One last name poll: Warlord vs Marshal

[Gloombunny]

There can never be "Just one more Poll"... can there?

Well, it's not like I can stop anyone else from posting another one. But I think it's pretty clear by now that marshal is the only name alternative that has a shot at this.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

I used to watch the Brady Bunch, so every time since the Marshall class was published I just hear:

Marshall! Marshall! Marshall!

Besides Marshall has become a popular given name. It just doesn't sound right to me as a class name.

And it sounds like a better title for a wild west game than D&D.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Real-world politics rules prevent me from elaborating, but there are certainly some very prominent evil marshals in world history.

Too bad I don't know their names (except a couple of German Field Marshals in WW II, I think). I certainly can't recall any fictional evil marshals.

I think "commander" is a more neutral term, but it still doesn't fit a bandit lord (IMO).

 

[Nifft]

Marshal was one of the classes that jumped out at me and cried for a better implementation. (It's like the Spellthief in this regard.) The role is great, the flavor is adequate, I can see how it could fit into a party -- or into an encounter. But the mechanics... ugh.

So yeah, for me Marshal is a name & a concept waiting for a good implementation. And the Warlord sounds like it might just be that implementation.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Hunter In Darkness]

id go with marshal as well liked the class it just needed some work

 

[Kobu]

If I really weigh "Marshal" against other names, I may prefer something else. However, when I first laid eyes on it in the Miniatures Handbook, I didn't have a WTF moment like I did when first reading about the warlord. I just thought it was a nifty class that didn't quite work as it should but showed promise.

I say that if everyone else hates our own preferred names for the class, at least get behind the Marshal and let it fulfill its potential in 4E.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Marshall's cool.

And well...

I like the wild west connotation. I think that for much of the middle ages, and in particular the parts that PCs inhabit, the medieval to Old West analogy is pretty apt.

Plus medieval Marshalls were cool, there are far far worse models for a heroic adventurer than William Marshall, and expandable.

You've got everything from the guy in charge of the Horses to the commander of all forces in a theater in that title.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Hey, my tuppence worth: I like marshal more than warlord but I dislike the connection with horses and (even worse) US marshals -sorry Dr Strangemonkey To me a marshal is a bloke in charge of the horses (medieval, therefore in DnD era) or John Wayne!
"[Middle English, from Old French mareschal, of Germanic origin.]
marshal·cy, marshal·ship n.
Word History: Hard-riding marshals of the Wild West in pursuit of criminals reemphasize the relationship of the word marshal with horses. The Germanic ancestor of our word marshal is a compound made up of *marhaz, "horse" (related to the source of our word mare), and *skalkaz, "servant," meaning as a whole literally "horse servant," hence "groom." The Frankish descendant of this Germanic word, *marahskalk, came to designate a high royal official and also a high military commandernot surprising given the importance of the horse in medieval warfare. Along with many other Frankish words, *marahskalk was borrowed into Old French by about 800; some centuries later, when the Normans established a French-speaking official class in England, the Old French word came with them. In English, marshal is first recorded in 1218, as a surname (still surviving in the spelling Marshall); its first appearance as a common noun was in 1258, in the sense "high officer of the royal court." The word was also applied to this high royal official's deputies, who were officers of courts of law, and it continued to designate various officials involved with courts of law and law enforcement..."
ps..but I can't think of anything better anyway

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

Armiger means a guy who carries other people's weapons. It is literally the caddy for the golfbag of weapons. It was bad in Iron Heroes (absolute proof that despite his talents at design, Mearls is no good at names), and it would be worse for a leadership class.

Battlemaster is just boring, cheesy, and not specifc.

I voted warlord, just because I don't think Marshal is any better, and I am getting sick of this warlord-denouncement trend.

Either Commander or just Lord are about the only alternatives I would accept, myself.

Armiger definition There are two separate definitions (neither of which has anything to do with this class' abilities).

 

[HeinorNY]

Between those two I prefer warlord just because it sounds more medieval to me and marshal sounds like a kind of cop or something, or maybe a knight.
And looking to the abilities we've heard so far, it feels to me that a "warlord" would have them, but not a "marshal".

And the marshal class from the DDM was not all that bad at all, change its name to warlord and it begins to shine