D&D 5E powers and manuivers

people are homebrewing and argueing, but what really is a warlord to us?

So what are some iconic warlord abilities?

For me the action point aura's where a big thing in 4e (and something I have yet to figure a way to do in 5th)
in phb one gave a bonus to hit when allies action pointed the other healed.

others:

Commander strike
Wolf pack tactics
Knights move
Leading the attack
Inspiring word
Vengeance is mine
Rub some dirt on it
 

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people are homebrewing and argueing, but what really is a warlord to us?

So what are some iconic warlord abilities?

For me the action point aura's where a big thing in 4e (and something I have yet to figure a way to do in 5th)
in phb one gave a bonus to hit when allies action pointed the other healed.

others:

Commander strike
Wolf pack tactics
Knights move
Leading the attack
Inspiring word
Vengeance is mine
Rub some dirt on it
IMO:

Action Point -> When an ally misses, you can use a reaction to add 1dx to someone's attack. (not a direct feature, but still a general accuracy boost).
Commanders' Strike -> As an action, when an ally takes the attack action, it can can make 1 additional attack against the target.
Knights Move -> As a bonus action, an ally can use it's reaction to move upto 1/2 it speed without provoking an opportunity attack.
Lead the attack -> When you hit a target, all attacks against the target have advantage.
Inspiring Word -> as a bonus action, an creature can use a hit die and regains additional hit points equal to your Cha modifier. In addition, creatures that spend hit dice during a short rest gain 2+Cha on each die they spend.
Vengeance is mine -> When you are hit by an attack, you may use your reaction to attack that creature. If you do, 1 ally may also use their reaction to move 1/2 their speed without provoking an opportunity attack and make a melee attack against that creature. (might be too much).
Rub some dirt in it -> As a bonus action, a creature under an effect that they make a save against every turn, such as hold person, can imminently make a save against that effect. A failed save will not cause the effect to get worse.
 

IMO:

Action Point -> When an ally misses, you can use a reaction to add 1dx to someone's attack. (not a direct feature, but still a general accuracy boost).
Commanders' Strike -> As an action, when an ally takes the attack action, it can can make 1 additional attack against the target.
Lead the attack -> When you hit a target, all attacks against the target have advantage.
Inspiring Word -> as a bonus action, an creature can use a hit die and regains additional hit points equal to your Cha modifier.
Vengeance is mine -> When you are hit by an attack, you may use your reaction to attack that creature. If you do, 1 ally may also use their reaction to move 1/2 their speed without provoking an opportunity attack and make a melee attack against that creature. (might be too much).
these are very cool but need limits, some kind of resource dependence.

Knights Move -> As a bonus action, an ally can use it's reaction to move upto 1/2 it speed without provoking an opportunity attack.
that's cool, maybe do it instead of YOUR move...

In addition, creatures that spend hit dice during a short rest gain 2+Cha on each die they spend.
I think that should be a special subclass just for inspireing lords

Rub some dirt in it -> As a bonus action, a creature under an effect that they make a save against every turn, such as hold person, can imminently make a save against that effect. A failed save will not cause the effect to get worse.
that is the one I think could use work...
 

these are very cool but need limits, some kind of resource dependence.
Actions (bonus actions and reactions) are limited. You don't get as many as you did in 4e. Free actions don't exist at all. So they could very easily be at-will. Though some might be higher level abilities, or scale.

i.e.
Lead the strike, make an attack against a creature, if you hit the next attack against the creature before the start of your next turn has advantage.
At level 5, the next 2 attacks have advantage.
At level 11, all attacks have advantage.
At level 17, you have advantage when making the attack.

that's cool, maybe do it instead of YOUR move...
Could also work.

I think that should be a special subclass just for inspiring lords
I agree.
My preference is to not have any "healing" in the base warlord though plenty of mitigation. And leave all healing to the inspiring sub-class.

that is the one I think could use work...
Oops, i was thinking of a different power. I still think it would be a good one to have something that gives out an extra saving throw.

Rub some dirt in it -> As a bonus action, a creature below 1/2 his hit points and within reach, gain temporary hit points equal to 1/2 your warlord level + Cha.
 

So what are some iconic warlord abilities?

For me the action point aura's where a big thing in 4e (and something I have yet to figure a way to do in 5th)
in phb one gave a bonus to hit when allies action pointed the other healed.
It's enough to an aura in 5e, it's just a radius around the Warlord. Combat Commander was essentially a 50' Aura that granted +2 initiative.

