New Design & Dev : Party Role

[Lonely Tylenol]

They are most likely giving it a "cheesy" term for a good reason. Different game effects probably with interact with powers of different sources in different ways. I suspect it'll act mostly like a descriptor. It might look something like this:

Flawless Execution
Buff [Martial]
The next time you make an attack roll or skill check with a [Martial] ability, rather than rolling the die, you are considered to have rolled a 20.

Might not be a great example, but you get the idea. I personally don't see a problem with there being a "martial power source" at all.

It just seems to be putting a name to something that was always there. If you look at the fighter bonus feats, you could probably slap a [Martial] tag on all of them, and then have a spell or effect that kicks in when you use a [Martial] feat, or which only affects characters with [Martial] feats, etc. We can't do that in 3.x, because the tag isn't there.

I get the feeling that this "multiple power sources" thing is just an exercise in categorization, to make it easier to keep things straight.

 

[Victim]

Cool article.

I don't think the martial power source is the same thing as ki/chi. Instead, these guys are completely non-supernatural. The Olympic athlete example was pretty solid; martial characters are on a path to the peak of human potential (and, at epic levels, beyond).

Here's a fun video of what I'm expecting the Rogue to be able to do: freerunning vid . All of that is extraordinary; none of it is mystical/supernatural.

For me, I say: thank god. I was getting sick of the Paladin as the only choice for players who like to play a character with diplomacy skills, but also like to play a frontline fighter. The marshal was a step in the right direction; this new warlord (martial leader role) could be even better.

Yeah, freerunning is sweet. But what is it mechanically? A bunch of Balance, Jump, Climb, Tumble checks? Maybe some Escape Artist stuff for diving through narrow spaces? A mid level character could hit the DCs for most stuff people run into in a city with some effort. Where do you go from there? A high level character doesn't need to bounce around between walls to get down from a high place - they can just jump straight down, pick themselves up off the ground, then fight off a dozen trained and armed soldiers! Pretty much regardless of class - a 20th level wizard blows away 1st level guards in combat ability even when using non proficient weapons.

A 1st level barbarian with Run is gifted athlete - add in an alignment shift and 3 monk levels for another speed boost and they'll shred all our running speed records. So that's a whole 4th level character to have better than Olympic ability. Give our athlete max ranks in Jump, and he's at like +19 Jump before other feats and stat mods. So he's winning our jump records too.

It just seems fairly obvious to me that max level characters in DnD is far more powerful personally than people in RL can get regardless of whether or not they're magic users . So obviously their 'mundane' high end abilities are going to be somewhat unnatural seeming to us.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

They already mentioned that the Book of Nine Swords was quite influential in 4e.

Therefore I expect Martial Abilities to resemble the Martial Maneuvers in that book (minus some of the more supernatural ones)...

Expect to see Strike of Perfect Clarity (the 9th level Iron Heart maneuver that did +100 damage with a standard action attack) to make a return in 4e in some form.

 

[Blood Jester]

So . . . despite the fact that everything about the "martial power source" suggests that it is just that: strength, dedication, training . . . you're upset and believe it can't possibly be that simple because it's called the "martial power source"?

You make no sense!

You are free to disagree with me, but "You make no sense!"?

OK, what part of:

I think the name is dumb, and calling a person's personal dedication and training a "power source" is lame.

is it you do not comprehend?

And do not confuse "does not like the mechanic/concept" with "upset".