Exclusive Bruce Cordell interview

[Treebore]

Yep

I'm betting (fairly wildly) that monks, barbarians, and paladins will all exist as forms of fighter builds.

Exactly. A monk will be a fighter base customized via feats. Technically it is already possible to do the "basics" with feats in 3E.

Who knows, maybe all the fighter "variants" in 4E will be buildable by selecting class powers from a list, much like selecting feats. That could be a cool approach, and will be so broken and munchkined within three years. But the core will be good. So stick to core if thats what they do.

Hmmm. Sitting here thinking on it some more it can be done with all the "core classes". They have 8 standard class builds, but you can customize them by swapping out standard class abilities with abilities from a "list" on a one for one basis.

Yeah, that could be cool.

 

[rounser]

Yeah, that could be cool.

Yeah, but I hope they've learnt from the "kits vs prestige classes" thing if they go down that route. The area where kits and subclasses shine is that you can be the archetype from first level, whereas with prestige classes and feat builds you have to "put off" being that archetype until you qualify for it/collect enough feats to portray it. Being a "sort-of-monk" or a "sort-of-archer" for 5-10 levels before you're the real thing is not fun when others can be what they want to be from first level.

The kit/subclass approach has it over the feat/prestige approach by a lot in this department IMO. If someone wants a character concept, the game shouldn't ransom them from it for design convenience reasons. I'm not suggesting that they adopt a kit/subclass approach, just that the feat/prestige approach needs some serious tinkering to overcome this big weakness it has.

 

[Scholar & Brutalman]

I don't like Warlord because to me the title has connotations of "Illegitimate and Bloodthirsty Tyrant." It's not something I want associated with a character class that isn't evil.

Of the various options so far, I like "Captain." To me, it has connotations of leadership and competence. But then, I do read a lot of Patrick O'Brian.

 

[Szatany]

The problem with the class is that no word really captures it that fits.

"Strategist" or "Tactician" are just sort've academic and do not conjure the mental image of being in the middle of the fight coordinating. Cavalier is an armored fighter. Commander/Marshal/Officer/Captain is a military position. Warmaster doesn't fit because no 1st level character is a "master" at anything. Herald is too Bardish and soft; heralds don't fight, they run around announcing things. Noble brings to mind a caste system or aristocracy. They're not knights, because they serve no cause and have no chivalric code.

The best thing that I could come up with is Battlesmith or Warmaker.

Interesting, how about Warmonger?

 

[kerbarian]

The problem with the class is that no word really captures it that fits.

"Strategist" or "Tactician" are just sort've academic and do not conjure the mental image of being in the middle of the fight coordinating. Cavalier is an armored fighter. Commander/Marshal/Officer/Captain is a military position. Warmaster doesn't fit because no 1st level character is a "master" at anything. Herald is too Bardish and soft; heralds don't fight, they run around announcing things. Noble brings to mind a caste system or aristocracy. They're not knights, because they serve no cause and have no chivalric code.

"Battlelord" would offer essentially the same meaning as Warlord without having the association with the modern term. It would probably be more appropriate, in fact, since PCs will generally deal with battles rather than wars. It doesn't flow as well, though, and I can see that being an important consideration.

It's pretty tough to find a term that implies both leadership and combat without falling into military nomenclature. You can always use old military nomenclature, though. Perhaps something like "Centurion".

 

[Bacris]

Interesting, how about Warmonger?

Has a bit of a negative connotation... more so, in my opinion, than Warlord.

 

[RPG_Tweaker]

Re: The Warlord Class

I kind of like the name Armsman.

 

[Klaus]

Re: Warlord: I'd rather see it as "Captain" (as in the LotR RPG class), or simply "Leader".

 

[Bacris]

There's also the Marshal class from the mini-hb...

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Re: Warlord: I'd rather see it as "Captain" (as in the LotR RPG class), or simply "Leader".

I think captain would be a reasonable substitute. We have captains of a sports team. We have captains of law enforcement units. And, of course, captain is also a mid rank officer in a military hierarchy. Captain as a verb is also a synonym for "lead".