I demand that you post all your fixes somewhere so that they can be used. I recall that your Magitech Templar turned up in a random thread in here before it got to the homebrew forum.

You're so awesome that such homebrew might burn out minds, but that doesn't stop me from wanting it.

I take it as a compliment, so thank you.

But I honestly don't have the time to polish and format and post everything I've written. I have homebrew fixes for pretty much every Tier 4 or lower base class, a variety of personal projects, and a close friend who freelances for Paizo who bounce ideas off of (and thus don't post online, because they might be published). I'm happy to post homebrew fon request though, and generally check this board a couple times a week.

[Optimator]

...

Who thought this was a good idea?

I know, right? It has high prereqs for what it's worth, but it's absolutely nothing a 12th level Druid wouldn't already have.