D&D 5E (2014) For the Record: Mearls on Warlords (ca. 2013)

[MechaPilot]

But really, that's only because of the way I imagine HP and death in this game. If you interpret it differently, for example if being at 0 HP is more like those parts in fight scenes where the hero has been totally curb-stomped, is moaning in pain on the ground, trying to pick herself up, then motivational speaking is a well-established method of giving someone just enough fight back in her to keep going and dramatically turn the tide of the battle.

It could also work if being rendered unconscious from HP loss were viewed as fading in and out of consciousness. Someone fading in and out is not going to be coherent, but they are going to be at least marginally aware for spotty increments of time. This would be the character who proverbially falls to the ground with her eyes closed and fights to stay conscious, her eyes fluttering open long enough to catch glimpses of her allies fighting, and her mind grasping tenuously at lucidity and focus just long enough to catch fragments of speech and battle cries.

To me, that's a very cinematic view of being K.O.d, but I also see it as being consistent with a world of fantasy heroes.

 

[Aldarc]

I dunno, I have trouble imagining a speech being able to do that just because other things in D&D are extraordinary. For me, it doesn't fit in with the sorts of extraordinary things people do in the game. I mean, magic makes sense because magic is easy to believe. Magic has "existed" forever. Giant spiders are something you can imagine happening, even if strictly speaking the square-cube law would cause huge problems. It all has to make sense on some level consistent with the game's feel. But talking to revive someone without magic, that's asking me to believe something I am very familiar with (talking) doing something I know it can't do (make an unconscious person suffering from shock get up).

Seriously? A speech rousing someone to consciousness seems like one of the least extraordinary things in an marvelous world of barbarian rages, uncanny roguish elusiveness, and other superhuman feats that a non-magical person can perform in D&D that are otherwise nigh impossible in the real world.

 

[Fralex]

Yeah, brains can be weird like that.

 

[Azzy]

Regardless of whether or not it "makes sense" with or without "genre logic", some people are hip to it while others aren't. Right? And while the ones who aren't can be content with the rules as they exist, there's nothing wrong with having an options for those who dig it. I think most reasonable people can agree to that, right?

So, for those that dig inspirational healing, what would be the best options for having that as a viable choice? Altering things like a Battlemater's Rally and the feat Inspirational Leader to heal hp instead of granting Temp hp, creating new feats, maneuvers, something else, or what?

 

[ChrisCarlson]

Non-magically?!? What am I missing?

How is the receiver of this benefit even hearing the orator when they've been knocked unconscious?

Are we using the same definition of unconscious? Other than the house-ruling lot who are re-imagining that "unconscious" doesn't actually mean "unconscious", but instead just "a bot too tired".

 

[ChrisCarlson]

The only thing that even comes close, that I can think of, was when the Hulk yelled Tony Stark back to life in the Avengers movie. But if anyone is going to even think to try arguing that the Hulk is a warlord, I'm kicking them out of this thread...

 

[Aldarc]

The only thing that even comes close, that I can think of, was when the Hulk yelled Tony Stark back to life in the Avengers movie. But if anyone is going to even think to try arguing that the Hulk is a warlord, I'm kicking them out of this thread...

The first Matrix film when Trinity's words stirs the unconscious/dead Neo back up. Is she a warlord? That doesn't particularly matter. What does matter is that this trope does exist within speculative/SF-F fiction and beyond, and as such, has a place in D&D. We do not necessarily need to see someone mapped as a 'warlord' wake someone from consciousness with a rousing in fiction anymore than we need to see a character mapped as a 'paladin' with a magical aura or smite to justify those abilities within the fictive class archetype that they are meant to represent more broadly.

Is this anymore implausible than the fact that you could be sitting on 1 HP for an entire day, running around at full speed, doing cartwheels, fighting possibly the entire fight without getting hit, and then just one point of damage from stubbing your toe would knock you unconscious?

 

[Guest 6801328]

The first Matrix film when Trinity's words stirs the unconscious/dead Neo back up. Is she a warlord? That doesn't particularly matter. What does matter is that this trope does exist within speculative/SF-F fiction and beyond, and as such, has a place in D&D. We do not necessarily need to see someone mapped as a 'warlord' wake someone from consciousness with a rousing in fiction anymore than we need to see a character mapped as a 'paladin' with a magical aura or smite to justify those abilities within the fictive class archetype that they are meant to represent more broadly.

Is this anymore implausible than the fact that you could be sitting on 1 HP for an entire day, running around at full speed, doing cartwheels, fighting possibly the entire fight without getting hit, and then just one point of damage from stubbing your toe would knock you unconscious?

This trope is almost always tied to a relationship: notice that it's never strangers that whisper/cajole/yell somebody back from the brink, it's always somebody with a strong bond. And it's also not dependent on the archetype of the person: it could be a coach, a love, a teammate, etc.

So giving that ability to one archetype, and making it independent of relationship, doesn't really fulfill the trope.

This is like saying, "In a lot of stories there's a romantic connection between characters, so therefore we need a Lover class for the other characters to fall in love with."

Or, "In many myths and in history there is the figure who betrays the hero, so we need a Betrayer class."

Or how about, "Conan, Gandalf, and other heroes are able to intimidate foes just by staring at them. We need a class for that."

Shall I go on?

 

[Azzy]

And, then—as if on cue, there are people that are unreasonable.

 

[Bawylie]

"Neo, you can't be dead because you're the one. And I love you. And whatever whatever."

Then Neo gets right back up and is all Supa-Jaysus.

And how about "Don't you die on me, man! Come on, you can't leave me!"

Sarah Connor does it.
Katnis Everdeen does it to Peeta Melarck.

On My Name Is Earl, Earl is hospitalized after being hit by a car (again) after he doubted Karma. This time, his injuries are a lot more serious than they were the first time around, and he goes into a coma. His condition starts to deteriorate rapidly, and he's actually dying. Randy and co. decide to take care of a list item, and Earl's ECG comes back up. As they do more and more list items, Earl gets better and eventually comes out of the coma.

There's the Clip Show episode of The Simpsons where Homer is put in hospital by Bart's beer bomb. When Bart confesses, Homer starts to come around, and the ECG actually shows Homer's heart line as Bart outlines.

So, I mean, it's not like we NEVER see this happen