What's in a Warlord?

[Kane0]

Edit: I'll put what i've got so far here:



Level
Prof
Order Die
Special Abilities


1
2
-
Rally (1/Rest), Direct Attack


2
2
1d4
Orders, ???


3
2
1d4
Command Style, Great Leadership


4
2
1d4
ASI


5
3
1d6
Extra Attack


6
3
1d6
Rally (2/Rest), Auras


7
3
1d6
Command Style Feature


8
3
1d6
ASI


9
4
1d8
???


10
4
1d8
Aura Improvement


11
4
1d8
Command Style Feature


12
4
1d8
ASI


13
5
1d10
???


14
5
1d10
Aura Improvement


15
5
1d10
Command Style Feature


16
5
1d10
ASI


17
6
1d12
???


18
6
1d12
Rally (3/Rest)


19
6
1d12
ASI


20
6
1d12
Dual Leadership



Hit Dice: d8
Armor Proficiencies: Light Armor, Medium Armor & Shields
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple & Martial Weapons
Saving Throws Proficiencies: Wisdom & Charisma
Skill Proficiencies: Choose 2 from Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, History, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Medicine, Perception and Persuasion
Tool Proficiencies: Calligrapher's Supplies or Cartographer's Tools

Level 1: Direct Attack
When you take the Attack action, you can forego your attack to allow one ally within 30 feet that can see and hear you to make one weapon attack. If you are able to make multiple attacks with the Attack action, this attack replaces one of them.

Level 1: Rally
As a bonus action you up to three allied creatures within 60 feet that can see and hear you can use their reaction to spend a number of hit die up to your Proficiency Bonus.

Level 2: Warlord Orders
During combat, once per turn you can issue one Order from the options below as long as you are not Incapacitated.

Steel Yourself: One allied creature that can see and hear you gains your Warlord Order die. The next time that creature takes damage before the end of your next turn they can roll the die and reduce the damage taken by the result.
Press the Attack: One allied creature that can see and hear you gains your Warlord Order die. The next time that creature deals damage with an attack before the end of your next turn they can roll the die and add it to the damage dealt by the attack.
Subdue them: One allied creature that can see and hear you gains your Warlord Order die. The next time that creature makes a Shove attempt before your next turn they can roll the die and add it to the check
Stand your Ground: One allied creature that can see and hear you gains your Warlord Order die. The next time that creature makes a saving throw before your next turn they can roll the die and add it to the result.

Level 3: Great Leadership
You gain proficiency in your choice of Intimidation, Insight or Persuasion. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make using this skill.

Level 5: Extra Attack
You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Auras
You learn two Auras from the list below. You can raise or lower an aura using your Bonus Action on your turn, which uses your concentration. These auras extend out to 15 feet away from you.
At level 10 and again at level 14 you learn one additional aura and the range of your auras extend to 30 feet at level 10 and 60 feet at level 14.


Aura of Alacrity: Whenever you or allied creatures roll initiative, add your Warlord Order die to the result.
Aura of Focus: You and allied creatures can ignore one source of disadvantage to attack rolls against creatures also within the aura.
Aura of Discipline: You and allied creatures within the aura have advantage on Strength checks and saving throws to avoid being forcibly moved or knocked Prone.
Aura of Speed: You and allied creatures within the aura gain a 10 foot increase to all movement speeds
Aura of Will: You and allied creature within the aura have advantage on saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened.
Aura of Vigor: Whenever you or allied creatures gain temporary hit points or regain hit points within the aura, add your Warlord Order die to the amount.


Level 20: Dual Leadership
You can issue two orders on each of your turns in combat, and maintain the effects of two auras at once using your concentration.


Level 3: Chieftain's Strategy
When you use your Rally ability each creature that is affected also gain advantage on the next attack roll they make before the end of their next turn.
Additionally, a creature that you have issued an order to can choose to instead expend the Order die to reduce the attack roll of an enemy that can see and hear them by the result of the Order die before the start of your next turn.

Level 3: Fighting Style
Choose one from the list of styles above

Level 7: Chieftain's Aura
While you have an aura active, opportunity attacks made by you or friendly creatures within the aura that hit also halve the speed of the target until the start of their next turn.

Level 11:

Level 15:



Level 3: Marshal's Strategy
When you use your Rally ability each creature that is affected also gains Temporary Hit Points equal to half the amount healed.
Additionally, a creature that you have issued an order to can choose to instead expend the Order die to increase their AC against one attack roll made against them before the start of your next turn.

Level 7: Marshal's Aura
While you have an aura active, a number of Opportunity attacks equal to your Charisma bonus (minimum 1) made by you or allied creatures within the aura do not use the attacker's Reaction.

Level 11:

Level 15:



Level 3: Tactician's Strategy
When you use your Rally ability each creature that is affected can also move up to half their speed without provoking Opportunity Attacks.
Additionally, a creature that you have issued an order to can choose to instead expend the Order die to reduce the result of one saving throw of an enemy that can see and hear them before the start of your next turn.

Level 3: Spellcasting
Identical to EK/AT, except the schools available to you are Divination and Transmutation.

Level 7: Tactician's Aura
While you have an aura active,

Level 11:

Level 15:




I'm planning on making a full social/support martial class. But before I set out to do that I'd like to set some proper design goals and core functions gathered from you guys. The kinds of things that would be critical as well as what you'd like to see.

So if anyone would like to pitch in and let me know what they would and would not like to see in a 5e rendition of a nonmagical 'leader' type class please feel free! Here's some examples to get us started:

- No more than a d10 hit die
- No more than medium armor proficiency
- No more than one extra attack
- No spellcasting as part of the base class (becoming a 1/3 caster as a subclass is a possibility)
- Some sort of attack sharing or action economy manipulation for allies
- Some sort of aura(s), whether in the base class or subclasses
- Some sort of extra-dice resource pool (ala Bard or Battlemaster) to hand to allies, whether in the base class or subclasses

[Man_Over_Game]

It's important to consider how the Warlord would fit a niche unique to it in multiple ways. For example:

What kinds of Subclasses could it have?
How does it differ from a Fighter?
How does it differ from a Bard?
How does it differ from a Paladin?

That's not saying it can't happen. It just can't happen in a way that doesn't feel confident about answering these questions.

Mechanics also play an important part.

For example, Bardic Inspiration is unique in that it assists your allies in modifying rolls, but not generally by adding new mechanics (with exception to the Glamour and Swords Bards).

I think a good idea would be to utilize the Battlemaster Fighter concept to make the Battlemaster be to the Warlord as the Eldritch Knight is to the Wizard. That is, a hybrid that adds aggression to an otherwise supportive/careful mechanical archetype.

In other words, work backwards from the Eldritch Knight to make the Wizard, then do the same thing from the Battlemaster.

