Why do we think Rangers are tree huggers?

[jacar]

Sort of a rant on "modern" RPGs.

The original Ranger seemed to be drawn heavily from the Gondorian Ranger (Ithlien and so forth). Tolkien made them a scout, patrol and/or some sort of ambush party. Slow the enemy down until the main army arrives or to quote a famous D-Day order, "Hold until relieved."

At some point they became crossed with Druids and nature. They were somehow the Druid's soldiers and not the Kings. What? They suddenly revered and became in tune with nature and would be highly offended at the site of a tree being cut down!

Now with the latest editions of our favorite RPG, we see them with pets that they can talk to as some sort of bond beasts.

Just to set things straight, Rangers modern, historical medieval or otherwise, were trained to go out on patrol for days on end. They are taught to eat bugs and survive off of whatever they find. They can ambush, using stealth and missile weapons as preferred methods of fighting. They can track their targets if need be and can even carry out dangerous missions if their King so wishes. The medical application from plants is special training for if they get sick or poisoned, it would be days before they could get proper medical help. They would burn down a whole forest if they thought it would help obtain their objective. Bond beasts? Not really unless a pack of hunting dogs count.

So the ranger originally could survive in the wild. Tree huggers? Not hardly! ;D

[tombowings]

I don't know about you guys, but the only way I can effective convey the idea of AD&D rangers (and OD&D, assuming they are similar) is by telling plays that they are a league of expert giant hunters.

[jacar]

Dec 5, 2011 15:22:49 GMT -6 tombowings said:

I don't know about you guys, but the only way I can effective convey the idea of AD&D rangers (and OD&D, assuming they are similar) is by telling plays that they are a league of expert giant hunters.

...and Kobold stompers! Don't forget the Kobolds!

[Finarvyn]

I always think of Rangers more like military Special Forces, Rambo types.

[tombowings]

Quick question: does the OD&D ranger have an alignment requirement (presumably Lawful)?

[talysman]

They got changed into tree-huggers when people decided to make them a distinct class, intead of just Fighters. The role-model, of course, isn't the Gondorians, but Aragorn, who is explicitly referred to as a ranger. Because he has some magic powers, rangers got them, too (although really, the powers probably came from his being raised by elves and also being the True King.) Because rangers are associated with the wilderness, they gave them wilderness (druid) spells. And because they now had druid spells, people started thinking of them as part of the druidic hierarchy.

This, of course, only happens after druids turn into tree-huggers as well. Originally, they were monsters, more like terrorists attacking civilized folks than peaceful wardens of nature.

None of it was necessary, of course. Suppose you just assumed any character could be given general class skills plus skills for a mundane profession or background. For Fighters, you could easily distinguish Rangers (Fighter + Wilderness training) from Gladiators (Fighter + Arena skills, like gambling and grand-standing,) or either one from Knights (Fighter + Courtly background.) And you could mix the backgrounds with other classes, getting a Hermit (Cleric or M-U + Wilderness) or Court Magician, or whatever. No need for a ranger class, no danger of associating them with druids, unless that's what you want.

[Azafuse]

Dec 5, 2011 15:09:41 GMT -6 jacar said:

At some point they became crossed with Druids and nature.

Gygax did, it seems.

At least, he was the first one to use the druidic adjective.

Dec 5, 2011 16:01:05 GMT -6 tombowings said:

Quick question: does the OD&D ranger have an alignment requirement (presumably Lawful)?

Yes, according to Strategic Review 1.2: if a Ranger turns N or C, he becomes a simple Fighting Man and loses all his powers.

[tombowings]

Thanks, Azafuse. That's what I expected.

[DungeonDevil]

I think of them as (Royal) Foresters (ever on the look-out for poachers), or even common woodsmen who are adept at tracking quarry, and, if in a martial context, employed to reconnoitre, or skirmish and snipe at the enemy to disorder him and prove injurious to his morale, until the main troops arrive.

I don't know where this 'Ranger as silvan hippy' image came from.

[Stormcrow]

The use of ranger comes, of course, from Tolkien, but there it simply means "wanderer in the wild." There are a lot of rangers in Eriador who are Dúnadain; the Breelanders call them Rangers, and this is whence comes the class. Other rangers mentioned in Tolkien include the Rangers of Ithilien (men of Gondor, descended from the Dúnedain to lesser extent than the Rangers of the North) and rangers among the Woodmen of Mirkwood.

The tree-hugger image comes from those of limited imagination who see outdoor and think "Outdoors equals Nature equals Protect Nature equals Hippie."

Properly implemented, a ranger in Dungeons and Dragons should be a wanderer in the wild with a special mission that benefits the good, peaceful people of the region.

[jacar]

The Rangers of the North were "hidden" among the masses waiting for the badness to return or something like that. Similar to Marcus from Babylon 5. They were not necessarily wanderers or survivalists. Members of ordinary society. The Gondorian Rangers (aka Faramir's men) were quite literally Royal Foresters. Border patrol and so forth. They were special forces or long range recon of Gondor. Of the few that hung with the Elves, one was Aragorn. His training in the healing arts comes from the elves I believe.

