New Ranger Skill

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

At the very pintacle of Ranger perfection, perhaps they should be able to orientate themselves with a certian type of animal. Consider the Ranger Elyas in the Wheel of Time, without all the power and blood etc. Just a very very very good Ranger, a Master Ranger, who perhaps adopts the friendship of raptors or gortok or carru.

So, the skill I propose comes onto the list when Rangers are nearly Maxxed, and allows them to command 'pets' of their choice, but proably only one type, IE: Raptor, Mekillot, Bahamet, etc.

Thoughts?

[Cale_Knight]

Yes, choose wisely. Raptor or mekillot?

[John]

I don't like it. I'd prefer the option to tame animals (is this already an ability? I have a feeling it is), but that would have the drawback of it not being quite so hostile anymore and losing part of it's edge (besides which you have to look after it as well). IRL if I spend a ton of time in the wildlands and "become a master ranger" I still can't get lions or rhino's to accept me, can I?

Now a mindbender would be another story

[Fragmented]

I think a more appropriate example then rhinos and lions would be a researcher who spends literally years in the field with gorillas.

At first, she watches from a distance, until the animals grew used to seeing her, and didn't become so hostile at her appearance. Slowly, she works herself into their pack, until finally, she's making a Discovery Channel documentary showing a monkey braiding her hair while she picks the lice out of another one's.

I like this idea, but not with incredibly hostile animals. An incredibly hostile predator would -never- grow more and more relaxed around a person, eventually forming a sort of bond. I could however, see this with animals that might be fierce, but aren't immediately hostile. Inix comes to mind, as well as gwoshi, but that's already in place. Honestly, I have alot of trouble thinking of non-predator type animals that someone would -want- to have as a pet, that isn't a mount. I suppose duskhorns.. or maybe durrit. Durrit just kick ass, if you ask me.  Really, the only really cool non aggressive type animal that isn't a mount but would make a cool pet would be a verrin hawk. Teaching it to actually hunt and -using- it would be uber.

[gfair]

Doesn't the tame/mount skill already allow for this?

I want to avoid the WOW Hunter thing, though.

[Wykydtronn]

Don't like the idea at hand... err pets=bad.

I wouldn't mind seeing a skill that allows "master rangers" the ability to calm an animal or scare them off.

Of course some animals would be too mindless, aggressive or even too "smart" to do this too.

A handy ability that makes desert guides more employable.  Who wants to have their Caravans bothered all the time by scrab, giant beetles, or rabid Raptors?

But a mekillot? or Silt-horror? Better just run.

[FightClub]

Do rangers really need any more boosting?  Lets see something new for merchants, or (my favorite) warriors, or those other classes no one ever picks before we start making rangers even more god aweful powerful.

[Cenghiz]

Gorillas have intelligence closest to humans. So, what's the zalanthian counterpart? Jozhals, raptors, scrabs... maybe a few more. But one thing we forget - gorillas eat vegetables. They're not predators.
Jozhals? Eh.. They're already bred for their somewhat musical chirp. I don't see a problem with that. But raptors? Raptors often live in flats. And in flats, how would one spend his time watching them without being seen? Upon first sight, they would rush for the meat. Even lions are not counters of raptors in our world - raptors are far more intelligent than lions, they can even learn to use human weapons with skill and they're far more fierce in a world where food is scarce. I believe their ferocity is the ferocity of an alligator, even circus alligators fed by humans for years decide to eat you when they please.
Scrabs? Uh.. They're also fierce and always hungry. Braxat? They have their own community and they're not totally animals. One would need to befriend them, because I believe - but not sure of course - they can speak and decide to befriend or smash.
In a harsh desert world where food is scarce, everything is food. Even in Earth where food is not that rare, everything's food. That's why people from Discovery use telescopic cameras and jeeps to approach to lions and such, still you can see movies where they're pursued for some time by an angry feline.
And as the last thing to say; size matters. Most predators in Earth do not attack anything larger than they are. They hesitate. In Zalanthas, all predators are at least equal in size to humans, or perhaps larger. They do not hesitate.
I didn't like the idea except jozhals, but.. A jozhal pet is not twinkable at all I believe, let the ability to tame jozhals get put in when the coders have extra time. A new coded pet that would be at all.

[UnderSeven]

Once opun a time, myself and some others captured and tamed a creature.  It was all done via rp and required a lot of it in addition to a long period of time to play out.  Heh, it was fun.  We stole the beast as a pup.  

I really can't argue with this suggestion without also questioning the fact that you can 'tame' wild animals and make them mounts forever and always.

Personally I wonder how likely a stable hand is going to want to take in a gwoshi that you just jumped on the back of in the desert, I also kind of wonder how likely that gwoshi is to not eating everything else in the stables.

So really I can't comment on this suggestion, because the game already has something in it that more or less contradicts my oppinion on this matter.

[bloodfromstone]

I would rather see them be able to do some less direct controlling of the habits of monsters. Maybe be able to create pheromones from animal bodies that have a variety of effects. Like prey animals not running from you when you have them applied, but predators draw closer. Good way to bait out monsters and do some cool huntery stuff.

Probably been mentioned before, though, and they already have sneak to move up on prey animals. And who -really- wants to draw predators?

Though it might be fun to slip some mekillot bait on someone you didn't like.

[flurry]

As I understand it, it doesn't strike me as very realistic.  I know there are real life examples of people living with wild animals, but I think (like Cenghiz points out) that depends a lot on the species of animal.  And that's also different than commanding the animals.   (The first thing that came to mind was fictional characters like Tarzan or Ace Ventura or Dr. Doolittle or Aquaman.  Heh.)  

