 | RANGER Race: Human, Elf, Half-Elf Alignment: Any Good Description: Rangers are also holy warriors, although their standards of conduct are far less rigid than a Paladin's. They serve their nature-oriented gods by acting as a buffer between the forces of wilderness and civilization, stopping one when it becomes too much of a threat to the other. They switch between heavy metal armors and flexible leathers with ease, depending on whether their situation seems to favor toe-to-toe brawling or melting away to attack from the shadows—two tactics at which they are quite adept. Their familiarity with Druids and their ways gives them a limited grasp of spellcasting, and they can bond with most simple woodland creatures, pacifying them with relative ease. |
STRENGTHS:
| » » » » » » | Can Stealth in a manner similar to that of a Thief (while not wearing any armor unusable by Thieves)
Can cast a limited number of Druid (and shared) spells, from Spell Levels 1 through 3 Automatically gets free Specialization (**) in Two-Weapon Style Special Ability of Charm Animal, usable 1x/day per 2 levels (first use gained at Level 1, then every 2 levels thereafter): Targeted animal must Save vs. Spells or be Charmed for 2 turns. Monstrous or giant-sized animals cannot be Charmed with this ability, and the target must be within Touch range. Racial Enemy: Automatically gains a -4 THAC0 bonus when attacking any creature of any one chosen type Guaranteed stats of at least 13 Strength, 13 Dexterity, 14 Constitution, and 14 Wisdom |
| » » » | Restricted to Specialization (**) in any weapon proficiency
Gains EXP levels approximately 15% slower than a Fighter Can only be combined with the Cleric class |
| Notes: The "Strengths" and "Weaknesses" listed for each base class are intended both as a general description of the class, and compared to the other classes of the same superclass. In the descriptions of the kits, however, the Advantages and Disadvantages
are always directly relative to their base class. In PnP, Rangers are able to Stealth only in woodland or other natural environments. In BG, however, Rangers can enter Stealth in any surroundings, just like a Thief. In the table to the right, the columns indicate the the Experience Level of a Ranger, the Experience Points required for a Ranger to reach that level, and their level-based stats— The amount of hitpoints they would gain at that level ("+CON" indicating the additional hitpoint modifier from a high or low Constitution stat), the THAC0 and Attacks per Round they would have, the number of Proficiency Points they would gain at that level, their Saving Throws (given in this order: vs. Death, vs. Wands, vs. Polymorph, vs. Breath, and vs. Spell), their base Stealth score, and the number of spellslots (of each spell level) that they would have. A Ranger's Racial Enemy is chosen during Character Creation, and in BG1 can be any of the following: Carrion Crawler, Ettercap, Ghoul, Gibberling, Gnoll, Hobgoblin, Kobold, Ogre, Skeleton, or Spider. In BG2, the list is expanded and changed: You may choose a Racial Enemy of Beholder, Demonic, Dragon, Elemental, Ettercap, Faerie, Genie, Ghoul, Golem, Hobgoblin, Imp, Kobold, Lich, Lycanthrope, Mephit, Mind Flayer, Ogre, Otyugh, Rakshasa, Sahuagin, Shadow, Slime, Spider, Troll, Umber Hulk, or Vampire. |
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 | ARCHER Class: Ranger Race: Human, Elf, Half-Elf Alignment: Any Good Description: Archers are the undisputed masters of ranged combat. They have chosen to forego all heavy armor that does not allow them the proper flexibility they need to fully draw a longbow, and have focused their considerable martial prowess upon one skill only: The ability to place a bolt or arrow squarely through even the merest chink in an enemy's armor. They retain their spellcasting abilities, however, and can even allow their mystical connections to "ride piggyback," as it were, on the missiles they fire. |
ADVANTAGES:
| » » » | -1 bonus to ranged THAC0 and +1 bonus to ranged Damage per 3 EXP levels, up to Level 18, and then every 5 EXP levels thereafter
Able to attain Grandmastery (*****) in the Long Bow, Short Bow, and Crossbow proficiencies Special Ability of Called Shot, usable 1x/day per 4 levels: All missiles (that hit their target) launched in the next 10 seconds have additional effects varying with the Archer's level: at least Level 4: Victim takes a +1 THAC0 penalty for 20 seconds. at least Level 8: Victim takes a +1 penalty to his Save vs. Spells for 15 seconds. at least Level 12: Victim takes a -1 Strength penalty for 10 seconds. at least Level 16: The missile causes an aditional 2hp of damage. |
| » » » » | Cannot wear any armor heavier than Hide
Limited to Proficiency (*) in all melee weapons, including (Throwing) Axes and (Throwing) Daggers Cannot Dual-class Does not get Charm Animal ability |
 | BEAST MASTER Class: Ranger Race: Human, Elf, Half-Elf Alignment: Any Good Description: Beast Masters are enthusiastically feral, happily throwing themselves into the animal psyche to see all matters from Nature's point of view. All unintelligent natural creatures are their friends and allies, to such an extent that Beast Masters refuse to wear any kind of metal armor, or use weapons that drive metal into an enemy's flesh, solely to avoid offending their animal companions—so many of whom have lost loved ones to the hunter's wrought-iron traps and steel knife delivering the killing blow. |
ADVANTAGES:
| » » » | 15% bonus to Stealth ability
Special Ability of Find Familiar Gains access to the spells of Animal Summoning I, II, and III at lower levels than normal: They appear as Level 1, 2, and 3 Priest spells whereas normally they would be Levels 4, 5, and 6. |
| » » | Cannot wear any armor heavier than Hide
Cannot use any melee weapons made of metal |
Notes: The heads of arrows and crossbow bolts do not have to be made of metal; materials such as stone, antler, teeth, glass, etc., will function nearly as well, which is apparently why Beast Masters are allowed to use Bows and Crossbows. But then, those same materials can be used to make Daggers and Spear heads as well, and those weapons are still off-limits to Beast Masters, so there goes that bit of logic.
 | STALKER Class: Ranger Race: Human, Elf, Half-Elf Alignment: Any Good Description: Stalkers are the consummate scouts of the party: They shun all rigid armor and thus are always ready to disappear into the underbrush at a moment's notice, and whereas most sneakthieves can do little more than report the positions of enemy sentries, the Stalker has at his disposal all the tools he needs to dispatch those sentries right where they stand—usually before they can even raise an alarm. Their foray into spells normally considered arcane also provides a nice bonus, both for self-defense and for the benefit of the whole party. |
ADVANTAGES:
| » » » | +20% bonus to Stealth
Can Backstab in a manner similar to a Thief: Their Backstab Multiplier is x2 during Levels 1 through 8, then becomes x3 at Level 9, and x4 at Level 17. Gains access to the Wizard spells of Haste, Minor Spell Deflection, and Protection from Normal Missiles, cast as Level 3 Priest spells |
| » » | Cannot wear any armor heavier than Hide
Cannot Dual-class |
Notes: If you are playing SoA (BG2 that does not have ToB installed), Stalkers can Backstab with any kind of weapon. In a ToB game, however, Stalkers can Backstab only with weapons that are usable by a trueclass Thief, as is the rule with other Backstab-capable characters such as Fighter/Thieves.
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