[Dork_Forge]

I never played 4th but from what I know of the Warlord I think pieces of something similar exist in 5th but just spread out. The PDK/Baneret seems like a swing and miss attempt at this (but I think I good base) and the Inspiring leader fest sounds like a Cha driven subclass/pick and choose ability for this type of class. Maybe a temp HP based Second Wind style AoE? A single target bless like effect?

It sounds like a class I'd love to see finished, what kind of specific abilities did the 4th iteration have?

[loki_ragnarock]

Warlord as I recall from 4e:

A class that could be int based OR charisma based.


In broad strokes:
Int based powers adding to the tactical effectiveness of the team, offering bonuses to initiative, to hit, damage and action economy of allies. (Full disclosure; this was the only type of warlord I was willing to play.)
Cha based powers, as I recall, added to the survivability of the team, adding temp hp, healing, save bonuses and the like.

Int was about enhancing the party's offense. Cha was about enhancing the party's defense.

I think therein lies your primary split for types or warlord, though I'm sure there were later powers that blurred the lines.


If it was me, though, I'd just model a bunch of warlord powers as feats; whatever fighter or rogue felt like using their bonus ASIs to adopt the role could do so at their leisure, as could anyone else who wanted to do so at the cost of their basic competencies.

Something like:

Tactician:
Prerequisite Int 13
You are a leader of battle, and your war hardened mind gives you the following benefits:
- You may use your action to command an ally to make an attack with their reaction. When they make this attack, they gain a bonus to hit equal to your intelligence modifier or your proficiency bonus, whichever is lower.
- When rolling for initiative you may immediately use your reaction to add a bonus to your allies initiative rolls equal to your intelligence bonus or your proficiency bonus, whichever is lower. You may not take this reaction if you are surprised.

And... Inspiring Leader pretty much takes the other side of the warlord angle.
But I'm also a proponent of packaging class features that were interesting from other things as feats instead of agonizing over a class unless there's something cohesive enough to stack twenty full levels together.

[Teaguethebean]

Honestly just order cleric. I will say this till the day I die. Make an order cleric charisma or intelligence based and boom warlord maybe make some edits to the spell list but re flavoring things can make it fill the roll excellently.

[stoutstien]

Honestly just order cleric. I will say this till the day I die. Make an order cleric charisma or intelligence based and boom warlord maybe make some edits to the spell list but re flavoring things can make it fill the roll excellently.

Order cleric/glamour Bard is my go-to Warlord.
If I ever play I a game that starts at a higher level I've eyed adding in mastermind rogue for ba help at range.

[Dienekes]

First and foremost, a functioning martial support class that can be powerful without magic. Nothing grinds my gears more than when the advice on how to do something that should be completely possible in real life is “just play a mage.”

That out of the way.

You have a good start. I would say that depending on subclass the class can range from almost completely support to a secondary frontline class. To get this level of complexity I’d probably take a bit of inspiration from how Warlock handles the class with a decision point at first level which defines its starting package and basic combat style, followed by subclasses to hone in on the type.

So 4e Warlord and the 3.5 Marshal had a few builds. And while I don’t think you need to carry over them all exactly as they are. I would make certain you allow the following styles.

Lazylord: you do nothing. You should be playing middle or back of the party giving others options and doing your best to not have to attack or cast a spell yourself.

Valiant Leader: closest to being a fighter archetype. Your attacks make everyone else better at fighting. This is a front line fighter. In 4e this was usually done by giving healing primarily plus static bonuses. But it doesn’t have to.

Dreadlord: can done either front line or mid. The purpose of the build is to instead focus your tactical acumen on making your opponent’s fight worse.

Marshal: Auras. The “Champion” option for it. It makes the allies better just being there.

While I personally have quite a few other options I’d want to see added. Like a rage granting Warchief, something that plays at the concept of formation fighting I’ve called The Veteran and others. If you get the above 4 builds up and running you’ll have many Warlord fans satisfied.

[Kane0]

Okay, thanks for the feedback! From your responses I'll add the following:

- Must be mechanically distinct (from martials like fighter as well as supportive casters like order cleric)
- Subclasses split by stat (Int, Cha and presumably WIS)
- Subclasses split by leading style (from the front/by example, from the rear/by inspiration, from the middle/by counterplays)
- The ability to buff allies' offensive actions
- The ability to buff allies' defenses and health
- The ability to debuff enemies

Existing items to draw from: Battlemaster and Banneret Fighter, Order Cleric, Glamour Bard, Mastermind Rogue, Inspirational Leader feat
I'm also thinking of some tertiary inclusions like expertise, downtime benefits and resting bonuses.

I've also happened across a few other 'brews both here and on DMguild so I wager whatever I cook up will look familiar to those that may have already seen them. I'll certainly be crediting if I draw from any of those.

[Man_Over_Game]

I particularly like the idea of having an exhaustive list of Manuevers that they can use on an ally, using Superiority Dice, but most of them are for allies rather than themselves. While the Battlemaster uses a 1d8, the Warlord uses a 1d4, but the Warlord's can be used on allies.

It gives off the idea that the Battlemaster is better at real face-to-face combat, while the Warlord is better at strategy and tactics.

Different Subclasses could do things like add magic into the mix, so an Arcane Warlord might cast Shield on behalf of an ally.

Or add/modify Manuevers to have the aggressive tactics of Barbarians that add specific benefits that come with drawbacks (gain damage resistance but speed halved, etc).

A Cunning Warlord uses Roguish tactics like stealth and skirmishing, allowing allies to dart in-and-out of combat while utilizing smoke bombs to prevent ranged attacks or spells from interfering with your plots.

Would be really cool to just have a list of Warlords that mimic classes, but in a way that makes all of the party receive that change (so a Roguish Warlord makes everyone feel like a Rogue).

[Damon_Tor]

1. The ability to grant allies attacks instead of/alongside making attacks yourself.
2. The ability to use a bonus action to let allies spend a healing surge hit die.

That's the core of the class right there. Other stuff might include abilities which move allies around, give bonuses to initiative, buff allies in a variety of ways, things that could believably be the effects of non-magical leadership.

[SpawnOfMorbo]

I'm planning on making a full social/support martial class. But before I set out to do that I'd like to set some proper design goals and core functions gathered from you guys. The kinds of things that would be critical as well as what you'd like to see.

So if anyone would like to pitch in and let me know what they would and would not like to see in a 5e rendition of a nonmagical 'leader' type class please feel free! Here's some examples to get us started:

- No more than a d10 hit die
- No more than medium armor proficiency
- No more than one extra attack
- No spellcasting as part of the base class (becoming a 1/3 caster as a subclass is a possibility)
- Some sort of attack sharing or action economy manipulation for allies
- Some sort of aura(s), whether in the base class or subclasses
- Some sort of extra-dice resource pool (ala Bard or Battlemaster) to hand to allies, whether in the base class or subclasses

I'm still working on it but at its base my BardxFighter hybrid (Commander) does what I think a Warlord should.

I think Inspiration on a fighter base is the key.

You could give more 4e type commands in a subclass as a Warlord.

