D&D 5E Homebrewed Warlord on a Rogue chassis

[Undrave]

Here we are! I mentionned this before in the various thread on Warlord we had recently that all the talks of chassis and abilities got me inspired.

So here is a first draft with, so far, only two subclasses for this Warlord idea. I plan to add at least two more subclasses to this, maybe three, but I figured I'd let you guys take a look first. Now that I got my own ideas out, I might be able to participate in the other Warlord homebrew thread...

Link to the Homebrewery document here.

EDIT: Tags are currently broken and I can't fix them from here, I'll update later in the day
EDIT II: Here is a new version! With added corrections. Here
EDIT III: Original link is now fixed!
EDIT IV: Original link now includes two new 'Signals' and the Ardent Soul subclass.
EDIT V: I threw in some design notes at the end of the thread if you're interested.

Gonna tage @Tony Vargas @Garthanos and @doctorbadwolf so they can check it out.

I don't really have any plans on really playtesting this, since I just don't have enough players interested in the crunchy aspects of DnD for it, but I just HAD to get these ideas on a page.

Is it too strong? Too good? Too weak? I'm also looking for more 'signals' ideas.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I’ll check it out more tomorrow. The idea is really interesting. Well done

 

[Undrave]

I’ll check it out more tomorrow. The idea is really interesting. Well done

Thanks! I’ll be looking forward to it.I hope it’s not TOO fiddly either...

 

[Garthanos]

I printed it off because I cannot read pdfs that way without going cross eye i think it might be an age thing. - sorry to the tree whose sacrifice I accept.

 

[Fenris-77]

I haven't given it a close read but it looks very well done. I'll check back in when I've had a chance to digest it.

 

[dave2008]

Here we are! I mentionned this before in the various thread on Warlord we had recently that all the talks of chassis and abilities got me inspired.

So here is a first draft with, so far, only two subclasses for this Warlord idea. I plan to add at least two more subclasses to this, maybe three, but I figured I'd let you guys take a look first. Now that I got my own ideas out, I might be able to participate in the other Warlord homebrew thread...

Link to the Homebrewery document here.

Gonna tage @Tony Vargas @Garthanos and @doctorbadwolf so they can check it out.

I don't really have any plans on really playtesting this, since I just don't have enough players interested in the crunchy aspects of DnD for it, but I just HAD to get these ideas on a page.

Is it too strong? Too good? Too weak? I'm also looking for more 'signals' ideas.

Thanks for sharing, it looks interesting. I have dived into it yet, but I thought I would point out that you used the term "minor action" in the document (under Coded Signals). 5e doesn't have minor actions. I assumed you meant "bonus action" but you might want to clarify that.

EDIT: After a quick scan I really like. The shouts and signals feel just right and it feels like a warlord* without resorting to spells. I like it a lot. Unfortunately, I don't really know if it is balanced or not; strong, weak, or just right. That type of analysis is not my cup-of-tea

*4e warlord, not the RL meaning of the word

 

[Garthanos]

The medical training bit reminded me of Croaker from The Black Company.

 

[NotAYakk]

Strike should always be the white raven version (reaction to do it then). Wait until their turn is mostly pointless state.

No saving throw stun is a no go; it breaks legendary monsters (legendary resist). Hits are not allowed to directly stun in 5e, saving throws can.

It is on rogue, but 1 HP/level and has extra attack. That isn't rogue anymore. Plus the sneak attack equivalent is bigger for some reason?

Does the rogue reaction trick work? Apply damage dice on turn, then reapply it as a reaction, to double dip?

Needs some wording cleanup; especially the ones that stack 3-4 "requirements"s on the ability use.

Need to clarify where the dice are. On the monster? On the warlord? If warlord is incapacitated do they work?

At 5 it is attacking like a subclassless fighter and does more.

 

[Fenris-77]

The rogue is the chassis, not a stick to measure the finished product against. A better question might be how is the rise in hit die accounted for in the overall design. Same with the die size. I'm sure there are design decisions at work there.

 

[Undrave]

Strike should always be the white raven version (reaction to do it then). Wait until their turn is mostly pointless state.

No saving throw stun is a no go; it breaks legendary monsters (legendary resist). Hits are not allowed to directly stun in 5e, saving throws can.

It is on rogue, but 1 HP/level and has extra attack. That isn't rogue anymore. Plus the sneak attack equivalent is bigger for some reason?

Does the rogue reaction trick work? Apply damage dice on turn, then reapply it as a reaction, to double dip?

Needs some wording cleanup; especially the ones that stack 3-4 "requirements"s on the ability use.

Need to clarify where the dice are. On the monster? On the warlord? If warlord is incapacitated do they work?

At 5 it is attacking like a subclassless fighter and does more.

The rogue is the chassis, not a stick to measure the finished product against. A better question might be how is the rise in hit die accounted for in the overall design. Same with the die size. I'm sure there are design decisions at work there.

I also took a look at the Ranger as a mesuring stick. The Warlord doesn’t have all the defensive abilities of the Rogue (such as minor action Disengage, Evasion, etc), so if they stand in the fray they stand a greater chance of taking hits. Furthermore, they don’t have any incentive to invest in CON so the hp won’t be as high as it could be. You'll want a good STR so you can generate Insight Dice, but you'll also want a good INT, CHA or WIS to make use of your features... and you might even want a +1 to DEX to have a better AC, or you'll sacrifice that for +1 CON (it's also why I gave them shields). It might be too strong on rolled stats but on point buy you're gonna feel pretty MAD.

I decided to make the sneak equivalent higher because it relies on two attacks hitting and your allie must decide if they use the die BEFORE attacking (unlike a Smite). Basically there’s less chance of them working than a regular sneak attack, hence the higher dice size. Also the Warlord can’t inflict that damage himself. I also wanted it to be a more important decision wether to just keep the dice for damage or use them up for signals.

Though I should make it so you can’t generate dice on a reaction...

STRIKE! Doesn’t always use a reaction because reactions are very precious in 5e and the best characters to use STRIKE on would prefer to keep their Opportunity Attack online most of the time.

Extra Attack is so you can use a Shout AND attack on the same turn. I’m also planning a subclass that can use multiple shouts a turn. It replaces one of the Rogue’s many defensive ability.

And I’ll rework the stun or get rid of it. I originally intended the damage roll to be the DC instead but it got way too wordy. I wish I had more conditions to work with.

Not sure it matters where the dice are... but I could add a clause that says they dissapear if you’re incapacitated or something.

Thanks for sharing, it looks interesting. I have dived into it yet, but I thought I would point out that you used the term "minor action" in the document (under Coded Signals). 5e doesn't have minor actions. I assumed you meant "bonus action" but you might want to clarify that.

EDIT: After a quick scan I really like. The shouts and signals feel just right and it feels like a warlord* without resorting to spells. I like it a lot. Unfortunately, I don't really know if it is balanced or not; strong, weak, or just right. That type of analysis is not my cup-of-tea

*4e warlord, not the RL meaning of the word

I just fixed the minor action thing, thanks for pointing it out.

Thanks for the good comment!