I could see maybe a very skilled ranger being able to temporarily calm some agressive animals, maybe.  Something limited like that, but not animals doing a ranger's bidding.

[Yokunama]

I don't like it. I'd prefer the option to tame animals (is this already an ability? I have a feeling it is), but that would have the drawback of it not being quite so hostile anymore and losing part of it's edge (besides which you have to look after it as well). IRL if I spend a ton of time in the wildlands and "become a master ranger" I still can't get lions or rhino's to accept me, can I?

Yes, it is very possible.

Rangers experienced with handling animals can tame certain types to be used as mounts using this command.

[Yokunama]

Do rangers really need any more boosting?  Lets see something new for merchants, or (my favorite) warriors, or those other classes no one ever picks before we start making rangers even more god aweful powerful.

Extra skills for them here and there would not hurt.

Anyways, I'd like to see Vivadu elementalist with the ability to win people or animals over to their side, for an ammount of time. Also, they should be able to use the animals any way that they feel.

[Yokunama]

I wouldn't mind seeing a skill that allows "master rangers" the ability to calm an animal or scare them off.

- Lure animals - a way for rangers to lure/call animals to them from one or two rooms away

Its on a to-do list.  :mrgreen:

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

In the Whell of Time books, certian Rangerish people have in their blood a way to speak psionicly with the wolves; these people are called Wolf-brothers, I think. In Zalanthas, I don't think a Ranger who has spent his life becoming Rangerish would be out of bounds forming something of a simuliar bond with animals, not permenantly, maybe, but using the mind to talk primatively to beasts, and having to re-friend every time he logged on. I was sorta joking about Meks and Mets, but I don't think Raptors or Gortok ignoring the Ranger instead of hunting him, or following loosely along, not commandable, but hey, if you run into someone else ... heh.

I don't know. Sounds fairly realistic to Zalanthas for me. Also, remember that I said Rangers in the very prime of their carreers. So, not every ranger could have this.

[marko]

. I was sorta joking about Meks and Mets, ...

What is a Met?

[UnderSeven]

Psionic speak with animals.. Mmmm..

What about a psionic empathy for other races that usually you would be considered too foriegn..?  

I dunno, maybe this sort of thing is considered psionist realm.  Sounds sorta cool.  *shrugs*

[spawnloser]

. I was sorta joking about Meks and Mets, ...

What is a Met?

Bahamet.  I hate this contraction myself.

I dunno, maybe this sort of thing is considered psionist realm.

Before I say this, yes I know we're not Dark Sun, just based loosely off of it.  In Dark Sun, though, there is a psionicist power for higher level psi's that allows them to empathize/control difficult critters.  Those psi's that pick up that power are highly valued as caravan pilots as mekillots aren't very tame at the best of times, so these psi's control them so that the argosy can have big enough critters to pull it all over the world.

Back on topic for the original post:

I would not be opposed to extremely advanced rangers that have mastered the ability to tame critters having a way to make aggros non-aggro...but as pets?  Nah.  Call me the middle ground.

[Maybe42or54]

In the Whell of Time books, certian Rangerish people have in their blood a way to speak psionicly with the wolves; these people are called Wolf-brothers, I think. In Zalanthas, I don't think a Ranger who has spent his life becoming Rangerish would be out of bounds forming something of a simuliar bond with animals, not permenantly, maybe, but using the mind to talk primatively to beasts, and having to re-friend every time he logged on. I was sorta joking about Meks and Mets, but I don't think Raptors or Gortok ignoring the Ranger instead of hunting him, or following loosely along, not commandable, but hey, if you run into someone else ... heh.

Uh.. Mindbenders?

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

How ... no. Ok, look.

Drev the Ranger has been in the wilds for some time. Suddenly, a skill called Befriend/Placate/Suckcock shows up on his skill list. Readding the helpfile for that skill, he realizes ICly that those who's minds were too foreign for him before, he can now understand primitively, because all creatures on Zalanthas are psionic to some degree.

Listening to the Ways ICly, he realizes that Ghgdfhdfssfdf, a raptor of the Red Sands, is sending messages to the pack that he is hungry. Drev grins and touchs the raptor's mind, showing images of food. Ghgdfhdfssfdf, astonished by this walker, migrates over to Drev and sorta follows him around for a while, sometimes falling a room back or so to snatch some little desert rodent from the sands. Still in contact with Ghgdfhdfssfdf's mind, Drev invites Ghgdfhdfssfdf to join him, but Ghgdfhdfssfdf follows at his own pace, not wanting to eat the human but not about to deal with any sort of ordering from the softmeat.

Brix the mul happens upon Drev the Ranger and attacks him, because we all know muls are raiders deep down inside. Ghgdfhdfssfdf, who had been sorta tailing Drev, lopes into the room, takes a look, and because Drev is still incontact with his mind, moves on Brix the mul.

Now, of course, Brix the mul kills both Drev and the raptor Ghgdfhdfssfdf, but that's beyond the point.


As long as you were in contact with the raptor's mind, he would be non-aggressive and would follow you off and on. This particular branch of contact would allow contact with more than one mind, so if a person was good enough in the Ways and with this skill, he could conceivably come find you with a pack of gortok on his heel to assist him.

I'm not sure I would elect to allow ordering, like you do a PET or SOLDIER, but ....