Drizzt a Ranger?

[Sentinel04]

As many of us know, Drizzt is classified as a ranger in Salvatore's books.
At first I thought, sure okay. But as I read more and more about Drizzt, I'd hardly call him an Rangeer. He can't cast any Druidic Spells at all. To me, that is the official badge of being a ranger. Drizzt can't cast any spells, druidic or not. He has some drow racial abilities, but that's it. D&D speaking, low level rangers can't cast and spells, but I'd hardly call Drizzt a low level drow.

I'd call Drizzt of a warrior/fighter before a ranger...

[This message has been edited by Sentinel04 (edited 08-20-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Sentinel04 (edited 08-21-2001).]

[Larry_OHF]

I wonder if it is because of his dual-wield ability? I think that is a trait of skilled rangers. But you're right, though I never thought of it until you mentioned it. Why is he not classified as a fighter/warrior?

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[Mordar]

I'd give Salvatore the freedom to call someone a ranger without applying all the official D&D rules to someone with the name ranger. I didn't read Salvatore's books but Feist also calls people rangers although they never cast spells. Just being good with a bow is enough to be called a ranger. Just like a swing of the sword that cuts of the opponent's arm is very different that just losing 40 hitpoints. And even the mages have difficulties with magic.

When roleplaying correctly, you don't have fighting skills because you are a fighter but vice versa. Same thing with thief skills. You have to learn how to pick locks. And killing people will not make you better at finding traps. So every skill has some extended background, especially in the books. Think I'm gonna check on the man's background, it's really interesting.

[adam warlock]

He's offically a ranger of Mielikki(5 level)
+9 in handling animals
+5 in knowledge (nature)
+8 in Wilderness Lore

plus a few others
(from FR Campaign Settings book) "Unlike clerics, druids, and paladins, Farunian rangers do not have to choose a patron deity until they reach 4th level and acquire divine spellcasting ability. Many rangers choose a patron deity before then, but others start by devotion to the ranger's way of life instead of to one of the gods."
Drizzt has the means to be a Rangers but he didn't know it until his second mentor, Montolio DeBrouchee, pointed that out to him.
He does use the bow but he preferred his Scimitars (which is also Mielikki's favored Weapon: Scimitar 'The Hornblade').

[Sneeki Two]

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Acutally he would be considered a dual classed fighter/ranger (though at the time elves couldn't dual class...not sure if they can or not now). He was a high level figher before he left Menzoberranzan (actually one of the best). He took up the scimitar while training as a young fighter and always preferred the two-handed weapon style (which was the preferred style of the drow). In the drow warrior training school (Melee Mega-something) he excelled and was easily the best in his class. BTW, in 1rst edition drow had the ability to dual wield with no penalty, but didn't recieve normal elven pluses for using bow or sword (Unearthed Arcana pg. 10).

After reaching the surface, his ranger training began when he met the old ranger Montolio DeBrouchee. It was then that he took up the worship of Mielikki. Agreed he doesn't use druid spells, but he does use his tracking from time to time.

Just my 2 though.

[Morgan_Corbesant]

i just want to say, that just because he DOESNT use the spells, doesnt mean that he CANT. i have a character that is a 10th level fighter, 11th level mage (a bladesinger) and i hardly use spells, unless i am majoraly outnumbered, or i am casting a stoneskin spell. needless to say, Drizzt IS a ranger. if you look in the heroes lorebook, you will see all of the spells that he prefers to have with him at all times. he just doesnt use them. what good are spells such as entangle and the like against a 13th level drow fighter anyhow? he has all of the abilities of a ranger, hide in shadows, move silently etc. and he doesnt have any penalties when using the two weapon fighting style. all of these factors alone qualify him as a ranger. anywho, i thought i would just put in my worthless knowledge. thanx for your time


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Morgan Corbesant, Elven BladeSinger, Captain of the army of the Seldarine

[dominions]

The last time I saw some stats on Drizzt Do'Urdan, he was a Dual Class Fighter/Ranger (about level 12 as a fighter, level 20 as a ranger).
As for him not using spells ... maybe they used the Skills & Powers set of rules to make him up.

At the end of the day, ALL character's out of the books break the AD&D 2nd Edition core rules. Many have a combination of classes that it's not possible to take: Danilo Than in the Waterdeep boxset (human multiclass Fighter/Bard/Mage).
This doesn't bother me as most of these rules are designed to balance the AD&D game, and have not purpose being in a book where they make no sense. An example of this is Drizzt: Under AD&D rules, he reached 12th level as a fighter before going to the surface. At this point he's supposed to have DUAL CLASSED, an ability reserved for Humans. The rules of dual classing say that your old class 'freezes' and no longer gains experience, whilst your new one starts at zero experience. If you use the skills from your old class, you end up with half or zero experience for you new class for that 'adventure' (this includes proficiency skills). Also no hit points or fighting ability is gained. These rules stay in operation until the new class exceeds the old, level-wise.
So here we are, with Drizzt Do'Urdan as a 12th level fighter. SUDDENLY he's a 1st level ranger and seems to have forgotten all his fighter abilities & skills!

Would that have worked in the books? Probably not.


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[Sentinel04]

Thanks for your input guys. This is interesting.

I guess it all comes down to not having to cast spells. It makes since that he's a high level fighter dualed with a lowerlevel ranger. Come to think of it, even in the books(like others pointed out) he does track and hides-in-shadows.

Drizzt is an interesting character indeed.

[WOLFGIR]

Hey there! Well the last info I have is from the Forgotten Realms sourcebook. he is desrcribed a s ranger lvl 9 fighter lvl 9 and barbarian lvl 1. Feels abit odd bit somewhat true anyeway. As a drow he has access to some spellike abilities and he was trained as a fighter in Menzoberanzan and then as a ranger by Montolio. As a lvl 09 Ranger he has access to some spells at least. The barbarian class however I´m a bit curious about. Not having read all books yet..

Artemis is described as a fighter lvl 9, rouge lvl 9 and assasin lvl 1.. And in my mind he would have more levels of assain...

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Yawning lazywolf dreaming about nice little fairies...zzzzz
Wolfgirs lair
once-upon-a-paper

[dominions]

At the end of the day, the stats are all made meaningless due to the different publications (all supposedly from the same source (TSR/Wizards of the Coast)) contradicting each other. Also, characters from other books are given a far higher level but aren't as good as Drizzt or Artemis.