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Warlording the fighter
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<blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 6657087" data-attributes="member: 2067"><p>I think the main obstacle to that is Sneak Attack. Which isn't even <em>entirely</em> un-Warlord-y (it works if your enemy is next to another ally, so it would encourage this warlord to chuck other allies into melee with their move-granting abilities), though the limitation to ranged and light weapons makes pike-wielding or sword-weilding warlords sad pandas. But like extra attacks for fighters, SA is pretty much how rogues contribute to damage.</p><p></p><p>The impression I'm getting is that a lot of old-style warlord players aren't interested in contributing to damage by <em>doing things themselves</em>, but in contributing to damage by ramping up what their allies can do. That's fair, but the closest 5e gets to that now is valor bard inspiration and superiority dice, and bard/cleric buffs, which aren't quite as central as Sneak Attack or Extra Attacks/Action Surge. I think what we might want to do is come up with a mechanic that is as powerful as Extra Attack+Action Surge or Sneak Attack, but that works on the Warlord's allies rather than from the warlord themselves. </p><p></p><p>That encourages its own class, though it doesn't require it strictly.</p><p></p><p>I'm kind of shocking myself here, but providing my analysis is somewhat on-point, I think there is a better case for a "warlord" class in 5e than there is for an artificer or a psion. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> </p><p></p><p>We'd need to go bigger with the flavor - you CAN'T just be limited to military-style commanders and the like - but that's not the hardest part. Heck, there's the aristocrat/noble/knight/samurai/<strong>cavalier</strong>/etc. tradition that might have some meat. Make sure it's very well differentiated from the fighter's wheelhouse fictionally (fighters are mercenaries and soldiers and monster-slayers - they know combat, they know tactics, they are the warriors <em>implementing</em> them; "nobles" couldn't face down a dragon, and they need an army where our fighter just needs a sword-arm), and distinct from the paladin (I think the spells and literal magical power of the paladin will do that OK, but don't talk too much about oaths or loyalty or the like), but that's got some legs on it. </p><p></p><p>Where rogues have sneak attack and fighters have extra attacks, maybe "nobles" have a class feature something like...</p><p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><u><strong>Inspired Action</strong></u></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">As a bonus action on your turn, you can use the Help action. When you use the Help action, an ally that can see or hear you gains 1d4 that they can spend to enhance any ability check, attack roll, damage roll, or healing roll they make as part of your Help action (this bumps to d6;d8;d10;d12 at tiers).</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">In addition to the normal use of the Help action, you can use the Help action to do the following:</p> <ul style="margin-left: 20px"> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> <em>Grant Saving Throws</em>: You can use the Help action to grant any ally that can see or hear you an immediate saving throw against an effect they are currently under which a saving throw can end.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> <em>Spend Hit Dice</em>: You can use the Help action to allow an ally that can see or hear you to spend one of their hit dice.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> <em>Move an Ally</em>: You can use the Help action to allow an ally that can see or hear you to move up to half their speed. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> <em>Grant an Attack</em>: You can use the Help action to allow an ally that can see or hear you to make an attack.</li> </ul><p></p><p>Just a primordial idea, but think of that replacing Sneak Attack+Cunning Action or Extra Attacks+Action Surge on a class. In fact, might be better to split it into two abilities (maybe one that gives the bonus dice, one that lets you do more with your help).</p><p></p><p>Subclasses might include mounted champions, fancypants nobles, maybe even a little tank-y subclass that uses a variation on provoke mechanics...higher-level abilities let you shout to multiple creatures, but are limited by rests...</p><p></p><p>And now to make me feel better about <em>encouraging a new class</em> that has <em>martial healing</em> and even <em>kind of uses healing surges</em>, I'll go argue with [MENTION=7635]Remathilis[/MENTION] and [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION] for 5 pages. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="I'm A Banana, post: 6657087, member: 2067"] I think the main obstacle to that is Sneak Attack. Which isn't even [I]entirely[/I] un-Warlord-y (it works if your enemy is next to another ally, so it would encourage this warlord to chuck other allies into melee with their move-granting abilities), though the limitation to ranged and light weapons makes pike-wielding or sword-weilding warlords sad pandas. But like extra attacks for fighters, SA is pretty much how rogues contribute to damage. The impression I'm getting is that a lot of old-style warlord players aren't interested in contributing to damage by [I]doing things themselves[/I], but in contributing to damage by ramping up what their allies can do. That's fair, but the closest 5e gets to that now is valor bard inspiration and superiority dice, and bard/cleric buffs, which aren't quite as central as Sneak Attack or Extra Attacks/Action Surge. I think what we might want to do is come up with a mechanic that is as powerful as Extra Attack+Action Surge or Sneak Attack, but that works on the Warlord's allies rather than from the warlord themselves. That encourages its own class, though it doesn't require it strictly. I'm kind of shocking myself here, but providing my analysis is somewhat on-point, I think there is a better case for a "warlord" class in 5e than there is for an artificer or a psion. ;) We'd need to go bigger with the flavor - you CAN'T just be limited to military-style commanders and the like - but that's not the hardest part. Heck, there's the aristocrat/noble/knight/samurai/[B]cavalier[/B]/etc. tradition that might have some meat. Make sure it's very well differentiated from the fighter's wheelhouse fictionally (fighters are mercenaries and soldiers and monster-slayers - they know combat, they know tactics, they are the warriors [I]implementing[/I] them; "nobles" couldn't face down a dragon, and they need an army where our fighter just needs a sword-arm), and distinct from the paladin (I think the spells and literal magical power of the paladin will do that OK, but don't talk too much about oaths or loyalty or the like), but that's got some legs on it. Where rogues have sneak attack and fighters have extra attacks, maybe "nobles" have a class feature something like... [INDENT] [U][B]Inspired Action[/B][/U][B][/B] As a bonus action on your turn, you can use the Help action. When you use the Help action, an ally that can see or hear you gains 1d4 that they can spend to enhance any ability check, attack roll, damage roll, or healing roll they make as part of your Help action (this bumps to d6;d8;d10;d12 at tiers). In addition to the normal use of the Help action, you can use the Help action to do the following: [LIST] [*] [I]Grant Saving Throws[/I]: You can use the Help action to grant any ally that can see or hear you an immediate saving throw against an effect they are currently under which a saving throw can end. [*] [I]Spend Hit Dice[/I]: You can use the Help action to allow an ally that can see or hear you to spend one of their hit dice. [*] [I]Move an Ally[/I]: You can use the Help action to allow an ally that can see or hear you to move up to half their speed. [*] [I]Grant an Attack[/I]: You can use the Help action to allow an ally that can see or hear you to make an attack. [/LIST] [/INDENT] Just a primordial idea, but think of that replacing Sneak Attack+Cunning Action or Extra Attacks+Action Surge on a class. In fact, might be better to split it into two abilities (maybe one that gives the bonus dice, one that lets you do more with your help). Subclasses might include mounted champions, fancypants nobles, maybe even a little tank-y subclass that uses a variation on provoke mechanics...higher-level abilities let you shout to multiple creatures, but are limited by rests... And now to make me feel better about [I]encouraging a new class[/I] that has [I]martial healing[/I] and even [I]kind of uses healing surges[/I], I'll go argue with [MENTION=7635]Remathilis[/MENTION] and [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION] for 5 pages. ;) [/QUOTE]
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