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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Undrave" data-source="post: 8308768" data-attributes="member: 7015698">Well, I think you're looking at it the wrong way... it's not 'Ardent Soul has no choice but to pick Inspiring Presence', but rather 'Inspiring Presence is tempted to pick Ardent Soul, but there is also Rabble Rouser and Chosen One'. You pick your Presence before your subclass,afterall. Also, if you think that's bad here is what the older version of that Presence was like:So yeah, I reigned it in so that, while not optimal, you CAN build with a different presence for a different benefit and not be useless. (you could also just get the Inspiring Leader feat, BTW). I also reworked the Ardent Soul's own Temp HP granting feature so they worked better.You see, I'm a big fan of your character starting with hints of what their subclass will be. For exemple, I think the Fighter who wants to go Eldtrich Knight should start their career with Arcana proficiency and probably should have access to an Arcane style 'Blessed Warrior' fighting style. So, you going with the Presence that key off Charisma is a way to align yourself with your future Ardent Soul goal. It's building blocks leading to it. The starting gear options I include and tools proficiency are also all designed to allow you to hint at your future subclass in subtle ways if you know what you're doing.As for the Shout... Well, each of the three shout (in their current form) gives a bonus based on a mental stat, with the minimal bonus always being +1 (so, even if you get an 8 you still get a marginal benefit). The RISE UP shout keys off Charisma, and Inspiring Presence adds another bonus to STRIKE so that, after your Presence, you always have 2 good shouts and one middling one, regardless of your favored stat.Now STRIKE I do admit is a victim of the lack of a consistent approach to who picks up the dice in 5e. It's difficult to make it synergize with Spellcasters, but its bonus to damage roll works no matter if its an attack or a spell damage (and it's no necessarily a bonus to the bonus attack granted by the Shout, mind you). I also have to contend with the limitation put on reactions so I have to avoid making it compete with OA for the frontliner. That's why it doesn't just grant a reaction. The maximum number of dice is denoted in the 'Max Insight' column of the class feature table. You know, the one that list all the features and proficiency bonuses? At level 1 the maximum is 2d6 and at level 20 it's 10d6.It's kinda meant to be more complex. For the Insight Pool, I would recommend just moving around actual physical dice (I do that with my Superiority Dice when I play a Battlemaster). I've also been trying to streamline the whole thing as much as possible over each itiration of the class (the first version is a mess!). In previous versions, Expose Weakness was a thing you did as a bonus action. I've folded it into the Help Action to limit the ammount of things you can do per turn and how much stuff you need to track.I really tried to focus on short duration buffs (usually until the start of the Warlord's next turn) or flat bonuses so there's not a lot of tracking. Usually you're tracking 1 buff on 1 ally (or a Weakness on 1 creature) until the start of your next turn while keeping an eye out for when you can spend your reaction for buffing your allies' damage output. Then at the start of your next turn you forget everything and re-evaluate the situation. Or you can just attack yourself and only care about the Insight dice bonus! That's also totally possible! Ironically, the most straight forward and simple build would be one with INT as a secondary! You just give out your Initiative bonus, focus on attacking with a good versatile weapon, then go into Steel Vanguard and upgrade your weapon and armor, and maybe sometimes use a shove or a grapple as you gain attacks.I will admit to be struggling a bit with the pacing of abilities. This Warlord is, as hard as it might be to notice, actually based on the ROGUE's basic frame. As the only fully At-Will class, the Rogue was a fascinating design for me and I wanted the challenge of creating a similar class. The Rogue's class progression is full of stuff! It doesn't look like it but if you don't just copy-paste Expertise you end up with tons of levels where you need a replacement out-of-combat feature, AND there's still a ton of in-combat feature and the Rogue's first two level are pretty busy too! Subclasses are pretty easy, thankfully.Anyway, I've rambled enough. Thank you for your criticism! I'm actually considering more changes for V6 and I'll be sure to keep my simplification streak going somehow and your comments in mind. I'm probably going to excise ability modifiers from Shouts, for exemple...</blockquote>

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