Poison Darter (Ranger Archetype)
Typically in RPGs, poison is thought of as the tool of a rogue or assassin, but it’s important to remember that many cultures, past and present, use poison as a hunting tool, bringing down prey that is either too large to risk outright combat with, or too small and agile to try and chase after in the environment it lives.
Thus, today we’re looking at a variety of ranger that specializes specifically in mixing up and using poison, most often coating darts in it. While associated with grippli subspecies with the toxic skin racial ability, it is not limited to them in the slightest, though such individuals of that criteria get a slight advantage when taking this archetype.
The result is a ranger that attacks from stealth, hoping to get just one good hit in so their poison can take hold, though they are more than willing to continuing to dose more powerful foes.
These rangers are quite skilled at mixing up toxins using their supplies each day, creating a weak neurotoxin. However, they can also use their toxic skin if they have such a trait to furnish the supplies as well. Over time, they learn to mix up batches of increasing potency, or even alter the poisons to harm other bodily functions instead.
As one might expect, these rangers know the basics of poison safety, and are at no risk of poisoning themselves.
While most rangers focus on a specific style of combat, learning specific techniques to better express it, the style of a poison darter grants them access to various techniques associated with alchemists and rogues, though only those that deal with poison.
Finally, these poisoners make the best out of not only their poisons, but also the darts that deliver them, shooting to cause maximum harm.
While they do get a solid supply of poison every day, you’ll definitely want to invest in bought poisons and/or make liberal use of the harvesting poison rules from Ultimate Wilderness. If sniping foes with a few poisoned darts to debilitate them before allies or yourself switch to more directly harmful weapons sounds appealing, by all means, take this archetype into consideration. Since your sneak attacks are all going to be at range anyway, definitely invest in stealth and ways to quickly re-enter stealth after losing it.
This archetype is most likely to show up anywhere where poisonous flora and fauna are in abundance, which for grippli could be anywhere as long as Marvin down the road still makes people queasy when he gets excited and goes for a hug, but for most non grippli and and those grippli without toxic skin, the most common regions these rangers appear are rainforests, certain deserts, the ocean (particularly coral reefs), and so on, though this will of course vary depending on where your GM likes to place their poisonous critters geographically.
To the grippli of Velkas Fen, the hounds of Tindalos are more than a rumor-shadowed boogeymonster, but a real threat that haunts the ruined city to the north, as their immunity to poison makes them impervious to the frog-folk’s primary hunting arts. As such, they build their homes in circular shapes, and forbid any furniture made with right angles in their households.
As natural poison-producers in their own right, vishkanya also make excellent poison darters, though their urbane status as a race means they typically use said abilities in civilization, rather than in the wilds, plying their trade as assassins, enforcers, or even kidnappers.
Travelling through the verdant jungle of Yelvenye, the party is struck by darts coated in Mindkiss poison, a rare toxin that puts those under its influence into a private mindscape, where they must face their inner demons alone. Regardless of whether they come out unscathed, they must afterwards face whatever fate their poisoners have in store for them.
