d20 Emerald Press Campaign Options Wilderness Masters.pdf

Wilderness Masters

Author: Gryphon, Demon Lord of the Meme

Editor: Duane Nutley

Cover Artist: Oliver Diaz

Interior Artists: Rapheal Arrais, Oliver Diaz

Cover Designer: Sean C Frolich

Layout Artist: William T “DM5” Blackburn

A Note from the Author

Thanks go out to the playtesters of this publication; Scott Campbell, Joey Deehan, Mark Farrington, Martin Hazel, Matt Hindle, Paul Gorton, An-

drew Varley, and especially Phil Boyle whose campaign world inspired the adventure at the end.

Writing this book has been a long hard process, one that has taken it from a basic idea to something I am extremely proud of working on. It was

conceived and written as a variation on the Ranger from 3.0. Then along came 3.5 before the editing of the book was complete, completely sty-

mieing its' release. Then 3.5 answered many of the issues inherent in the 3.0 Ranger itself which required me to revise the book, completely.

What you see herein is an evolution not a revolution of what I originally wrote, yet there is almost nothing the same in it, even the class names

are changed. It has been a great learning experience for me and I hope you enjoy using it as much as I have in bringing it into the world.

Oh and don't forget to marvel at the work of all the people who have taken my words and made them beautiful.

Hail and welcome fellow scholar, behold the newest tome from my library.

I have long been plagued by adventurers, who foolishly setting foot in my realm and try to cause me harm.

The worst of all is the Wilderness Master. They come in all shapes and sizes, casting the odd spell or two,

wearing little armour, but the damage they do before they get bored and wander off is immeasurable.

Why is this I asked myself, what is it about these ‘nature loving’ warriors that causes such difficulty?

So to find out I did some research and you know what I found? It is their very versatility that is their ad-

vantage; they are not powerhouses, spell casters, sneak thieves or martial masters. They are generalists.

You can put them just about anywhere and they can cope, they are survivors. In the wilderness they excel

and even in towns or cities, they find their way. This guide will look at the advantages they bring to bear and

guide you to a better understanding of this menace.

-Gryphon Demon Lord of the Meme

now what are you going to do,’ a touch surprised when the male leapt

towards him, and even more when it missed. Turning round to see what was

going on he spied the cause - a huge male boar was trundling through the

bushes 20ft behind him.

Elia moved into the light, blinking the last remnants of trance from his eyes.

Looking around contemptuously at the sleeping group of adventurers he once

more wondered at the druid’s powers of persuasion, and how he got himself

talked into this.

Surprise that it could sneak up on him was replaced instantly by fear for the

young male who was facing it down. It was a very big boar and if the wolves

hadn’t been there he would have run away. Up the tree and away from it as

fast as possible. Instead, he knew he had to face it or the male would suffer,

so he reached for his bow and quiver, a flicker of sadness passing thorough

his mind.

An unbiased observer to this tableau would be wondering what Elia was

hoping to achieve with a bow, it normally takes a blow to the heart to kill a

boar, and an arrow cannot penetrate that far.

Stepping lightly around the dozing halfling sentry, he moved off into the

forest. When sufficiently away from camp, that its intrusion into the wood

faded, he sniffed the air. Anyone acquaintanced with the tall rangy elf

observing at that point would have been astonished at the smile lighting up

his normally gruff face. They were here.

Moving swiftly to the nearest tree he leaped into its branches, crossed over to

another tree and hid. Not that it did him any good, as moments later a pair of

timber wolves appeared and began quartering the area under the trees.

Sitting themselves down on their haunches under his tree, they both looked

straight up at him. All wolfy grins, tongues hanging out, their tails beginning

to thump gently against the ground.

The boar had realised by now realised its mistake entering the little clearing.

Turning to face the threat of the young wolf menacing him he was stung a

couple of times around his head. Angry now he turned and identified the

source of the stinging, an elf, a bit blurred and with an odd smell but an elf all

the same. He was a Boar, the king of the forest and when threatened like

this he did what he always did. He charged the source of the pain, knocking

the young wolf flying.

‘Bugger’, thought Elia, ‘how on earth am I supposed to get the drop on these

two?’

At the thought, the wolves thumping rose in tempo.

‘Ok, Ok you impatient creatures your breakfast awaits’ he mumbled to himself

climbing noiselessly out of the tree. The note of amusement creeping into his

voice again would have surprised his companions again, for the only emotion

they normally elicited from him was contempt.

Now boars are not that bright, especially males, but even it was a little

surprised when the elf didn’t move out of the way. Oh well dead elf. Boars

are fast and irritated boars even more so, and this one was truly mad, the

stinging pains in its head getting worse. Blood or something had blinded one

eye and was obscuring the other, but never mind, once a target is set, a

charge can have only one outcome.

At the bottom of the tree, before he could get his feet on the ground, they

were both on him. Timber Wolves are not the heaviest of wolves, but the pair

were large specimens. Two wolves hitting someone like this can have only

one outcome, and Elia was knocked down in a heap. Struggling against the

tide of excited wolf, he managed to get to his feet, only to have the larger of

the two, a female, leap onto his shoulders and bear him to the ground.

Struggling obviously pointless now, he steeled himself for the inevitable.

Open jaws descended, turning his head to one side Elia bore his fate

stoically. Wolf tongues are wet and she seemed determined to give him a

proper wash no matter what, he got soaked.

