Ritual Caster Feat, Cross-Class Spells, & Spell Recording

[Pandawaffle]

I am devising a Guardian-of-the-Forest archetype ranger character. The premise being that this is a character who actually could have survived as an independent hermit for years in a dangerous forest. He would be able to prey upon native beasts and humanoids that enter the forest, as well as being able to avoid the more powerful creatures that were "higher up the food chain" than him. I'd like him to have a lot of recyclable ability in the form of rituals.
I have done my research on how I might go about doing this, but I am not sure about two factors: Cross-Class Spells & Spell Recording.

In my current plan I take the Ritual Caster feat (druid) as a 1st level ranger. I choose 2 spells from

Detect Magic
Detect Poison and Disease
Purify Food and Drink
Speak with Animals
Guiding Hand

Prerequisite: Intelligence or Wisdom 13 or higher

You have learned a number of spells that you can cast as rituals. These spells are written in a ritual book, which you must have in hand while casting one of them.

When you choose this feat, you acquire a ritual book holding two 1st-level spells of your choice. Choose one of the following classes: bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, warlock, or wizard. You must choose your spells from that class's spell list, and the spells you choose must have the ritual tag. The class you choose also determines your spellcasting ability for these spells: Charisma for bard, sorcerer, or warlock; Wisdom for cleric or druid; or Intelligence for wizard.

If you come across a spell in written form, such as a magical spell scroll or a wizard's spellbook, you might be able to add it to your ritual book. The spell must be on the spell list for the class you chose, the spell's level can be no higher than half your level (rounded up), and it must have the ritual tag. The process of copying the spell into your ritual book takes 2 hours per level of the spell, and costs 50 gp per level. The cost represents material components you expend as you experiment with the spell to master it, as well as the fine inks you need to record it.
@ 2nd level I pick 2 spells to learn from the ranger spell list -- some of which have the ritual tag

Alarm
Detect Magic
Detect Poison and Disease
Speak with Animals

Rangers spells are not written down; they are cast spontaneously. Let's assume for a second that I can record the spells I know into a magically-legible fashion (more on that below), can I then scribe those spells into my ritual book...

So long as they overlap with the druid spell list (Detect Magic, Detect Poison and Disease, Speak with Animals)?
So long as they overlap with the druid spell list and I was able to acquire them in their druid-spell form? AKA in Druidic with knowledge of what 'flair' druids put on the spell.

Now about the recording of my ranger spells: In XGtE on p.133 the requirements for scribing a spell are described


A character must have proficiency with the Arcana skill as well as the spell prepared/known and must have the material components required to cast the spell.
The cost to scribe a spell scroll is in gold required and time taken. See chart below, all Cantrips scribed are cast as if the caster were 1st level.



Level
Time
Cost


Cantrip
1 Day
15gp


1st
1 Day
25gp


2nd
3 Days
250gp


3rd
1 Week
500gp


4th
2 Weeks
2,500gp


5th
4 Weeks
5,000gp


6th
8 Weeks
15,000gp


(Goes on up to 9th level spells)

Does there need to be an intermediate recording of the ranger spell before adding it to the ritual book? or could I directly scribe it there?

Know ranger spell > Scribe ranger spell (with costs) > Copy into ritual book (with costs)? or
Know ranger spell > Copy into ritual book (with costs)?

I am fairly confident of this, but once I have a spell in my ritual book, replacing it as a spell known with another spell when I level up (e.g. Speak with Animals for Hunter's Mark), only prohibits me from casting the spell spontaneously, and does not affect my casting of it as a ritual.

[Aaron Underhand]

Quick answer... As your DM

Longer answer.. I'm playing a bard 7/wiz 1 at present. Wiz was my second level. At various times I have scribed bard spells into scrolls, using downtime guidance from Wizards. Once you do that you can then take the chance to scribe into your spell book. Something like this may work.

RAW once you have it in your spell book you can forget the spell at level up. That has never been questioned...

[ThePolarBear]

Rangers spells are not written down; they are cast spontaneously.

Dropping the 3rd edition baggage: Rangers know spells and can cast spells that are known to them. They do not have a spellbook-like class feature.



If you come across a spell in written form [...] The spell must be on the spell list for the class you chose, the spell's level can be no higher than half your level (rounded up), and it must have the ritual tag.


A character must have proficiency with the Arcana skill as well as the spell prepared/known and must have the material components required to cast the spell.

Let's assume for a second that I can record the spells I know into a magically-legible fashion [...]

You can if you are proficient in Arcana and meet the gold and time requirement. Being a Ranger means you know the spells learned by levelling, which clears the condition that i think you are stuck to.


So long as they overlap with the druid spell list (Detect Magic, Detect Poison and Disease, Speak with Animals)?

Yes. There's no requirement anywhere that a spell from a spell scroll has to be from a source that is the same as the one that you use normally to cast to be able to copy it.


Does there need to be an intermediate recording of the ranger spell before adding it to the ritual book?

The spell has to be in written form to be able to be copied. So, yes.


I am fairly confident of this, but once I have a spell in my ritual book, replacing it as a spell known with another spell when I level up (e.g. Speak with Animals for Hunter's Mark), only prohibits me from casting the spell spontaneously, and does not affect my casting of it as a ritual.

Dropping 3e baggage: You no longer know the spell and can no longer cast it by spending a spell slot. You still have the spell in the ritual book, and can use the spell as a ritual following the rules for casting rituals and the feat Ritual Caster.

"Dropping 3e baggage": It simply means that getting used to think in a way that is appropriate for the edition will help in settling any doubts about that edition, is not meant as an offence.

Also, DMs have different views and, if consulted, may allow for steps to be skipped, like the Ranger -> scroll -> book one, for example, or may require the spell to be on a "druid scroll", meaning to have been scribed by a druid.