Orc Warlord Prerequisites...

[Wraithdrit]

Fixing the Orc Warlord

Okay so the Orc Warlord (Races of Faerun) has the following Prerequisites:

BAB: +5 (okay, so its one of the many, five level prestige classes that you can take starting at 6th level... cool)
Race: Orc or half-orc (duh...)
Alignment: Any nongood (makes sense... bloodthirsty horde and all that...)
Skills: Intimidate 8 ranks, Ride 5 ranks, Survival 5 ranks (okay all makes sense... 5th level requirements still...)
Special: Rage ability (gotta keep the lesser in line after all... okay)
Feats:Blood of Warlord or Might Makes Right AND Leadership

What the HECK!? Thats two feats with the prerequisite of Leadership, which has a prerequisite of 6th level! None of them are fighter feats, so you can't take bonus fighter feats to take them... so are you telling me that to make an Orc Warlord you need to save up two feats till 6th level, spend them immediately to get these two feats, then at 7th level take the prestige class? If that was the intent why not make it a BAB: +7 requirement.

Can you even save up feats like that? What the heck?

Am I just confused? Can someone explain these prerequisites to me?

 

[Jeremy]

My guess, author didn't stat out what it would take to qualify at the earliest possible levels and just designed it throwing together what he wanted every warlord to have. ---That or he really wanted all orc warlords to be take their first level in the class at 10th. (figuring leadership at 6th, might makes right at 9th, and warlord at 10th)

Whether you can save feats to take when you meet their prerequisites so you can take them at the earliest possible convenience has been officially nay sayed by WotC, been questionably allowed by Monte and some other designers, and is generally a matter of DM choice.

For instance, I have no problem with it. If you want to not take your 1st level rogue feat so you can qualify for weapon finesse at 2nd level with 1 BAB, and you think you can survive the whole level or levels without that feat or any other, fine by me.

 

[Wraithdrit]

Do you think the class should be allowed at 6th level? With the understanding that the 6th level feat must be leadership? Perhaps the 4th level slot of the class should be Bonus Feat (Might Makes Right/Blood of Warlord).

I just think that the class should be able to be taken at 6th level, since it was obviously designed as such.

 

[Jeremy]

Perhaps, perhaps not. It could have been created figuring an orc warlord would be a barbarian 3 rogue 4 aristocrat 2 for an orc who is a leader and a thinker who becomes a warlord. Maybe like a Warchief Thrall (who started out a slave of humans). Thus the base attack requirement is low, but the feat requirements require that the character have been around the block a few times.

But I doubt it. Not when the base attack requirement, class ability requirement, and skill requirements are all those of a 5th level barbarian. More likely again, it just didn't occur to the author that leadership couldn't be taken until 6th, thus delaying the class so long.

Like I said, I would have no problem with a PC or NPC being a barbarian 6 warlord 1. The class is not incredibly powerful in any area that would warrant much nitpicking on my part. If it suits the game, by all means.

 

[Wraithdrit]

Heh. I want Bbn 5/Warlord 3/whatever 1 for my 9th level converted to goodness former orc warlord. Just irks me when authors are boneheads. My DM will probably let me anyways, as long as the feats are all taken eventually.

 

[Jeremy]

Most likely. I wouldn't allow barbarian 5/warlord 1 because of the leadership prereq requiring a 6th level character unless you really had some reason to need that warlord level then instead of one level later. But at this point it's just a matter of what the DM thinks, so you should be good to go (as DM's tend to be good friends).