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Warlord prestige class.

Lord Asharak

First Post
I'm not very experienced at this. I suppose it's a bit weak, though. :(

WARLORD

Warlords rule solely by means of violence and superiority of their forces. They appear everywhere where old systems brake, empires crumble, and old civilizations are descending or chaos is ruling in any other way. But this does not mean that Warlords are Barbarians. They may be ruthless and know no bounds, but in order to be successful in the long term, they need to be farsighted and have an exact knowledge about their environment, their friends and foes.

PREREQUISITES:
Alignment: any non-good
Base Attack Bonus +5
Intimidate (8 ranks), Diplomacy (5 ranks), Sense Motive (5 ranks).
Any character who wishes to be a Warlord must already have taken control of one or more settlements of a total population of at least 400 by force.

CLASS SKILLS:

Bluff(Cha), Intimidate(Cha), Diplomacy(Cha), Perform (speech only), Sense Motive(Wis).

CLASS FEATURES

Weapon and Armor Proficiency:

Warlords are proficient with simple and martial weapons as well as light and medium armor and shield.

Strong Leadership: At level 1, the Warlord gets the Leadership feat even when he doesn't have the prerequisites for it. If he has this feat already, or if he chosses this feat later, his leadership score is multiplied by 1.75 [ONLY at the time he gets the feat, he progresses as normal later]. At 4th level, his leadership score is again multiplied by 1.75. However, the level of his cohort may never exceed his own. Round up at both of these increases.

The Art of Torture: At 3rd level, the Warlord is so skilled in using torture, that any of his victims must suceed at a will save with a DC equal to his Intimidate Check + his Levels in Warlord in order not to confess [if they have nothin th confess, there is a 30% chance of lying anyway for every failed check]. Increase the DC by 1 for every hour of torture. However, a normal humanoid can only survive an amount of hours of torture equal to half its constitution score wothout a break of at least 8 hours before dying.

Command Skill: If the Warlord's troops are routed, he may make an Intimidate check. The checks result times 10 hit dice worth of soldiers can be sent back into battle. He may use this ability a number of times equal to his warlord levels per day. Double both the number of soldiers affected and the number of uses per day by two at 5th level. Higher level soldiers are affected first.

Ruthlessness: Beginning at 3rd level, a Warlord must be Neutral evil or chaotic evil in order to benefit from the special abilities of level 3-5.

lvl BAB Fort Reflex Will Class Features
1 | +1|+2 | +1 | +2 |Strong Leadership
2 | +2|+3 | +1 | +2 |Command Skill
3 | +3|+4 | +2 | +3 |The Art of Torture
4 | +4|+5 | +2 | +4 |Strong Leadership * 1.75
5 | +5|+6 | +3 | +5 | Command Skill * 2
 
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Leadership *1.5 is not too high, considering you cannot have cohort of your level and more.

Command: use intimidate OR diplomacy OR perform(speech). Look at my calm feat also (mimic remove fear spell). I think that with intimidate it is not a feat, but a normal usage.

The DC for the number of soldiers is subjective... There no place for failure with your feat! I prefer a party ratio:

you+ allies vs others (even if it's your troops) ratio *2 raise to DC (take leader HD as 10+ level check). 1/2 if it's YOUR troops

ex: you vs 20 soldiers = +40/2 = DC 30 + level of best man
 
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You're probably right about the leadership. I would raise it to 1.75 and round up for both. This gives a level 5 fighter / level 1 warlord with a +1 Cha bonus a quite impressive 13 leadership!

I would not use diplomacy for the Command Skill. This is the kind of skill you would use then speaking calmly to a general, ruler, king etc. Perform(speech) seems appropiate though. The special thing about this usage is that it affects a large number of people.

About the DC: I agree, there should be chance of failure. Frankly, I do not understand how this calculation should work.... :eek:
 

I prefer a party ratio:

you+ allies vs others (even if it's your troops) ratio *2 raise to DC (take leader HD as 10+ level check). 1/2 if it's YOUR troops

ex: you vs 20 soldiers = +40/2 = DC 30 + level of best man
should intimidate them all.

For partial results... ??? Let say 1 guy for each 5 over 10+level...
???
 

Uhh ... you mean, the skill check DC is inreased by every soldier by two, and the decreased by 10 + leader HD? And if I want my followers to go back to battle, the DC is divided by half? (Sorry for my slow brains... :rolleyes: )
 

it's not you... I currently work on it! Here is a revised ... draft.

New intimidate skill modifiers

Dc 8 + level + iron will and anti-fear bonuses (better vs lower levels, worse vs higher levels)

Works on character of same level or less

If the character is compelled to attack, contest of intimidate vs his commander

-5 per difference of size

+ (x2 parties ratio). Ex: 100 vs 10 = +20) . count your allies vs his allies.

Partial: each 5 points over Dc 8 + level + will give intimidate 1 man. A party usually resist or collapse as one unit.

Comments?
 

Ah! Now I understand ... I think that would work quite good. The exact number may have to be tweaked a little (maybe even for different campaigns, depending on how large engagments tend to be). Thank you very much. *executes a kotau*
 

No problem. I think of my work on these rules as a mad scientist's work (writer?)

Mad science +:
Maybe you can add that with critical success, you can shaken (or more). Not good for a warlord against his own troops...

look at npc attitude table DMG: if intimidate (instead of diplomacy) shift 2 rank: shaken 4: cowering. Must personally threaten, not only as a squad or party.
 

What about this:

Critical Succes: The enemy is crushed by the zeal your troops charge back into battle!
Roll an opposed Intimidate/Perform(speech) check with enemy commander (automatic succes if none present). Number of enemy soldiers equal to check difference*2 are shaken when succesful (when no commander present, check result - 10 are shaken).

Critical Failure: Your troops are so impressed with your grandeur versus their cowardice, they flee all the more!
Roll an opposed Intimidate/Will save check against your troops (roll for 5 or more at a time for large units). Those that fail do not only continue to flee, they are also immune to Remove Fear, Inspire Courage (from Bards) and the like for 1d4 rounds.
 

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