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Lets design a Warlord for 5th edition
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<blockquote data-quote="Jester David" data-source="post: 7375836" data-attributes="member: 37579"><p>I've had plenty of time to muse on the warlord over the years. And I did an attempt as a fighter subclass a while back (renamed the Commander).</p><p></p><p><u><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Design Thoughts</strong></span></u></p><p><u></u>The big design goals for a warlord class would be:</p><p><strong>* Use Intelligence. </strong>Charisma is the bard's thing. There's no martial class that uses Int. That's a nice gap. Doubling down on being the "smart fighter" better defines the class. </p><p><strong>* Reward smart play.</strong> The warlord is the strategic mastermind. Players interested in that concept likely want more tactical play, and the class can support that. </p><p><strong>* Encourage teamwork.</strong> The class should make the other characters better and imply coordination.</p><p></p><p>I'd likely focus on reactions with the class, making the warlord the character all about off-turn actions. </p><p></p><p><u><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Role</strong></span></u></p><p>If a warlord class is going to be added, it should focus on what the concept <em>should</em> do. What you would expect a "warlord" to do. Especially new players unfamiliar with past implementations: you shouldn't have to fight against expectations. </p><p></p><p>I'm less concerned about forcing the class to be the "martial healer" as healers are a <em>character</em> role in 5e and not a <em>class</em> role. A player should be able to make their warlord into the healer if they want, but the person wanting to play the warlord in a different role shouldn't be saddled with a bunch of healing they don't want to use. </p><p></p><p>"Cleric replacement" is a lame niche for a class. Having the sorcerer be the "wizard replacement" would do a disservice to that class. </p><p>The idea of making a class just to be a "non-magical buffer" is weak, being needless grid filling. We also shouldn't make a class just be to the "nonmagical pet class" or the "spell-less AoE damage class". </p><p></p><p><u><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Healing</strong></span></u></p><p>Only one class in the game has assumed healing: the paladin. Every other class has to opt into being a healer. </p><p>It's not an essential part of the druid or the bard or even the cleric. So it doesn't *need* to be an essential assumed part of the warlord. It gets in the way of the concept. Move healing to a subclass. </p><p></p><p>Does there need to be more healing in a low-magic campaign? Maybe. But hp recovery is fast already with overnight healing, and there's Hit Dice to speed that up. </p><p>Even assuming HD aren't enough, if you're changing the base assumptions of the game (i.e. low magic, no spellcasting classes) the best way to tweak gameplay is variant rules, and not a class. Changing how hp is regained, added a Healing Surge optional rule, and the like.</p><p>Making that one class essential is bad design. No one should *have* to play the cleric in the base game, and so no one should *have* to be the warlord in a low magic game. </p><p></p><p><u><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Subclasses</strong></span></u></p><p>The 4e subclasses for the warlord are lame. They have unremarkable story hooks and zero fluff. We don't need a repeat of the Champion and Battle Master.</p><p>These need to be tossed out. </p><p></p><p><strong>* Chirurgeon.</strong> The boring one. The healer. It restores hp. Whee. </p><p>I do like the "overhealing" Meals suggested. That'd fit nicely in there.</p><p>Maybe it could hand out bonus HD to people, allowing more healing at rests. It should also do things like allow extra saving throws with a bonus against poisons and diseases. Perhaps in place of the bonus Hit Dice, where the die is rolled and becomes a bonus on the save. (Healing Surge dice?)</p><p></p><p><strong>* Guerrilla. </strong>The sneaky warlord that works with ambush tactics and dirty tricks. They help the party hide, and grant their allies a bonus against surprised creatures. They might also spot ambushes. </p><p></p><p><strong>* Herald.</strong> The hornblower or bugler, who signals their allies. A blast of their warhorn inspires their allies as they rush into battle (aka they give out temporary hit points). The herald can also warn their allies, allowing them to act despite being surprised, or ready themselves for battle more quickly. </p><p></p><p><strong>* Lancer.</strong> A common build of 4e warlords was the spearman/pikeman: giving them a polearm let them fight behind the Defender, where their melee skills would be useful but they wouldn't be base-2-base with enemies. This can draw inspiration from knights as well as dragoons from <em>Final Fantasy</em>, with abilities that give bonuses with polearms and spears, likely via a Fighting Style variant. (Bonus points if it allows for a finesse spear wielder like Oberyn Martell.)