Ranger ACFs

[Seerow]

A guy in my current group is playing a Ranger, but isn't interested in an animal companion. I'm pretty sure there's a couple of ACFs that replace it, but I'm not sure what they are or where. Anyone know off hand able to help out with this?

[0nimaru]

Here are all of them, all at once.

Link (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19872054/Alternative_Class_Features_III)

[FMArthur]

Mystic Ranger! It's the best ranger ever.

[Seerow]

Here are all of them, all at once.

Link (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19872054/Alternative_Class_Features_III)

Convenient!

Thank you.

[Rhaegar14]

There's Distracting Shot in PHB II; it makes it so that if you hit any enemy with an attack, until the start of your next turn anyone else is considered to be flanking that enemy.

Alternatively, if he doesn't want the companion because it sucks, you could take the Pathfinder approach and treat him as a druid of three levels lower, rather than a druid of half his level.

[Coidzor]

Alternatively, if he doesn't want the companion because it sucks, you could take the Pathfinder approach and treat him as a druid of three levels lower, rather than a druid of half his level.

Indeed, then he can take a feat and have a full animal companion. Or Wild cohort and have two fairly good ones.

But if he really don't want one... Mystic Ranger's the best deal for the exchange. Especially combo'd with Wildshaping variant rangers and the feat sword of the arcane order and the ACF that trades out the first favored enemy for favored enemy arcanist and the other one that axes track in favor of trapfinding.

Make the Bard blush until he goes Sublime Chord.

[Seerow]

Yeah, he just really didn't want an animal companion. He's probably the least optimization prone person in our group, he just didn't like the idea of an animal following him around, even if it was going to be a decent fighter. (Which is kind of sad, we're running with a 3 man group at the moment and some more front line support wouldn't be totally wasted)


Mystic Ranger is nice, but we generally avoid dragon magazine. I'll bring it up with the DM to try for an exception, otherwise the Shooting Star sub levels seems like the next best option, followed by a inverted Celestial Slayer (made into a Fiendish Slayer), and last option is Distracting Shot.


Either way there are enough options there that we should get at least one approved.


Edit: Apparently Mystic Ranger is a separate class and not a set of ACFs anyway, so he can't really take that. (It's an ongoing campaign and he's already got levels in regular ranger)

[Coidzor]

Edit: Apparently Mystic Ranger is a separate class and not a set of ACFs anyway, so he can't really take that. (It's an ongoing campaign and he's already got levels in regular ranger)

You're allowing retraining so.... yeah. What's the point of that distintion?

[Dictum Mortuum]

Mystic Ranger is awesome, but maybe it's not what he's shooting for. I mean most of my semi-optimizer buddies usually take alternative class features that give up spellcasting, just to have peace of mind (apparently picking spells is a headache for some people).

Distracting shot is pretty straightforward and fits the "archer" archetype.

[Coidzor]

I mean most of my semi-optimizer buddies usually take alternative class features that give up spellcasting, just to have peace of mind (apparently picking spells is a headache for some people).

I'm going to head desk now, I don't know when I'll stop.

The thought of people not having you rub off on them is just too intense.

[Seerow]

You're allowing retraining so.... yeah. What's the point of that distintion?

When did I say we're allowing retraining? We're looking at what ACF to take for his next level to replace the animal companion. We're not exactly playing a high level game here.

[Coidzor]

Eh, once one has displayed the mental flexibility to apply an ACF mid-game rather than beforehand...

[Seerow]

Eh, once one has displayed the mental flexibility to apply an ACF mid-game rather than beforehand...

But that's the point, ACFs can be chosen at level up, because they're not a totally different class. You see at your next level that you're getting a feature you don't want, you can choose to take an ACF if one exists. This is different from the Mystic Ranger which is in fact a different class, so would need to be picked beforehand.

[Coidzor]

But that's the point, ACFs can be chosen at level up, because they're not a totally different class.

As far as I know, almost everyone forgets that tidbit, so they fall into the same corner by association. But, whatever.

[FMArthur]

One would force a retroactive change for something already in play while the other is just like a normal level-up choice like selecting spells. Mystic Ranger is a variant that affects every level of the class, and he's already got levels in Ranger. Alternate classes like this are very different from ACFs in the way you have to build the character. I don't see how you could 'forget' the difference between a new option and a change that requires you to erase entirely some things the character already has.

[hex0]

I don't see how you could 'forget' the difference between a new option and a change that requires you to erase entirely some things the character already has.

Ask the DM. I'd not like you are changing from a Paladin to a Paladin of Slaughter! You are just...getting mystical.

[FMArthur]

Ask the DM. I'd not like you are changing from a Paladin to a Paladin of Slaughter! You are just...getting mystical.

You are responding to a point I'm not even making here. :smallconfused:

Coidzor was saying that the difference between an ACF and a class variant is small enough that most people won't even notice the distinction. I was disagreeing with that because in the very case we are talking about, an existing level 3 Ranger choosing ACFs for next level, the difference is noticeable because he loses some of the stuff he already had. It's the difference between a retcon and a new development.