This week’s guest blogger is Nerditor Doug from Nerdarchy.com. He was kind enough to write up 20 D&D ideas for the ranger in your party.

Home for the Holidays. A young scholar needs an escort from their school through the wilderness of your favored terrain back to their home village for a traditional celebration, and your favored enemy’s activity has been on the rise in the region, making the journey perilous. Timing is Everything. A magical flower with rumored healing powers blooms only once a year in a remote glade in the shadow of Trimount when the light of twin full moons pierces the darkness of the mountain, and a sage wants a sample for their botanical research. Myth Becomes Reality. Local legend tells of Goldhorn, a white ibex with horns of brilliant gold that are the key to discovering a hidden treasure, but hunters who have pursued the beast in the past all met unfortunate ends according to myths told by the folk of the area. Pitiless Protector. The beasts of the forest have become increasingly aggressive, and even the plant life has grown dangerous, after a madness infected the wood woad deep within whose heart tree grows from the gravesite of the druid circle that created it. Fane of the Frost Wyrm. The chieftain of the Frost Wyrm Clan has heard of your exploits and invites you to join in their Great Hunt — an expedition to track down and defeat a remorhaz in their arctic homeland as part of a rite of passage. Danger Among the Dunes. Travellers along a desert trade route have started to go missing, and it turns out a lamia is using a powerful magical item to cast mirage arcane to create an illusion of an oasis to lure victims into its grasp. Enemy of My Enemy is My…Enemy? Your favored enemy, normally kept in check, has been growing more aggressive lately and you discover an even greater danger threatening them, causing the uncharacteristic behavior. Spawn of the Star Toad. Cultists devoted to a froghemoth lurk in the sewers, kidnapping vagrants and feeding them to the star toad’s spawn to cultivate its progeny and transform the tunnels into a swampy lair for their abhorrent master. Weirder Things. A child from the village went missing, and their friends went into the deepest, darkest parts of the forest to try and find them but the same nothic who abducted their friend now imperils the young adventurers. What Nobility Wants. A messenger arrives in a frontier town, proclaiming the land is now part of a barony granted to a knight who plans to divert the nearby river for tactical reasons, which would have a severe impact on the town and the environment. But It Was There Last Week! Returning to a familiar hamlet for supplies and to check on the folk there, the entire place is missing as if it were never there at all with no trace of the people or buildings remaining and the surrounding plant life in full bloom — but it’s winter. Here, Kitty Kitty. Drawn by an unusual mewling sound, you find two kittens crying out of fear and hunger but they’re no ordinary kittens — their fur is purple-black and they have six legs and two nubs on their shoulders — but how did these displacer beast kitties get here and what happens when mom comes looking for them? Caravan of Cruelty. Slavers are returning to their remote stronghold after a successful raid with cages full of captives to be sold, and confronting the terrible slavers without any of the captives getting harmed in the process will be difficult — but no one should live in chains! (Alternatively could be drow returning to the Underdark after a successful raid on the surface world.) Not All Who Are Lost Are Wanderers. Far from civilization, a lost woman is distraught and says she does not remember how she got out here…but the woman is actually a night hag who will haunt the ranger’s dreams and attempt to corrupt or kill them in their sleep during the trek back to settled lands. Hunter’s Feast. A group of hunters set up camp in the woods and offer a place to rest and a warm meal, except you are the meal when they reveal themselves as werewolves and attack! Extreme Environmentalism. Seeping emanations from the Shadowfell corrupted a dryad’s tree, pushing her to take on extreme methods to protect the area and those she kills are thrown into a midden heap that’s become a shambling mound. With Foxes We Must Play the Fox. A fox is caught in a bear trap, and a hungry pack of wolves is moving in for the kill but if you can defeat or drive off the pack and free the fox it shapeshifts into a thankful druid who grants a boon. Equal Pay for Equal Work. Two groups square off in the wilderness over a pile of treasure, with a group of adventurers claiming ownership for destroying a gnoll encampment and a group of bandits demanding a share for saving them from certain death even though no help was asked for. Bravery or Foolishness? In order to become a knight and fulfill a lifelong dream, a young warrior is tasked with slaying a green dragon but despite their prowess they’re in over their heads unless you help them. Haunted By the Past. The ghost of a veteran soldier haunts the spot where they and the knights under his command were killed by a terrible beast, filling the apparition with guilt and remorse that their decision led to the group’s death and no one from their homeland knows their fate.

Nerditor Doug is a writer, editor and content creator with Nerdarchy and clients in the tabletop gaming community. A proud Clevelander, Doug is a news designer by night and RPG content creator by…later in the night. He invites gaming fans to check out the Nerdarchy YouTube channel, Nerdarchy.com and the Nerdarchy Patreon where he and fellow Nerdarchists Dave and Ted are constantly at work to entertain, share their love of RPGs and make new stuff for gamers around the world.



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