Okay, so, the Warlord as a Class in 5th Ed has hit full fever, as is evident by Enworld (and you have such types as Tony Vargas and that Abdulalhazred or what-have-you using it as a proxy for the good old Edition Wars of 2008).
So, aside from the many problems of this class, as it really is a Rob Heinsoo pet-deal, he came up with the Marshal class in 3rd Ed (which I have converted to 5th Ed, and my conversions rock, ask around the boards, Bawlie is a particularly fan), the name is simply...horrendous.
Maybe it is different in current America, but, yeah, I live in London (UK), and the word carries very heavy, negative connotations (the fact they got away with it in the first place, baffle me) with European and Africans, it's associated with 3rd World, local, militant dictators, the kind that have 12-year olds on drugs with weapons as their "soldiers", might as well have a class called: Asshole.
WotC, if you are reading, never let a term such as the scum-filled phrase "Warlord" be used to denote a character class in a fantasy game.
Yep. Warlord was a terrible name.
I liked the idea of a character who used Charisma and Intelligence, but didn't use overt magic, religion or music as their channel-- instead the concept was inspiring/coaching others, watching others' backs, encouraging the drained members to get back into the fray and giving out tactical advice.
Rather than the big, beefy tank or the agile, dual-wielding skillful cutter, it is a mundane character who focused on collecting knowledge on how to manipulate people, how different peoples do battle and how to use terrain, formations, lures and openings to gain an upperhand when you are outnumbered and simply not physically superior to your opponent in either power or speed.
I think the class should still exist, but the name...
Problem is, there really isn't a good name in English for that sort of character.
Captain? Tactician? Strategist? Marshall? Officer? Orator? Manipulator?
Really, I can't think of anything totally superior to Warlord
Or "Good Sport", letting the other chaps play with their swords and their magic and whatnot.
I really like the 5e bard, but for 6e (assuming there is one) I would be open to a nonmagic bard that inspires (also nonmagically) and has proficiency with healing kits, with a marshal subclass (with proficiency with more weapons and eventually multiple attacks), a beguiler subclass (gets arcane spells like Eldritch Knight), and a divine magic using version of the beguiler (the evangelist).
Slightly off topic, I would move the magic secrets to the generalist wizard, but that is pretty much all the generalist wizard would get as subclass features.
Yunru wrote:
Mechatarrasque wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
Yunru wrote:
I happen to like "warlord."I like it better than "fighter", and prefer that fighters had been named "warriors." But I can live with it. I tend not to draw real world connections to character class names.
ENworld has released a class in EN5sider called the noble that is apparently a warlord in all but name.
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/155658/EN5ider-Volume-1
Not a bad deal for $10. 11 articles and 3 adventures+noble.
Gwaithador wrote:
Gwaithador wrote:
Zardnaar wrote:
Hebitsuikaza wrote:
Why not the name "caudillo"?
If there is a module about skirmishes and mass battles with miniatures, I suposse we can see a marshall class for the general of an army like ones from "Total War: Warhammer".
About no-magic healing powers... the gameplay becomes slower when characters are suffering and healing a lot of hitpoints. My idea is "squad" monster subtype, something like the "swarn" monster subtype, with a special "hitpoints" pool. If the squad lose those hitpoints, it is desmoraliced.
LuisCarlos17f wrote:
LuisCarlos17f wrote:
Yunru wrote:
I've always associated warlord with the Warlord Derek Sagan from Star of the Guardians (Margaret Weis).
And he was basically a badass antihero, more than a real bad guy.
I just gave Enworld some money for EN5ider and checked out the noble class. It is basically a warlord with Bavura, tactical and lazylord options.
Zardnaar wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
Warlords can be heroic characters
Not all warlords are bad. The ones in Sal Tlay Ka Siti are friendly and help you cross the street.
I think if I were going to make it though, I'd basically just take the Cleric with a more limited spell list, give it martial weapon and then basically change it up in a similar way the Warlock changes up the Wizard (only calling them Tactics rather than Spells), basically you could do a lot fewer and less dramatic things than the Cleric, but you could do them more often. Then replacing any remaining "religious" powers (Call Divinity, Turn Undead, etc.) with something more closely resembling the Bard's inspiration and stat boosting abilities.
Maybe have additional attack progression like the Paladin and Ranger, but still use D8 hit dice and medium armor.
But even if I could figure out how to construct it, I don't know the best name for it.
Another name for warlord may be "Eupatridae" (= offspring of good fathers" or "well-born", Adalid, Etharch, or almocaden (an old Spanish word, its means boos of a group of soldiers).
If you don´t like the name warlord nor caudillo, there are more options.
But my opinion is it should have got a exclusive list of subtitutive class features. That is better marketing than the subclasses.
