Wandering Warrior (Ranger)
While it might be unfair to say that all rangers seem to be racists, it’s certainly strikes me as odd that they seem so obsessed with rooting out a particular foe based on its biology. I guess a warrior who lives in a particular wild land would develop a talent for fighting the things that live there, but what about the wandering rangers that make up most adventuring rangers? This article is for them: check out the wandering warrior.
New Ranger Archetype
Wandering Warrior
Wandering warriors are rangers who lead nomadic lives, protecting fellow travelers and dealing with dangers on the road as they encounter them. Because of their far wanderings and drifter lifestyle, wandering warriors focus less on fighting a specific kind of enemy, and rather utilize a diverse array of styles and talents to accommodate the vast breadth of situations they encounter in their travels. This adaptability makes them among the most versatile warriors on the road.
Wanderer’s Style (Ex): The wandering warrior employs a variety of different combat styles to deal with the challenges he encounters in his travels. Assuming one of these styles is a swift action, and the wandering warrior remains in the chosen style until he chooses to change his style. The wandering warrior can choose from the following styles when he uses this ability.
Companion Style (Ex): The wandering warrior ignores cover granted by his allies, and gains a +1 bonus on all attack rolls made against characters that are threatened by one of his allies. At 5th level, and every 5 levels thereafter, this bonus increases by a further +1.
Deadly Style (Ex): The wandering warrior increases the critical multiplier of his weapon by 1. Additionally, the wandering warrior ignores 1 point of damage reduction whenever he damages a character with damage reduction. At 5th level, and every 5 levels thereafter, he ignores an additional point of damage reduction in this way.
Dodging Style (Ex): Each turn, the square the wandering warrior starts out in is not considered threatened by any opponent he can see. Additionally, the wandering warrior gains a +1 dodge bonus to AC. At 5th level, and every 5 levels thereafter, this bonus increase by a further +1.
Maneuver Style (Ex): When the wandering warrior assumes this style, he must select a single type of combat maneuver. He does not provoke attacks of opportunity for performing combat maneuvers of that type while using this style. Additionally, for purposes of the selected combat maneuver, he gains a +1 bonus to his CMB and CMD. At 5th level, and every 5 levels thereafter, this bonus increases by a further +1.
Protector Style (Ex): The wandering warrior grants adjacent allies a +1 dodge bonus to AC and CMD. At 5th level, and every 5 levels thereafter, this bonus increases by a further +1.
Slayer Style (Ex): Whenever the wandering warrior successfully reduces a character to 0 hit points, the wandering warrior may make a single attack with a melee or ranged weapon as a free action against another creature. Additionally, the wandering warrior gains a +1 bonus on damage rolls against characters he has successfully dealt damage to in the last round. At 5th level, and every 5 levels thereafter, this bonus increases by a further +1.
This ability replaces the favored enemy class feature.
Combat Versatility (Ex): At 2nd level, the wandering warrior learns the basics of a wide variety of combat techniques and styles. The wandering warrior is treated as having a Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence score of 13 for the purposes of qualifying for feats. He is also treated as having Combat Expertise, Dodge, Improved Unarmed Strike, and Power Attack for the purposes of qualifying for feats.
This ability replaces the combat style bonus feat gained at 2nd level.
Wanderer’s Bond (Ex): At 4th level, the wandering warrior gains the ability to impart the knowledge of his style to his allies. As a move action, the wandering warrior can grant each ally within 30 feet the benefits of the wandering style he has currently assumed. Alternatively, the wandering warrior can gain an animal companion, as the druid class feature (his effective druid level for this purpose is equal to his ranger level -4). If he selects the animal companion option, then whenever he assumes a new style using his wanderer’s style class feature, his animal companion gains the benefits of that style.
This ability replaces the hunter’s bond class feature.
Spell Strike Trick (Ex): At 6th level, the wandering warrior learns how to use his magic at greater speeds when he exercises his martial ability. Whenever the wandering warrior uses the attack action, he can cast a spell with a casting time of 1 standard action or less as a free action made as part of the attack; whenever the wandering warrior uses the full-attack action, he can cast a spell with a casting time of 1 round as a free action at any during the full attack. If the spell he cast targets one or more characters he damaged with the attack or full-attack action, his caster level is treated as being 5 higher than it is for the purposes of that spell.
This ability replaces the combat feat gained at 6th level.
Second Style (Ex): At 9th level, the wandering warrior can have two styles active at a single time.
This ability replaces the evasion and improved evasion class features.
Enhanced Spell Casting: At 10th level, the wandering warrior learns some secrets of the land’s lore from his travels, which allows him to cast a small number of druid spells. For each spell level he can cast, the wandering warrior chooses a single druid spell of that spell level and treats it as though it appeared on the ranger list at the same level.
This ability replaces the combat feat gained at 10th level.
Stealth Strike (Ex): At 14th level, the wandering warrior learns how to strike with exceptional precision from a hidden location. Whenever the wandering warrior makes an attack against a character that is unaware of him, if the attack is successful, the target becomes staggered for 1 round.
This ability replaces the combat feat gained at 14th level.
Overwhelming Assault (Ex): At 18th level, the wandering warrior can tap all his strength and exert his effort into a single mighty assault. When the wandering warrior takes a full-attack action, he can choose to make all his attacks at his highest base attack bonus; if he does, he becomes staggered for 1 round after the attack.
This ability replaces the combat feat gained at 18th level.
Unity of Styles (Ex): At 20th level, the wandering warrior gains the benefits of all of his wandering styles when he assumes a wandering style.
This ability replaces the master hunter class feature.