Playtest (A5E) Level Up Advanced 5E Playtest Document #9: Warlord

Welcome to the 9th Level Up: Advanced 5E playtest document. This playtest contains a candidate for the game’s warlord class. The warlord is a new class and — like our spell-less ranger — we have allocated two playtest slots for it. This is the first document; a revised playtest version may appear next week based on your feedback.

Note that this class references two rules elements which have not yet been previewed -- followers, and strongholds. Those will be revealed at a later date.

Level Up Playtest Document #9: Warlord — Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E)

Welcome to the 9th Level Up playtest document. This playtest contains a candidate for the game’s warlord class.

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Download the playtest document here!

And take the playtest survey here:

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[dave2008]

I'm not sure what this sentence is supposed to mean, exactly. Aren't skill and talent effectively the same thing? Or is this meant to highlight a distinction between learned skill and innate talent or something like that?

They can be, but I think when they said talent, the mean innate talent. Something you are born with, not trained to do. I might have an innate talent for math, but I never put enough skill points into it so I topped out with calculus. That type of thing.

 

[Hurin70]

They can be, but I think when they said talent, the mean innate talent. Something you are born with, not trained to do. I might have an innate talent for math, but I never put enough skill points into it so I topped out with calculus. That type of thing.

I think that is what the sentence means, but note it begins by talking about something different: luck. So perhaps it would be better phrased if it said that some people think it is luck, but Warlords reply it is talent, or even skill.

 

[Hurin70]

There is no lack of clarity. There have been extremely clear direct statements in that hit points are not meat points going back at least to AD&D 1e.

Gygax was clear that hit points are not meat points, for sure. The vast corpus of D&D books however did have some mechanics, powers, and situations that treated hit points much like meat. Faolyn mentioned falling damage, for example, or hit point damage from poisons.

 

[Faolyn]

I decided to make a character before filling out the survey, so here goes: Robbet Sageberry, a cook at the Two Hares Inn and Tavern turned guerrilla warrior after an invasion and occupation by an army of evil dragonborn and lizardfolk. With his mighty sling and chef's butcher's knife, he makes the reptilians' lives as miserable as possible!

Robbet Sageberry
Halfling Tunnel-Runner, Folk Hero
5th-level Warlord (Peasant Lieutenant)

Hit Points: 40 (5d10+10)

Str 9 (-1) • Dex 16 (+3) • Con 15 (+2) • Int 10 (+0) • Wis 12 (+1) • Cha 14 (+2)

Prof Bonus: +3

Saves: Wis +4, Cha +5

Skills: Animal Handling +4, Insight +4, Perception +4, Stealth +6, Survival +6

Proficiencies: All armor, shields, simple weapons, martial weapons, cook’s tools, land vehicles

Size: Small

Speed: 35 ft. (45 ft. when wearing light or no armor and not wielding a shield)

Lucky: When I roll a 1 on a d20 for an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, I can reroll the die and must use the new roll.

Halfling Nimbleness: I can move through the space of any creature that is Medium or larger.

Slippery (1/long rest): I can use my reaction to automatically escape a grapple.

Commanding Presence: I have a 20-foot-radius Commanding Presence. I can forgo one attack to allow a friendly creature in that range to make an attack instead; it can use its reaction to cast a cantrip or make a weapon attack.

Rallying Surge (1/long rest): I can use a bonus action to choose two allies within 30 feet of me to regain 1d8+5 hp.

Maneuvers (6 points): Dangerous Strikes (1 point, Razor’s Edge); Doubleteam (1 point, Sanguine Knot), Improvised Throw (1 point, Unending Wheel), Pile On (2 points, Sanguine Knot)

Knacks:* Lay of the Land (10 minutes observing an area, spend 2 exertion to determine choke points, places of concealment, etc.; gain expertise die on Engineering and Survival checks in the area and on checks made to prepare for or be aware of being ambushed)

Extra Attacks: I can attack twice on my turn.

Followers: I gain one follower. Possibly the kid who had her first job as my dishwasher.

Fast Retreat (1/round): When I take the Attack action, I can forgo an attack to allow a friendly creature my Commanding Presence to take the Disengage action.

Skirmisher: I impose disadvantage on opportunity attack rolls made against me.

(* At 5th level, Warlords gain an ability to take Fighter knacks, but they still only have one knack. I think they should have two knacks at this level.)

 

[Faolyn]

It seems really cool,one thing I don’t like though is that they get a stronghold. They might make it balanced and it might fit what the class is about but the game Is D&D, not a war game. In most D&D games you’re exploring the world and adventuring, not defending a stronghold in most cases.

Getting strongholds and followers was a big thing that many adventurers got at ~9th level in 1st and 2nd edition. LU is going back to D&D's roots.

 

[A. Joseph Campbell]

Have to ask due to the notes about movement -- shall we expect that the combat rules will provide options for grid combat that will appease the wargamer in me; but not go as all-in as 4th edition did?

(I'm one of the minority that prefers 4e to 5, I know, silly boy)

 

[Hurin70]

(I'm one of the minority that prefers 4e to 5, I know, silly boy)

There are more of us than you think, brother!

 

[tetrasodium]

Have to ask due to the notes about movement -- shall we expect that the combat rules will provide options for grid combat that will appease the wargamer in me; but not go as all-in as 4th edition did?

(I'm one of the minority that prefers 4e to 5, I know, silly boy)

as @Hurin88 noted, you aren't alone. I may have had a visceral reaction to quickly flipping through a friend's 4e book when I decided to mainly stick with PF back in the day, but even having the hooks baked in to hang a simple sidebar fitting tactical system on is a massive improvement over 5e's choice to effectively remove it. Having so many of the maneuvers & abilities mentioning AoOs & such gives me hope though.

 

[A. Joseph Campbell]

It won't be in contention in our book. Like I said, we'll be extremely clear.

To be fair, earlier editions were also clear. Many play D&D as if it was presented in Readers' Digest or Cliff's Notes format regardless of what's in the books proper.

That said, you'll do as you always do. The publishing standards here are pretty high.

 

[Undrave]

This is looking pretty fun! It's a LOT of class features to digest though.

I am, however, not super fond of the Archetypes names. They lack a little flare to them, they're a little too plainly descriptive. Especially Peasant Lieutenant. If you want, you can TOTALLY steal my 'Rabble Rouser' designation I used for a similar subclass in my own attempts at a Warlord. I won't mind.

Commanding Presence: Skip an attack to let an ally in your aura make one as a reaction & some other neat uses later. The discussion over the forgo an attack thing has already started, but we already have a more limited version in the form of the battlemaster’s commander’s strike to show how it plays out. No single target attacker can match the rogue so every round the warlord is going to feel compelled to point at the rogue and say “pikachu, I choose you!”. With the warlord getting this at level 1 & second attack at 5th it might as well not even have the attack action as an option till 5. Another straw on that pile is that even if a control/debuff/buff/heal/etc spell from a caster is going to be more useful it’s not available & the lack of caster synergy shows up again later.

Heh it's fine. In 4e we often joked the Barbarian hits with their axe while the Warlord hits with their Barbarian. This kind of at-will synergy and the ability to go full Lazy-Lord is a feature, not a bug. And being equipped with Martial Weapons gives the warlord an incentive to try to attack too from time to time.