D&D 5E I NEED A WARLORD

[Remathilis]

What about something like this?

{note: first draft. Nothing has been playtested or even checked for balance. Offered as suggestion only}

Marshal (Fighter Subclass)
[Insert flavor text here]

Motivation: After 3^rd level, you are able to motivate your allies: an idea or suggestion to any friendly targets within 60 feet of you who understand your language. Each round, you may issue one of the following commands as a bonus action. These abilities last for 1 round (though the marshal can maintain them each round as a bonus action) and an ally can only benefit from one lesser command at a time.
· Motivate Agility: Allies gain +5 to their land speed.
· Motivate Charisma: Allies gain advantage on their next Charisma Check or Save.
· Motivate Constitution: Allies gain advantage on their next Constitution Check or Save.
· Motivate Dexterity: Allies gain advantage on their next Dexterity Check or Save.
· Motivate Intelligence: Allies gain advantage on their next Intelligence Check or Save.
· Motivate Strength: Allies gain advantage on their next Strength Check or Save.
· Motivate Wisdom: Allies gain advantage on their next Wisdom Check or Save.

Tactics: At 7^th level, you’ve learned advanced maneuvers that can aid allies. You can pick any target (other than yourself) within 60 feet of you that can hear you. As an action, you give them one of the following benefits. Each benefit lasts one round. A target can only benefit from one tactic at a time, but can benefit from motivation and tactics at the same time.
· Tactical Casting: The target can cast a single spell on your turn.
· Tactical Defense: The target gains resistance to piercing, bludgeoning, and slashing attacks from nonmagical weapons for 1 round.
· Tactical Positioning: The target can use the dash action during your turn.
· Tactical Resiliency: The target can make another save vs. an ongoing effect during your turn.
· Tactical Strike: The target can make a weapon attack action on your turn.

Inspiring Presence: At 10^th level, you have such a command of tactics and leadership than people seek you out for guidance and inspiration. You become proficiency in Persuasion and your proficiency bonus is doubled. Additionally, you gain advantage on all deception, intimidation, and performance checks.

Legion Command: After you reach 15^th level, you have mastered leading armies into battle. The range of your motivation and tactics abilities is now 120 feet.

Master of War: At 18^th level, you have studied war for so long you now know how to command troops without hesitation or second though. You can have two motivations going at the same time, and can offer tactics to two different targets as a single action.

 

[fjw70]

How about changing the Rally Battlemaster maneuver to heal hp rather than provide temp hp (or you can choose to do either)?

 

[Jester David]

Taking the maneuver feat would also get you more warlordy powers and extra uses of the martial die.

 

[Vikingkingq]

I think the Battlemaster actually has a good deal of Warlord functionality - the underlying problem is the Dice regeneration, but that's equally applicable to would-be defender Battlemasters, swashbuckler Battlemasters, charger Battlemasters, etc.

Seems to me that if your SD regenerated every combat, you'd easily be able to use them consistently each round.

 

[1of3]

Or maybe as a Fighting Style? Then it would be useful to Rangers and Paladins, too.

Fighting Style: Marshal
If you do not attack on your turn, you may use a Bonus Action to point out an enemy to your allies. You grant Advantae on the first attack by one of your allies against the chosen foe.

Or something like that.

 

[Jester David]

Mearls has said there will be variant rule in the DMG for making short rests less than an hour, and how to balance classes like the fighter around that.
For a 4e style game with a warlord fighter, that might work well.

 

[TheGorramBatman]

The Martial Adept feat is absolutely terrible. One dice isn't even worth the feat slot. I'm not even sure there are enough worthwhile maneuvers to be worth getting the feat for two extra (unless you went with just 3 Battlemaster in a multiclass setup).

The best way to pursue a pseudo-warlord right now is a mix of College of Valor Bard and Battlemaster Fighter. Flavor the Bard stuff around inspiring oration and try to mash the two classes together as best you can.

Probably want 5 levels of Bard (refresh Inspiration dice on short rest) and 3 levels of Battlemaster is an adequate minimum (4 dice and 3 maneuvers).

End up with decent buffing, adequate healing, Inspiration, Maneuvers, good martial ability, and a fairly solid array of skills that can allow the character to perform a wide array of out of combat roles.

There are two problems.

1. Magic. For those of us that liked the Warlord because it wasn't really all that magical, this is a flavor issue on its own.