Commanding Presence wasn't an aura (each version had a different requirement, like being able to see the Warlord, or the Warlord able to see you and you to hear him, etc), and it was a signature of each build. In spite of the name, it was actually an entirely ally-controlled benefit: when an ally spent an action point he got the benefit. 5e removed some player options like Action Points. You could re-create Commanding Presence as giving allies an Action Point after each short rest (!!!), or re-imagine it as an aura that hands out Inspiration when the ally takes an action in accord with the Warlord Archetype (like 'provokes an AoO' for a Bravura Aura), or has some more specific/interesting benefit.

To build on your list:

Inspiring Word
Commanding Presence/Combat Leader (ie 'Auras')
Commander's strike
Wolf pack tactics
Inevitable Wave
Rousing Assault
Brash Assault (so much assault, so little battery)
Knight's move
Lead the attack
Hammer & Anvil
Surprise Attack
Pillar & Post
Vengeance is mine
Powerful Warning
Help or Hinder
No Gambit is Wasted
Unintended Feint
Hold that Thought
Shake it Off
Rub some dirt on it
Guileful Switch
Fearless Rescue
Stand the Fallen
Own the Battlefield
Friendly Fire
Warlord's Recovery

And, honorable mention to Bolt of Genius - it's a Battle Captain utility, not technically a warlord one, but it's one of those, share a significant look with an ally and they do something awesome that they've displayed before moments you see in action movies all the time.
 

Commanding Presence wasn't an aura (each version had a different requirement, like being able to see the Warlord, or the Warlord able to see you and you to hear him, etc)
While i'm generally not a fan of aura's for a warlord (too passive)... it would look something like...

Commanding Presence: Select one of the following when you gain this level. Creatures who took a short rest with you can claim this bonus on it's turn if they can see and hear you. Once they do, they cannot do it again until they take another short rest with you.
*Tactical: The ally gains advantage on their next attack.
*Inspiring: The ally gains temporary hit points equal to Cha + 1/2 your warlord level.
*Resourceful: The ally either gains +2 to their attack or temporary hit points equal to Cha.
*Skirmishing: The ally does not provoke opportunity attacks until the end of his turn.


Many of the maneuvers are upgrades of lower level ones. You can simply have "at higher level" attached to them to consolidate them.


Inevitable Wave
When you hit a creature it takes extra damage from attacks equal to your Int modifier until the start of your next turn.

Rousing Assault
Ehh... not a fan. But...
If you hit a creature this turn, inspiring word heals extra hit points equal to the damage dealt.

Brash Assault (so much assault, so little battery)
If an enemy attacks you with an opportunity attack, an ally may make an opportunity attack against that creature.

Hammer & Anvil
When you hit a creature, you can use commander's strike against the same creature as a bonus action.

Surprise Attack
When you hit a creature, you can use commander's strike against another creature within 30' as a bonus action.

Pillar to Post
can't find this... don't remember it.

Powerful Warning
Once per short rest, when an enemy is hit, you can use a reaction to give that ally +1dx to their defense. The ally may then make an opportunity attack against the target.

Help or Hinder
Once per short rest, when a creature makes a saving throw, you can give them advantage or disadvantage.

No Gambit is Wasted
This one needed some heavy reworking, since there are no uniform encounter powers. Though there are uniform spells.
You can see when a spell isn't going to work and with a quick word, your ally changes plans. Once per day when an ally cast a single target spell that misses or is saved against, you can use your reaction to prevent that spell from being cast. The spell slot is not expended but their action is still wasted.

Unintended Feint
When an ally misses with an attack, you can use your reaction to add +1dx to it, potentially turning it into a hit.

Hold that Thought
When an ally misses with an attack, you can use your reaction to add +1dx to it, potentially turning it into a hit. In addition, you can make 1 attack against the target.

Shake it Off
When an ally is under an effect that has a saving throw each turn, such as hold person, you can use a bonus action to immediately let them make a saving throw against the effect. A failed save does not make the condition worse.

Rub some dirt on it
As a bonus action, you can give temporary hit points equal to Cha + 1/2 your warlord level to a creature that is below 1/2 of it's hit points and is in reach.

Guileful Switch
Modifying it a bit to keep it simpler.
When you roll initiative you can give yourself a -5 penalty to give someone a +5 bonus.

