Quintessential Ranger II, The - Advanced Tactics

Stalking the deepest wildlands and on the most remote frontiers, there can be found men and women of a breed apart. Owing allegiance only to themselves, they keep the civilized lands safe from marauding bandits, hungry beasts and evil raiders. They hunt so that others might eat and they explore so that others might settle in newly discovered lands. These men and women, these trailblazers and survivors of the wilds, are called rangers.

The ranger is the ultimate wilderness warrior, using his knowledge of woodscraft to flow like a shadow through the sylvan depths. He is the hunter, the avenger and the savior of the frontier, wielding his sword and his bow to protect settlers and to destroy the evil that lurks in the darkest corners of the world. But the ranger is also a guide and an explorer, bringing the light of civilization to unsettled wastelands and helping pilgrims find their promised land.

Perhaps then, the best word to describe the ranger is a simple one: the ranger is a hero.

The Advanced Tactics series takes an advanced look at the whole range of class and racial sourcebooks from Mongoose Publishing, all designed to greatly widen a player’s options for his character within the d20 games system. More than simple continuations, the second series of Quintessential books slot seamlessly into any fantasy-based campaign, giving advanced alternatives for characters of one class or race within the game, allowing both players and Games Masters the chance to give mid- and high-level characters new options without overpowering or unbalancing the game as a whole. The Advanced Tactics series will not necessarily allow players to make their characters even better, but they will be able to do a lot more than they ever thought possible before.

This book, the Quintessential Ranger II, is a celebration of all that the ranger is, all that he has been and all that he can be. Inside this sourcebook, you will find page after page of all-new material, every bit of it intended to give the ranger the edge he needs to overcome any challenges the Games Master sees fit to throw his way.

Quintessential Ranger II opens, as all the books in the Advanced Tactics series do, with a chapter full of exciting new Career Paths for your ranger to pursue. Each career path is designed to focus his abilities along a specific path and that is exactly what this book delivers. You will be introduced to the Avenger, a warrior who seeks vengeance at any cost and the bounty hunter, a ruthless enforcer of justice who matches him for cold hearted fury.

After that, you will come to the Multiclass Ranger, a chapter which is all about mixing and matching class abilities to create the ranger that is perfect for you style of play. Here, you will meet the questing knight, a man of chivalry obsessed with hunting after something forever just beyond his grasp.

Leaving the knight to his quest, you will discover the Legendary Ranger, six new prestige classes designed for the high level ranger’s exclusive use. Why not take the Bowman for a spin? His class abilities make him the world’s finest archer. Perhaps your tastes run more to the Obsessed Hunter? Do you dream of harpooning the greatest white whale? Well, so does he.

After that comes all the rest of the goodness you have come to expect from the Advanced Tactics series. There are new weapons and new armors, such as the armored jacket and the elephant crossbow. There are new magic items too, plus a dozen spells, a score of feats and best of all, alternative favored enemy bonus progressions and alternative combat styles. Want your ranger to wield that crossbow like a tournament champion? Then take the crossbow combat style. Want your ranger to be more Ernest Hemingway than Robin Hood? Then the big game hunter favored enemy progression is for you.