| | Ref | Ouvrage | Question | | Reponse |
|---|
| 551. | DR119 | Dragon #119 | D&D® Immortals Set: What are the sixth and higher
dimensions? | | These dimensions are the domain of the
Old Ones. They are not perceivable by
creatures living in the multiverse and
cannot be described — yet, anyway. |
| 552. | DR066 | Dragon #66 | Why are elves unable to become rangers? Why do half-elves
have limited ranger abilities? Shouldn’t sylvan elves have
ranger-like talents? How are certain of the elven deities able to
have ranger fighting abilities if their subjects do not? | | These questions are all interrelated to some degree, and are
some of the most-asked questions about elves in general. The
answer to all of them lies in the nature of the ranger class.
Rangers developed among humanity as a response to the
presence of the giant-class humanoids as direct competitors
for food, living space, and power within the worlds governed by
the laws of the AD&D™ game. The deities of humanity saw fit to
encourage certain persons to take up roles of guardianship, in
essence entrusted with the safety and security of the human
race. Rangers are intended to be self-reliant, strong, hardy, and
possessed of the wisdom and intelligence to fully appreciate
their roles as guardians. They operate in outdoor environments
by and large, thus being familiar with normal woodcrafts like
tracking, hunting, and camping. Rangers develop skills related
to stealthy movement, spying, and so forth, so they may better
serve as scouts, keeping tabs on local humanoid groups in the
wilderness and in so doing, keeping their home communities
and allied settlements informed of all happenings.
Tracking, however, does not a ranger make. One of the facts
of life about being a ranger is that rangers are going to be on the
hot spot, in the middle of some very savage fighting, on a fairly
frequent basis. Humanoids don’t like having humans around
them, much less having humans spy on them; furthermore,
rangers, in their roles as scouts, are somewhat more vulnerable
since they prefer travelling in smaller groups. It is forbidden for
more than three rangers to travel together, because when this
happens rangers interpret this as meaning that they are leaving
some other place undefended, and they will immediately try to
spread out and cover the widest area possible. On top of this,
rangers have (from their upbringing and studies) an intense
dislike (to put it mildly) of all evil humanoids. Rangers are not
just taught how to live off the land; they are taught to kill, and kill
efficiently and quickly. They learn the vulnerable spots giantclass
humanoids have, the ways in which they fight and wear
their armor, and the best way to do battle with them so that the
ranger, and not the humanoid, is still standing afterwards.
No bones are made about this; some rangers are fond of
describing their jobs as “going to exotic places, meeting interesting
creatures, and killing them.” However, it is understood
that the purpose of combat is not to make oneself rich, famous,
or fearsome. Combat is fought only if it cannot be avoided;
humanoids, though, offer all sorts of opportunities for combat
with their distinctly aggressive and often sadistic policies toward
humanity. Rangers are therefore “on call” at all times in
the defense of their homes, communities, and nations.
Elves, regardless of how they feel about humanoids, do not
make good rangers because their empathy for life and living
things runs counter to many of the teachings that rangers must
absorb and learn to use. Elves put a lot of emphasis in combat
on style, and cannot rid themselves of their distaste for killing
any creature, even evil ones and even when it’s necessary for
one’s own protection (though they are still perfectly capable of
fighting and killing, too). Rangers, whether lawful good, neutral
good, or chaotic good, all share a high degree of dedication to
their cause (from their loyalty to humanity as a whole, if lawful
good, or from their personal standards, if chaotic good); elves
see such intense commitment as grievous to a carefree and
cheerful spirit. But elves appreciate rangers, because rangers
regard them as allies and will usually try to help elves just as
they help humanity.
Half-elves may become rangers since they usually inherit at
least part of their human parent’s viewpoint on life, watering
down their elven attitudes considerably. They don’t gain the
high levels humans do as rangers because they are slightly
smaller and less effective in hand-to-hand fighting, and because
they still have some of their innate elven distaste for
bloodshed in them.