Fearless Rescue
When an ally is reduced to 0 hit points, you can use a reaction to move upto your speed closer to your ally. If you end adjacent to them, they are instead reduce to 1 hit point + and gain Cha temporary hit points for each opportunity attack you provoked.

Stand the Fallen
When you use inspiring word, you can target all allies that can hear you.

Own the Battlefield
When you use knights move, all allies in 50' may move.

Friendly Fire
Once per short rest, when an enemy misses you, you can use your reaction to have the enemy reroll the attack against another creature within 5' of you.

Warlord's Recovery
This one is hard to replicate, since there's no consistency with short rest abilities. That said, warlord should support spell casters too.
Once per day, when you take a short rest, you can let a creature regain an expended spell slot equal to 1/4 your warlord level.

Bolt of Genius
You can use warlord's recovery as an bonus action.
 
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Changing some of those to only affecting spells is a little disappointing, I have to admit. 5e's handling of spells just calls for different language. Like if you grant someone advantage for their next attack, and they cast a spell, instead they get to impose disadvantage on one saving throw vs that spell. Things like that. Recovering an 'encounter' could be recovering /one/ thing you could on a short rest. So a Wizard with the right feature or a Warlock could get back a slot, a battlemaster a CS die or an Action Surge. That kind of thing. Dig deep, pull off one more thing you should be too tired to do until the next rest.
 

5e's handling of spells just calls for different language. Like if you grant someone advantage for their next attack, and they cast a spell, instead they get to impose disadvantage on one saving throw vs that spell. Things like that.
They arn't equal. Disadvantage on a save is more powerful then advantage on an attack. Defiantly not something to do at-will.

1/short rest, could work, as a mid-level ability.

Recovering an 'encounter' could be recovering /one/ thing you could on a short rest. So a Wizard with the right feature or a Warlock could get back a slot, a battlemaster a CS die or an Action Surge. That kind of thing. Dig deep, pull off one more thing you should be too tired to do until the next rest.
Not all of them are created equal.
Action surge is much more powerful then 1 CS die or 1 ki for instance.

And it would be way too convoluted to say something like "bards gain 3 extra inspiration die, monks regain 1/4 their level in ki, fighters regain their second wind or 4 battelmaster dice, ect..." Not to mention it wouldn't expand to new classes.


I could possibly see "Once per long rest, you can use an action to give all allies within 60' of you the benefits of a short rest.", but that would be a pretty high level ability.

Actually, i wouldn't mind that as the 20th level feature.
 
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They arn't equal. Disadvantage on a save is more powerful then advantage on an attack. Defiantly not something to do at-will.
Disadvantage on a save vs Sacred Flame certainly isn't more powerful Advantage setting up an Assassin.

It's situational. A spell is already powerful because it's a limited resource. Imposing disadvantage on a save is independent of the use the caster puts it to.

1/short rest, could work, as a mid-level ability.
Does that jibe with existing sources of advantage or disadvantage?

Not all of them are created equal.
Action surge is much more powerful then 1 CS die or 1 ki for instance.
Yup. Short rests give different benefits to different classes. The same would logically apply to a hypothetical fractional short-rest equivalent. That's an issue with the class in question, not the short rest.

And it would be way too convoluted to say something like "bards gain 3 extra inspiration die, monks regain 1/4 their level in ki, fighters regain their second wind or 4 battelmaster dice, ect..." Not to mention it wouldn't expand to new classes.
IDK if that would be too convoluted for 5e. Natural language is just like that. It could be phrased with intent, a few examples, and anything not covered by the example is a DM ruling. That's consistent with 5e design philosophy.

I could possibly see "Once per long rest, you can use an action to give all allies within 60' of you the benefits of a short rest.", but that would be a pretty high level ability.
That would be pretty cool. Sadly I see Warlord inspiration more as exhorting allies to burning through their reserves - or using them more efficiently - than giving them more reserves. Maybe it could have a consequence, like exhaustion at the end of the battle?
 

exhaustion is a good idea. letting you have "daily" powers that are still "at-will". very fitting and balanced.
possibly some abilities that cost the ally hit dice or hit points as well. "as an action, one ally can spend their reaction and 4 hit dice but not gain any hit points. instead they can immidatly take an action." at-will full action grant, but still not something you can do every turn.

it also makes a warlord + cleric a strong combo.. burn out and recovery. which is good for them to get along.
 

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