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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Starfox" data-source="post: 6144832" data-attributes="member: 2303">I'm not conversant enough with Next to really contribute to the implementation of the warlord there. All I can do is give general musings.I've played for some time (in my homebrew, nod DnD) with the mundane leadership ability to "give away" your actions to others - effectively you pass and for something like an immediate action (a small but not negligible action cost) the beneficiary can get an additional action. You shout an order, and the target immediately obeys - or not if the order is not to their liking. Distinctly different from similar warlord abilities in 4E, this is not a "basic attack" - because that mechanic meant only fighters could really benefit from the warlord's hand-out attacks. The target can take any action at all, as long as it confirms to the warlords "orders". The target can also refuse and do nothing. This has proven very popular with my players, and not unbalancing to me. Yes, of course the action is transferred to the character most able to help in the current situation, meaning the party gets more of the resource it needs the most. But this is a class ability - it should pack some punch or it is pointless.Some alternatives to healing: Large and generous amount of temporary hit points (or similar damage buffer) the warlord can parcel out in basically unlimited quantities. This could also take the form of damage reduction. But such abilities are much less predictable than healing - temporary hit points are more "costly" than healing in most cases, and DR affects many small attacks much more than it affects one large attack. Defense buffs - or miss chance. This has to be more powerful than healing, to account for the swinginess it introduces. Say you give opponents a 50% miss chance. From a series of two attacks, this means the opponent might do 0%, 50%, or 100% of his normal damage. When he does 50% this works out, but when he does 100% you provided no defense at all. AC and save buffs work similarly, but the math is not quite as simple. So how about halving all incoming damage? Possible... Very much a supernatural effect, but possible. Maybe the warlord can double the team's hit points, and after the fight they are halved again, along with any damage taken. You still take attrition, but very slowly.Tactics: A warlord could do things such as improve the effects of flanking, allow shield walls, or other forms of team play. See the Cavalier in Pathfinder for one implementation of this. This is certainly a path to be explored , but more equivalent to the cleric's non-healing spells than to healing. Though these tricks certainly are useful, this is what makes the warlord fun, not what makes him powerful.Personal combat ability: The warlord needs to be a warrior, or he could not inspire warriors. How much worse than a fighter can he be, and still fulfill the warrior archetype? The 4E warlord seemed a bit puny this way - too weak a fighter himself to actually earn any respect as a heroic leader (I never saw one in action, so this is pure theory). Because of limits on the action economy, I feel a warlord can be a pretty decent fighter and still have leadership abilities. In 3E terms, I see the warlord as a full BAB class, but lacking the combat class abilities of fighters, paladins etc.Noncombat healing: In 3E, a major role of the cleric is to be they guy with the communal wand of cure light wounds. Hopefully, this will not be so in Next. I'm not sure how Next handles healing when resting, but seems it will present several options to choose from. We may not need a class ability for this. Again, this is my cavalier archetype meant to be warlord-like in Pathfinder: <a href="http://hastur.net/wiki/Officer_%28Apath%29" target="_blank">http://hastur.net/wiki/Officer_(Apath)</a></blockquote>

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