FYI- Purple Dragon mechanics...
Main feature - 2nd wind also heals 3 allies fighter level each
- pesuasion expertise
- action surge also gives additional attack to ally
- indomitable for allies
Excellent! Thank you for sharing this. From this we can conclude three very important things. That is, even within the beefy Fighter chassis with its loads of damage and personal survivability, it is balanced to have:
1. A small amount of (group) healing 1/short rest
2. A limited degree of truly granting extra attacks, 1/SR (at very high levels, 2/SR but only 1/round)
3. A limited degree of support against inflicted conditions (1, 2, or 3x per short rest)
My thoughts...
-I like the indomitable for allies since I think this is one area where the "warlord" could give advice, holler a warning out, etc. and it doesn't step on the toes of him doing the character's job better than them...
While I think your phrasing of the alternative is a little hyperbolic, I generally agree that this is a good choice when one wishes to remain wholly within the Fighter chassis. Straightforward but--hopefully--effective.
-The healing is a small amount, curious to see how they fluffed it but I never had a problem with the martial healing aspect
I'd have put a minor intensifier in front of "small" there. While it's only variably less than the amount healed by Second Wind (drops the 1d10), Second Wind already doesn't strike me as being up to the task of keeping the Fighter conscious. At level 3, 3 HP is (at very most) 1/4 of the squishiest possible character's health (Wiz or non-Dragon Sorc with a -1 Con)--for my Bard, it would be less than 1/7th, and is close (if not equal) to the minimum damage of most attacks monsters use.
This is is not at all to say that it's bad. It's good. I'm glad we have it. But as far as healing goes, it's strictly an auxiliary capacity--even a
pair of PDKs would have trouble keeping up with damage dealt. As a fifth-wheel "we could use another support character" option, though, the PDK is quite nice indeed--in a party that already has a Cleric (esp. a Life Cleric) or a Bard, the PDK provides the strong Fighter contribution to damage and survivability, with a strong and useful slice of support.
-It's still a subclass and part of a larger archetype which is exactly what I feel the 5e "warlord" should be... (nearly all heroes inspire, give advice, help, etc... their comrades at some point in time when this trope is used) so I'm cool there as well.
The real question is will this be enough for the 4e die-hards and extreme proponents for a 5e warlord...
Personally, I think you've answered your own question with this third thought. Multiple arguments in favor of a full-class writeup remain in play even with the PDK. Some of the extreme ones ("it's impossible to play anything like it!") are defused now, but with now
two different Fighter subclasses that get slices of the Warlord, it seems more applicable than ever to say, "I want the class that is 33% Battlemaster, 33% PDK, and 33% unique features."
The PDK is a major step in the right direction, and (hopefully) both its mechanics and its thematics can help resolve deep disputes. Until I have reason to believe otherwise, it seems reasonable to assume that 5e now has a (sub)class that is not explicitly magical, which can restore actual HP. That's a huge and divisive argument eliminated right there, if this is true.
"People"? How many "people"? Maybe 1 or 2 extremists? Okay. Because I think you are casting undue negative light on a bunch of other people who just do not feel a 4e-style warlord is a good idea for 5e. What are your thoughts on the equally hyperbolic folks around here who have stated that the absence of a warlord class is a direct insult to them and that it must be added by WotC in order to appease a large contingent of slighted players of a certain edition?
Several people, in threads currently visible in this temporary subforum. IIRC, [MENTION=37579]Jester Canuck[/MENTION], for example, has said that the addition of martial healing would be a dealbreaker. If I'm misrepresenting your position, Jester, please correct me on this front.
I don't think the lack of a Warlord class is an
insult to 4e fans, though when thrown on the pile of other issues, I absolutely understand both how it can feel that way, and why it's become something of a rallying banner (heh) for them. (For a time, I even felt the same way, but time has given me the distance and reflection to overcome my emotional responses and take a more objective stance.) As I've said several times now, I strongly believe the devs
fully intended to make a true, effective Warlord. Then they realized that it was a lot
like the Fighter (which it should be, being "martial"), and tried to save space by merging them; an idea I think was unwise, but still
workable in the early-to-mid playtest.
Then they dropped several overall game elements, rewrote the Fighter class 2-3
more times, and eliminated the "Fighter Warlord's" ability to actually heal (which was present as of August 2013, according to a Mearls tweet--barely over 2 months before the final public playtest packet). I believe they got backed into a corner and couldn't accomplish what they wanted anymore, not without a substantially longer playtest period. So they shelved the 5e Warlord concept, stopped talking about it, and hoped that
enough people would be happy with what was available until they had the time and manpower to try again. Whether they were right--within the picocosm of Warlord fans, the nanocosm of 4e fans, and the microcosm of D&D players generally--is both hotly disputed and impossible to prove, so I think it pointless to make claims one way or the other.
This feels a little like a preemptive "neener-neener-neener"? Edgy.
Not really the intent, but alright. I was pointing out how some posters made an argument that seems directly controverted by the PDK's mechanics. My memory is a little fuzzy (just got up from a nap), but as I recall, you were one of the posters claiming that the Warlord does not fit in 5e because, at its root, it tells other people how to roleplay. If I am conflating you with another poster, I apologize--but I definitely know that at least one person on this forum made that argument, and I didn't see a single "anti-Warlord" poster comment on that argument being wrong, illogical, or inappropriate, from what I could tell. Perhaps it happened and I missed it.
I'm sure, at some point, a "boss other PCs around" commander-y feature (more than already present) will invariably be added to the game. But when it's still not enough for the hardliners here, I look forward to seeing how you reaction to their cries for more.
I have no interest in a "boss other PCs around" feature. I have interest in attack-granting (and possibly other action-granting) features being present on a full Warlord class. If such a feature were added, it would appeal to neither my interest in the class (assuming it wasn't added to a full-class "Warlord," by that name or another), nor my interest in its features.
Situational would be a better description. A small amount of hp (=lvl), once per rest, to everyone* or no one. It barely eeks out the power of a first level spell. It certainly isn't enough to match a paladin, let alone a caster.
It's a bit of give and take, technically speaking. If Rallying Cry works on unconscious individuals, and if you always get at least 2 (sometimes 3) short rests per "day," it's actually pretty good.
On the plus side, it IS a conceptual win; on the other hand it seems they don't want martial healing to match a cleric or paladin in potency. Also, with pdk, mastermind, battlemaster and valor bard, there is probably 0% chance of an official warlord class ever coming.
I hold out hope, though yes, it's a bit of a mixed blessing. Attack-granting
of some form, martial healing
to some degree, is a win. The possibility that WotC will sit back and feel satisfied that they've done everything they need to do is an unfortunate cost.