I think keeping its base simple is the best option.

[Kane0]

Attack substitutions and a combined maneuver/inspiration die to throw around to allies both seem like excellent core features. I'd make both of those at-will to differentiate from other classes that do the same thing but don't devote themselves to it.
Back that up with some Hit Die healing and that's basically the backbone of the class done already, we just need secondary features and ribbons. Subclasses can even add riders and unique options.

Should most (if not all) auras be in one subclass or spread around?

[stoutstien]

First and foremost, a functioning martial support class that can be powerful without magic. Nothing grinds my gears more than when the advice on how to do something that should be completely possible in real life is “just play a mage.”

That out of the way.

You have a good start. I would say that depending on subclass the class can range from almost completely support to a secondary frontline class. To get this level of complexity I’d probably take a bit of inspiration from how Warlock handles the class with a decision point at first level which defines its starting package and basic combat style, followed by subclasses to hone in on the type.

So 4e Warlord and the 3.5 Marshal had a few builds. And while I don’t think you need to carry over them all exactly as they are. I would make certain you allow the following styles.

Lazylord: you do nothing. You should be playing middle or back of the party giving others options and doing your best to not have to attack or cast a spell yourself.

Valiant Leader: closest to being a fighter archetype. Your attacks make everyone else better at fighting. This is a front line fighter. In 4e this was usually done by giving healing primarily plus static bonuses. But it doesn’t have to.

Dreadlord: can done either front line or mid. The purpose of the build is to instead focus your tactical acumen on making your opponent’s fight worse.

Marshal: Auras. The “Champion” option for it. It makes the allies better just being there.

While I personally have quite a few other options I’d want to see added. Like a rage granting Warchief, something that plays at the concept of formation fighting I’ve called The Veteran and others. If you get the above 4 builds up and running you’ll have many Warlord fans satisfied.

the important takeaway from players building warlord using the existing classes is not if they were casters or not but rather to highlight the mechanics that people saw as good fit for the warlord. by looking how different people have combined different mechanic we can see if stacking them on a single class would create. It give someone a list of mechanics to work with to see how one player can share actions within 5e without it becoming a mess.

[sambojin]

Just for a bit more source material to consider: The old Mystic v3 UA had some very good Warlord options in it, in the helping allies move/attack and making enemies do dumb things part of it (Mantle of Command and Crown of Rage disciplines). I'm not saying to use the full psionic system, but there's some food for thought there, and they scale in ways that manoeuvre dice really don't. You could make a very good warlord out of a mystic if you simply decided to never use the more "magic'y" powers.

War Cleric's divine inspiration is nice too. It has a bit of the "will I be awesome, or will I make you awesome?" thing going for it. The second half of that only comes on at lvl6 though, which is pretty late in the piece. It's a pretty nice lvl10-12'ish "capstone" though (a flat +10 to-hit is amazing to hand out twice per short rest) Then just the bless spell, enhance ability, hold person, spiritual weapon and spirit guardians as your main spell-use and you're set. Again, not saying that you should just make one of these, but these are all pretty low level options so you can see if you're making your warlord too powerful, or not nearly powerful enough.

If you don't mind going the magic route, a bard/ war cleric mix would be ideal, and gives you a really good idea of what would be acceptable by about level 12'ish from whatever you create. Considering someone could just multi class into one from vanilla PHB if they wanted to. The abilities would come in at weird times depending on how you leveled it, and the magic would be fairly capped level-wise (but not slot-wise), but it gives a fair idea of the stuff you can cram into your own home brew while waving away "that's OP!" comments from others. It really isn't, even if you give them tonnes of known abilities (a lvl6/6 lore bard/war cleric has quite a lot of spells known) and lots of uses per day. You do also get the Cha/Wis divide for attack/defense/social/perception/magic versatility out of it too, which is nice, and it also MADs the build enough so not everything is a gimme. It's a good yardstick to start from anyway....

War/bard/bard/bard/war/bard/bard/bard/war-to-12 gives you a pretty nice mix of constantly improving warlordishness, all vanilla, all somewhat in character for a not-really-fighty-but-can-in-a-pinch type "class". Choose your bard college for flavour. And buff/debuff/or fighter away. You can talk or be perceptive as well.

If yours is less warlordy than this, make it more powerful.

[Kane0]

Some subclass concepts:
Chieftain (CHA): More complex, active and up front. Weapon/Armor proficiencies, Fighting style, Temp HP, reaction counters
Marshal (WIS): Partial-caster, focus on versatility. Balances ally buffs with enemy debuffs and can use warlord features when casting spells
Tactician (INT): More straightforward, passive and distant. Initiative, auras, focus-fire boosts

Definitely decided I won't be putting a Fighting Style in the base class, to further emphasize that you are a warrior secondarily to being a leader (also to make space for some expertise and healing)

Edit: Also will not be using standard extra attack, instead opting for an attack-sharing mechanic (such as when you take the attack or help action one ally can use their reaction to also make one attack)

[sambojin]

For a basic breakdown of what I'm talking about above:

Lvl1 War: Get bless, shield of faith, guidance, heavy armour, martial weapons and wis-mod-per-day bonus action attacks. Why stunt the options or totally suck in combat?
Lvl2 Bard: Get inspiration. Choose your spells wisely. Remember that you have guidance+inspiration for anything really tricky.
Lvl3 Bard: JoaT, song of rest and lvl2 spell slots.
Lvl4 Bard: Grab your bard college, be it magic'y/debuff'y, skilled combatant or battle rager. Lvl2 bard spells.
Lvl5 War: Divine Inspiration +10 to-hit, 1/sr. Lvl3 slots.
Lvl6 Bard: Have an ASI and an extra lvl3 slot.
Lvl7 Bard: Have lots more inspiration. And lvl3 bard spells. Lvl4 slots.
Lvl8 Bard: Have a "choose your own magic" or an extra attack. You don't completely suck in combat, but are awesome at buffing/debuffing.
Level9 War: Have Spiritual Weapon for tonnes of bonus action attacks and other lvl2 cleric spells. Lvl5 slots.
Level10 War: Have an ASI.
Level11 War: Have lvl3 cleric spells and lvl6 slots. Use spirit guardians as your lock down helper thingy. Or just keep hold person'ing lots of people at once.
Level12 War: Give out +10 to-hit to other people if you want, twice per short rest.

With the correct spell usage, and role-playing, you don't really have to feel "too magical" with this build, with the 50% split making it like a half-caster, just with lots of slots to use low-end spells from. Many "locked-in" spells from the bard side, but with plenty of versatility in your prepared spell list from the cleric side. Extra attacks and spells seem to come in at reasonably appropriate times so you don't feel useless or trapped in as a lazylord either (though feel free to be one if you'd like). You could even hold off on the lvl5 War(2) level until after you've hit Bard 6 (at lvl7) if you want, but you probably should be able to inspire people by not sucking at hitting people yourself, as well as by making them better at stuff too, by about then.

