D&D 5E Why is There No Warlord Equivalent in 5E?

[Minigiant]

That is absolutely not how it looks from the outside of this discussion between Warlord fans.

That's because you are too focused on the Warlord apathetic.

The LU, Kibbles, ad Llama warlords were all mentioned as examples.
Those are all classes with scaling tier maneuver system of some type.
Just like the 4e warlord.

Every Warlord fan is more or less asking for the same thing. It just would take 7+ pages before art. Something every warlord fan knows they'd never get outside a Nentir Vale book.

 

[TwoSix]

If Laser Llama happily came out and told everyone they were collating all of their work into a single hardcopy book, how many of us here would buy said work? I know, I would buy it.

I would replace my PHB with a Laserllama PHB in a heartbeat.

 

[Reynard]

Warlord had a number of builds, each of which has its fans.

4e builds were way more fluid than subclasses, so there's a lot of translation error and prioritization. There's no Warlord Overclass in 4e to make the base class out of for 5e's subclass system, so there's little understanding of what that is, not so much what the warlord is.

Thanks. I am only marginally familiar with 4E. We played it, but not for long, and in more recent years i have tried to understand its design choices, but having never run it I am not intimately familiar.

 

[Arilyn]

Theses are my Warlord class recollections:

Near the end of 3.5 WotC published a miniatures/warfare type supplement. It introduced the Marshall and Healer classes. The book was not well received, except for the Marshall class. 4e came out not too long after, and the Marshall moved into the new edition, renamed Warlord. During the 5e playtest, people asked about the Warlord class because it had been popular in 4e. They were told the Bard and Battle Master fighter could fill the that role. This did not sit well with the Warlord fans at all. Much angst and anger and squabbles with fans who didn't care about the Warlord.

Eventually, word came out, (or maybe just rumours) that Mike Mearls did not like the Warlord, so not going to happen.

5e has only ever added one full class since it's publication because it relies on subclasses. So, no Warlord. Whether there's a subclass that can satisfy the commandery itch is subjective.

Many 3rd party publishers and D&D adjacent games have created Warlord type classes, so there's definitely a demand. And if you are a fan, it's easy enough to track one down for 5e. WotC's not going to do it. Personally, I like Commander style classes.

 

[Lanefan]

Having not read any of the thread beyond the OP, I can only say...

In light of Pathfinder 2E putting out a playtest for a Warlord-like class, the Commander, I can't help but wonder why such a wildly popular class concept has not been introduced to 5E.

...that maybe it's just not as wildly-popular a class or concept as you seem to think.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I mean, Kibbles' Warlord would do great in an all Warlord party

Buuuut, D&D ain't exactly designed for solo stuff so I'm not sure if "Can this class function solo" is the best thing given I'm not sure all base classes would survive if we turned that lens on them

I have played a goliath valor bard in the solo christmas adventure a few years back. Worked well enough.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I don't see what you say.

I see people who agree with what a Warlord is and people who don't know what a Warlord is.

Ok. So everyone who does not agree does not know the true way of warlord design?

Almost every Warlord fan agrees on a scaling tier maneuver system of some type.

So a no true scotsman fallacy?

 

[mellored]

Do a search here on EN World. At last count I believe there have been 53 different attempts by various posters here to create a Warlord class over the last 10 years. And they all end the same way... everyone involved can't agree how it should be built and the thread falls off the front page after like six days.

(See also: Psion / Arcane Half-Caster.)

I bet warlords homebrews have more in common than ranger homebrews.

 

[MuhVerisimilitude]

The lack of classes and class options in 5E kinda sucks.

 

[Mephista]

In light of Pathfinder 2E putting out a playtest for a Warlord-like class, the Commander, I can't help but wonder why such a wildly popular class concept has not been introduced to 5E.

Because 5e is doing a narrow number of classes that encompass larger archetypes than pathfinder classes. As Fighter includes the concept of military and mercenary outfits as part of its larger archetype, the Warlord fits within its umbrella.

And it does very much exist in 5e as Fighter subclass. Just.. the mechanics kinda suck, so you don't see it used or showcased as much. That is different from the concept not existing in 5e.