D&D 5E Best Name For A “Leader” Class?

[Lanefan]

Nope. Only people who way overthink this stuff would infer that the Captain is supposed to be the boss of everyone else.

Overthink?

Maybe it's something to do with my background but when someone says "Captain" my first thought is of someone in command of a ship and its crew...the operative word there being command.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Overthink?

Maybe it's something to do with my background but when someone says "Captain" my first thought is of someone in command of a ship and its crew...the operative word there being command.

If you’re jumping from that to “that means this class is supposed to be the boss of my character”, that’s probably overthinking.

 

[Lanefan]

If you’re jumping from that to “that means this class is supposed to be the boss of my character”, that’s probably overthinking.

Actually I'm jumping one step further; straight through that to "this is a really stupid name for a class in a game where except the DM no player is the boss of another".

It's the same issue as the "Leader" role name had, only worse in that role names can be safely ignored while class names not so much.

EDIT TO ADD: Now if you want to design and put in a class that really is up-front intended to be an actual party leader (as in, its role revolves around telling other party members what to do), that's a whole different discussion; and the names Leader, Captain, and so forth suddenly fit.

 

[Wiseblood]

If you’re jumping from that to “that means this class is supposed to be the boss of my character”, that’s probably overthinking.

I disagree. Captain has the same sort of baggage as the word butler. If I meet someone claiming to be a (or introduced as) captain I wonder “captain of what?” Unless I make a guess based on garments.

One version of captain (that occurred to me because of a documentary I watched yesterday) is a team captain in sports. Usually a title that carries responsibilities such as acting as go between for the team and staff.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Actually I'm jumping one step further; straight through that to "this is a really stupid name for a class in a game where except the DM no player is the boss of another".

It's the same issue as the "Leader" role name had, only worse in that role names can be safely ignored while class names not so much.

EDIT TO ADD: Now if you want to design and put in a class that really is up-front intended to be an actual party leader (as in, its role revolves around telling other party members what to do), that's a whole different discussion; and the names Leader, Captain, and so forth suddenly fit.

Eh, I've run rather a lot of games using the name Captain, and no one understood it in any sort of "inappropriate to the assumptions of the game" manner. I've also logged thousands of hours on Lord of The Rings Online in guilds and fellowships focused on RP, and no one had any such issue with the Captain class in that game, outside of occasional jokes.

I've also never seen or heard of anyone being confused when Captain America isn't the leader of the Avengers but is still a member.

 

[Xenonnonex]

The class should just be called Leader.
All Must Follow.

 

[Tony Vargas]

The class should just be called Leader.

That doesn't follow.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

In context of a D&D party, calling someone a Captain would thus very strongly suggest that person's in charge of the party in the field; and somehow I don't think that's gonna fly.

That's a valid issue. All terms for "leader" are going to do that though. I thought that "Captain" at least had the benefit of being more ambiguous towards the relative social position of the person vs. alternatives like "Commander" and "Warlord", and does at least sometimes apply to someone who is leading only nominally and by consent. But it does seem firmly entrenched in some people's minds as a ship's captain, and I can hardly complain about this when my own issue with "Marshal" is that it immediately makes me think of a military rank above general (well, that and an old west lawman).

Perhaps "Banneret" is the best of the lot in that the actual meaning is not terribly firmly entrenched in most people's imaginations but it has a nice Medievalish ring to it and banners do evoke some sort of combat morale-boosting and rallying.

 

[Lanefan]

Perhaps "Banneret" is the best of the lot in that the actual meaning is not terribly firmly entrenched in most people's imaginations but it has a nice Medievalish ring to it and banners do evoke some sort of combat morale-boosting and rallying.

Someone upthread suggested Tactician, which is about the best one I've seen yet; though Banneret isn't bad.

But then, the tactician side of the class would be far more of interest to me than the morale-boosting, which IMO is Bard territory anyway.

 

[Fenris-77]

I still think that Hip-hop Tic-tactician would be a great name. What's not to like?