wannabe ranger

[Velius]

A ranger is the outdoorsman and adventuresome free spirit of the times. A
self-sufficient person, the ranger is adaptable and can survive in almost any
locale. Skilled with weapons and able to utilize some of the finest armor
available, a ranger is physically skilled enough to take on most any foe.
However, for especially hardy opponents, a ranger also can cast many useful
spells to both hinder his opponent and aid himself, including curative magic.

Of all the professions, rangers may be the most adept at surviving on their
own. A ranger typically travels light, but he does have the mighty strength
of a warrior to carry equipment needed in his travels. Their need for help
from outside sources is low.

Rangers can only be of good alignment.

IMPORTANT: Joining the Rangers's Guild closes the possibility of the other
warrior guilds to you: once you become a ranger, you can no longer become a
Fighter or a Paladin. You should seek out the Ranger's Guild IN CHARACTER.
When you join it, you will retain your level, but convert to the Ranger
class. This will expand the list of skills available to you, but your
existing warrior skills will not go away.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm thinking of making a loner type character, Outdoorsman Adventursome Free-Spirit seems to fit the what I have in mind, but I have 2 problems.

1) I want my Ranger to be of Chaotic Neutral alignment ( Free-Spirit ) but rangers can only be good ( I feel rangers should be aloud to be of neutral alignment, they are open-minded beings and not a bunch of goodies. They are survivalists, defenders of the outdoors )

2) I don't think having to go thru the Guild guys would fit the concept, I don't think it'd be IC of me to talk with people and learn all my skills from someone else. ( I'll gladly go thru the council if I must )

Forgot how to quote stuff but check this out ( its in the helpfile )

"Of all the professions, rangers may be the most adept at surviving on their own. A ranger typically travels light, but he does have the mighty strength of a warrior to carry equipment needed in his travels. Their need for help from outside sources is low. "

I'm not trying to argue about how the council should be and whatever, I'd gladly go thru the council if I must

also

"A ranger is the outdoorsman and adventuresome free spirit of the times"

It just doesn't make sense to me that you can't be the free-spirit alignment if that is what the character is about

I had a much better thing before but It all got deleted... but I had to remake the whole thing, and we all know how that feels.

I just need an opinion(s) on what I should do. ( i know I should send in an application, just thought these problems should be let out before hand, I don't have the 200 kismet it takes to make a Chaotic Neutral character so I thought I should get the kismet before I send the application )

[Horace]

You're right on - if you'd want to do that you'd need to send in an application. And it probably would be best to send one after you've accumulated the kismet for it.

[Velius]

Well, I thought about it more and I really don't want this guy to get classed by a PC. Would it be a good idea for me to prove I can RP a ranger first before I send the application? I want this character to bypass the council and become a ranger when he hits level 10.

[Dalvyn]

Quote of the day: Show that you can play average drow before you apply for a Drizzt.

[Velius]

Thanks for the help

[Ursan]

It has been decided that warrior characters wishing to become rangers must do so via the Council of Rangers

Rangers must have a 'good' aspect to their alignment

Yes, looked at in that stark fashion it could appear that we are going against the survivalist/independent characteristics that typify many rangers.

These last few days I've seen some rather odd posts related to being a ranger on FK and the Council in particular and it might help if I share some thoughts with you. Some alternate ways of viewing the situation if you like.

The Council

The Ranger Council was introduced for several very good reasons. Yes, some of them were more OOC than IC and this can require a stretch of the imagination when you want to create a character. For me personally, the benefits that this slightly awkward system brought us vastly outweigh the problem. I for one am very grateful to Janon's player for the amount of work he put into creating it - and for the effort he made to try to give it an IC slant.

But... Just because we went out of our way to ensure ranger characters meet a certain standard it does not mean that you need to force your character's roleplay through a 'good-aligned and Ranger Council' shaped cookie cutter in order to be allowed to create and play a ranger.

Many rangers roleplay antipathy or even outright dislike for the council and no ranger hopeful would be turned away if they roleplayed similar IC concerns. So, don't feel you can't make a ranger under these circumstances or your kind of cutting off your nose to spite your face

The key to understanding the purpose of the Council is to realise that all we seek are players who can adequately roleplay an understanding of what being a ranger is all about. It is not that we have to like you or that we have to like your roleplay. What we do need to be assured of is that you won't go off and do dumb things like skinning sentient races, having your animal companions recite their ABCs to you or invite Orcs to have tea in Ardeep.

For myself, if I am happy that you are more than just a fighter-type looking to get some cute spells then I will give you all the leeway you want to explore your character. If even that is too restrictive, you can have you character work with or learn from a non-Council ranger who would then put in a good word for you. (Just make sure they're not into doing dumb things though, hehe)

OOCly, to become a ranger you require something to trigger the ranger quest and unless you are stupid or lazy we will do all we can to achieve that for you.
ICly, you do not need my approval or love to be sponsored you just need to not get dead.

In short...

Show that you have the skills to survive as a ranger and you'll convince the Council to sponsor you in your quest

It definitely sounds better written that way...

Your alignment

I like to think of FK as a constantly evolving game and Ranger alignment is something which has been discussed among the staff more than once. Not just around neutral alignments, but also around evil ones as well.

Such changes take time to bring in, though. Ensuring that the effect of the change is not to unbalance things, making sure that quests, trainers and faiths sit properly with the change.

For example, until the spell system update the druid class could only be TN and had to follow Chauntea or Mielikki. This was then expanded to include followers of Malar who were TN. Most recently druid alignments as a whole were opened up to allow more diversity among them.

With your own character in mind, I would suggest first making quite certain that a CN ranger is possible currently. The quests may only trigger for good aligned warriors for example.

There are options though.

You could create as CG and apply to be CN at a later time. With roleplay as evidence of the request to change alignment, rather than just a wordy application, you have more chance that it will be accepted.

The wait could be until you are a ranger (again, be sure that the alignment change wouldnt turn off your ranger skills) or it could be until we introduced wider alignment options to all rangers.

You could, equally, create as CG or NG and apply to roleplay a more CN type character. As with the Council situation above, provided you roleplay well I doubt anyone will have a bad word to say.

Of course, use CN as an excuse to hang out with evils and kick puppies and you will have to be prepared for the IC and OOC consequences.

I hope this has helped, not just for yourself but for others who may have the wrong impression on how the Council operates.