There doesn’t seem to be any particular reason why elves,
especially sylvan elves, shouldn’t have a knowledge of how to
track wild game. Human or elven player characters with secondary
skills of Forester, Hunter, and possibly Trapper might
reasonably be allowed a limited skill in tracking animals or
persons, around 20-50% in accuracy, in outdoor (and maybe
indoor) environments. But the other skills rangers have would
not necessarily apply.
Finally, some elven deities have ranger talents because their
ageless experience and spheres of interest make this possible.
Gods do not operate by mortal rules; they make themselves
proficient with whatever talents they deem necessary for them
to best operate according to their respective viewpoints. For
this same reason, gods may have high levels of experience in
numerous character classes, though mortals are quite limited
in the number and levels of proficiency they may achieve in
their own classes. One cannot measure a god’s power with a
mortal’s yardstick. |
| 553. | DR126 | Dragon #126 | I’m trying to locate two older TSR
modules, the solo modules M1 and
M2. Where can I find them? | | These two products may be obtained by
getting in touch with the Mail Order Hobby
Shop. Write to the address given in the
first question in this column and ask for
prices and a catalog. |
| 554. | DR119 | Dragon #119 | D&D® Masters Set: When do the various dragon rulers appear in play? | | These unique creatures generally appear
only when the DM decides they
should. Otherwise, they sometimes appear
as wandering monsters in special areas
such as other planes, remote mountains,
deep caverns, or other exotic locales. |
| 555. | DR134 | Dragon #134 | D&D: Why are normal bats more powerful
than giant bats? | | They are not; the statistics in the Basic
Set Dungeon Masters Rulebook, page 25,
were reversed. |
| 556. | DR076 | Dragon #76 | Can half-ogres be barbarians? | | They can behave in a barbarous fashion, but cannot be of the
barbarian character class. They lack the dexterity and agility of
humans and cannot perform many of the barbarians’ basic skills.
Half-ogres could, however, be raised in barbarian tribes and be
considered members of such a tribe, though they would still be of
the fighter class. |
| 557. | DR079 | Dragon #79 | In the game “Flight of the Boodles”
(issue #60), does the Boodle wizard hit on
a 1-3 or 1-4? The text contradicts itself. | | They hit on a 1-4, according to the
original rules, so two of the charts in the
game need to be corrected accordingly. |
| 558. | DR118 | Dragon #118 | Can any mounted character fire a
bow weapon while riding a horse
(or other mount)? Page 33 in the
DSG seems to say that he can, while
page 86 in the Wilderness Survival
Guide says that only a character
with riding proficiency can do this.
Which is correct? | | They’re both correct. Page 33 in DSG
says that any character can fire a bow
from a stationary mount. Rut the next
sentence states that only a character with
riding proficiency (and a bow weapon
proficiency) can fire a bow weapon from a
moving mount. |
| 559. | DR035 | Dragon #35 | Can Thieves be chaotic good? I have three players
who are, and we are wondering if they will have to make an
alignment change. We are also wondering whether or not this
alignment change is considered voluntary on their part? If it is,
will I have to make them drop a level? | | Thieves can be neutral or evil, but not good. In this situation,
I don’t think you should force them to make an alignment change.
Just have them become their new alignments as if they have always
been of that alignment This way they won’t be penalized for not reading
their Players Handbook, but the next time they don’t read the book,
don’t show them any mercy—unless, of course, you goofed too. |
| 560. | DR133 | Dragon #133 | Can a ring of spell turning turn a
wish spell? | | This depends upon how the wish is
used. If the wish is used so as to have a
personal effect (one not involving a broad
area) on the ring’s wearer, and the effect is
not delivered by touch, then the wish is
subject to turning, and the wearer and
wisher each get saves (unless the turning
fails or is total). See the ring’s description
in the DMG, page 131. |
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