D&D (2024) How should the Warlord be implemented in 1DnD?

ChameleonX

Explorer
Warlord
Hit points
Hit points at 1st-Level: 10 + Con score
Hit points per level: 1d10 (or 6) + Con mod per level
Hit dice: 1d10 per level

Proficiencies
Armor: Light armor, Medium Armor, Shields
Weapons: all simple and martial
Saving Throws: Wisdom, Charisma
Skills (choose 2): Athletics, Deception, History, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Medicine, Perception, Persuasion, Survival


Class Features

Combat Leader - 1st Level
As a bonus action, you can inspire confidence and perseverance in those who trust in and follow you. You generate an aura in a 30ft radius for 1 minute, or until you lose concentration. Each of your allies in the aura can roll a 1d4 at the start of each of its turns and add the result to one ability check, saving throw, or attack roll of their choice that they make on their turn.
The size of your Leadership dice increase as you gain levels: 1d6 at 5th level, 1d8 at 9th level, 1d10 at 13th level, and 1d12 at 17th level.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier, regaining all uses after a long rest.

Inspiring Word - 1st level
As a bonus action, or as part of the same bonus action you use to activate your Combat Leader aura, you can give an impromptu speech, quip, or other vocal inspiration to one ally within your aura. If that creature can hear and understand you, it gains a number of temporary hit points equal to one roll of your Leadership Die + your Warlord level.
 You can use this feature twice per day. You gain one additional use at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th level.


Weapon Mastery - 1st level
You gain access to the Weapon Mastery benefits of two kinds of simple or martial weapons of your choice, and you can change them on a long rest.
You gain mastery with another weapon of your choice at 4th level, and again at 10th level.

Fighting Style - 2nd Level
You gain the Interception Fighting Style feat, or another Fighting Style feat of your choice.

Warlord Maneuvers - 2nd Level
You gain access to special maneuvers fueled by superiority dice. You gain three superiority dice, and you gain one more at 5th, 9th,13th, and 17th level.
Your Superiority Dice begin as a d4, and they all increase in size when your Leadership Die increases.
You start with three maneuvers of your choice from the list available to the Battlemaster Fighter. You gain another one of your choice every even-numbered level after this one, and when you gain a new maneuver you can replace one you know with a different one.

Commanding Presence - 3rd level
You gain a subclass, which grants you features at 3rd, 6th, 10th, and 14th level.

Feat - 4th, 8th, 12th, 14th, and 19th level.
You gain the Ability Score Increase feat, or another feat of your choice.

Extra Attack - 5th Level
You can attack twice when you use the Attack action.

Tactician's Strike - 5th level
When you take the Attack action, you can choose to forgo one of your attacks to instead grant one ally in your aura the opportunity to make one attack with a weapon or cast a cantrip using their reaction. They must be able to see or hear you to gain this benefit.

Mighty Inspiration - 7th level
When a creature starts its turn in your aura, it can choose to forgo rolling your Inspiration Die to instead make an Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma saving throw against one condition currently affecting it, ending that condition on a success.
On a failure, it can still attempt the saving throw again at the end of it's turn.

Leader's Resolve - 9th level
When you make an ability check or saving throw using Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma, you may roll your Leadership Die and add the result to your roll.

Greater Inspiration - 11th level
When you use Inspiring Word, the ally you choose also regains a number of hit points equal to your Charisma modifier, in addition to the temporary hit points, as your inspiration awakens an incredible reserve of strength in your comrade.
In addition, if you roll initiative and have no uses of Combat Leader remaining, you regain one use.

Persistent Inspiration - 13th level
Once per turn, when a creature adds your Leadership Die to a d20 test and the roll still fails, that ally may apply the die to a different d20 test on the same turn.

Incredible Inspiration - 17th level
Your allies can now apply the benefit of Mighty Inspiration to any saving throw, not just those using Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma, and the ally gains a bonus to the saving throw equal to your Charisma modifier.

Loyalty Beyond Death - 18th Level
Your comrades have such faith and dedication that your voice can even bring them back from the brink of death. A creature no longer needs to hear or understand you to gain the benefit of your Inspiring Word, and you can use Inspiring Word to bring a dead creature back to life.
The creature must have all of its body parts intact, and must have died within the last minute. The creature returns to life with a number of hit points equal to your Charisma modifier, and then gains the normal benefit of your Inspiring Word.
 
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Mistwell

Crusty Old Meatwad (he/him)
Look at 5e multiclassing LOL they are incredibly close to that niche protection being a thing of the past.
Wait ->Are you the one basically asserting that Warlords cannot have a niche because everyone should have all of their stuff and then you say this? Or am I mixing you with someone else?
Not at all. I've never said anything like that. Warlords should have the Leader niche and I liked the class quite a lot in 4e.

I just don't want them healing a lot of hit points in a short period of time, unless it's magical or temporary hit points.
 

Mistwell

Crusty Old Meatwad (he/him)
OK. I think I see it. - Warlords matching Clerics for healing would be bad, because healing is one of the Cleric's primary niches?
So Warlords should aim for healing at the level of secondary healers like Bards, Celestial Warlocks etc to preserve the Cleric's niche?

