Park Ranger
| Park Ranger | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class | Occupations |
| Type | Occupation |
| Points | -4 |
| Skill Boosts | |
| Free Traits | Herbalist |
The Park Ranger brings a wilderness start built around traps, foraging and fast travel through the woods. It suits a survivor who plans to live outside the towns.
The occupation costs 4 points from the trait budget. It starts with one level each in Trapping, First Aid, Foraging, Knapping and Carving. The Herbalist trait comes free. The Park Ranger also moves much faster through forests and woodland, and knows every trap recipe from the start.
The Park Ranger is the classic pick for a life in the wild. Towns hold the loot, but they also hold the crowds. Forests offer food, medicine, wood and stone with far fewer zombies. The Park Ranger can travel through them quickly, trap and forage for meals and treat wounds with herbs gathered along the way.
Park Ranger Skills
One level of Trapping raises the catch chance of every trap. The snare trap is usable at once, with better traps close behind. The skill adds to both the trap's own catch chance and the quality of the trapping zone.
One level of Foraging widens the search radius a little. Wild food, herbs and materials are easier to find. Each level also lowers the chance that berries and mushrooms are poisonous.
One level of Knapping opens stone blades and stone chisels. Flint nodules and flakes are the main materials, and foraging turns them up at any level. One level of Carving opens handles and wooden spoons. Together they cover the basic tools of a primitive run.
Carving trains well from a single tree branch. The branch becomes a wooden rod, then small handles, then wooden spoons. Each step gives its own experience.
One level of First Aid speeds up treatment a little. Bandages last a little longer, and fractures heal faster than at level 0.
Each starting level shows as an experience boost at character creation, which helps early training.
A new Park Ranger starts with these skill levels.
| Skill | Levels | Skill Group |
|---|---|---|
| Trapping | +1 | Survival |
| First Aid | +1 | Survival |
| Foraging | +1 | Survival |
| Knapping | +1 | Crafting |
| Carving | +1 | Crafting |
Park Ranger Free Traits
Herbalist comes free with the occupation. It lets the character find medicinal herbs and craft medicines and poultices from them. Plantain, comfrey and wild garlic poultices are known. The trait also adds its own boost to foraging.
Herbalist brings more than recipes. Medicinal plants such as Broadleaf Plantain, Comfrey, Common Mallow, Wild Garlic and Black Sage show up when foraging. The trait also helps tell which wild foods are poisonous. It teaches the growing seasons for the medicinal herbs, so a herb garden is possible at camp. The trait adds a second level of Foraging on top of the occupation's own.
A Park Ranger gets these traits for free.
| Name | Image | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Herbalist | 
|
Positive Trait |
Park Ranger Recipes
The Park Ranger knows how to make the Stick Trap, Snare Trap, Crate Trap, Box Trap and Cage Trap. Each trap still needs its materials, tools and Trapping level. The snare trap is ready at the starting level, the box trap at level 2 and the cage trap at level 3.
A Park Ranger knows these recipes from the start, with no book or magazine needed.
| Name | Image | Recipe | Crafting Materials | Tools | Skill | Station | Learned | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comfrey Poultice | 
|
Grind Up Comfrey | 5x Comfrey | Mortar and Pestle | None | Any Surface | Yes | /additem Base.ComfreyCataplasm
|
| Plantain Poultice |
|
Grind Up Plantain | 5x Plantain | Mortar and Pestle | None | Any Surface | Yes | /additem Base.PlantainCataplasm
|
| Wild Garlic Poultice |
|
Grind Up Wild Garlic | 5x Wild Garlic | Mortar and Pestle | None | Any Surface | Yes | /additem Base.WildGarlicCataplasm
|
| Crate Trap | 
|
Make Crate Trap | Carpentry: 0 | In Hand | Yes | /additem Base.TrapCrate
| ||
| Stick Trap | 
|
Make Stick Trap |
|
- | None | In Hand | Yes | /additem Base.TrapStick
|
| Snare Trap | 
|
Make Snare Trap | Hacksaw | Trapping: 1 | In Hand | Yes | /additem Base.TrapSnare
| |
| Box Trap | 
|
Make Box Trap | Carpentry: 1, Trapping: 2 | In Hand | Yes | /additem Base.TrapBox
| ||
| Cage Trap | 
|
Make Cage Trap | 5x Wire | Pliers | Trapping: 3 | In Hand | Yes | /additem Base.TrapCage
|
A Park Ranger also starts with this knowledge.
| Name |
|---|
| Herbal Remedies |
A Park Ranger also knows the growing season of these crops.
| Crop |
|---|
| Black Sage |
| Broadleaf Plantain |
| Comfrey |
| Common Mallow |
| Wild Garlic |
How to Play Park Ranger
A Park Ranger plays best in the wild. Faster movement through forests makes woodland the safest ground for travel and escape. Zombies that follow into the trees fall behind quickly. Traps, foraging and herbal medicine keep the character fed and healed far from town.
The Park Ranger has strong foraging bonuses. The search radius is wider than usual, and weather hurts foraging less. Herbalist widens the radius a little further.
Early goals include a cabin or camp in the woods, a ring of baited traps and a store of herbs. Traps only catch when no one is close by, so set them well away from camp. Every survivor must be more than 80 tiles away for a trap to work.
Timing matters for traps. Small rodents and birds can be caught at any hour. Rabbits, raccoons and squirrels are caught between evening and early morning. Each trap also has a chance each hour to lose its bait or break. Stronger traps are less likely to do either.
Trapping experience comes from collecting the catch. Taking a live animal or a dead one from a trap both count. Bigger animals give more experience.
The Exposure Survival show on Life and Living TV gives a large Trapping boost and teaches a crate trap. Exposure Survival tapes help with Trapping and Foraging as well.
The high point cost leaves less room for traits. The Hiker trait adds another level of Trapping and Foraging. Bushcrafter adds more wilderness skills, including Knapping and Carving. The Park Ranger's starting skills lean toward survival rather than combat, so fights are best kept short. The forest speed makes leaving a fight easy.
A forest camp also has plenty of stone and wood. Some grassy forest tiles hide large stones sunk in the ground. Flint deposits give nodules and flakes for knapping when broken with a heavy tool.
Notes
- Movement through forests is much faster.
- Every trap recipe is known from the start.
- Herbalist teaches medicinal poultices and spots poisonous wild food.
- Set traps more than 80 tiles from camp so they can catch.
- Check traps in the morning after a night of rabbit and raccoon catches.
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