does that mean we can get back to finding a compromise?
Between what two positions?
The extremes would seem to be:
[sblock="realize, I AM trying to make these sound extreme and unreasonable, so brace yourself"]The warlord must be errata'd into the 5e PH, be made mandatory in AL play, and be designed as a wildly-overpowered class that completely dominates play, and renders all other support classes obsolete, so that all parties are faced with the choice of having a warlord in the party, or being non-viable by comparison. The Warlord must include powers that are nominally non-magical, but strictly superior to everything Clerics, Druids, Bard, Paladins, & Rangers can do (combined). Most of these powers should function via a 'plot coupon' mechanism that completely re-writes the events of the game and nature and motivation of allies, enemies, and NPCs alike, rendering the DM impotent. These powers must include the ability to literally shout wounds closed, including resurrecting the dead, and shouting away conditions, curses, diseases, missing limbs, or any other negative effects allies must be suffering form (apart from that feeling of inferiority that comes from being under the command of a Warlord, of course). Which reminds me, though it should go without saying, in any party containing a Warlord, the Warlord is party leader, and the player of the warlord totally gets to boss everyone around, DM not excepted.
vs
The warlord must not exist in D&D in any form, the OGL must include a 'no warlords' clause, and WotC must sue anyone who makes a warlord publically available. WotC must also recall & destroy any past publication containing or referring to the Warlord, as well as taking down any on-line content or references related to it. The definition of 'Warlord' in this case extends to any martial class that doesn't suck.[/sblock]
At least, that's what it seems like based on the fears expressed by either side.
There'd seem to be a lot of middle ground, especially if we take things like
dictating how other people play the game off the table.
However, a lot of the compromise probably needs to be in the arena of official status and availability. There are many people who simply want to be shielded from the class, completely (and depriving everyone of it entirely is the most certain way to do that), the exact form of the class shouldn't matter to them, they'll feel the same way about it, regardless.
'Compromises' about details of the Warlord class should probably have more to do with making sure all visions of it are supportable.
i.e.
Does anyone (either side) object to the warlords giving HP only via a healing kit feature (1 per creature per short rest)? Similar to the healer feat.
Only? That's a bad place to start, absolutely eliminating all but one possible source of HPs.
BUT, only because of the word 'only.' Omit that, and it's not objectionable. As a feature that does not exclude options, it seems neutral to the concept. Not something it calls for, not something it absolutely shouldn't have. The kind of thing that could be available to expand the range of warlord archetypes to include a 'field medic' sort of near-non-combatant.
Practical cautions: I've thought about a sub-class getting a feat as a feature, it could 'back-door' a feat into a game where they're not otherwise being used, and raises the question what happens if a character ends up acquiring the feat twice.
Along with indirect HP options like bonus AC, THP, or DR?
All those are also appropriate things that a given Warlord might have.
Would it be enough raw HP recovery for warlord fans?
Even were the mechanic adequate in a numeric & action/resource economy sense, it'd be little better than saying "just play a bard and cast Cure Light Wounds." The Warlord concept is not limited to exceptional field medics.
Inspiring Word inspires, it doesn't bandage wounds anymore than it makes them disappear.
would you be ok if you could only use it on concious people?
No, that would make it strictly inferior. There's also no reason for it.
I kind of get the impression that because it doesn't have to be inspirational,
Not "doesn't have to be" the proposal was ONLY with a healing kit, that removes inpirational /entirely/.
It won't work for those who really want to tether their warlords to inspirational HP, though. Unless I'm mischaracterizing their position, they want the effect of "I scream at you to get up and you get up and this is modeled by significant HP restoration" as a significant class feature, and anything else is simply unacceptable.
That's not an entirely unfair characterization, in spite of the phrasing.
It's an option that the class needs to have. It should be broadly available, since it's a feature that contributes to the party in a way that's important to have in D&D.
It's fair enough (people want what they want), but it means a compromise is unlikely.
The Compromise, here, is that it needn't be an automatic feature in the form of Inspiring Word as in 4e. Instead, Inspiring Word could be one use of an Inspiration resource, with alternatives including temp hps, granting extra saves, or offensive buffs of whatever type, etc.
What they want is a class that presumes HP is not really about injury as much as it is about willpower and morale (with a side helping of cuts and scrapes and bruises), and that presumption is incompatible with the way a significant number of people narrate HP.
It is not, however, incompatible with the Standard Game. HD, Second Wind, and overnight healing are already contrary to the idea that hps represent serious wounds, and that restoring those hps them must include the wounds disappearing. No wound heals with a little rest and untrained first aid in an hour, no nearly-fatal wound heals on its own in 1d4+1 hours, and no remotely serious wound disappears while you sleep.
While hp damage can be narrated as including wounds, hp recovery cannot, under the standard rules of 5e, be construed to requiring those wounds to disappear.
There are slower-natural-healing modules in the DMG. Those who are adamant about this issue can resolve it by using those modules, the do not have to prevent the addition of the Warlord to preserve an interpretation that already doesn't work, and already has options to make it work.
The next question is, can you make the Warlord compatible with such modules. The answer, of course, is yes, all you have to do is make Inspiring Word and other forms of inspiration/maneuvers/tactics with similar mechanics just one among many viable options. That way a player can skip them, or a DM can ban them, and worthwhile alternatives remain.
It's a kind of design that has long been natural to D&D. If anyone had a similar objection to Healing Word (and some do object to the supposed 'whackamole' they think it encourages, it can be skipped over or banned - there are plenty of other 1st level Cleric spells.
Introduce the possibility for one or the other to be "optional," and either side feels like they're a second-class citizen, left out in the cold by game design that doesn't consider the way they play.
Options are great. I'd be happy with a Warlord that got Inspiring Word. I'd be happier with one who could take either Inspiring Word (HD trigger) or Inspiring Speach (pre-combat temp hps) - adding Combat Medic (the idea above) to that list wouldn't make me any happier, but it wouldn't bother me.
I'd also expect a lot more than just that one decision point, not just at chargen/level-up, but in play.
We already have a certain number of the available martial sub-classes who get to choose options only at chargen/level up (I believe that number is all of them). Warlords should open that up, to making some choices after rests and between/in combat.
I think you can do it pretty easily by inserting one caveat in the warlord's inspirational healing: the target must have at least 1 hp. Then you can model the "dude barely hanging on by willpower" thing, but once he's KO'd, you can't shout him awake.
Why? We've long since established that an unconscious character is not deaf. The idea of a character hearing a familiar voice and coming to is positively cliche.
(maybe the difference is that you have to touch/shake them? Versus yelling across the room?)
The Warlord had 50 or so powers that restored hps, some of them were useable at a distance, some were touch. Give the class enough options, and everyone who wants to can pick things to support their vision of the class, and ignore or ban things that are antithetical to it.
Options are where compromises can be made.