LuisCarlos17f wrote:
I've always been fond of using the word Captain. Being a 'captain' of men was quite a common compliment to good leaders back in the day, and it brings with it a little of that Lord of the Rings flavor. (Aragorn and Boromir both being referred to as captains not as a military rank but as a descriptor).
CelticPaladin wrote:
LuisCarlos17f wrote:
LuisCarlos17f wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
Yeah, "John Carter: Warlord of Mars" comes to mind with me too. The name connects to the part of D&D that has a pulp influence.The historical shoguns of feudal Japan come to mind as well. As does Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and other successful generals through history. Depending on one's perspective, those who made their name through tactical command of the battlefield and conquest may be notorious figures or they could be celebrated figures. Immediately drawing parralels to contempary Somali warlords or what not, does the designers a disservice. I doubt that was on their minds when they concieved the class abilities and named the class in 4e.
I've no problem with the idea of a first level character being called a "lord". The class name isn't about reflecting the power level of a particular character. I could make a 50 year old general, warlord, a master of 30 plus years of warfare with a deep and detailed history. He's still starting out first level, but he'd still be a warlord, regardless of level.
Yunru wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
You can change the name with another option: overlord, arraéz, polemarch (warlord from Greek languange), adalid, praepositus, ringleader, bellwether ..The theme or concept is the leader of a war band.
The really important part is to have got a fun gameplay, but with the right balance of power, Maybe it would need special subtitute features to be used with a future module about skirmishes or mass battles.
Maybe warlord is a subclass for the marshall class.
Don't forget the warlod isn´t only to be used by PCs, but also to be enemy boss nPCs
Diffan wrote:
Yunru wrote:
Satyrn wrote:
Satyrn wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
Yunru wrote:
shadowknave wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
Brock,
You just invoked "The Warriors" movie. I loved that film as a kid, and you know, some of it still holds up! One of my inspirations for when I ran Vampire: the Maquerade chronicles.
You win. 
* What if the warlord is a warrior with the poses and the maneuvers of the school of White Raven from "Tome of Battle: book of nine swords"?
* If you don't like that name, you can suggest your own list of options, only you have to search synnonimes.
* A D&D version of "Beast Wars" is possible, warforged living in the feywild. My D&D version of "my little pony" and "Equestra girls" is a group of kentaurides (females centaurs).
* A samurai/sohei with rage would be the 3rd Ed sohei.
* What if warlord hire tamers with monsters pets, or warmachines like a giant crossbows, or assistants like "cheap" gnomes and halflings to reload crossbows?
Gwaithador wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
Mechatarrasque wrote:
I never equated the term warlord with modern terms. I always associated it with an oriental influence like a samurai or daimyo, or even fantasy concepts like Conan. The drive for a warlord class boils down to power sources from 4E for me. A martial power source based class for classic fantasy roles allows you the freedom to play in a non-magic setting.
When I use the term cleric, I don't think of clergy and some of the problems modern day examples may exhibitl with a negative connotation.
Brock_Landers wrote:
shadowknave wrote:
Uchawi wrote:
Uchawi wrote:
CCS wrote:
I remember some pose of maneuver from "Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords" where the martial adept get healing hit poits for each suceful attack.
* I imagine the D&D samurai like a paladin but with ki maneuvers instead of divine spells. I guess the best way to end that about to be a core class or only a class is adding a list of subtitute class features.
shadowknave wrote:
CCS wrote:
CCS wrote:
Uchawi wrote:
Warlord still has negative connotations.The class has the wrong name and to much of it was tied to 4E mechanics.
How many people here have seen the Noble class from ENworlds EN5ider?
shadowknave wrote:
Yunru wrote:
Bluenose wrote:
Zardnaar wrote:
Yunru wrote:
Yunru wrote:
Yunru wrote:
Uchawi wrote:
This is interesting. I always thought that the Battle Master is the 5E version of the 4E Warlord.
CCS wrote:
CCS wrote:
Stuntman wrote:
I think I have a solution: I have converted the 3rd Ed Marshal class (auras) to 5th Ed, as 3rd-to-5th Ed conversions are generally a breeze, as they are within sitting distance of each other, in many ways.
So, add to that, the Battlemaster subclass, and I think you are good to go.
P.S. Just give the Marshal Extra Attack, like the other guys.
Brock_Landers wrote:
Stuntman wrote:
...still more civil and on-topic than the multi-thread edition-warring crusade to be found at ENWorld....
ChrisCarlson wrote:
Umbran doesn't like me already, so he has already given me two warnings, chastising me in private messages with a some smug, parenting tone. It's laughable. I'd be curious how many others of us over there, who have been vocal against his (and others') love of the warlord, have gotten these cute little "threadcrapping warnings"...
Funnier still, because just earlier today I was considering gold membership. $8.99 a month isn't a big deal to me. Now? Not a red cent. Eff that.
CCS wrote:
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Stuntman wrote:
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Marandahir wrote:
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shadowknave wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
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