2. Multiclassing these two classes is an absolute pain to actually level through. Best bets are Battlemaster 5 and then Bard 5, or Bard 6 then Battlemaster 3. Neither of these will come adequately fulfilling the concept until halfway through the character's career, but any other arrangement will deny a second attack until mid career (which is, frankly, unacceptable). Maybe Battlemaster 3, Bard 1, then two more levels of Battlemaster is the fastest acceptable way to get all of the features and snag the second attack at a reasonable time.

But again... Magic. Sort of a bummer.

 

[Dausuul]

The first thing to ask is: What are you trying to accomplish here? What do you want the warlord to do?

To me, the core of the warlord is the following:

• It's non-magical.
• It's a combat support class (functions by helping other classes do their thing).
• Its focus is on tactics and maneuvers.

Now, this is indeed a significant hole in 5E. The Battle Master fighter is a good try, but it suffers from a crucial problem: It's a fighter! And fighters are not built to take a supporting role. The basic fighter build, without any of the fighter archetype options, is already a very heavy hitter. Giving it strong support abilities as well would make it grossly overpowered. That's why Battle Master and Champion both look so weak--95% of the fighter's power is built into the class core.

In order to make the warlord fighter workable, I think some radical surgery is required: Specifically, an Extra-Attack-ectomy. Here's a first draft:

Call to Heroes: Beginning when you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you can inspire another creature as a bonus action, by appealing to its hopes or fears. To do this, you must know or guess the target's Bond, Ideal, or Flaw. If your guess is correct, the creature gains advantage on one attack roll, saving throw, or ability check before the start of your next turn. That ally cannot be affected by this ability again until it takes a long rest.
Allied Attack: Starting at 5th level, you do not gain the Extra Attack ability. Instead, you learn to distract foes and create openings for your allies. When you attack a creature, you may choose one ally within 60 feet of you. That ally can make an attack or cast a cantrip as a reaction.
Fighting Withdrawal: Starting at 7th level, you can coordinate your allies' retreat or retrenchment. When you take the Disengage action, its benefits apply to all allied creatures within 60 feet of you, and each of those creatures can move up to half its speed as a reaction.
Tactical Mastery: Starting at 10th level, when you use Allied Attack and your own attack hits, the ally can add your Intelligence or Charisma modifier (your choice) to his or her damage roll.
Improved Allied Attack: Starting at 11th level, your Allied Attack allows two allied creatures to attack or cast a cantrip, instead of one.
Heroic Resurgence: Starting at 15th level, your own resurgence inspires your allies. When you use Second Wind, each ally within 60 feet gains temporary hit points equal to the amount you regain.
Unity of Purpose: Starting at 18th level, your presence grants your allies almost supernatural alertness. Whenever initiative is rolled, choose up to 5 allied creatures before the roll is made; you and all the affected creatures use the highest initiative among your rolls. Furthermore, if one of you is not surprised, none of you is surprised.
Legion Attack: Starting at 20th level, your Allied Attack allows all allies within 60 feet to attack or cast a cantrip.

 

[Valetudo]

The first problem with the fighter is that he is a striker pure and simple. He is not a defender this edition and is made to kill things himself. The battlemaster is like take the first warlord feat in 4th. It might open you up to some warlord stuff but it does not make you a warlord.

The warlord class needs to act like a warlord before you even get to your sub class. Instead of second wind he would have something like battlecry(gives 1d8+cha and lvl HPs or THPs) usable maybe twice per short or long rest that get a couple more as you level up. Then he would get a power that would be defesive for the team instead of actionsurge(maybe a 1 round haste for a teammate). Only the cha based subclass would get the multiattack at 5th, the int based subclass would get commanders strike that allows a teammate to take the second attack. The warlord would start out with martial weapons and med armor and shields with maybe the cha warlord getting heavy while the int warlord get a class feature letting him use int instead of dex for med armor.

As for the subclasses the cha sub would focus on buffs that either set up nova rounds for teammates or give temp HPs. Where as the int sub would focus on mobility and extra attacks for others. saving throws would probalily be wis and either str int or cha.

Yes you can sorta do some warlord like stuff with feats or bard magic but its not a warlord and anyone who played alot of warlords knows it.

 

[gyor]

A Battlemaster, could use Commander's Strike or Rally up to six times between taking a short rest.

Without knowing how many encounters between short rests

a Battlemaster should expect, its hard to gage the Battlemaster's effectiveness.

Between Action Surge, Indominable, Second Wind, and Suppoirity dice, the Battlemaster is hugely dependant on short rests.

If its a short rest between every battle the Battlemaster is insanely good, welling earning the title, if its six or seven battles before a short rest, supiority dice become a gimmick, nothing more, spread way too thin.