</p><p></p><p><strong>* Standard Bearer.</strong> The dude with the flag mobilising the troops. This would be the warlord who directs the action, allowing allies to shift their position. More focused on ally mobility and "castling".</p><p>There might also be some more limited morale boosting, by planting the flag and rallying the troops, or preventing people from being moved away from the standard (aka hold the line). </p><p></p><p><strong>* Vanguard. </strong>The lead from the front character. Better armour, and a little more tanky. When they charge, they can bring allies along with them. Maybe some damage mitigation, for themselves and their allies. </p><p></p><p><u><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Filled Features</strong></span></u></p><p><u></u></p><p>A lot of the basic skeleton would be filled:</p><p>3 - Subclass</p><p>4 - ASI</p><p>5 - Extra Attack</p><p>6 - Subclass</p><p>8 - ASI</p><p>10 - Subclass</p><p>12 - ASI</p><p>14 - Subclass</p><p>16 - ASI</p><p>19 - ASI</p><p></p><p>So, really, only ten levels of powers are really needed. </p><p></p><p>(Plus, 2nd level should probably also have Fighting Style. Like the Paladin and the Ranger. But that's only half a level's features. )</p><p></p><p><u><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Class Features</strong></span></u></p><p>Levels 1, 2, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, and 20 are still empty. </p><p></p><p>Looking at the 4e warlord, one of the consistent abilities of the warlord was making other people's Action Surge even more awesome. Not sure how to translate that. And it's not something the warlord is actively part off, so it'd be weak first level power. </p><p>But maybe it could be tweaked. When an ally hits with an attack, you can trigger a bonus, like moving 10 feet or some bonus damage. Likely once a round. “Tactical Acumen” is a cool name. Subclasses can also add additional options to this, like the rogue’s Cunning Action. (Or the warlord could just use it when they hit.)</p><p></p><p>The 4e version often had a bonus to initiative, which is cool. Messing with initiative in generally would be fun. Having the ability to allow characters to "delay" and change their initiative order would be neat, or swap turns with the warlord.</p><p>That might be a good, small 2nd level feature. You can modify your Initiative by your Intelligence, adding or subtracting it. Meanwhile, swapping with another character (or swapping other characters in general) might be a fun 13th level feature. </p><p></p><p>For 7th level, something more complicated could be cool. A “Stratagem” mechanic where at the end of a rest you give a character a bonus they can trigger. It gives you the flavour of having anticipated a situation and been ready. They might get additional uses and better strategems at 11, 15, and 18. With "Master Stratagem" as the capstone. </p><p></p><p>This leaves level 17 as one where I got nothing. I'll come back for that...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jester David, post: 7375836, member: 37579"] I've had plenty of time to muse on the warlord over the years. And I did an attempt as a fighter subclass a while back (renamed the Commander). [U][SIZE=3][B]Design Thoughts[/B][/SIZE] [/U]The big design goals for a warlord class would be: [B]* Use Intelligence. [/B]Charisma is the bard's thing. There's no martial class that uses Int. That's a nice gap. Doubling down on being the "smart fighter" better defines the class. [B]* Reward smart play.[/B] The warlord is the strategic mastermind. Players interested in that concept likely want more tactical play, and the class can support that. [B]* Encourage teamwork.[/B] The class should make the other characters better and imply coordination. I'd likely focus on reactions with the class, making the warlord the character all about off-turn actions. [U][SIZE=3][B]Role[/B][/SIZE][/U] If a warlord class is going to be added, it should focus on what the concept [I]should[/I] do. What you would expect a "warlord" to do. Especially new players unfamiliar with past implementations: you shouldn't have to fight against expectations. I'm less concerned about forcing the class to be the "martial healer" as healers are a [I]character[/I] role in 5e and not a [I]class[/I] role. A player should be able to make their warlord into the healer if they want, but the person wanting to play the warlord in a different role shouldn't be saddled with a bunch of healing they don't want to use. "Cleric replacement" is a lame niche for a class. Having the sorcerer be the "wizard replacement" would do a disservice to that class. The idea of making a class just to be a "non-magical buffer" is weak, being needless grid filling. We also shouldn't make a class just be to the "nonmagical pet class" or the "spell-less AoE damage class". [U][SIZE=3][B]Healing[/B][/SIZE][/U] Only one class in the game has assumed healing: the paladin. Every other class has to opt into being a healer. It's not an essential part of the druid or