We Were Never Meant to Survive (GLOG Class: Ranger)

I love coyotes, as you can see. All images via Wikipedia.

Tinen is a wild land. Its huddled villages and towns of mud brick fed by intricate irrigation are few and far between. What fills the interstices? Ragged hills dotted with juniper and piñon and chamisa, steep mountains cloaked in evergreen and autumn yellow, tiny streams which lapse in the dry heat and flood in the snowmelt, endless expanses of brown grass and shrubs which burst into verdancy when it rains. Their inhabitants are the beasts of earth and air and brook, the deer and elk and coyote and wolf and jay and lizard and trout—and you. The wilds must be patrolled, for Tinen is under siege by the Enemy, whose greatest skill is worming in where it is unwanted, and the land, infertile as it may seem, is the lifeblood and manna of the people. So it falls on some few, whose skills and temperament suit the task, to become as the coyote, to wander the lonely places where none others dare go, and defend them from evil.

 

Class: Coyote

 

Skills (1d3): 1. Astrology, 2. Augury, 3. Haruspicy

 

Starting Equipment: A gnarled juniper-wood coyote mask, a dust-colored cloak, a buff coat (light, fragile), a bow (medium) and 12 bronze-tipped arrows, an obsidian knife (light, fragile, magic), and a Coyote secret (see the table at the end of the class).

 

A: Secrecy, Survivalist, +1 AC

B: Nimble, +1 to-hit

C: Shift, +1 AC

D: Freedom, +1 to-hit

 

Secrecy: Your membership in the Order of Coyotes is not known to outsiders. You can identify yourself to other Coyotes with secret hand-signs and glyphs. You can perfectly mimic the whole vast breadth of coyote sounds and can speak the language of canids. Other than Secrecy, none of your abilities from this class function while you are not wearing your mask or while you are wearing metal armor—but all numerical bonuses are retained regardless.

Survivalist: You can find 1 ration of forage per day without actively searching while traveling in the wilderness and always know the direction to the closest source of clean water. While you can see the mountaintops, your chance of becoming Lost is 1-in-6 lower, unless you are actively trying to become Lost. You have a 10-in-10 chance of following a trail by sight and scent over any terrain, reduced by 1-in-10 per day since the trail was made.

 

Nimble: You take one less die of damage from falling and always land on your feet. You have perfect balance and cannot be knocked over by anything smaller than a horse.

 

Shift: If you can see the leaves of a plant or the lichen on a rock, you may gain 1 Fatigue to instantly appear in cover next to it. You may make an additional maneuver per round in combat.

 

Freedom: You are immune to being restrained, tied up, pinned, grappled or imprisoned—your body becomes dust momentarily to move through such things. You can walk atop mud, snow, and water without sinking. You leave no trail you don’t choose to leave. 

 

Coyote Secrets (d8): 

1. A black and white feather from a woodpecker crow. While holding it, you may transform into that bird, leaving the contents of your inventory in a pile on the ground. You may transform back at will and may not use the feather again until the full moon.
2. An ironwood spear sprouting a single red flower (medium). Once the spear has pierced a creature, it cannot be removed from their flesh until they die.
3. A hat made from a skunk's pelt. While wearing it, you may spray like a skunk—don't ask from what orifice.
4. Three polished chunks of pink mountain granite. If used as sling bullets, the target takes normal sling damage and is thrown back 40 feet, and the chunk crumbles to dust. If the target hits a surface before the 40 feet is complete, they take 1d6 additional damage per remaining 10 feet.
5. A tiny clay vial of datura, containing 4 doses. 1 dose causes instant delirium and a save vs unconsciousness. 2 doses cause instant unconsciousness and a save vs death.
6. A clay potsherd from a forgotten culture. When snapped, causes a piece of representational art within reach to come to life and obey your orders inerringly for 8 hours.
7. A simple pinewood whistle. Calls 1d6 regular coyotes to you within 10 minutes. Every time you repeat this within the same hex within 30 days, -1 reaction with coyotes and Coyotes from that hex.
8. An ancient macahuitl of alder and sapphire (heavy, +1). In sunlight, its blades focus light into the face of the closest foe (-1 AC and to-hit) and may be used to start fires.

This is, of course, a GLÅUGUST post, for the prompt "adapt a 'setting-specific' class to your setting." It is an adaptation of Loch's very excellent Wanderer from Ashes to Ashes/the Living World, which had not previously been posted publicly (don't worry, I got permission to link it here).