Why we need Warlords in D&DN

[Nahat Anoj]

And, right or wrong, most people tend to think of hit points as representing a person's health. It is, after all, based on constitution (which represents a person's physical endurance) and when they're out you fall unconscious or die.

I will agree with most of your points, although Constitution hasn't always focuses exclusively on physical endurance. According to page 82 of the 1e DMG:

It is quite unreasonable to assume that as a character gains levels of ability in his or her class that a corresponding gain in actual ability to sustain physical damage takes place. It is preposterous to state such an assumption, for if we are to assume that a man is killed by a sword thrust which does 4 hit points of damage, we must similarly assume that a hero could, on the average, withstand five such thrusts before being slain! Why then the increase in hit points? Because these reflect both the actual physical ability of the character to withstand damage - as indicated by constitution bonuses- and a commensurate increase in such areas as skill in combat and similar life-or-death situations, the "sixth sense" which warns the individual of some otherwise unforeseen events, sheer luck, and the fantastic provisions of magical protections and/or divine protection. Therefore, constitution affects both actual ability to withstand physical punishment hit points (physique) and the immeasurable areas which involve the sixth sense and luck (fitness).

So if Gygax's thoughts have any weight (I think it's fair to say they don't have to, as the game has moved beyond his original vision and he also said some dumb things about D&D - I love his legacy all the same, too bad I didn't make time to meet him at Gencon 2007!), Constitution need not be purely physical in interpretation. Indeed, I'd personally like Constitution to be a composite of physical, nonphysical (ie, luck), spiritual (ie, divine providence), and moral (ie, zeal) endurance and vitality.

The non-magical combat healer/buffer is a great archetype and, I hope, one of 4e's enduring legacies. However, I don't think it needs to be a class all its own - I think it could work better as a set of build options for any class. So we could have fighter, rogues, wizards, even clerics have these nonmagical options to heal/support their allies. Indeed, the way I see it the 4e warlord would just be a 5e fighter who has chosen heal/support abilities.

 

[HardcoreDandDGirl]

It's a pretty good analogy, actually. By all accounts, New Coke wasn't a bad drink. It actually won over regular Coke in blind taste tests. But for all that, it wasn't what people wanted out of Coke.

Ok I do not remember New coke to be honnest, but I was told it was a good drink that did not catch on.

Also, in the wake of the New Coke debacle, Coca-Cola admitted its mistake, returned to the old formula, and saw sales go through the roof, reversing their loss of market share to Pepsi. Although it isn't clear whether it was the company's public contrition or the much less-hyped rollout of Cherry Coke that revitalized the brand, the end result was that Coke returned to dominating the market and has not been seriously challenged since.

no matter what side you come down on, would'nt that be a great next chapter in D&D history.