Help me build a Wizard/Ranger hybrid!

[krackenjack]

Had an idea for a character since 3.5 days that I'd like to finally build; just not sure how.

Concept: Luball is a wizard devoted to study and his craft. More specifically, he is a field researcher - literally - exploring the natural (and sometimes supernatural) world to tease out the magical potential in each feather, claw, pelt, and tooth. Which is better for enchanting armor that resists acid - the blood of a green dragon or bile from an ankheg? If your artificer knows you can thank Luball. But he won't be interested in your thanks; he shares his discoveries only to fund the next expedition which is, itself, only a means to restock his lab.

This concept owes a lot to the "esoteric spell components" and wondering who tested them all. I envision it as a Wizard with the hunting/favored enemy abilities of a Ranger. Not sure in Pathfinder if it would make more sense as a multiclass, complex build; a PrC; an archetype; or a new hybrid class.

I did look at Alchemist, especially the Preservationist and Vivisectionist archetypes. Those are close, but not quite what I had in mind. Plus I have this general...well...I don't like Alchemists. :) Other arcane classes would be fine - Arcanist feels like it has the right flavor.

I also really like the Arcane Heirophant (from 3.5's Races of the Wild) Companion Familiar feature that lets one creature be both your animal companion and familiar. Basically I like the idea of this wizard having a wolf, lion, eagle or other similarly rugged familiar.

Thoughts?

[Pyromancer999]

Doesn't have the Ranger abilities, but going Arcanist(Collegiate Initiate) into Thuvian Alchemist should fulfill the fluff.

[CharonsHelper]

You could just play a wizard or any other arcane class with the Variant Multi-Class of Ranger.


A character who chooses ranger as his secondary class gains the following secondary class features.


Track: At 3rd level, he gains the track class feature, treating his character level as his effective ranger level.

Favored Enemy: At 7th level, he gains the 1st favored enemy class feature.

Favored Terrain: At 11th level, he gains the 1st favored terrain class feature.

Expert Tracker: At 15th level, he gains the woodland stride and swift tracker class features.

Quarry: At 19th level, he gains the quarry class feature.


It gives up the feats which they would normally gain at each of the above levels. (3/7/11/15/19)

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by krackenjack
This concept owes a lot to the "esoteric spell components" and wondering who tested them all.

I really like this concept, enough that I want to build it myself. :smalltongue:


Originally Posted by CharonsHelper
*VMC Ranger*

I figured someone would recommend VMC, but that doesn't give favored enemy until seventh level, and at that point the progression is so weak it hardly seems worth it.


Originally Posted by krackenjack
I envision it as a Wizard with the hunting/favored enemy abilities of a Ranger.

A couple levels of hunter would provide tracking and an animal companion. Favored enemy seems less vital to the concept, unless you wanted to select magical beasts for a slight edge in bringing them down.

[krackenjack]

Thanks all for the feedback!

I like the VMC Ranger as a template. AAlso, someone pointed me to the Slayer hybrid class - which I usually try to forget about. But the Studied Target ability is almost exactly what I'm looking for as the heart of this concept. That and the "Companion Familiar". So here are the features I want:

- Add Survival to skills
- Track
- Companion Familiar
- Studied Target
- Bonus Feats (to represent skill using arcane ingredients)
- (Possibly) Eschew Materials

Thinking about some ability at higher levels that allows use of special ingredients instead of level increases for metamagic, but that might be too much. Also thinking about modifying Studied Target to make it more about studying books/notes.

So for critique, here's a proposed archetype:

Arcane Hunter


The Arcane Hunter studies mundane and magical creatures as diligently as their tomes and scrolls. By observing creatures in their natural habitat - and bringing them (or bits of them) back to the lab for study - the mage gains insights and unknown lore that improves their own magical abilities. Which they then use to hunt increasingly larger prey.

Class Skills: An arcane hunter adds Survival to the list of class skills.

Arcane School: An arcane hunter does not select a school.

Companion Familiar: An arcane hunter must select a familiar for their arcane bond. The arcane hunter may select their familiar from the list of animal companions available to a druid of equivalent level. Use your class level to determine the companion familiar's bonus Hit Dice, natural armor adjustment, and Strength/Dexterity adjustment as per the animal companion chart as well as the Intelligence bonus and special abilities as per the familiar chart. The Hit Dice, hit points, attack bonus, saving throws, feats, and skills of the familiar companion are determined as normal for an animal companion. Due to the companion's unusual Intelligence score, it may very well have more skill points than other animals of its kind. The companion is a magical beast (augmented animal), but you can bestow harmless spells on your companion as if it were an animal instead of a magical beast. If your companion is killed or dismissed, you can summon a new familiar companion by performing a ceremony requiring 24 hours of uninterrupted prayer. [What's missing? Are Tricks redundant with the Intelligence Score? No multiattack?]

Researched Target: An arcane hunter can study a creature in their notes to gain bonuses against them. When the mage prepares spells for the day they can select a creature type from the ranger's favored enemy list. The mage gains a +1 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks attempted against creatures of that type, and a +1 bonus on weapon (or weapon-like spell) attack and damage rolls against it. The DCs of spells and class abilities used against those creatures increases by 1. An arcane hunter can only maintain these bonuses against one creature type at a time; these bonuses remain in effect until the mage studies a new target. At 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th levels, the bonuses increase by 1. In addition, at each such interval, the slayer is able to maintain these bonuses against an additional creature type at the same time.

Track: The arcane hunter gains Track as a ranger of the same level.

Quarry: At 11th level the arcane hunter can, as a standard action, denote one target within line of sight as their quarry. Whenever following the tracks of the quarry, an arcane hunter can take 10 on Survival skill checks while moving at normal speed, without penalty. In addition, they receive a +2 insight bonus on attack rolls made against their quarry, and all critical threats are automatically confirmed. An arcane hunter can have no more than one quarry at a time and the creature's type must correspond to one of their current Researched Target types. The mage can dismiss this effect at any time as a free action, but cannot select a new quarry for 24 hours. If the mage sees proof that the quarry is dead, they can select a new quarry after waiting 1 hour.


Thoughts: I think this does everything I had imagined; my biggest concern (other than "will it work?") is does it get too much too soon? On the other hand, Track isn't very powerful, standard Wizards already get two school abilities at 1st, and all the abilities gained early are based on other classes' 1st level abilities.

What do you think?

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by krackenjack
So for critique, here's a proposed archetype:

This is interesting, and I expect you'll get some constructive comments, but I would also recommend posting this in the homebrew section (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?15-Homebrew-Design) for better exposure and comprehensive critique.

[krackenjack]

Thank you for the suggestion. I'll do that!