Considerations when Designing a Warlord.

[FrogReaver]

At X level capabilities should be roughly balanced with other classes abilities.
An ability to buff any ally is strictly superior to an identical ability that just buffs yourself.
Attack granting is very difficult to balance.
Advantage granting abilities are very difficult to balance as well.
Action granting abilities are even more difficult to balance.
Attack roll boosts are very difficult to balance
Damage boosts on more than a single attack can be difficult to balance (since different characters get different numbers of attacks)
Granting movement does relatively little in 5e most the time
Finding fluff reasons for such a Warlord's abilities can be very difficult as well.

Because most of the "Warlordy" type abilities are so hard to balance AND given the fact that an ability that can affect any ally will be need to help less than an ability that would just benefit yourself then I don't know if we will ever see a balanced 5e Warlord that meets 4e Warlord fans expectations from just a mechanics perspective.

Further, coupling those issues with the fluff reasons for abilities makes the job almost multiplicativly harder.

 

[pemerton]

An ability to buff any ally is strictly superior to an identical ability that just buffs yourself.
Attack granting is very difficult to balance.
Advantage granting abilities are very difficult to balance as well.
Action granting abilities are even more difficult to balance.
Attack roll boosts are very difficult to balance

<snip>

Granting movement does relatively little in 5e most the time

There are many abilities in the game that allow buffing others, at various rates of recharge (at-will, short rest, long rest).

There are abilities that grant attacks, and that the designers presumably think are balanced - eg presumably Haste is balanced against Fireball.

There are abilities that grant advantage, which presumably are balanced (eg Foresight is balanced against Meteor Swarm).

And there are abilities that boost movement (eg Remarkable Athlete, various spells, etc) which presumably are meant to make a difference in play.

The warlord is not really opening up new ground here.

Finding fluff reasons for such a Warlord's abilities can be very difficult as well.

It seems to me that this is the nub of the issue.

My view, for what it's worth, is that a significant portion of the D&D fan base take it for granted that a person's capabilities are something that is inherent to him/her. So any change or enhancement of those capabilities must have an explanation in the form of something that changes the inherent mechanisms of the person - eg cybernetic implants (for a sci-fi game) or magical boosts (for a fantasy game).

This group of D&D fans seems generally to reject the idea that someone might perform differently not because of some change in mechanisms of that sort, but because of feelings or relationships. And for me at least, that is the essence of the warlord. (The bard and the paladin flirt with this, but there's always the recourse of "It's magic, not feelings.")

 

[Remathilis]

So, if we were to ignore all fluff for a moment ("A nonmagical wizard did it") and just focus on numbers/mechanics, what does a warlord do?

Options include:

* Adding a bonus to attack rolls for allies
* Adding a bonus to damage rolls for allies
* Adding additional actions for allies (by sacrificing his own actions)
* Adding additional AC for allies
* Adding a bonus to Saving Throws (either strict upgrade or additional attempts)
* Adding a bonus to Skill/Ability Checks
* Recover HP to allies
* Recover status (blinded, stunned, charmed, poisoned, etc)
* Hamper Enemy combat effectiveness (penalties to AC, hit, saves, etc)


Things NOT in the Warlord's Toolkit
* Large Area Damage (IE fireball)
* Large Single-Target Damage (Sneak Attack)
* Raising the Dead
* Instantaneous/Speedy Long Distance Travel
* Complex Statistical Changes (Wild Shape)
* Extremely Efficient Healing (Aura of Vitality)
* Long-Duration Buffs (Mage Armor)
* Mental Manipulation (Charm, Illusion)
* Divination of any type

Anything I'm missing or misattributed?

 

[FrogReaver]

So, if we were to ignore all fluff for a moment ("A nonmagical wizard did it") and just focus on numbers/mechanics, what does a warlord do?

Options include:

* Adding a bonus to attack rolls for allies
* Adding a bonus to damage rolls for allies
* Adding additional actions for allies (by sacrificing his own actions)
* Adding additional AC for allies
* Adding a bonus to Saving Throws (either strict upgrade or additional attempts)
* Adding a bonus to Skill/Ability Checks
* Recover HP to allies
* Recover status (blinded, stunned, charmed, poisoned, etc)
* Hamper Enemy combat effectiveness (penalties to AC, hit, saves, etc)


Things NOT in the Warlord's Toolkit
* Large Area Damage (IE fireball)
* Large Single-Target Damage (Sneak Attack)
* Raising the Dead
* Instantaneous/Speedy Long Distance Travel
* Complex Statistical Changes (Wild Shape)
* Extremely Efficient Healing (Aura of Vitality)
* Long-Duration Buffs (Mage Armor)
* Mental Manipulation (Charm, Illusion)
* Divination of any type

Anything I'm missing or misattributed?

As I said it is hard if not impossible to balance such mechanics.

Think for a moment why buff spells are generally balanced. They take a whole action. They require concentration. Only one can ever be cast at a given time. Most of the time the caster of a buff spell has much better things he/she could be doing on turn 1.

The most commonly used buffs in the game:
+1d6 damage per attack for the caster
+1d4 damage per attack for the party
+1d4 attack
+1 action that mostly gets restricted to a one extra attack regardless of how many you have
Advantage on attacks and disadvantage on enemies attacks against you

 

[Aldarc]

Would a concentration mechanic really be that difficult to implement for a warlord? It doesn't make the warlord's abilities magic, but it does requite concentrating. The warlord may be concentrating on barking orders or inspiring words, and hits could threaten to disrupt that for them.

 

[FrogReaver]

Would a concentration mechanic really be that difficult to implement for a warlord? It doesn't make the warlord's abilities magic, but it does requite concentrating. The warlord may be concentrating on barking orders or inspiring words, and hits could threaten to disrupt that for them.

I'm okay with it. It's at least plausible. Good start.

 

[mellored]

Would a concentration mechanic really be that difficult to implement for a warlord?

No. There are already several features that take "concentration" that aren't spells.

Probably not a bad idea either. So you couldn't have a cleric 1/warlock 2/warlord X who can keep bless running on top of his buffs.


i.e.
As a bonus action you activate an aura that gives +1d4 to-hit. This takes concentration as if you where concentration on a spell.

 

[mellored]

Also, after some number crunching....

If you grant a full attack-actions, but they only deal 1/2 damage, that would be on par with a cantrip.
And you don't need to worry about rogues.

 

[tuxgeo]

So, if we were to ignore all fluff for a moment ("A nonmagical wizard did it") and just focus on numbers/mechanics, what does a warlord do?

Options include:

* Adding a bonus to attack rolls for allies
* Adding a bonus to damage rolls for allies
* Adding additional actions for allies (by sacrificing his own actions)
* Adding additional AC for allies
* Adding a bonus to Saving Throws (either strict upgrade or additional attempts)
* Adding a bonus to Skill/Ability Checks
* Recover HP to allies
* Recover status (blinded, stunned, charmed, poisoned, etc)
* Hamper Enemy combat effectiveness (penalties to AC, hit, saves, etc). . .

A couple off the top of my head:

* Trigger a reaction in a way that an ally could not use otherwise
* Modify Initiative rolls at the start of combat (for example, choose to subsitute the Warlord's History check then?)
* Grant out-of-turn movement (but neither action nor attack) at the rolling of Initiative

 

[FrogReaver]

Also, after some number crunching....

If you grant a full attack-actions, but they only deal 1/2 damage, that would be on par with a cantrip.
And you don't need to worry about rogues.

Not with optimized allies. Still much higher than a basic cantrip

half damage and -2 to hit? Lowering hit hurts optimized builds more and thus evens things out a little?