9 May, 2009

Today’s Tabbloid
PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net

ROGUE FEED all things.” AD&D rangers, however, must be good in alignment and any
change to a non-good alignment (even a neutral one) strips the character
The “Real” Ranger of his unique ranger abilities.
MAY 08, 2009 04:32P.M.
For some reason, though, it’s common for many gamers to think rangers
are somehow connected to druids and their nature religion, when, from
my perspective, rangers and druids would most likely be foes, or at least
often at loggerheads. Rangers are strongly aligned with Law and thus
civilization. That’s certainly how I’ve always understood and portrayed
the class. That’s why I don’t think non-humans, especially elves, should
be permitted to become rangers: the class is all about taming the
wilderness or at least keeping its worst elements in check for the
betterment of mankind. They’re not nature’s “champions” so much as
individuals who’ve become intimately familiar with nature in order to
better combat its darker side.

I’m currently working on a version of the ranger for use with Swords &
Wizardry that draws a lot of inspiration from Joe Fischer’s original. I’ll
probably post it here when I’m done with it.
The ranger class was introduced into OD&D not in an official
supplement to the game, but in issue 2 of The Strategic Review,
published in the summer of 1975. Written by Joe Fischer (who was,
unless I am mistaken, a member of Gary’s Greyhawk campaign), the
ranger is obviously inspired by the character of Aragorn from The Lord
of the Rings — why else would the class be able to employ all items
ROGUE FEED
dealing with clairvoyance? — and is described as “similar in many ways
to the new sub-class Paladins.” Thus, rangers have to be Lawful in
alignment and remain so, may not employ hirelings, and are limited in
Really cool news
MAY 08, 2009 03:58P.M.
how much they may own. The Strategic Review ranger is skilled in
tracking, especially in the wilderness, and is a dedicated foe of “Giant
Class (Kobolds-Giants)” monsters. He also gains the ability to cast
clerical and magic-user spells, beginning at 8th level.
Fans of Colonial Gothic already know about Jennifer Brozek. After all
she wrote Colonial Gothic: Elizabethtown, has three new short stories in
The impression I get from reading Fischer’s original class — and it’s
the forthcoming Colonial Gothic: Revised and is working on a new
entirely an impression, since there’s no expository text beyond game
eBook for us as well. This just hit the wires:
mechanics — is that rangers are humans (and only humans, since this is
OD&D) who learn the ways of the Wild in order to defend civilization
Apex Publishing announces Close Encounters of the Urban
against it. Like Tolkien’s Dúnedain of the North, rangers are civilized
Kind edited by Jennifer Brozek
men who forsake the comforts and safety of civilization in order to
protect those they leave behind. To borrow a phrase, rangers exist in the
I cannot wait to see what she does with this.
Wild but they are not of it.

AD&D expands upon Fischer’s original concept somewhat, but the basic
idea behind the class remains the same. Though Gygaxian rangers can
cast druid spells rather than cleric spells, as in The Strategic Review,
they share nothing of the druidic worldview, which is described in the
Players Handbook as “viewing good and evil, law and chaos, as
balancing froces of nature which are nbecessary for the continuation of

1
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 9 May, 2009

ROGUE FEED This issue contains posts from between

May 08, 2009 07:06a.m. and May 09, 2009 03:04a.m..
My Appendix N Visit the Rogues on the Web:
MAY 08, 2009 02:37P.M. http://www.rogue-games.net

Zachary Houghton asks the intriguing question: “what’s your

Appendix N? What fiction has influenced your campaigns, play styles,
and writings?” In answer, I provide the following list:

Anderson, Poul. Three Hearts and Three Lions; The Broken Sword.
Bullfinch, Thomas. The Age of Fable, The Age of Chivalry, Legends of
Charlemagne (aka Bullfinch’s Mythology)
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. “Barsoom” series.
Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; Through the
Looking Glass.
Howard, Robert E. “Conan” series; “Kull” series; “Solomon Kane”
series.
Lanier, Sterling. Hiero’s Journey; The Unforsaken Hiero.
Leiber, Fritz. “Lankhmar” series.
Lovecraft, H.P.
Malory, Thomas. Le Morte d’Arthur.
Norton, Andre. Star Man’s Son.
Plunkett, Edward (Lord Dunsany). The King of Elfland’s Daughter.
“Pegana” series.
Smith, Clark Ashton.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit; The Lord of the Rings.
Vance, Jack. The Dying Earth; The Eyes of the Overworld; Cugel’s
Saga; Rhialto the Marvelous.
Wagner, Karl Edward. “Kane” series.

There are undoubtedly other authors and books I’ve forgotten to include
and I’ve limited my list to fiction, since the number of non-fiction books I
could mention is quite large. Those listed as the ones that immediately
sprang to mind without much thought, so they’re certainly the ones that
best represent my current understanding of what D&D is and how it
ought to be played.

As you can see, with the exception of H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton
Smith, whose works I enjoy without qualification, I specified the
particular books or series that had the most profound influence on me.
Much as I love REH, for example, I can’t say I have much taste for his
Steve Costigan stories, for example, and they certainly had no significant
influence over my conception of fantasy roleplaying.

I don’t think there are too many surprises in my list, which is pretty short
and, with some exceptions, rather strongly focused on pulp fantasy and
science fiction.