THE FANTASY RANGER - historical origin and most effective weapons | FANTASY RE-ARMED

How about armor? Is chain mail feasible for lots of travel? Or is it too heavy?

Mmmmmmmm idk man nobody who lives in a Forrest carry’s a machete regularly that’s what an axe is for the only time you really need a machete is in a rainforest or a jungle im from the far north of Manitoba Canada you can trust me

Vert means the timber and wood in the forest

What brand is the Machete?

Kukris would also be prized tools to a fantasy ranger. It functions well as a machete but is a little tougher and sturdier and (historically) is quite deadly. A bowie knife/kabar would also be a useful tool, though not necessarily a weapon in camp/survival situations. So: machete/falchion with maybe a gladius/short sword/kukri for dual wielding (?), kabar/dagger/bowie knife as a camp tool, composite bow for hunting and ranged combat and maybe a small hand axe/tomahawk for camp work.

You leave out skirmishers: light infantry sent a day or two’s journey ahead of the main force to find and engage the enemy or prevent the enemy from finding you. Often these were ad hoc, randomly picked infantry. Other times they were a dedicated unit.
Then the scouts: usually cavalry (but sometimes infantry) roaming further ahead and in order to reconnoiter the broader area so combat was almost always a failure

Im not huge on DnD simply on the basis that the actual gameplay itself is just a little too all over the place and the numbers are too small typically (I actually adore the story aspect of DnD though).

But yeah, Ranger in typical fantasy is just a horribly under appreciated occupation. I was always a mage/wizard/sorcerer style player in every rpg that gave me the option. However, once I started delving into fantasy stories and playing RPGs with well-made survival modes (needing to eat, sleep, drink, etc) I started to understand exactly how important it is to have rangers or something of an equivalent.

Having the ranger always being in nature it makes me want to try using a quarterstaff to see how it works out.

Hunting deer is how one of my ancestors got their ticket to australia, I wonder if they were caught by some version of a ranger interesting thought.

I'm going on a fishing trip this summer, but I can only bring one friend. Who will it be? The warrior, the priest, the ranger or the thief? 🤔

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Arathdian Fell in T.A 1975 and Aranarth became the first Chieftan of the Dunidain in T.A 1977

Why is your bow strung?
The point of a long bow is power and range. You are not pulling out your longbow to handle an ambush. If you are pulling it out you have time to string it.

I would pair the bush knife with an axe for minimized redundancy in gear. I would also argue that pirates, vikings and the like are marine rangers instead of all that multiclassing shenanigans people get up to…

A celtic short sword with the classic leaf-shaped blade would probably work well for clearing brush as well as for combat likewise as it flares out towards the end of the blade.

Get to the point, man. You talk way too much.

Some of my favorite rangers in fantasy are in the Spellmonger series. A hunting bow does just fine for non-armored combatants btw

Colonial American Rangers you speak of is Roger’s Rangers during the French Indian war they were men who were huntsman and trappers who understood the land. I use this to inspire my Dwarf Ranger who is a mountain dwarf in which I also mountain men who are basically rangers who lived in the mountains

'Vert' is old French, and evolved from Latin for green, viridis. Hence, the viridian forest.

I think a short bow, spear and seax or hand axe would be most practical. Imagine trying to get through thick underbrush with that long of a bow.

Fun Fact here from germany. What is described as a Ranger in the english language, is known in the german language as a "Waldläufer" wich translate to "Forest Runner".

Some of the famous fictional rangers would be Strider / Aragorn and Robin Hood.

As a forester who has done stream surveys in the thickest brush in the Pacific Northwest, a machete can be nice, but better than any machete I’ve ever used is the Fiskars 10” brush axe. It’s shaped more like a claw, with a forward swept point with the inside edge being bladed. Its blade is thicker than that of a machete which gives it the weight you need to cut through brush on a longer handle to give you a better lever. Although I’ve not used it in combat, I can imagine the point being excellent at armor penetration and the curved blade being able to help manipulate your opponent’s weapon. Additionally the blunt edge is capable of delivering a strong blow that is more helpful for snapping dead dry wood than chipping though it with the bladed edge. Similarly, this may serve to aid against hard targets or bone. My only complaint is that the blade could be a touch longer. I hope this is interesting!

Axe > sword

i think something like a kukri would be a good pairing with a falchion.

Ranger is pretty much my go to build style, whether playing a roughly DnD based game like Baldur’s Gate or Dragon Age, or solo RPGs like Skyrim and Oblivion (though my second favorite was Paladin style).

Baldur’s Gate rangers do fantastic with either bastard sword or scimitar, dual wielding or with a buckler.

This is odd, I think you way overthink “ranger” Gary Gygax didn’t put that much thought about it. In d&d it was clearly designed as a very broad “scout” style class. I mean in the original d&d before all of that you cold play vampire. Ad&d opened the dungeon masters guild with a blast tv about how this is not a battle system and is meant entirely for generic fantasy fun through story telling.

Aragorn was a Ranger of the North, who originally protected the lands of Arnor, the northern kingdom of the Dunedain, but after Arnor's fall, the Rangers of the North were just trying to survive and protect the line of Elendil and the chieftain of the Dundedain of the North. Gondor likewise had its own version, the Rangers of Ithilien, also called the Rangers of the South. As Gondor still stood, they retained their role of protecting Ithilien's borders from the Haradrim and the orcs. So yes, both orders of rangers in The Lord of the Rings had the duty to protect the lands of the Dunedain and their kingdoms.

Dont mess with a Machete!

Ive always been a fan of a dwarf ranger wandering using an axe as a walking stick

How about a pioneer saw back short sword. They are mostly much later than the Renaissance period, but seem to be a combo of sword and machete.

I regularly carry a Mongolian Horse bow, 24 arrows, multiple daggers and throwing spikes. The spikes are all poisoned. Also a short sword and a garrote for close silent wetwork. I try to convince anyone who intends me harm it's a really bad idea. But I'm happy to educate the people insistent on hurting me of the errors of their ways.

Vert is green. Vert and venison, greens and game.

"Venison" originally meant any sort of wild game before it meant deer specifically.

A good narrative effort in an area that benefits from amplification. We all recognize that Ranger implies something more. Historically or in fantasy. It is different. Even in a modern military context, Rangers remain closely true to mission. Rogers Rangers, a 1700s Ranger force in colonial America was formed and focused upon a need at the time that is similar to these fantasy stories. I would begin by looking at the definitions of a warrior. Not all soldiers or combatants are Warriors. It’s an innate ethos. Rangers cannot be trained or manufactured. They can only be recognized and then mentored. Keep in mind that the gear you’re describing needs to be carried along with non weapons. Weight is a big issue. Long range reconnaissance patrols became a close modern manifestation of the Ranger military role.

On pathfinder wrath of the righteous my class is a ranger

1st edition AD&D, including the original Unearthed Arcana, made the Ranger awesome. Dual weapon wielding, tracking, stealth, weapon specialization, damage bonus vs humanoids & giants, and Druid spell use made the Ranger a lethal class.
2nd edition AD&D nerfed the Ranger a bit. But they could be fixed with Class Kits. So, they were still pretty cool.
But 3rd thru 5th editions totally nerfed the Ranger.

Vert and venison meant the plants and animals of the forest ❤

Druids are an equally good Adventurer "Load-Out", same for certain Warlocks. But yes Rangers are a great Class.

Druids are an equally good Adventurer "Load-Out", same for certain Warlocks. But yes Rangers are a great Class.

what about a recurve bow? wouldn't that be smaller and kinda more practical?

Vert is french for green. Vert and venison refers to greenery and game. Messing rangers were responsible for managing and protecting the forests and animals

Howdy, this is perhaps a silly question but I'm gonna ask it anyhow.

Would it be plausable for a Ranger/Hunter class to wear a combination of dark blue and brown clothes or should I just stick to green and brown?

I doubt the King would take kindly to his Rangers hacking up his forest with machetes. They'd prob just use swords.
If the fantasy version has no responsibility then a machete-adjacent blade might make sense

Falchion, machete, longsword... None of them compare to the Falcata

You actually described the Dunedain pretty well. Originally there was a sister kingdom to Gondor in the areas near Rivendell, Bree, and the Shire known as Arnor. Arnor was defeated by the Witch King and his army long ago, but after it's defeat the Witch King also was defeated by the elves of Rivendell and fled. Arnor's king decided they should stay underground and live as rangers, awaiting the birth of a prophesied king who would reform Arnor. They also were few of numbers and knew that they would be reattacked if they tried to rebuild. So they went into hiding and now patrol and protect their homeland, including the Shire and Bree. If it wasn't for the rangers, there wouldn't be a Shire.

Sooooo... there sort of under kingly jurisdiction, since they were originally formed by the king of Arnor and are led by Aragorn the chosen king who would reform Arnor after the books. But not exactly like in Britain.

I also think in retrospect after your tree cutting video we can deduce that the hand and a half sword or short sword also might work pretty well for a ranger as it could be functional in cutting firewood, clearing brush, and preparing food. I also think rangers would likely use a wide array of knifes so they could fillet and prepare meat and notch arrows. Long knives like a Saxe could also be used as a melee weapon and probably for clearing brush. Knives would just help a ranger be as self-sufficient and light packed as possible.

Funny how your loadout, with a bow and two knives, turns out so similar to Ranger’s Apprentice rangers.

Given your definition would Witchers (More specifically those from the Wolf School) be considered in part Rangers? When you realise that most of the tasks they do is hunt and eliminate threats within the wilderness they are in a way policing and protecting forests, plains, hillsides etc even if instead of being supported by Lords & Kings directly they instead are compensated by the people as a whole through use of bounties.