D&D 5E (2014) The Warlord shouldn't be a class... change my mind!

[Don Durito]

Again. 'Berskerker' doesn't need a class to be a full fledged concept. It could be a fighter subcless.

Whether something needs to be a class, and whether it should be, and whether people want it to be are all different questions.

 

[Charlaquin]

Well that seems fairly circular. One can just as well say the 3E fighter was a perfectly fine 3E fighter - if one can abritrarily set criteria than one can arbritrartily meet them also.

It means nothing. It should be obvious however, from the sheer amount of threads there have been on the topic - that people are not universally happy with the 5E fighter. We don't need to argue it out again here - but it would be nice to see people actually acknowledge basic reality.

No one is pretending that the 5e fighter is universally liked. But the fact that the fighter isn’t universally liked is not an argument against the addition of a Warlord class.

 

[Don Durito]

No one is pretending that the 5e fighter is universally liked. But the fact that the fighter isn’t universally liked is not an argument against the addition of a Warlord class.

Well duh.

I suggest that if I point out that the 5E fighter is not universally liked and you don't disagree with that - then don't argue with that.

 

[MichaelSomething]

So every class should get a warlord like subclass? I like your style!

 

[Shiroiken]

The 4E fighter had a bunch of stuff that fit the gameplay of 4E. The 5th edition fighter still came over just fine. So did the rogue, cleric, bard, paladin, wizard, sorcerer, warlock, monk, ....

I’m not convinced warlord is so unique that it’s impossible to translate to a 5E version.

The difference is that all those other classes existed before 4E (if warlord existed prior, I am completely unaware of it). The warlord was designed to fit 4E, while the other classes were changed to fit 4E. With 5E all those classes switched back (except sorcerer and warlock, which needed a new niche), but there's no fallback for the Warlord as a class.

As for it being impossible to translate, it could have been but not as a class. I feel there are already too many classes (sorcerer and warlock, I'm mainly looking at you), and adding it in as a class is unnecessary. As a subclass, I personally feel it should have been one of the Fighter sub-classes in the PHB, but there was so much venom at non-magical healing during the playtest they shied away from it. We got the battlemaster instead, which is fine substitute but it's not the Warlord.

 

[Anoth]

I see no reason that the warlord can’t be a fighter archetype similar to the battle master in structure.

 

[Garthanos]

The difference is that all those other classes existed before 4E (if warlord existed prior, I am completely unaware of it). .

Marshal (which they even changed to the name of the Warlord to be )existed before it was poorly implemented from what I hear and the White Raven maneuvers in the Book of Nine Swords were more prototypes of what became Warlord. I would actually like that name because William Marshall rocked seriously and had a team he used in Tourneys as a youth. - this is a change of position on my part.

 

[Charlaquin]

Well duh.

I suggest that if I point out that the 5E fighter is not universally liked and you don't disagree with that - then don't argue with that.

You pointed it out in response to an argument in favor of the addition of a warlord class. Pardon me for assuming you were arguing with the point Bawylie was making.

 

[Manchurian]

I can agree that the hallmarks of the 4e warlord design (inspirational leadership maneuvers, nonmagical healing, etc.) can be folded into other classes in a satisfying way.
I found this PDF on DriveThruRPG that lets you add Warlord-style powers to existing 5e classes, so you can get the feel of the Warlord without adding a separate class. I recommend it!
Martial Exploits - Dungeon Masters Guild | DriveThruRPG.com

I Found this class of A Warlord Also....it's pretty cool

 

[Garthanos]

"Were" being the operative word here.

No are.. that self defining thing you mention that "means its arbitrary" it didnt quit being so it seated it even further as such. The Paladin did not quit being named after a High ranking political figure nope, that still is what it was named after.