This isn't exactly a super-powered multiclass combo either, so if yours ends up being a smidgen more powerful than this, it's fine. Try it out in a character creator, theory-craft what spells you would actually take as a warlord, see how many slots you have, and feel free to hard-bake something similar into your homebrew with some reflavours and renames for the spells/abilities. It will look like an absolutely BS OP home brew class, but as you can see, it really isn't. Yours will probably be more limited than a simple Bard/War Cleric multiclass character in what it could do or what the player could make it become.

It's probably too tanky/combat focused, but unless you're going heavy on the magic, or on the damage, you do want the option to not be "bad" at combat, while still being able to support people a lot as well. Warlords/leaders/generals are rarely completely incapable of knocking a few heads around. Often, that's what got them into their position in the first place, but by having brains, charisma, wisdom and being inspiring too, on top of kicking a bit of butt when needed.

[Theodoxus]

From your first post, I immediately thought of ranger. It's a skewed take on the class, sure, but out of the box it delivers all the notes you were looking for. I made the warlord a fighter subclass, and for that, it works well.

I really do kinda wish 5E had had only 4 classes: Arcanist, Priest, Scoundrel and Warrior - with a subclass for each chosen at 2nd level (the classes we have now) and a archetype chosen at 3rd level. Such a set up would have allowed far more niche "classes"; instead of building up 20 levels of a new class with mechanics for each, you could figure out what class this would belong to (full caster, full healer, sneaky or fighting) and then if you wanted it to be a subclass with probably 6 or 7 broad unique features or an archetype with 3 or 4 specialized unique features.

(This type of game would most often start at 3rd level, so everyone would already have their choices codified already - though it would still be playable from 1st level, though more of an academy type setting than just jumping down into a dungeon to fell rats and skeletons.)

Back on topic, the one disadvantage I see to MOGs battlemaster on steroids proposal is that most maneuvers are personal and tactical rather than group and strategic. This would put the onus on you to create a LOT more maneuvers that would fit a leading style of combat. Not saying it can't be done, but it would be a significant piece of work and require playtesting to get right. Don't get me wrong, I think it might be the right take on making a full class warlord - I just think there are plenty of options already out there that wouldn't take a lot of fluff for a player to say "This is my Warlord. There are many like it, but this one is mine." - be it a caster or a fighter with the Inspiring Leader feats or a Thief with 17 healer's kits and the Healing feat...

[Teaguethebean]

I really do kinda wish 5E had had only 4 classes: Arcanist, Priest, Scoundrel and Warrior - with a subclass for each chosen at 2nd level (the classes we have now) and a archetype chosen at 3rd level. Such a set up would have allowed far more niche "classes"; instead of building up 20 levels of a new class with mechanics for each, you could figure out what class this would belong to (full caster, full healer, sneaky or fighting) and then if you wanted it to be a subclass with probably 6 or 7 broad unique features or an archetype with 3 or 4 specialized unique features.

(This type of game would most often start at 3rd level, so everyone would already have their choices codified already - though it would still be playable from 1st level, though more of an academy type setting than just jumping down into a dungeon to fell rats and skeletons.)

Why not try making your own system for such a game? Hardly sounds like dnd 5e at that point.

[Dienekes]

Some subclass concepts:
Chieftain (CHA): More complex, active and up front. Weapon/Armor proficiencies, Fighting style, Temp HP, reaction counters
Marshal (WIS): Partial-caster, focus on versatility. Balances ally buffs with enemy debuffs and can use warlord features when casting spells
Tactician (INT): More straightforward, passive and distant. Initiative, auras, focus-fire boosts

Definitely decided I won't be putting a Fighting Style in the base class, to further emphasize that you are a warrior secondarily to being a leader (also to make space for some expertise and healing)

Edit: Also will not be using standard extra attack, instead opting for an attack-sharing mechanic (such as when you take the attack or help action one ally can use their reaction to also make one attack)

Good start, but some thoughts.

Having the aura guy played from the back seems counter-intuitive, unless the auras are literally the entire battlefield. Auras are usually known for being either right up front, or second row to have their auras effect the most of their team they can.

I might think of looking for different names for the Marshal and Tactician. Marshal mostly for historic reasons. The Marshal class really had nothing to do with magic, and as a name nothing about it really gives the impression that it would be a caster. Compare with Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster.

Tactician, to me implies more technical know-how, along with the focus on Int to me makes me think of abilities that are distant sure, complicated and requires some forethought to them. But going the route you have has me interested.

[Arkhios]

Feel free to take a look at my signature.

A few years ago I made my own iteration of the Warlord, based on 4e, mixing battle master with valor bard as the core, which evolved quite a bit from there.

FWIW, it took me over a year to get to that point, and quite honestly, I'm not entirely satisfied with the "maneuvers" of sorts; they fulfill their purpose but I think they could be handled differently.

[T.G. Oskar]

I'm planning on making a full social/support martial class. But before I set out to do that I'd like to set some proper design goals and core functions gathered from you guys. The kinds of things that would be critical as well as what you'd like to see.

So if anyone would like to pitch in and let me know what they would and would not like to see in a 5e rendition of a nonmagical 'leader' type class please feel free! Here's some examples to get us started:

- No more than a d10 hit die
- No more than medium armor proficiency
- No more than one extra attack
- No spellcasting as part of the base class (becoming a 1/3 caster as a subclass is a possibility)
- Some sort of attack sharing or action economy manipulation for allies
- Some sort of aura(s), whether in the base class or subclasses
- Some sort of extra-dice resource pool (ala Bard or Battlemaster) to hand to allies, whether in the base class or subclasses


Okay, thanks for the feedback! From your responses I'll add the following:

- Must be mechanically distinct (from martials like fighter as well as supportive casters like order cleric)
- Subclasses split by stat (Int, Cha and presumably WIS)
- Subclasses split by leading style (from the front/by example, from the rear/by inspiration, from the middle/by counterplays)
- The ability to buff allies' offensive actions
- The ability to buff allies' defenses and health
- The ability to debuff enemies

Existing items to draw from: Battlemaster and Banneret Fighter, Order Cleric, Glamour Bard, Mastermind Rogue, Inspirational Leader feat
I'm also thinking of some tertiary inclusions like expertise, downtime benefits and resting bonuses.

I've also happened across a few other 'brews both here and on DMguild so I wager whatever I cook up will look familiar to those that may have already seen them. I'll certainly be crediting if I draw from any of those.

First and foremost, I love that you have an organized rubric on how to deal with a potential Warlord/Marshal. Mechanically it feels viable - it has d10, good proficiencies and Extra Attack, so it feels like a warrior. (Strange to see no Fighting Style - perhaps to separate it from a true warrior?) It also has a base mechanic that you're considering - a resource that you can use to aid allies, much like the Bard does with Bardic Inspiration. Allowing a subclass that could provide spellcasting is a nice save there.

However, I have to quote this, because it's the big question to solve.


