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(D&D) What are Rangers to you?

Started by Libertad, August 22, 2012, 01:25:30 AM

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gleichman

#45
August 23, 2012, 01:28:37 PM
Quote from: JRR;575773"He sat down on the ground, and taking the dagger-hilt laid it on his knees, and he sang over it a slow song in a strange tongue. Then setting it aside, he turned to Frodo and in a soft tone spoke words the others could not catch. From the pouch at his belt he drew out the long leaves of a plant." FotR:233.

That doesn't sound like a spell?  Material and vocal components.

No, it sounds like a prayer that a mundane doctor might make before starting a procedure. Religious faith (or a traditional blessing) need not be a spell. It could be religious faith or a traditional blessing.


Quote from: JRR;575773"'I have no fitting gifts to give you at our parting,' said Faramir; 'but take these staves. They may be of service to those who walk or climb in the wild. The men of the White Mountains use them; though these have been cut down to your height and newly shod. They are made of the fair tree lebethron, beloved of the woodwrights of Gondor, and a virtue has been set upon them of finding and returning."  

A virtue?  Sounds like a spell to me.  This is Faramir, not Aragorn, but if he's not a ranger, no one is.

Again you're taking things too literally.

If I were to offer you a clover, a rabbit foot, or a cross to aid you in your journey there would be no magic involved. Just a hopeful belief. Such is the nature of good luck charms.
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Sacrosanct

#46
August 23, 2012, 01:29:52 PM
It's a fucking fantasy game dudes.  And D&D was inspired by a lot more than LoTR.  You guys are reading into this waaaaay too much.
D&D is not an "everyone gets a ribbon" game.  If you\'re stupid, your PC will die.  If you\'re an asshole, your PC will die (probably from the other PCs).  If you\'re unlucky, your PC may die.  Point?  PC\'s die.  Get over it and roll up a new one.

JRR

#47
August 23, 2012, 02:53:54 PM
Quote from: Sacrosanct;575786It's a fucking fantasy game dudes.  And D&D was inspired by a lot more than LoTR.  You guys are reading into this waaaaay too much.

Yes, but the ranger wasn't.

daniel_ream

#48
August 23, 2012, 03:02:51 PM
I rather prefer the children's fantasy Ranger's Apprentice concept: rangers are the king's border scouts, in a land where "border" is synonymous with "heavily forested wilderness".  Self-sufficient, autonomous but beholden to a larger authority, combination scout/commando/warden.

In settings as thoroughly gonzo and magic-soaked as D&D's implied, I think there's plenty of reason to give rangers some simple wise-working, although I'd be inclined to require it be in the form of herbalism and enchantments of natural objects.  Forging a suit of Plate +1?  No.  Carving some arrows +1?  Definitely.
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jibbajibba

#49
August 23, 2012, 03:05:06 PM
Quote from: JRR;575773Yes, you can give the ranger a bajillion special abilities that are non magical to duplicate most of that.  Or you can just give him spells and be done with it.  And yes, you can explain away some of those quotes as metaphor, but not all.  

"He sat down on the ground, and taking the dagger-hilt laid it on his knees, and he sang over it a slow song in a strange tongue. Then setting it aside, he turned to Frodo and in a soft tone spoke words the others could not catch. From the pouch at his belt he drew out the long leaves of a plant." FotR:233.

That doesn't sound like a spell?  Material and vocal components.


no a prayer or a thanks to the gods for providing the herb (which is he same thing) and spells in LotR don't have MVS components you are conflating D&D with LotR when its not relevant.

Quote"'I have no fitting gifts to give you at our parting,' said Faramir; 'but take these staves. They may be of service to those who walk or climb in the wild. The men of the White Mountains use them; though these have been cut down to your height and newly shod. They are made of the fair tree lebethron, beloved of the woodwrights of Gondor, and a virtue has been set upon them of finding and returning."  

A virtue?  Sounds like a spell to me.  This is Faramir, not Aragorn, but if he's not a ranger, no one is.

Maybe a charm, but this was done by the woodwrights of gondor ? and not the rangers.
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#50
August 23, 2012, 05:16:51 PM
Quote from: Sacrosanct;575786It's a fucking fantasy game dudes.  And D&D was inspired by a lot more than LoTR.  You guys are reading into this waaaaay too much.

What good is the internet if you can't read way too much into everything? And massively overreact to any tiny detail?
Don\'t mess with cats we kill wizards in one blow.;)

Sacrosanct

#51
August 23, 2012, 05:19:55 PM
Your nipples are distracting...
D&D is not an "everyone gets a ribbon" game.  If you\'re stupid, your PC will die.  If you\'re an asshole, your PC will die (probably from the other PCs).  If you\'re unlucky, your PC may die.  Point?  PC\'s die.  Get over it and roll up a new one.

Wolf, Richard

#52
August 23, 2012, 10:34:39 PM
I think some of JRR's quotes imply ESP-like abilities, but that could be a Numenorian racial thing (even for Faramir) rather than a Ranger thing, which would make a lot more sense.

It wouldn't follow for me that Faramir could take a random lad and teach him to 'read minds' as part of a skillset.

flyerfan1991

#53
August 23, 2012, 11:24:26 PM
Quote from: Sacrosanct;575887Your nipples are distracting...

I'm sure we can tell Liz Phair that later...

Sacrosanct

#54
August 23, 2012, 11:40:57 PM
Quote from: flyerfan1991;575978I'm sure we can tell Liz Phair that later...

You mean people AREN'T their avatars?!  

I was quite getting used to being Phoebe Cates...
D&D is not an "everyone gets a ribbon" game.  If you\'re stupid, your PC will die.  If you\'re an asshole, your PC will die (probably from the other PCs).  If you\'re unlucky, your PC may die.  Point?  PC\'s die.  Get over it and roll up a new one.

flyerfan1991

#55
August 24, 2012, 06:12:55 AM
Quote from: Sacrosanct;575982You mean people AREN'T their avatars?!  

I was quite getting used to being Phoebe Cates...

Well, that explains a lot....

Vegetable Protein

#56
August 24, 2012, 06:35:55 AM
Quote from: Sacrosanct;575982You mean people AREN'T their avatars?!

I'm rotting from the inside out.

Bill

#57
August 24, 2012, 10:19:08 AM
Quote from: Sacrosanct;575982You mean people AREN'T their avatars?!  

I was quite getting used to being Phoebe Cates...

Damn...I really would not mind being a 9 foot tall green troll....well...until the swat teams put me down anyway.


Actually...there would be worse things than being Phoebe Cates...

flyerfan1991

#58
August 24, 2012, 10:39:04 AM
Quote from: Bill;576082Damn...I really would not mind being a 9 foot tall green troll....well...until the swat teams put me down anyway.

If nothing else, you would be obvious....

Silverlion

#59
August 24, 2012, 02:59:32 PM
Quote from: Bill;576082Damn...I really would not mind being a 9 foot tall green troll....well...until the swat teams put me down anyway.


Actually...there would be worse things than being Phoebe Cates...

I've got a game about that, someday I'll finish it, though it is a side project. Fantasy police procedural+SWAT+D&Dish universe run rampant.
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