A good ranger build?

[kmonster]

12 cha is good for roleplaying a beauty queen, but not for a ranger. It's actually bad for the roleplaying feeling if the character with the weakest class/race combo has also weak stats since the balance among the party members suffers.
If a stat is useless for powergaming you can't conclude that it's good for roleplaying. For roleplaying raising int is better than raising cha since it will allow to spend more points for the skills you'd exspect a ranger to have.

[GawainBS]

First off: CHA isn't all about beauty. That's only a (minor) part of it. Lo, behold a quote from the allmighty SRD!

CHARISMA (CHA)
Charisma measures a character’s force of personality, persuasiveness, personal magnetism, ability to lead, and physical attractiveness. This ability represents actual strength of personality, not merely how one is perceived by others in a social setting.

I'm glad Kmonster already explained that powergaming isn't diametrically opposed to RP.
On the contrary: an adventurer would most likely optimize/powerbuild, since that grants him the greatest chances of survival and exell in his field of expertise. The majority of Rangers (or Fighters for that matter) would have low CHA, since their training allows for little opportunity to socialize, banter, get to know people, etc. Most Rangers would live far away from civilisation and thus most aspects of CHA would be neglected because it grants them no advantage. ("Please, pretty please, Mr. Lightning Storm, don't strike me down!" *puppy eyes* wouldn't be so effective to survive a storm in the woods, but being strong (STR), hardy (CON) and woodswise (Survival and INT, and WIS) enough to find and make a shelter would.)

For a CHA 6 character, you might as well interpret it as her being shy or silent or timid.

[Domi_Ash]

I am not trying to be sarcastic about powergamers. I am trying to find a compromise style build that will both make sense for the character I envision and will make a viable companion - not as good as your PC you create from scratch but helpful enough. This is the same principle as used in creating NPCs in BG series.

To answer your question, no, I don't see Leida as shy; as a ranger she did meet plenty of people and served as a guide through the wilderness, a protector and as she travels. Charisma is an essential skill for someone who travels on her own, to be able to convince the strangers that they should offer her food and shelter. Plus she grew up in a big city. She can definetly lead. She is a male PC romantic interest; she might not be a beauty queen, but she is attractive. Her charisma is average or higher than average. I can throw in a couple of illegal points there, since it does not affect her ranger abilities, so, I would be looking at the 'natural' range of 8 to 10, perhaps.

As for her race it's a toss-up between a human and a half-elf. Though if dwarves or tieflings make great rangers, please, let me know.

Multiclassing is up to a player, really, in IWD2, but the 'official' version will be pure class, me thinks.

So, perhaps, if strenth-based build is better than dex-based build:

STR 18
DEX 14
CON 16
INT 10
WIS 14
CHA 8 + 2 'illegal' points to the total of 10.

[Claudius]

Its about time for a dwarf female love interest That would be interesting.

On a serious note I agree goblin is good racial enemy. Also orc is good. And troll. I would have weapon finesse because your going to want a light weapon to avoid dualwielding penalty for 2 medium weapons.

Also I think that wilderness lore would be good since its a ranger and it can avoid the annoyance factor of the fell wood maze.

I think a ranger love interest pretty much needs every stat available. Just up to your taste what mix. I believe the classic ranger can cast spells (WIS) has skill (INT) can deal a little damage (str) and use missiles (dex). Also I never heard of a sickly frail ranger (CON)

[Domi_Ash]

Heh, I already have a druid who teleports you around the FF on request to skip the headache, but she will definetly have wilderness lore.

I am not hot on a Dwarven Female NPC to romance, since I already have a Gnome.

[GawainBS]

Your latest build seems pretty solid. I wouldn't doubt about that one.

[dragon wench]

Originally Posted by Domi_Ash

To answer your question, no, I don't see Leida as shy; as a ranger she did meet plenty of people and served as a guide through the wilderness, a protector and as she travels. Charisma is an essential skill for someone who travels on her own, to be able to convince the strangers that they should offer her food and shelter. Plus she grew up in a big city. She can definetly lead. She is a male PC romantic interest; she might not be a beauty queen, but she is attractive. Her charisma is average or higher than average. I can throw in a couple of illegal points there, since it does not affect her ranger abilities, so, I would be looking at the 'natural' range of 8 to 10, perhaps.

As for her race it's a toss-up between a human and a half-elf. Though if dwarves or tieflings make great rangers, please, let me know.

Multiclassing is up to a player, really, in IWD2, but the 'official' version will be pure class, me thinks.

So, perhaps, if strenth-based build is better than dex-based build:

STR 18
DEX 14
CON 16
INT 10
WIS 14
CHA 8 + 2 'illegal' points to the total of 10.

I think a tiefling would actually be an interesting choice for a ranger, here are the tiefling stats:

Strengths:

* +2 to Intelligence


* +2 to Dexterity


* +2 to Bluff and Hide skill checks


* +5 to Cold, Fire, and Electrical Resistances


* Blindness 1/day

Weaknesses:

* -2 to Charisma


* Character level is considered 1 level higher when the experience for advancing levels is determined

Favored Class:

* Rogue

Don't rangers also use stealth? If so the +2 to Hide would probably be useful. Plus, a Tiefling ranger departs from the usual elf/half-elf model, and it would add to her back story and interparty banter. Just a thought anyway
Also, while you are looking at a pure-class build, it would give players the option to multi-class her into a rogue if they wanted.

[Domi_Ash]

I think that adding a -1 level penalty to a ranger might be too much despite the stats ajustments. I'll probably save the tiefling for the cleric/rogue I might... er... I should stop right here.