It's important to consider how the Warlord would fit a niche unique to it in multiple ways. For example:

What kinds of Subclasses could it have?
How does it differ from a Fighter?
How does it differ from a Bard?
How does it differ from a Paladin?

This is important, because it deals with the Class Design Paradigm of 5e. I've always said that the Warlord/Marshal is smack-dab right in the middle of the paradigm; it's not narrow enough to make it a subclass, but not too broad to make it a class. It could go either way, but as you've seen with the PDK/Banneret, the most obvious example just doesn't make the cut. (Boy is that subclass bad...) I consider the first question the most important, because each class often has a unifying mechanic regarding subclasses:

Clerics have Domains. Each domain grants powers that are thematically related to the powers the deity has, or that deals with in its portfolio. They can make Clerics vastly different - Arcana, Nature and Light Clerics are more casters, while Forge, Tempest and War domains are more warrior-like; Life Clerics are great healers, Knowledge Clerics are interesting skill-monkeys, Trickery Clerics try so hard to be a Rogue, and so on. They represent different ways a servant of the gods can work, even though their main source of power is spellcasting.
Oaths for Paladins are, IMO, a very clever way to handle the core Paladin problem. If you notice the Paladin, they are extremely similar to the Warlord/Marshal in that the concept itself is narrow, so it *could* have existed as a subclass. However, by working with the concept of Oaths, the Paladin actually gained a degree of mechanical distinction. A Devotion Paladin works very differently from a Crown, Conquest, Redemption, Ancients or Vengeance Paladin. One is more of a holy knight, while the others are a protector and leader, a warrior that uses fear as a literal weapon (coincidentally a great Lockdown character), a technical pacifist that can work as a face but also protect allies and fiercely rebuke opponents, a nature warden with nature-related powers or a single-target DPS specialist. The way they handled each Oath both mechanically and conceptually should serve as inspiration on how to handle Warlord subclasses.
Wizards used at first schools to provide multiple subclasses, but as you might have seen, War Magic allowed philosophies of how to learn magic to enter as subclasses. While other ways have been hit and usually miss (School of Artifice shouldn't have existed, School of Psionics shouldn't exist, and their attempt at Loremaster was just too powerful, but I like their version of the Truenamer oddly enough, and I would love to see the Geometer and Song Magic to return, for some strange and odd reason).
Sorcerers and Warlocks use the same concept in a different way - innate magic. Sorcerers essentially use bloodlines, while Warlocks use patrons instead. However, conceptually, they behave exactly the same - either through birth or through a pact, you gain the ability to use magic from one of the big players around. Sorcerers have actually managed to distance a bit from that (by means of both Wild Magic, Shadow and Storm Sorcery), but the "better" ones are related to bloodlines (Draconic origin, Divine Soul).
Fighters and Rogues are intentionally broad, covering all that you'd expect from warriors and experts. PDK was an attempt to make a Warlord, but it just doesn't work mechanically - it needs a fix. This is the second main hurdle to leap; how to make the Warlord distinct enough from a Fighter, in specific a Fighter with a better-working PDK?

Man_Over_Game gave an excellent idea here.


I think a good idea would be to utilize the Battlemaster Fighter concept to make the Battlemaster be to the Warlord as the Eldritch Knight is to the Wizard. That is, a hybrid that adds aggression to an otherwise supportive/careful mechanical archetype.

In other words, work backwards from the Eldritch Knight to make the Wizard, then do the same thing from the Battlemaster.

The original Fighter had Superiority Dice as part of its core mechanic. In the end, it became a limiting factor, so they stripped it away from the class and gave it to the Battlemaster. While it affected the Fighter's core chassis, it allowed for a wider variety of subclasses to be built in, and due to the larger amount of ASIs and the features that work through short rests (namely Action Surge and Second Wind), the Fighter chassis is still solid enough to work. Having the Warlord use Superiority Dice as its main mechanic could work, potentially if that Superiority Die is used to aid an ally, not merely yourself. While the Battlemaster has maneuvers that can help allies (Commanding Strike, Rally, as well as stuff like Disarming Strike, Feinting Strike and Tripping Strike), it's just as focused on aiding itself. From there, you can work the chassis out, considering the Warlord requires features at every level.

Separating subclasses by ability scores seems like a good idea at first, but becomes severely limiting. What I perceive as the way a Warlord would divide its subclasses depends greatly on their style of leadership. You showed three ways to handle it: the Chieftain, the Marshal and the Tactician. Personally, I'm biased on the Tactician being the "caster" subclass, if only because of Fire Emblem and another video game that had Tacticians as casters. However, it works well to distinguish each subclass:

Chieftains would reflect how a Barbarian would lead. Their main feature would be to inspire a form of Rage on allies, and use fear as a weapon. Chieftains could work as the "debuffer" option, leading by strength of arm and strength of character.
Marshals would be the traditional "general" class; i.e., how a Fighter would lead. I'd place the "auras" here, though I feel that auras work well as a main class feature. Marshals lead armies, often on the frontlines, but don't engage in combat. Whatever you feel that defines the Warlord is what a Marshal should be, making it the Champion-equivalent.
Tacticians are the partial casters, focusing on creating the ideal conditions for war; i.e., how a Wizard would lead. They can use Divinations to predict the flow of battle and get a clear sight on what they're facing, Transmutations to prepare the battlefield and enhance the army, Illusions to create...well, illusions to misguide the opponent, Abjurations to protect the party, and Enchantments to befuddle them. While they would make them closer to a War Mage, the fact that a War Mage is not meant to be a leader whatsoever makes the Tactician a good counterpart.

Through that idea, you could see other leaders in work - Taskmasters, who may seem to be similar to Chieftains in a way but from a different upbringing (they lead slaves, rather than a tribe); Conquistadors, who lead explorers into dangerous places (in a way, how a Ranger would lead); Warchanters (or a more clever name), military leaders of theocratic nations that lead the faithful into war (i.e., how a Paladin would lead), and so on. In fact, you might see a trend here; think of each class as a leader, and you can see a Warlord subclass that way. That could lead, for example, into Siege Engineers (creating siege weaponry and focusing on technology) and so on.

A good idea to work with, despite not being my favorite game, is the teamwork feats from Pathfinder. The idea behind it is that, if you and one of your allies has the same feat, both of you gain the same benefit. Since, even if PF has more feats, it just doesn't have enough to justify an entire team having the same benefits, it made it so that you could grant the benefits of the feats you have to allies, or treat them as if they had the same benefits. You could see the benefits that the feats provide, and use them as ways to use your Superiority Dice, as other class features, or even as ways to pad out subclass features.

