Warlords? Take 'em or leave 'em.

[SailorNash]

This seems to be every bit as volatile a topic as the Great Ranger Debate. Am I the only one that's caught in the middle/absolutely indifferent/actually kind of "meh"?

I love more options. Especially martial/melee/nonmagical ones. But with Fighter and Paladin (read: Fighter with Morals), plus arguments about how Rangers have no identity (outside of Fighters with Pets), I can't really see any fluff that makes this seem anything like Fighter with Rank.

I love playing smart characters. Having more tactical options really appeal to me, and playing a battlefield commander sounds like something I'd like to do. But the worst part of 4th was how much of an MMO it was, and many of his options are tied into the "gamey" power structure of that system.

I admired the fact that in 4th you didn't have to have a Cleric in the party. There were other ways to support a group without forcing someone to play the church guy. It'd be great to have options for healing outside of just that one class, and inspiring the troops is pretty thematic. But I also agree that screaming away wounds is absolutely stupid, to the point that it breaks immersion.

With so many folks taking one side or the other...anyone else out there that's still on the sidelines?

 

[Raloc]

This may be slightly off topic, but you mentioned the gamey-ness of 4th ed a bit, so I thought I'd mention it anyway.

I always felt it was really strange how 4e kind of abandoned the idea of abilities and especially spells that did things that were not 100% mechanical: damage or a condition, or movement on the minis board. My favorite spells across the editions (dunno about 5e exactly) are the weird utility or specific effect spells that affect the world in a not-wholly mechanical way.

E.g., illusions - the player or DM defines what happens with the illusion for the most part, or Rope Trick, or a bunch of other spells that could be used in strange situations just because they acted in a certain manner in the game world that wasn't necessarily about mechanics, at least not in whole (i.e., the way a condition is wholly mechanical for the most part).

Going back to the Warlord, I don't really know much about this whole debate as it were and am firmly in your camp OP - more options! I also think the Warlord is a perfect place to put in intangible abilities of the sort that make D&D special from what you can get in a CRPG.