Wilderness bonus

General

The Ranger Bonus is a measure of an individual's connection to nature. The "bonus" is a misnomer, since it can have either a negative or a positive effect, depending on the situation. General consensus puts the maximum negative rank modifier at ~30% (unlimited) and the maximum positive rank modifier ~20% (limited by global caps). The actual rank modificaton is affected by both current attunement to nature and the "wildness" rating of the room you are in.

Skills Affected

• Hiding
• Stalking
• Perception
• Foraging
• Skinning
• Climbing
• Swimming
• Scouting

(confirmed by GM-Zeyurn 3/09 ranger meeting)

How to maintain a bonus

• Stay out of the cities. There are two relevant primary categories of rooms in DR: In Town vs. Out of Town. There are also different degrees of In-Town or Out-of-Town. The longer you remain in an In-Town area the lower your bonus goes. You can restore your bonus by spending time in Out-of-Town Areas.

Pace Messages

Pace messages tell you what degree a room is In-Town or Out-of-Town. Simply type PACE.

• You glance about the area while pacing back and forth, like a large, stalking mountain cat.
• You pace back and forth, smiling slightly to yourself at the refreshing familiarity of the area.
• You pace back and forth.
• You pace back and forth, scowling slightly at your surroundings.
• You pace back and forth like a trapped animal.

Current Status

If one HIDEs and then, while remaining hidden, HOWLs then one may get a better understanding of their current Ranger bonus.

• You howl strongly, like that of a wolf calling its kin to assemble for a hunt. The sound echoes commandingly through the area.
• You inhale and howl strongly, the cacophonous sounds reverberating around you.
• You howl like a wolf calling the pack!
• You open your mouth and throw back your head, howling with a tentative but fairly resonant tone that wavers only slightly.
• You take in a deep breath air and howl softly.
• You howl meekly, unsure of yourself.
• You take in a deep breath to howl, but it comes out as a whimper, like a lost wolf looking for his pack.
• You howl quietly to yourself, echoing a soft, desolate sound that doesn't sound quite right.
• You take in a deep breath to howl, but it comes out as a whimper, like a lost wolf looking for his pack. (This message appeared again, possibly a bug.)
• You take in a deep breath to howl loudly, but instead cough and choke on the air around you.
• You open your mouth to howl, but you merely sigh like the softest wind through the trees. Sadly, not even a leaf flutters with your "mighty" breath.
• You open your mouth and roar with everything you've got!  A few soft sounds reminiscent of a baby robin's first song twitter sweetly from within you.
• You give forth a mighty... yelp, which sounds more like a domesticated puppy than anything else.
• You open your mouth to howl, but it sounds more like a dying chicken than anything else.
• You take in a deep breath to howl, and let loose with a mighty... Moo?!  The sounds that erupt from within you sound startlingly like the loud bleating of a young heifer giving birth to her first calf.

Going from max positive bonus to max negative bonus took about 96 minutes while sitting in a "trapped animal" urban room.