In summary, I could resume the concept of a Warlord as follows:
d10 HP, simple and martial weaponry, up to medium armor and shields, proficiency with Wisdom and Charisma saves, proficiency in two skills, proficiency with land vehicles. I can understand why not giving it heavy armor (most won't be frontliners, after all), but for the most part it behaves like a warrior. The odd saves is because the main save for the Warlord should be Charisma, and adding Wisdom makes it so that it's hard to pin down with mental ability scores.
Superiority Die as a resource, usable as Bardic Inspiration. This is one of your main class features.
Auras or passive benefits as class features. Ideally, they should start at 10 ft., and end up at 30 ft.
A Second-Wind like ability as a main class feature, though more like temporary Hit Points. This would be fundamentally similar to Inspiring Leader, but usable in combat, allowing your allies to survive blows without counting as healing.
Subclasses work as methods of leadership in concept, but with the underlying concept of "how would another class lead?" This leads to Chieftains (Barbarian), Marshals (Fighter), Tacticians (Wizard), Warchanters (Paladin), Conquistadors (Ranger), Siege Engineers (Artificer), etc. Taskmaster can exist as a way to create a method of leadership that doesn't exist as a class concept, thus opening the way to more subclasses. That's basically 7 options, so work with the three easiest and develop the others afterwards.

[Kane0]

First and foremost, I love that you have an organized rubric on how to deal with a potential Warlord/Marshal. Mechanically it feels viable - it has d10, good proficiencies and Extra Attack, so it feels like a warrior. (Strange to see no Fighting Style - perhaps to separate it from a true warrior?) It also has a base mechanic that you're considering - a resource that you can use to aid allies, much like the Bard does with Bardic Inspiration. Allowing a subclass that could provide spellcasting is a nice save there.

I have my own conceptual Warlord but I didn't want it to just be for me. I'm just applying the same method I used when I undertook a Ranger rework for some other forumites.
Right on the mark with Fighting Style



Chieftains would reflect how a Barbarian would lead. Their main feature would be to inspire a form of Rage on allies, and use fear as a weapon. Chieftains could work as the "debuffer" option, leading by strength of arm and strength of character.
Marshals would be the traditional "general" class; i.e., how a Fighter would lead. I'd place the "auras" here, though I feel that auras work well as a main class feature. Marshals lead armies, often on the frontlines, but don't engage in combat. Whatever you feel that defines the Warlord is what a Marshal should be, making it the Champion-equivalent.
Tacticians are the partial casters, focusing on creating the ideal conditions for war; i.e., how a Wizard would lead. They can use Divinations to predict the flow of battle and get a clear sight on what they're facing, Transmutations to prepare the battlefield and enhance the army, Illusions to create...well, illusions to misguide the opponent, Abjurations to protect the party, and Enchantments to befuddle them. While they would make them closer to a War Mage, the fact that a War Mage is not meant to be a leader whatsoever makes the Tactician a good counterpart.

Through that idea, you could see other leaders in work - Taskmasters, who may seem to be similar to Chieftains in a way but from a different upbringing (they lead slaves, rather than a tribe); Conquistadors, who lead explorers into dangerous places (in a way, how a Ranger would lead); Warchanters (or a more clever name), military leaders of theocratic nations that lead the faithful into war (i.e., how a Paladin would lead), and so on. In fact, you might see a trend here; think of each class as a leader, and you can see a Warlord subclass that way. That could lead, for example, into Siege Engineers (creating siege weaponry and focusing on technology) and so on.

I like to start with three subclasses to stay focused, and I'm glad my concept seemed to convey well. If all goes well an extra two subclasses would round things out nicely, I think a chanter and an explorer inspired style are both solid directions to go in.



A good idea to work with, despite not being my favorite game, is the teamwork feats from Pathfinder. The idea behind it is that, if you and one of your allies has the same feat, both of you gain the same benefit. Since, even if PF has more feats, it just doesn't have enough to justify an entire team having the same benefits, it made it so that you could grant the benefits of the feats you have to allies, or treat them as if they had the same benefits. You could see the benefits that the feats provide, and use them as ways to use your Superiority Dice, as other class features, or even as ways to pad out subclass features.

Also great to draw from, but we won't be able to straight copy the implementation because feats are both optional and more rare when available.



In summary, I could resume the concept of a Warlord as follows:
d10 HP, simple and martial weaponry, up to medium armor and shields, proficiency with Wisdom and Charisma saves, proficiency in two skills, proficiency with land vehicles. I can understand why not giving it heavy armor (most won't be frontliners, after all), but for the most part it behaves like a warrior. The odd saves is because the main save for the Warlord should be Charisma, and adding Wisdom makes it so that it's hard to pin down with mental ability scores.
Superiority Die as a resource, usable as Bardic Inspiration. This is one of your main class features.
Auras or passive benefits as class features. Ideally, they should start at 10 ft., and end up at 30 ft.
A Second-Wind like ability as a main class feature, though more like temporary Hit Points. This would be fundamentally similar to Inspiring Leader, but usable in combat, allowing your allies to survive blows without counting as healing.
Subclasses work as methods of leadership in concept, but with the underlying concept of "how would another class lead?" This leads to Chieftains (Barbarian), Marshals (Fighter), Tacticians (Wizard), Warchanters (Paladin), Conquistadors (Ranger), Siege Engineers (Artificer), etc. Taskmaster can exist as a way to create a method of leadership that doesn't exist as a class concept, thus opening the way to more subclasses. That's basically 7 options, so work with the three easiest and develop the others afterwards.


Yep, this pretty much sums up what i've been compiling from here.

Something of a first draft:

Level 1: Hit Die Feature (1/SR), [Ribbon]
Level 2: 1d4 Die, [Ribbon]
Level 3: Subclass I
Level 4: ASI
Level 5: (Conditional) Extra Attack, 1d6 Die
Level 6: Hit Die Feature (2/SR), Aura I
Level 7: Subclass II
Level 8: ASI
Level 9: 1d8 Die
Level 10: Aura II
Level 11: Subclass III
Level 12: ASI
Level 13: 1d10 Die
Level 14: Aura III
Level 15: Subclass IV
Level 16: ASI
Level 17: Die feature 1d12
Level 18: Hit Die Feature (3/SR)
Level 19: ASI
Level 20: Capstone

The Hit Die feature will be a bonus action Heal using the recipient's Hit Die and some bonus THP, with subclasses adding things like riders, the ability to use your own Hit Die, etc

For the scaling Die feature, I'm thinking a once per turn usage that you hand out to a teammate. You start knowing 2-3 uses (reduce damage taken, attack/damage bonus, etc) and get more fancy ones as you level up.
I'm thinking of tying this to your reaction or to when you take certain actions like Attack and Help instead of using up your bonus action, expanding it with subclasses (tactician can throw out a die when Casting a Spell, Chieftain when Dashing, Mashals when Dodging, etc).

Extra attack would not be for yourself, it would be to give to an ally. Not sure if this should use their reaction or not yet, I'm leaning towards no.

Auras will be passive bonuses to things like initiative, skills, saves, maybe resistances/immunities that you can switch between. Range will also be slightly better than the Paladin (say 15' then improving to 30' and 45' or 60'). Would scale by Prof bonus or scaling die instead of a stat bonus.

