New name for Warlord

[hong]

Damn, look at all the people who think warlord is "fine".

What a terrible name. First off, warlord has pretty heavy negative connotations. It's a bully, a thug who rules by force. Second, a warlord leads an army, not a small group of skirmishers. Third, it's a grandiose title, inappropriate for low-level characters.

And fourth, "marshal" did the job pretty well. Nice and neutral, a marshal's station can be humble or high.

It's really distressing that out of an entire R&D, these arguements haven't been circulated and accepted. I'll be the first to say they're pretty obvious.

Pfah. Marshal -> Field Marshal, for everybody not in Americaia.

And if we're going to get into negative connotations, every time I see a news article about "Taliban fighters", my inner D&D geek dies a little more.

 

[Nifft]

Wardude

Cheers, -- N

 

[comrade raoul]

"Captain" is perfect--it really evokes a daring hero who leads through skill and resolve.

This is one of those cases where a Tolkien quote works: "Here let it be said that in those days the Heir of Isildur arose in the North, and he took the shards of the sword of Elendil, and in Imladris they were reforged; and he went then to war, a great captain of Men."

 

[beepeearr]

If I don't like the name of a class I just call it something else

I also don't like the Warlord name (however I also didn't like the names of the Dusk blade, Hex blade, Mage blade, Soul knife, Spell thief, and psychic warrior) so I did search a thesaurus, and found one I never would have thought of on my own.

Shepherd
a person who protects, guides, or watches over a person or group of people.
to tend or guard as a shepherd: to shepherd the flock.
to watch over carefully.

Commander, Marshal, and Herald aren't horrible chooses either, I also like crusader, champion, guardian, and ardent. I want to see what the class looks like before deciding on a name though.

 

[Flynn]

The problem I have with Warlord is that I consider Warlord to be a "10th-level Title" kind of thing, and I typically associate it with tyrannical leaders in my homebrews.

My problem with most of the other choices listed is that I also consider all of the good ones to be "10th-level Title" names, and as such, there's a connotation of being high level that a first-level character shouldn't have. These titles are rewards for doing a good job, not classes to be played. *sigh* Even "Marshal", my personal favorite on the list, is such a title in two of my homebrew campaigns.

That's why I chose the alternate option. My preference would be something like "Champion", as mentioned in one of the posts above.

With Regards,
Flynn

 

[CrusaderX]

Wardude

Warduke? I had his action figure.

Captain is good. I also like Crusader (obviously!), Liberator, Justicar, or Sentinel, though some of these may not fit with the flavor of the class.

 

[Jer]

Pfah. Marshal -> Field Marshal, for everybody not in Americaia.

And even in America, hearing the world Marshal makes me think more of the Old West and sixguns than a military commander.

I think Warlord is fine. No worse than Cleric for describing a militant priest or Ranger for describing - whatever the heck the D&D Ranger is supposed to be.

(Am I the only one who hears the word Ranger and thinks of the Forestry Service, with Park Rangers keeping a lookout in towers for fires? I probably am...)

 

[Nifft]

Warduke? I had his action figure.

You're thinking of the evolved form.

Wardude -> Warmeister -> Warduke

Cheers, -- N

 

[Nifft]

(Am I the only one who hears the word Ranger and thinks of the Forestry Service, with Park Rangers keeping a lookout in towers for fires? I probably am...)

There's also the "one riot, one Ranger" connotation in certain parts of the US.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Aylowan]

Marshal could get confused with Martial pretty easily.

"What power source is the Marshal?"
"Martial."
"Who?"
"Exactly."