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What the warlord needs in 5e and how to make it happen.
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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7054284" data-attributes="member: 996"><p>Belief in the supernatural is not that rare, even today. "Sorcerer" or, I guess, Witch, as garthanos pointed out, would be a translation of whatever regional word the true-believers are using. I thought 'Sorcerer' got used more often, to avoid the whole Salem connection, but maybe it's shifted of late. </p><p></p><p> The actual definition is someone who consorts with spirits for supernatual power, which does fit the D&D Warlock, maybe some D&D versions of the Shaman, but not so much the D&D Sorcerer, who has innate magic. A point that's been brought up, also, when going on about class names.</p><p></p><p> It's not so negative a connotation nor so much narrower or less appropriate a meaning than the worst offenders that have been added to the game with nary a peep of objection.</p><p></p><p>And, the Warlord has been in the game, so it's been acceptable enough to see print, under the watch of a mainstream US corporation, which, though far from infallible, are sensitive to the implications of word choice, especially in products that aren't going to adult-only markets. </p><p></p><p> Cleary there /is/ a spectrum, and, clearly, RPGs go further along that spectrum than many other products. 'Assassin,' for instance, someone who commits murder for hire or to advance political aims, is not exactly G-rated. Neither is 'necromancer.' But the latter hasn't raised a lot of eyebrows, and the former hasn't been controversial for a long time (and the controversey in the community back then was more along the lines of 'Assassins shouldn't have to be evil, James Bond isn't evil' or 'a wizard could kill for money, pretty effectively, too' not, 'XOMG, we can't have gamers calling their characters assassins').</p><p></p><p>There is, of course, no accounting for taste or justifying opinions, but I'd think, looking at it with whatever dispassion we can muster, it's pretty clear that Warlord, on balance, is closer to the 'safe' side of the spectrum than some of the names already being used in D&D, with little or no objection whatsoever. There are both negative and heroic uses of it. Heroes in genre get called 'warlord' - villains in genre get called 'warlord.' In S&S, the hero is usually holding the sword, and the Sorcerer is generally the villain. The D&D Warlock doesn't just have a name with a bad connotation because the common usage has been a sort of satanist, but because the D&D Warlock does make pacts with Infernal powers. </p><p></p><p>So, yes, there's a spectrum, and D&D uses a fairly generous portion of that spectrum within which the Warlord fits comfortably. </p><p></p><p>So the name objection is spurious.</p><p></p><p>There are a lot of reasons for tossing out the same spurious objection over and over, but one of them is having reason to believe your actual, more legitimate objections might not be heard fairly or might be used to paint you in a bad light.</p><p></p><p>I can think of one legitimate concern you've expressed before, the fraught issue of using CHA-based/social-abilities on other players, and I'd rather explore it in laborious detail than go on pointlessly about the name...</p><p></p><p></p><p>...unless someone comes up with a /much/ better name, that's more genre-appropriate and evocative and capture more of the range of the class. </p><p>Because, seriously, we brainstormed a ton of 'em, here, and they were mostly military ranks, and nothing stood out as even close to as good as Warlord.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7054284, member: 996"] Belief in the supernatural is not that rare, even today. "Sorcerer" or, I guess, Witch, as garthanos pointed out, would be a translation of whatever regional word the true-believers are using. I thought 'Sorcerer' got used more often, to avoid the whole Salem connection, but maybe it's shifted of late. The actual definition is someone who consorts with spirits for supernatual power, which does fit the D&D Warlock, maybe some D&D versions of the Shaman, but not so much the D&D Sorcerer, who has innate magic. A point that's been brought up, also, when going on about class names. It's not so negative a connotation nor so much narrower or less appropriate a meaning than the worst offenders that have been added to the game with nary a peep of objection. And, the Warlord has been in the game, so it's been acceptable enough to see print, under the watch of a mainstream US corporation, which, though far from infallible, are sensitive to the implications of word choice, especially in products that aren't going to adult-only markets. Cleary there /is/ a spectrum, and, clearly, RPGs go further along that spectrum than many other products. 'Assassin,' for instance, someone who commits murder for hire or to advance political aims, is not exactly G-rated. Neither is 'necromancer.' But the latter hasn't raised a lot of eyebrows, and the former hasn't been controversial for a long time (and the controversey in the community back then was more along the lines of 'Assassins shouldn't have to be evil, James Bond isn't evil' or 'a wizard could kill for money, pretty effectively, too' not, 'XOMG, we can't have gamers calling their characters assassins'). There is, of course, no accounting for taste or justifying opinions, but I'd think, looking at it with whatever dispassion we can muster, it's pretty clear that Warlord, on balance, is closer to the 'safe' side of the spectrum than some of the names already being used in D&D, with little or no objection whatsoever. There are both negative and heroic uses of it. Heroes in genre get called 'warlord' - villains in genre get called 'warlord.' In S&S, the hero is usually holding the sword, and the Sorcerer is generally the villain. The D&D Warlock doesn't just have a name with a bad connotation because the common usage has been a sort of satanist, but because the D&D Warlock does make pacts with Infernal powers. So, yes, there's a spectrum, and D&D uses a fairly generous portion of that spectrum within which the Warlord fits comfortably. So the name objection is spurious. There are a lot of reasons for tossing out the same spurious objection over and over, but one of them is having reason to believe your actual, more legitimate objections might not be heard fairly or might be used to paint you in a bad light. I can think of one legitimate concern you've expressed before, the fraught issue of using CHA-based/social-abilities on other players, and I'd rather explore it in laborious detail than go on pointlessly about the name... ...unless someone comes up with a /much/ better name, that's more genre-appropriate and evocative and capture more of the range of the class. Because, seriously, we brainstormed a ton of 'em, here, and they were mostly military ranks, and nothing stood out as even close to as good as Warlord. [/QUOTE]
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