Mike Mearls Happy Fun Hour: The Warlord

[Aldarc]

Like I said, it's such an esoteric name that it would be pretty hard to find any real issue with it, but, it's still pretty much encapsulates the idea.

You could go more esoteric within the bounds of vague familiarity, such as the title Preator.

 

[Mistwell]

And now I am curious to read the novel The Sirdar's Oath, by Bertram Mitford

 

[Hussar]

... you could have John Carter in D&D.

Well, you seem to have been familiar with the name from a 60 year old TV show (had to look it up: premiered '57).

That was kinda my point. People are familiar with paladins because of D&D. It's pretty likely that almost no one has heard of Have Gun Will Travel (my father is a HUGE western fan, so, that's why I knew it). Same goes with Three Hearts and Three Lions. If it hadn't appeared in the appendix in the AD&D DMG, it would likely be about as well remembered as 99% of the era's fantasy, as in, not at all.

The idea that we need a class name that's well known to everyone before we can use it seems a bit strange considering the class names we already have in the game. Sure, a D&D player thinks of cleric as heavy armor dude in plate mail. But, anyone else? Well, then again, since clerics have made the move from D&D to MMORPG's and other computer games, we've managed to cement "cleric" in the cultural zeitgeist.

But, my point is, these terms are popular because of D&D.

 

[Hussar]

People don't know of the 12 peers of Charlemagne, the Paladins?

I'm pretty sure that most people aren't. Heck, I'm pretty sure most people could barely tell you who Charlemagne was. It's a pretty minor history note. We know because we're D&D geeks. But, outside of us? Maybe historical wargamers?

Knights of the Round table would be an easy hit. But paladin?

 

[Jester David]

How about "warduke"? That has some good D&D legacy.

 

[Tony Vargas]

That was kinda my point. People are familiar with paladins because of D&D. ..
The idea that we need a class name that's well known to everyone before we can use it seems a bit strange

It could have made the game that little bit more intuitive and accessible...

Sure, a D&D player thinks of cleric as heavy armor dude in plate mail. But, anyone else?

A clerical worker or a fatwa-issuing terrorist leader.

Well, then again, since clerics have made the move from D&D to MMORPG's and other computer games, we've managed to cement "cleric" in the cultural zeitgeist.

I think the community in places like this tends to forget that TTRPGs aren't the only RPGs....

 

[Yaarel]

The main currency for the name ‘paladin’ is its actual meaning in English.

1. A paragon of chivalry; a heroic champion.
2. A strong supporter or defender of a cause.
3. Any of the 12 peers of Charlemagne's court.

My family used the word ‘paladin’ in the context of any idealistic ‘paragon’ ‘champion’ ‘of a cause’, long before I was aware of its historical origin relating to Charles.



Interestingly, the etymology of Latin palatinus derives from palatium ‘palace’. Thus in some sense, the name ‘paladin’ means ‘palatial’.



Heh, I suspect this class name results from a hunt thru the thesaurus − with Gygax doing violence to historical accuracy.



Note. My favorite dictionary is thefreedictionary.com. If I remember correctly, it derives from the American Heritage Dictionary (US English) and the Colins Dictionary (UK English), but is now its own source, and often adds other entries.

 

[mellored]

Interestingly, the etymology of Latin palatinus derives from palatium ‘palace’. Thus in some sense, the name ‘paladin’ means ‘palatial’.

Yea.

Paladin was originally just "Palace Guard" who would ride out and enforce the king's orders.
Same with Samurai.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Mearls also mentions being torn between defining the Focus according to an actual space (emphasizing control of territory) versus according to being nearby an ally (emphasizing teamwork, group tactics, and leadership).

Personally, I strongly prefer the concept of defining focus by proximity to teammates.

It should be flexible: a creature, item, or terrain feature, for instance.
A battle plan may focus on one ally, or on a choke-point, or on an item or NPC the party needs to protect, all sorts of possibilities.

 

[Yaarel]

[MENTION=996]Tony Vargas[/MENTION]

I have a sense of what you are looking for in a warlord class from various discussions. But have you designed your own class, with all of the features that you want to see? I would love to have a look at if you did.