All subclasses would grant one expertise at level 3 as well as some other feature.

A boring capstone would be more die to throw around each turn, but i'm hoping to come across something much better than that by the time i'm done spitballing here.

[Witty Username]

I feel like that their should be a subclass related to maneuvering, something like being able to move allies as a bonus action or giving additional movement to allies within a distance of the warlord or giving enemies disadvantage on attacks while they are flanked. unless these kind of effects would be core warlord.

[Kane0]

Sounds like good aura options to me

-from my phone

[LibraryOgre]

If I were to write a Warlord, I would be tempted to just write it as a fighter subclass.

[Kane0]

Well i did that first but i figured it could be expanded on.


Level 3: Tactician
When you take the Attack action, you can forego your attack to allow one ally within 30 feet that can see and hear you to make one weapon attack. If you are able to make multiple attacks with the Attack action, this attack replaces one of them.

Level 3: Aura of Discipline
You and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you have advantage on Strength checks and saving throws to avoid being forcibly moved or knocked Prone.

Level 7: Great Leadership
You gain proficiency in your choice of Intimidation, Insight or Persuasion. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make using this skill.

Level 10: Inspiring Word
When you use your Second Wind, Action Surge or Indomitable feature you can choose to also grant the same benefits of the feature to one ally within 30 feet that can see and hear you. Once you use this feature you cannot do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

Level 15: Battlecry
As a bonus action you can rally up to three allied creatures within 60 feet that can see and hear you. These creatures can use their reaction to spend a number of hit die up to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1) and move up to half their speed. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks. Once you use this feature you cannot do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

Level 18: Lord of War
When you see an ally within 30 feet of you make an attack you can use your reaction to grant advantage on the attack roll.

[T.G. Oskar]

I like to start with three subclasses to stay focused, and I'm glad my concept seemed to convey well. If all goes well an extra two subclasses would round things out nicely, I think a chanter and an explorer inspired style are both solid directions to go in.

I agree that three subclasses seems to be the best set-up for a class to start with, but the ideas set are to justify multiple ways to work a Warlord, which solves the question "how many subclasses can you work with?" (Answer: about six solid options) It also gives you ideas on which of those various potential subclasses you could work with.


Also great to draw from, but we won't be able to straight copy the implementation because feats are both optional and more rare when available.

Oh no no, I was just suggesting the effects of teamwork feats to draw inspiration for class and subclass features. Something like, say, Duck and Cover (if you and an ally have to make a Dexterity saving throw and are within 5 ft. of each other, you can use the best result between your two checks, but the character with the lowest result falls prone), or Harder they Fall (you can use the Help action as a reaction when an ally within 5 ft. makes a shove). They don't have to be feats, just actions that you could grant as part of the class itself (maybe as one of the die actions, or as a subclass feature).


Something of a first draft:

Level 1: Hit Die Feature (1/SR), [Ribbon]
Level 2: 1d4 Die, [Ribbon]
Level 3: Subclass I
Level 4: ASI
Level 5: (Conditional) Extra Attack, 1d6 Die
Level 6: Hit Die Feature (2/SR), Aura I
Level 7: Subclass II
Level 8: ASI
Level 9: 1d8 Die
Level 10: Aura II
Level 11: Subclass III
Level 12: ASI
Level 13: 1d10 Die
Level 14: Aura III
Level 15: Subclass IV
Level 16: ASI
Level 17: Die feature 1d12
Level 18: Hit Die Feature (3/SR)
Level 19: ASI
Level 20: Capstone

The Hit Die feature will be a bonus action Heal using the recipient's Hit Die and some bonus THP, with subclasses adding things like riders, the ability to use your own Hit Die, etc

For the scaling Die feature, I'm thinking a once per turn usage that you hand out to a teammate. You start knowing 2-3 uses (reduce damage taken, attack/damage bonus, etc) and get more fancy ones as you level up.
I'm thinking of tying this to your reaction or to when you take certain actions like Attack and Help instead of using up your bonus action, expanding it with subclasses (tactician can throw out a die when Casting a Spell, Chieftain when Dashing, Mashals when Dodging, etc).

Extra attack would not be for yourself, it would be to give to an ally. Not sure if this should use their reaction or not yet, I'm leaning towards no.

Auras will be passive bonuses to things like initiative, skills, saves, maybe resistances/immunities that you can switch between. Range will also be slightly better than the Paladin (say 15' then improving to 30' and 45' or 60'). Would scale by Prof bonus or scaling die instead of a stat bonus.

All subclasses would grant one expertise at level 3 as well as some other feature.

A boring capstone would be more die to throw around each turn, but i'm hoping to come across something much better than that by the time i'm done spitballing here.

Hmm...the Hit Die feature could be usable more times, even if it's rechargeable on a short rest. It's mechanically weaker than the Healer feat, after all, and Healer is usable 1/short rest per ally (so it accounts for like 3 uses already). Normal use of Hit Dice allows you to heal one HD + your Con modifier; Healer does 1d6 + 4 + max HD, which usually results on 1d6 + 24 by 20th level, which is far more than you'd heal with any spell at a moment. Also, I'd make it either healing or THP; if using the former, then it's fair to give it limited uses, but if it's the latter, which is how I believe it should start, it should have a lot more uses (it then competes with Inspiring Leader, which grants a ton of THP). I like the idea of having that feature (please call it Rally) be modified by the subclass.

I'd be wary of the aura feature. I do like it, since it's the easiest way to grant buffs, but here's the deal - compare to Bless. Bless grants a +1d4 bonus on both attack rolls and saving throws. You could expand those auras to damage and ability checks, but applying your proficiency bonus is massive. Even at half, by the time you reach 9th level, the aura is much more useful than Bless or Guidance, and since it stacks, it makes rolls super easy to beat. That said - if you divide it by ability scores and benefits (attack bonus, damage rolls, spell attack bonus, saving throw pairs, ability checks by score, themes) you could keep it tight enough not to disrupt the game. Consider the following: an aura that grants a bonus to attack rolls is HUGE. Starting with a +1 on a system that has bounded accuracy is a huge bonus, and if it ends up on a +3, it's more so. However, if it's +1 to attack rolls on all allies within 10 ft., then it's more manageable since you can either be on the frontlines, or stay back and lead the archers. If it ends up with a +3 bonus to all allies within 30 ft., but by 18th level, then it's fair enough. Note that Aura of Protection is a massive benefit to everyone involved, so it should be your measuring tool - sure, my proposal is much weaker than Aura of Protection, but it compensates for being flexible and stacking.

Ribbons should be tied to leadership and related to war. The Student of War trait of the Battlemaster is great; History is used as a way to deal with knowledge of military, nobility and royalty, so one of the ribbons could be a minor boost to History checks, or being able to extract more information with those checks, or using them in combat for a specific non-combat benefit.

