Equipment Packs - The Ranger
Welcome back to the next installment of the Equipment Pack series. I’ve decided to skip the Paladin and go straight to the Ranger Pack for a couple of reasons. First, I haven’t decided I want to do an equipment pack for the Paladin or just say that they would have the option of either choosing a Priest Pack or Fighter Pack. Second, I’ve decided to try something new with the packs. Certain items found in the packs will give actual bonuses to certain abilities, and the Ranger Pack was one that had equipment I’ve been thinking about for a while.
That said, the packs will be more expensive than the ones found in the PHB. If you are going to have the potential to gain even a +1 to an ability check, there needs to be a cost associated with it. For example, a player should be forced to decide between buying an expensive pack that contains equipment that provides bonuses or spending their gold on a shield to get the +2 to AC. A bonus at 1st level makes no sense unless there is a “penalty” of some sort attached to it.
So let’s get to it. This is where I usually give the disclaimer that these packs are for flavor and not meant to be anything mind-blowing. Well, this certainly isn’t anything mind-blowing, but hopefully, something to add to your game. As always, feedback is appreciated!
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For the ranger pack, I’m not going to go into detail on every single item you get in the pack as I have done in the past. I would hope people would know what a waterskin is and that rope is, well….rope. Let’s focus on the items that make the difference between a standard pack and the ranger pack.
The Ranger Pack
Compass (25 gp) - First, let me start by quoting Stephen, “D&D has a stupid technology system”. I agree wholeheartedly with this assessment. It amazes me that in a world where magic exists, armor can be fashioned from all sorts of materials and guns/gunpowder are commonplace, there is no such thing as a compass. A DM can say that his homebrew world doesn’t have magnetic poles and that a compass wouldn’t work, but that DM just being a dick. D&D has always used the same standard concept of direction that we use in real life. North in the real world is north in D&D.
For example, I’m confident the World of Greyhawk is a magnet, just like Earth is, that can interact with other magnets in this way, so the north end of a compass magnet is drawn to align with the Greyhawk’s magnetic field. So then the north end of a compass is drawn to align with Greyhawk's magnetic North Pole. North is north whether on earth or in Greyhawk. It won't work in the Abyss or the Astral sea, but you can feel confident that when wandering in the Bright Desert you can use your compass to get the hell out of there.
I understand that the compass I’m suggesting is an expensive piece of equipment, especially considering its only magnets and a spinning arrow. I felt that this was the right price. A level 3 compass in Pathfinder costs 20 gp. (A basic one is only 1 gp!). So I based my price on that, bumping the price just a smidge since, in general, shit costs more in D&D than Pathfinder.
Let’s talk about what a compass does for you. The ranger gets advantage on Survival (Wisdom) checks involving travel. I’ve always assumed that the ranger would just automatically know which way is the north and be able to figure out where to go. But when you're lost in the deep woods that’s filled with creatures looking to eat you, a little help sure is nice. A compass could be the difference between sitting in the tavern enjoying dinner or being something’s dinner that night.
Small set of Binoculars (50 gp.) - I struggled with the price on this item. Fifty gold pieces are a ton of money for a lower level character. I get that it will severely limit how many people will buy the pack, but try looking at it this way. A spyglass costs 1000 gp in the D&D world. You know, one of those stupid extendable things found in such movies as The Pirates of the Caribbean. It makes no sense that a metal tube with two lenses (an objective lens which is usually wider and an eyepiece lens) costs that much. I’m sorry, but that’s fucking ridiculous.
Now, these aren’t some crazy professional birdwatcher type binoculars. Think more of the small binoculars that a little kid would have. Sure, to us they aren’t much, but, in the D&D universe, they are a technological miracle. Again, I don’t agree with that concept of technological wizardry, but let’s just try to roll with it.
In D&D you can see 2 miles on a clear day. Binoculars help the ranger see over 2X that far and magnify images 5X. Sure, there are magical ways to see farther, but for a 1st level player, this is a big bonus. Therefore, I thought it only fair to grant Advantage on all Survival (Wisdom) checks when using them.
Survival Guide (25 gp.) - This was a suggestion from one of our Patreon folks and I thought it was a great idea. Being able to identify plants in nature is kinda the ranger’s thing, and I’m sure there are enough rangers out there that would offer up this information to the newer members of their profession. It’s not a complete guide of everything in nature, but the ranger will know which berries you can eat and which ones will kill you. If the ranger fails Nature (Intelligence) check involving plant life, they may re-roll once per check.
So there you have it, the Ranger Pack, Hopefully, you will find this interesting and maybe even use it in your game. Depending on feedback and reader response, I may go back and do a version 2.0 of the existing packs to make them more in line with the Ranger Pack, so let me know your thoughts!
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