All that is gold does not glitter. But frankly, if you’ve got the choice, take the glittering gold every time. That nonshiny stuff loses a ton of resale value.
Loving nature, exploring the wilderness, companioning with animals: most people wouldn’t view these things as obvious assets for the rough-and-tumble business of running an Acquisitions Incorporated franchise. But most people are wrong about everything. Few Acq Inc franchises set their roots or undertake all their business in urban areas. As such, countless adventures will call a franchise into the wilds, where a qualified ranger makes the difference between forlorn failure and fabulous success. Even when a franchise engages in commerce in the cities and towns of the realm, a ranger’s keen senses, sharp blades, and flesh-seeking arrows will never find lack of use.
The notion of being a defender is core to your identity as a ranger. As a member of Acquisitions Incorporated, you channel your natural proclivity for protectiveness into a razor-sharp focus on the franchise. Pure profit is never an end in and of itself, but whatever deep-seated personal goals you only ever talk about in the dead of night over a dying fire, those goals need financing.
Your role as a defender and a controller of problems makes you a natural leader for sure. Your sense of selflessness and integrity can help shape and guide the more unscrupulous business plans of your allies. Likewise, the other members of your franchise might panic when that crate of Figurine of Wondrous Power you acquired turns out to all be self-activating obsidian steeds. But you have the steady nerves and earnest resolve to revert and revise any pear-shaped plans.
The balance of nature is no less strong within civilization than it is in the wilds, and the streets and sewers of towns and cities are their own thriving ecosystem. As a ranger who spends part of your time in urban settings, you quickly learn to seek out the companionship of some of the many beasts that inhabit those settings.
| d10 | Beast |
|---|---|
| 1 | Rat |
| 2 | Pigeon |
| 3 | Skunk |
| 4 | Crow |
| 5 | Raccoon |
| 6 | Possum |
| 7 | Snake |
| 8 | Toad |
| 9 | Giant beetle |
| 10 | Lizard |
Your instinctive ability to blend into the natural background has applications even outside the wilderness. During business meetings with rivals or attempts to play nice with the nobility, being forbidden from carrying weapons doesn’t slow you down. Whether you channel your enemies’ impending destruction through mundane equipment, thoughtful gifts, or a packed lunch, you and your improvised weapons are always ready for action.
| d6 | Object (Improvised Weapon) |
|---|---|
| 1 | The roasted drumstick of a huge bird (greatclub; longsword if a shard of bone is broken off) |
| 2 | A long loaf of stale bread (mace) |
| 3 | A musical instrument missing all but one string (shortbow) |
| 4 | A racket used in a popular sport (handaxe, battleaxe) |
| 5 | A metal-tipped crutch (greatsword, spear) |
| 6 | A large bottle of wine (mace, shortsword if shattered) |
As you do those rangery things you do, you’ve had the opportunity to travel to many exotic and exciting locales. But there’s one place you just keep coming back to.
| d8 | Point of Interest |
|---|---|
| 1 | A secret cove a few hours’ north of town that is a known meeting spot for pirates. |
| 2 | A sewer system underneath the local guardhouse. |
| 3 | The quaint settlement where you grew up, and where you send most of what you earn adventuring. |
| 4 | A caravan of merchants and sellswords that follows a regular route across the land. |
| 5 | A temple built to honor a dark god, long abandoned. |
| 6 | The final resting place of the ranger who trained you. |
| 7 | The shady market known as Gort Jorkle’s Afflicted Finery, openly and proudly selling the most illegal things imaginable. |
| 8 | An unnamed hill where a ruined tower appears at midnight, then vanishes again at dawn. |
Rangers like to work alone, but it is convenient when others are around to draw the arrows to themselves.
— Môrgæn
No matter whether a ranger ranges in the crowded city streets, the trackless wilderness, or the most desolate and confounding planes, all ranger archetypes can find a place in an Acquisitions Incorporated campaign.
Any Beast Master understands that a beast companion is far more diligent, friendly, and reliable than most people. This might be doubly true in an Acquisitions Incorporated campaign, where if you fall in combat, your companion isn’t going to assess the resale value of your gear versus the cost of the potion of healing it’ll take to revive you. Even in an urban setting, a beast companion makes a solid ally, serving as a guard or a scout when you’re skulking around places you shouldn’t be.
Gloom Stalkers are often best known for their work in the Underdark, but shadows are shadows wherever they occur. As a Gloom Stalker ranger, you find solace and refuge in dark alleys, dimly lit back rooms, and the shadowy corners of any corporate boardroom. Moreover, your expertise as a skulker and an ambush predator fits right in with most franchise business models.
Every Acquisitions Incorporated franchise needs to be ready to travel at a moment’s notice, with franchisees always rushing headlong into the next amazing opportunity. As a Horizon Walker, you’re a master of travel, blazing trails into unknown realms by passing through the even-more-unknown realms of the planes. Whatever path your franchise walks, your combat and magical skill helps ensure a safe journey for you and your companions. Moreover, the unknown reaches of the world are the best places to find new resources, and no one knows more about the unknown than you do.
Whether in the wilds, in the cities, or in the wide expanses in between, your specialized combat training as a Hunter ranger makes you a stalwart defender of your franchise and your party. On a mission, you take a lead role in dispensing with threats. In a social encounter, you stand at the back of the room and look dangerous. Just focus on a bit of sensitivity training to counter your predator’s instincts and you can be the definitive Acquisitions Incorporated employee—looking smart in a business suit one day, and hacking up enemies the next.
The nightmare creatures that haunt the world are more of a threat to an Acquisitions Incorporated franchise than they are to other people. Because frankly, other people have less to lose. Sometimes monsters guard vast amounts of treasure just waiting for acquisition. Other times, they’re in the employ of a business rival looking to acquire your wealth, your blood, or your soul. No matter how dark the adventure gets, your role as a Monster Slayer makes you the best offense and defense against whatever stands in your franchise’s path to success.