[Ghul]

I prefer Robert E. Howard's conception. Here are a few excerpts from his Wolves Beyond the Border:

I crossed Knife Creek in the early dawn, wading through the shallows, and was challenged by a picket on the other bank, a tall man in the buckskins of a ranger. When he knew I was from Thandara: 'By Mitra!' quoth he, 'your business must be urgent, that you cross the wilderness instead of taking the longer road.'

Here is another:

'I hope Thandara declares for Conan,' said he with an oath, 'for I tell you plainly it is our political complexion. And it is my cursed luck which keeps me here with the handful of rangers who watch the border for raiding Picts. I would give my bow and hunting shirt to be with your army which lies even now at Thenitea on Ogaha Creek waiting the onslaught of Brocas of Toth with his d**ned renegades.'

And here is another:

He was a tall man, rangy and broad-shouldered, like most Westlanders, and clad in buckskin hunting shirt and fringed leggins and moccasins like myself. Half a dozen rangers were with him, and they sat them down at a board close to the door and watched him and me over the rims of their ale jacks.

When I named myself and told him I had word for him, he looked at me closely, and bade me sit with him at a table in the corner where mine host brought us ale foaming in leathern jacks.

I also get much of the same impression when Howard describes the soldiery in Beyond the Black River:

...The rangy figures of Aquilonian pikemen and forest runners
mingled with the shorter, stockier forms of Bossonian archers.

Notwithstanding my preference for Howard over Tolkien, there is a certain D&D charm to the RPG ranger gaining a small amount of magical ability as he progresses in levels of experience. This, however, need not imply "forest protector."

[Mr. Darke]

I never liked the 'Druid Light' version of the Ranger. I always saw them as more akin to mountain men, hunters and the like. While I do see Aragorn as a type of ranger I also include Hawkeye, the 'hunter' from most fairy tales and Daniel Boone as rangers; also let's not forget Beren from the Silmarillion. Yeah, some of that is outside the standard fantasy genre but it is what I come back to when I think 'Ranger'.

[thorswulf]

I never really got the whole druid thing either. Oh sure they probably work with druids from time to time, but only when it suits the ranger to do so. One other thing that always bugged me about this is why is a ranger so d**n woodland oriented. Rangers roam the wastes of the world the wild, dangerous areas most civilized folks live in fear of, and most barbarians survive in. A desert guide, jungle hunter, or ocean going nomad in a small outrigger canoe are possibilities that don't get explored.

Consider a jungle dwelling hunter. Maybe the setting is Asian or African. Consider lawful behavior DOES include headhunting! Maybe that ranger just got a whole lot more interesting!

[snorri]

Great catch in Conan, Ghul!

[Ghul]

Dec 17, 2011 6:18:34 GMT -6 snorri said:

Great catch in Conan, Ghul!

Thanks! And I don't think I mentioned: these REH stories predate LotR, but the dates are close enough that they might be considered contemporary developments.

[Stormcrow]

Dec 16, 2011 12:34:25 GMT -6 jacar said:

The Rangers of the North were "hidden" among the masses waiting for the badness to return or something like that. Similar to Marcus from Babylon 5. They were not necessarily wanderers or survivalists. Members of ordinary society.

HUH? Where do you get this from? Butterbur says of Strider, "He is one of the wandering folk—Rangers we call them." He also says, "But there's no accounting for East and West, as we say in Bree, meaning the Rangers and the Shire-folk, begging your pardon," meaning the Breelanders think of the Rangers as being east of Bree, which we know is supposed to be uninhabited wilderness.

No. The Rangers are those Dúnedain who appear in Bree from time to time on mysterious business of their own, coming from and going into the Wild.

[Lord Kjeran]

Dec 16, 2011 22:17:59 GMT -6 thorswulf said:

Rangers roam the wastes of the world the wild, dangerous areas most civilized folks live in fear of, and most barbarians survive in. A desert guide, jungle hunter, or ocean going nomad in a small outrigger canoe are possibilities that don't get explored.

Consider a jungle dwelling hunter. Maybe the setting is Asian or African. Consider lawful behavior DOES include headhunting! Maybe that ranger just got a whole lot more interesting!

It's the same way with the barbarians from Unearthed Arcana. A whole slew of possible cultures and backgrounds is listed, but you usually only see Nordic-Viking-Cimmerian types. Maybe the occasional Mongol-Hun-Horse dude.

I have no problem with the Druid spells that a higher level ranger has, but I always view them as more as aping those spells and not druidic in nature, if that makes sense. And as to animal followers, have you all forgotten Grizzly Adams? And Mad Jack's burro.

[Deleted]

I run rangers as sort of nature scouts/soldiers. I would never let 'em hang in mentality with druids, whom, I feel, they would find a bit "tree huggery" in nature overall. When I think of rangers, they'd be the equivalent of mountain-men, if we were running "Boot Hill". My rangers love being outdoors and respect what's there, but sure aren't going to hesitate to chop down a tree to build a decent raft!