Pushing himself up when she finished, glaring in mock anger, he said to no

one in particular ‘I raised you from a cub, wolf, why on earth do you persist in

treating me like one of your cubs.’ Turning his back on the smug looking

wolves, he began to gather the things that had fallen off his person when the

pair hit him - arrows, bits of string, a couple of bells, and a largish pouch.

Reaching into the pouch ‘Breakfast it is then, who is first?’ Suddenly the

smaller male was in front of him growling, and the hackles of the female rose.

Elia looked at them and laughed, thinking it was another trick. ‘Yeah right

Except this time it didn’t go according to plan. For just before the boar hit the

elf, a 140lb. wolf hit it from the side expertly knocking its back legs out from

under it. The boar came crashing to a stop mere inches from the Elf’s feet,

looking up with its good eye it made the connection between the stinging and

what the elf had in his hands just as the arrow pierced its eye and into its

brain.

‘Bloody close that.’ Nodding his gratitude towards the female, Elia glanced

round for the young male, who had found his way to its feet, shaken yet

unhurt. Taking him by the ruff Elia knelt down and looked him straight in the

face ‘Good boy, but don’t do it again, heroics get you killed and she and I

would be pissed at you if that happened. Next time just tell me, OK. Our

friend there was nearly too big for me and your mother.’ The male looked

chagrined almost like it knew exactly what it was being told, but then it could.

For Elia was not just an elven ranger, if asked he had difficulty remembering

he was an elf at all. Elia was part wolf, the important part, the soul. Elia had

the wolf soul, a bonded one, a Wolf Brother.

change or ignore the rest.

This book was born from the inability of the author to play the ranger in the

way they are visualised in other mediums, like books and films. To the

author’s eye the guide portrayed here is closer to the classic nature related

expertise you expect after reading about various rangers depicted in books.

The book's primary goal is to help customise your player character. With

the material presented here, you can personalize your character and

broaden his or her capabilities

Introduction

‘Never mind wake up and smell the roses, smell the manure that’s where

you are gonna be if you don’t take this seriously’

-Wilderness guide

For all its magic, monsters, and powerful warriors, the world most people

still play in is a natural one. The majority of adventure worlds are sparsely

populated with wide tracts of land that know little or no civilization. So you

would have thought that the classes that best interface with this natural

environment would be very popular indeed. Characters for whom waking

up is done to bird song, and climate and weather are living beings to be

treated with respect. There is nothing more powerful and destructive than

nature roused - the tornado, the earthquake, the drought or even a flood,

nature is the most powerful force of all.

No one can ever be said to have mastered nature, or at least say it and it

be true. But there are a number of classes who are closer to nature than

others - rangers, druids, and barbarians. Each in their own way is a ‘Master

Survivor’ but all share a common understanding: nature is a harsh mistress

and it takes a special sort of person to live comfortably with such a

mistress. These people are masters of the wild not by bending it to their

will but by adapting to it, by living with rather than against nature.

Lost in civilization’s cocoon, it is a foolish man who forgets that these wild

men are somehow less than they are. Many a cruel warlord has been

defeated when they forgot that nature is a terrible enemy.

This book examines one of these classes in detail, providing new tools and

understanding of how the Ranger interacts with nature and culture.

The Stories

The stories are all the author’s work, but they are better than that, they are

based on history. They tell the tales, old and new, that happened in one

form or another in my presence. I know Elia Draug’nerain, Erynweth, and

Bill. These people and others mentioned here exist, they have lived their

lives, fought and died in front of me. The great battle happened, I should

know I was there, and fell defending the land of my forefathers.

Everyone who plays the game for any length of time knows these stories,

and have lived them too. What is written here as rules are here to help

bring your own stories to life. I hope you use them as they were meant and

gain the enjoyment out of them that I and my friends have.

Contents

Chapter 1 details the wilderness guide with different skills, feats and special

abilities from the ranger. Gone is the automatic two-weapon wielding and

favoured enemies of the d20 ranger, and in comes bonus feats and the new

Nature’s Lore special ability to balance their loss.

Chapter 2 discusses what it is that a wilderness guide actually does. Here

you will discover the new core ability Nature’s Lore - a rounded nature

orientated skill.

Chapter 3 offers an extensive range of new feats with which to enhance

your character's abilities.

Chapter 4 presents an extensive range of new magic and mundane

weapons, armour and equipment for all.

Chapter 5 details additional prestige classes open to the Guide, including

the swanmay, bird brother, forest guardian and more.

Chapter 6 expands the selection of divine spells available at all spell levels.

Chapter 7 is a small mini adventure for a mixed group of characters found in this

book, or others from the core rulebooks .

Why this Book was Written

The image of the maverick outsider, protector of the forest or scourge of the

‘civilised man’ is a powerful one, striking a cord with many players.

This book will seek to address the issues of the ranger, offer alternatives

and expand the horizon of the nature loving warrior, but it is an individual’s

take and not exclusive. All information written in this book can be used by

characters who meet the requirements, not just rangers or the classes

within.

Presented are options, restrictions, and explanations for playing an

alternative to the Ranger in your game. There are changes, some major

and some minor, to the way in which these special rangers interact with the

games in which they are part of. This is not a gospel written in stone and it

is vital that players get agreement from their Games Master before

including any elements from this book into their game. Use what you like,

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: