D&D 2E 2e Ranger/Mage?

[Taloth]

Hey, just a quick question. I was thinking that an elven Ranger/Mage would be a fun class to play, but it isn't legally possible (not even for half-elves). Is there any reason not to allow an elf Ranger/Mage? My group doesn't really care about stats (unless of course someone is very over/under powered, in which case we houserule something to fix it). At first I thought it was because of the mix of mage spells and priest spells (at 8th level), but I don't really see the logic there, either.

If anyone's tried this or can think of a reason not to allow it, that would be great

Thanks

 

[RangerWickett]

Well, I haven't played AD&D in 11 years, but I hardly think ranger/mage would be overpowered. Especially since the PC won't have any armor. It sounds like a fun character, and perfectly reasonable: a wizard who is in tune with nature.

 

[Taloth]

Well, I haven't played AD&D in 11 years, but I hardly think ranger/mage would be overpowered. Especially since the PC won't have any armor. It sounds like a fun character, and perfectly reasonable: a wizard who is in tune with nature.

exactly my thoughts. Thanks!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Rules for a Druid/Ranger and Druid/Ranger/MU (and possibly other mixes of those classes) appeared in Dragon* as "Official Content" back in the 1980s.

I've been playing a D/R/M since then, and he hasn't unbalanced the game at all.



* I don't recall the exact issue, but I was recently told it was supposedly somewhere between #90-100.

 

[PolterGhost]

I can't think of any reason why you shouldn't be allowed to. You obtain very few extra spells, get perfect two-weapon fighting without requiring a high dex, a slightly better Tracking ability than what you can normally buy with proficiencies, along with some other minor abilities (+4 against a single species or being able to have animal empathy isn't really gamebreaking.) Move Silently and Hide in Shadows could probably be filled in by going Fighter/Thief/Mage just the same, but otherwise I don't think I'd have any trouble with Ranger/Mage.

 

[TanisFrey]

At some point in Dragon Mag allowed you to swap in any subclasses, that you ould take as you race, for multiclassing. This was 1ed, and I think was codified into the 1ed Unearthed Arcana. So Ranger or Barbarian can replace Fighter, Druid can replace Cleric, Illusionist can replace Magic-User and Thief-Acrobat or Assassin can replace Thief.

Many DMs allowed to continue into 2ed. So if your DM allows it, it will not break the game.

It was far harder to break 1ed & 2ed until the point-buy build your own class in the 2.5 player books were published.

 

[Starbuck_II]

Bah, Cleric/Ranger is best multiclass of Ranger I think.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I don't remember any subclass swapping from Unearthed Arcana. i can't check, though, because I'm not even in the same county as my game books.

 

[TanisFrey]

I don't remember any subclass swapping from Unearthed Arcana. i can't check, though, because I'm not even in the same county as my game books.

Maybe it was only in Dragon Mag.

 

[shadzar]

Reasons to not allow it?

Ranger wouldn't sit stuck in a building to practice and learn and research spells.....

Dragon issues 96 and 100 contain info on the d/r/m.

2nd edition you can mix anything you want and remove any level limits you want. Just be careful to watch the power.

Most forbidden class mixes were for reasons related to the theme the game was printing, but any could be mixed.