Capstone...how about you and your allies always start combat with temporary hit points? It relates to your main feature (Rally - again, please use it), it's always useful, it works in a game with no feats (and hence no Inspiring Leader)...it's boring but practical, and that's what you want.

[Arkhios]

The more I read on this thread, the more I'm impressed how similar mechanics you've all come up with. I must ask, did anyone even so much as look at the sneak peek on my Warlord? Note: it's pay what you want for the whole package.

[Kane0]

I do have a copy of both your own and Kibble's warlord, but haven't broken them open for a good look yet. I'm almost afraid I would end up unconsciously plagiarising.

[Arkhios]

I do have a copy of both your own and Kibble's warlord, but haven't broken them open for a good look yet. I'm almost afraid I would end up unconsciously plagiarising.

Fair enough. Don't worry though. I've neglected the homebrew for so long that I just noticed several brainfarts that I probably should fix anyway, and I've meant to revise the Stratagems quite a bit, but haven't had the time nor energy to do it. Maybe I'll borrow some of your ideas and see how I could make them fit into my warlord, if that's okay with you; likewise, feel free to draw inspiration from mine, or even borrow some of it.

[Kane0]

Some sample features

Rally: Bonus action to use, target ally must be able to see and hear you. They can spend a number of their Hit Die up to their Prof Bonus to heal. Potential riders from subclass being THP on top of that, free movement or a free attack

Warlord's Orders: Once per turn (your turn, not anyone's turn) you can issue orders. You start with a few options and others become available with more levels or by subclass
- When you take the attack action, the next attack that hits the same target before the start of your next turn deals the die as extra damage
- When you take the attack action, the next attack an ally makes against the same target before the start of your next turn adds the die to the attack roll
- When you take the attack action, the next saving throw the target makes before the start of your next turn is reduced by the die result
- When you take the attack action, the next ability check the target makes before the start of your next turn is reduced by the die result
- When you take the Help action the recipient also gains the Die to any Saving Throw they need to make before the start of your next turn
- When you take the Help action the recipient also gains the Die to any Ability Check they need to make before the start of your next turn
- When an ally you can see is attacked you can use your reaction to increase their AC for that attack by the result of your Die, potentially turning a hit into a miss
- When you see an ally take damage you can use your reaction to reduce the damage taken by the result of your die
- When an ally you can see makes a saving throw you can use your reaction to add your die to the roll

Basically any single-target manipulation of attack or damage rolls, checks or saves can be worked in.

Potential Auras
- Speed boost for allies
- Speed penalty for enemies
- Additional or maxxed healing and/or THP for allies
- Reduce or negate healing and/or THP for enemies
- Advantage on saves vs specific items (eg forced movement, fear, etc) for allies
- Disadvantage on saves/checks vs specific items (forced movement, fear, etc) for enemies
- Allies within aura can use each other to obtain line of sight
- Allies within aura can swap positions using bonus action

[T.G. Oskar]

The more I read on this thread, the more I'm impressed how similar mechanics you've all come up with. I must ask, did anyone even so much as look at the sneak peek on my Warlord? Note: it's pay what you want for the whole package.

I haven't, so treat it as "great minds think alike".

That said, that's a positive move. If several people end up with similar visions of a Warlord/Marshal/military leader class, it has good implications that the mechanics of an official one, if aligned with these, will be welcome by many. All it really needs is traction - more people actually liking the mechanics and suggesting them to make them official, whether revised or left alone.

Again, if going by the Class Design Paradigm, the biggest hurdles (whether it's broad enough to count as a class, and how many subclasses can be drawn from it) have been cleared - the concept proves broad enough, since you can find out several ways to be a military leader (though, I presume any military personnel would claim that's true, considering NCOs and warrant officers, and branches of the military that aren't related to combat but that nonetheless participate of the same structure; I mean, consider the origin of the word "chef" and you'll get an idea...), and the subclasses can feel distinct to each other (a Chieftain leads in a very different way than a Marshal, or a Tactician, or a Taskmaster, or a Conquistador). The other big hurdle right now is to find defining mechanics and make them good enough to fit the theme while feeling balanced. (Note that 5e is all about "feel": it doesn't have to be balanced, but if it feels like it, then it's good enough.)

But yeah - it's positive overall to brainstorm a class where most people are basically aligned towards the same mechanics and concept overall.

[AdAstra]

I'm currently writing up a Warlord class. Here are the key points:

-All weapon and armor proficiencies. d8 hit die. Three skills. Fighting Style restricted to one subclass.

-An at-will bonus action Inspiration mechanic with a scaling die (and at least one tier of improvement). Multiclassing shenanigans are meant to be hindered by using Concentration to maintain Inspiration.

-Some bonus action Strategems on a long rest (eventually a short rest) recharge, providing immediate benefits to allies like movement outside one's turn, temp HP, additional saves on spells, and more

-One Extra Attack, which comes with an ability that allows you to replace your attacks with Help actions, which should accommodate Lazylords.

-Ability allowing for faster short rests

-An aura that gives people some more uses for their reaction.

-11th level damage boost involves your first attack action on a turn, or any Help actions, putting a mark on the target that causes the next attack to deal additional damage.

-Three subclasses, each based on a different mental stat.

[Kane0]

Wow yeah it seems everybody really is on the same page already!

[MrStabby]

So what I would look for in a class like this is as much about what it doesn't do or shouldn't do if it is not to be obnoxious:

1) It doesn't make any character that is the subject of it's abilities outshine any character that isn't boosted

2) I doesn't rely on other characters; i.e. a PC can reasonably withhold consent to being used by the warlord

3) The abilities have a cost such that withholding consent from the warlord may be rational

4) The abilities are useful to casters and martial characters alike

5) The warlord actually does something themselves in addition to boosting others

6) The warlord can benefit from magic items, loot and the general spoils of adventuring like everyone else

7) The warlord doesn't come with obnoxious RP baggage like being more tactically astute or smarter than others of the same Int score.

8) The warlord is powerful enough to be useful at all tiers of play in all party compositions without being a drag on the party.




If these can be met then I would consider allowing such a class at my tables or would consider playing in a game alongside one.

[Nagog]

While I agree with many people here in that the elements for a Warlord already exist in 5e, I would love to see them combined into a single class.
-Elements like Expertise or otherwise buffing skills (advantage on 2 or 3 skills perhaps?)
-I do like the idea of Bardic Inspiration not being so limited. Considering there's a place on the character sheet for Inspiration but not things like Sneak Attack lends to the idea that shouldn't be limited to a single class.
-For the spellcasting subclass, I'd look into giving them access to pretty much any spell list that isn't Wizard. Paladin could be interesting but could be quite limited in practice, Bard would be less limited (but still a small list) but flavorful, and Cleric could be very support/healing based but may end up being outshone by a battle cleric in many ways.
-Having Cha-based abilities would work well with the thematics, perhaps have something like the Hobgoblin 'Saving Face' feature a number of times per day equal to your Cha modifier?