Monster Rangers
Founded in 1903 by Baron Davis, the Monster Rangers were never meant to be soldiers, lawmen, or conquerors. They were founded to do three things—and to do them honestly:
Believe. Study. Protect.
All Rangers can Imagine8 — the rare ability to see monsters. Not as legends. Not as threats. But as living beings. As neighbors. As something worth understanding.
When word spread that Coffin Canyon was crawling with monsters—ancient, displaced, wounded, and hunted — the Rangers came to study.
They stayed to protect.
Why the Monster Rangers Are Here
Coffin Canyon is not just dangerous — it is wrong.
Monsters have lived among the Dust King’s pyramids, obelisks, and ruins for ages beyond record. They were here before silver. Before railroads. Before flags. The Catastrophe did not create monsters—it trapped them, poisoned their habitat, and drew the worst kinds of attention.
The Rangers discovered something else, too:
Thyr comes from monsters.
Not as waste. Not as corruption. But as a byproduct of life—rare, powerful, and deeply misunderstood. Thyr is the source of Monster Ranger magic, and the reason so many factions are willing to kill for it. Where others see profit, the Rangers see blood in the water.
They are here because no one else will stand between monsters and extinction.
Camp Coffin
The Rangers’ foothold in the canyon is Camp Coffin, built into the bones of an old adobe Tejas town whose original name has been lost. The Rangers didn’t build it to dominate the land — they rebuilt it to endure.
Camp Coffin has walls. Houses. A cantina. A church. Supply sheds. Observation towers. It looks almost like a town again, if you squint and don’t ask too many questions.
It is not secret — but it is defended.
- Monsterology knows where it is.
- The Liberty Corps pretends not to.
- The Shine Riders raid it when they think they can get away with it.
- Camp Coffin exists because it has to.
Philosophy: Protection Is a Choice
The Monster Rangers are not pacifists.
They understand that some monsters are dangerous. Some cannot be reasoned with. Some must be driven off, contained, or—rarely—put down. These decisions are debated fiercely within the ranks.
But there is a line the Rangers will not cross:
- They do not hunt monsters for pleasure or profit
- They do not cage them for study
- They do not harvest their mort for Thyr
- Anyone who does is an enemy
This is why Monsterology hunts Rangers, bombs their outposts, and infiltrates their ranks. The Rangers represent a philosophy Monsterology cannot tolerate: monsters are not resources.
Relationships with Other Factions
Monsterology
Open enemies. Monsterology hunts Rangers without mercy, sabotages their camps, and plants infiltrators wherever it can. To Monsterology, Rangers are traitors to human progress. To the Rangers, Monsterology is committing crimes that history will never forgive.
Liberty Corps
Complicated. Distrustful. Tense. The Rangers love their country, but not blindly. They cooperate when they must, argue when they can, and quietly interfere when the Corps goes too far. Both sides believe they’re protecting the public. Only one side is willing to lie about it.
Shine Riders
A constant problem. The Shine Riders steal Ranger supplies, raid camps, spook monsters, and sell whatever they can get their hands on. The Rangers avoid direct conflict when possible — but will defend themselves when pushed.
Monster Rangers — On Monsters
Monsters are wonder.
They are elusive beauty made real—creatures of resonance, history, and living myth that most people will never truly see. Without the gift of Imagine8, monsters appear as shadows, illusions of routine life. With it, they are revealed as something rarer: presence, pattern, and meaning.
To the Monster Rangers, monsters are not curiosities or dangers first. They are endangered treasures — not to be owned, but to be preserved.
Every monster carries knowledge older than any map of Coffin Canyon. They remember paths the land itself has forgotten. They react to Thyr because Thyr comes from them, not the other way around. Where others see resources, Rangers see relationships.
Monsters are not perfect. Some are violent. Some are broken by the Catastrophe. Some cannot coexist safely with humans. The Rangers acknowledge this without flinching.
But extermination is not protection.
Exploitation is not study.
Erasure is not progress.
Most of humanity will never glimpse this wonder. That does not diminish its value—it makes it fragile.
The Monster Rangers exist because someone has to stand between wonder and the people who would grind it down for profit, fear, or convenience.
What the Rangers Want
The Monster Rangers are not trying to “win” Coffin Canyon.
They want to:
Preserve monster lives and habitats
Prevent Thyr exploitation
Expose Monsterology’s actions
Keep the canyon from becoming a slaughterhouse
They are tired. Underfunded. Outnumbered. And still here.
Because if they leave, no one else will protect what lives in the canyon.
Choose This Faction If You…
Want to play principled characters in a morally broken place
Like defending something that can’t defend itself
Enjoy being hunted, undermanned, and still standing
Believe knowledge should be earned, not stolen
Want hope to be a deliberate act, not a naïve one
Sound Strategies & Playstyle
Control the board through positioning and protection, not raw aggression
Intervene, don’t dominate—deny enemy objectives rather than chasing kills
Use monsters as allies, hazards, or sacred ground, not tools
Expect to be targeted early — and survive it
Win by making the canyon safer, not emptier