the bard or even the cleric. So it doesn't *need* to be an essential assumed part of the warlord. It gets in the way of the concept. Move healing to a subclass. Does there need to be more healing in a low-magic campaign? Maybe. But hp recovery is fast already with overnight healing, and there's Hit Dice to speed that up. Even assuming HD aren't enough, if you're changing the base assumptions of the game (i.e. low magic, no spellcasting classes) the best way to tweak gameplay is variant rules, and not a class. Changing how hp is regained, added a Healing Surge optional rule, and the like. Making that one class essential is bad design. No one should *have* to play the cleric in the base game, and so no one should *have* to be the warlord in a low magic game. [U][SIZE=3][B]Subclasses[/B][/SIZE][/U] The 4e subclasses for the warlord are lame. They have unremarkable story hooks and zero fluff. We don't need a repeat of the Champion and Battle Master. These need to be tossed out. [B]* Chirurgeon.[/B] The boring one. The healer. It restores hp. Whee. I do like the "overhealing" Meals suggested. That'd fit nicely in there. Maybe it could hand out bonus HD to people, allowing more healing at rests. It should also do things like allow extra saving throws with a bonus against poisons and diseases. Perhaps in place of the bonus Hit Dice, where the die is rolled and becomes a bonus on the save. (Healing Surge dice?) [B]* Guerrilla. [/B]The sneaky warlord that works with ambush tactics and dirty tricks. They help the party hide, and grant their allies a bonus against surprised creatures. They might also spot ambushes. [B]* Herald.[/B] The hornblower or bugler, who signals their allies. A blast of their warhorn inspires their allies as they rush into battle (aka they give out temporary hit points). The herald can also warn their allies, allowing them to act despite being surprised, or ready themselves for battle more quickly. [B]* Lancer.[/B] A common build of 4e warlords was the spearman/pikeman: giving them a polearm let them fight behind the Defender, where their melee skills would be useful but they wouldn't be base-2-base with enemies. This can draw inspiration from knights as well as dragoons from [I]Final Fantasy[/I], with abilities that give bonuses with polearms and spears, likely via a Fighting Style variant. (Bonus points if it allows for a finesse spear wielder like Oberyn Martell.) [B]* Standard Bearer.[/B] The dude with the flag mobilising the troops. This would be the warlord who directs the action, allowing allies to shift their position. More focused on ally mobility and "castling". There might also be some more limited morale boosting, by planting the flag and rallying the troops, or preventing people from being moved away from the standard (aka hold the line). [B]* Vanguard. [/B]The lead from the front character. Better armour, and a little more tanky. When they charge, they can bring allies along with them. Maybe some damage mitigation, for themselves and their allies. [U][SIZE=3][B]Filled Features[/B][/SIZE] [/U] A lot of the basic skeleton would be filled: 3 - Subclass 4 - ASI 5 - Extra Attack 6 - Subclass 8 - ASI 10 - Subclass 12 - ASI 14 - Subclass 16 - ASI 19 - ASI So, really, only ten levels of powers are really needed. (Plus, 2nd level should probably also have Fighting Style. Like the Paladin and the Ranger. But that's only half a level's features. ) [U][SIZE=3][B]Class Features[/B][/SIZE][/U] Levels 1, 2, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, and 20 are still empty. Looking at the 4e warlord, one of the consistent abilities of the warlord was making other people's Action Surge even more awesome. Not sure how to translate that. And it's not something the warlord is actively part off, so it'd be weak first level power. But maybe it could be tweaked. When an ally hits with an attack, you can trigger a bonus, like moving 10 feet or some bonus damage. Likely once a round. “Tactical Acumen” is a cool name. Subclasses can also add additional options to this, like the rogue’s Cunning Action. (Or the warlord could just use it when they hit.) The 4e version often had a bonus to initiative, which is cool. Messing with initiative in generally would be fun. Having the ability to allow characters to "delay" and change their initiative order would be neat, or swap turns with the warlord. That might be a good, small 2nd level feature. You can modify your Initiative by your Intelligence, adding or subtracting it. Meanwhile, swapping with another character (or swapping other characters in general) might be a fun 13th level feature. For 7th level, something more complicated could be cool. A “Stratagem” mechanic where at the end of a rest you give a character a bonus they can trigger. It gives you the flavour of having anticipated a situation and been ready. They might get additional uses and better strategems at 11, 15, and 18. With "Master Stratagem" as the capstone. This leaves level 17 as one where I got nothing. I'll come back for that... [/QUOTE]
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