I think that we have agreement that a Warlord granting "Second Wind" to their allies would fit fine (probably using their HD though), would be fine? Would you have an issue with being able to affect multiple targets? So rather than a single big chunk of HP, or a single effect providing continuous sustained HP over time, the Warlord is slightly better at spreading less healing, but around to multiple allies.
Yes, we're in agreement. Glad that's clarified. No I don't think multiple targets would be a problem.
 

So if we gave a warlord abilities with a unique name they would be non-agnostic abilities?
second wind... healing yourself only once in a while is so unique.... smdh. Yeh its the name that matters.

I have been very clear and have given examples as requested. If the designers made a "Warlord" class with 4 subclasses and gave it all the 4E Warlord abilities and more, those abilities would not be duplicated in other ways for other classes to use, renamed or no. It's just not what they do. The existing classes are all the evidence I need.

And yes, in-game narrative and identity matter alongside mechanics that make sense for those themes. The class is more than mechanics. It has to be written so that it makes sense. It's not only that the name"Warlord" doesn't work. There are no examples of the Military Leader class in the narrative and stories of D&D. Any military leaders in the story are other classes that have taken on leadership roles. My suggestions were how to introduce these leadership abilities in a way that any character class could opt into those abilities and fulfill the role of a military-style tactician.

I am quite happy with my suggestions of a robust maneuver system and subclasses that any class can take, and will now bow out of this conversation because it is pretty apparent that we're just going to go 'round in circles.
 


Incenjucar

Legend
I have been very clear and have given examples as requested. If the designers made a "Warlord" class with 4 subclasses and gave it all the 4E Warlord abilities and more, those abilities would not be duplicated in other ways for other classes to use, renamed or no. It's just not what they do. The existing classes are all the evidence I need.

And yes, in-game narrative and identity matter alongside mechanics that make sense for those themes. The class is more than mechanics. It has to be written so that it makes sense. It's not only that the name"Warlord" doesn't work. There are no examples of the Military Leader class in the narrative and stories of D&D. Any military leaders in the story are other classes that have taken on leadership roles. My suggestions were how to introduce these leadership abilities in a way that any character class could opt into those abilities and fulfill the role of a military-style tactician.

I am quite happy with my suggestions of a robust maneuver system and subclasses that any class can take, and will now bow out of this conversation because it is pretty apparent that we're just going to go 'round in circles.
This is not how 5E or D&D works in general, making it something I cannot feel concerned about. There are no such hard limits on sharing mechanics.

Game narrative is easy to come up with. We literally already had a warlord class in D&D. The class name is not terribly important.
 


Garthanos

Arcadian Knight
I have been very clear and have given examples as requested. If the designers made a "Warlord" class with 4 subclasses and gave it all the 4E Warlord abilities and more, those abilities would not be duplicated in other ways for other classes to use, renamed or no. It's just not what they do. The existing classes are all the evidence I need .
yup you so cannot use the battlemaster maneuvers in any other class and we absolutely cannot use the paladin spells you are ignoring reality... and suddenly we could not have a mastermind rogue. If someone else had an ability which buffs the help action you could not ever multi-class to combine them. IT IS ALL OBVIOUSLY IMPOSSIBLE /sarcasm.

What a pile you push.
 

Undrave

Legend
What abilities would a "Warlord" and it's 4+ subclasses have that would be unique to a Warlord, that no other class can have?
What abilities do Wizards get? They get Arcane Recovery, their famous spell book, couple at-wills later and an entire category of treasure created just for them.. Everything else is done by subclasses.
A Fighter and a Ranger can both be a "Captain" in the lore of the game. A "Warlord" should be treated the same. It shouldn't be its own unique thing any more than a "Captain" is.
Again, that's what subclasses are for.
 

Undrave

Legend
Warlord Maneuvers - 2nd Level
You gain access to special maneuvers fueled by superiority dice. You gain three superiority dice, and you gain one more at 5th, 9th,13th, and 17th level.
Your Superiority Dice begin as a d4, and they all increase in size when your Leadership Die increases.
You start with three maneuvers of your choice from the list available to the Battlemaster Fighter. You gain another one of your choice every even-numbered level after this one, and when you gain a new maneuver you can replace one you know with a different one.
I think your Warlord is missing something at-will to do at first level (IMO every class should have an at-will thing at first level). Stealing the Mastermind’s ‘help as a bonus action’ would work well here.

Obviously, a real class would have it’s own list of maneuvers with some exclusive ones added. And I’m not sure I like that the Superiority Dice is lower than the Battlemaster while being the same quantity. I think if the Battlemaster is about damage, then the Warlord should start with more dice. Also the wording ‘your superiority dice is the same as your leadership dice’ would probably save on word count and have the same result.

Feels like it’s a little lacking in ribbons too.

I’m not a fan of absolutely hanging everything off of charisma. A warlord being buildable with a focus on CHA, INT or WIS would be the most fun. Just give it a name (Leadership Ability?) that you can reference later on. I also think Commanding Tradition instead of Presence is a cooler idea to hang the subclasses off of, because it gives you more narrative space to work with.

I totally agree on the d10 HD. A Warlord wouldn't be improving their CON that much as a focus so despite the same HD they will naturally end up with lower HP than other d10 classes.
 

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