Dungeons & Dragons Should Bring Back The Warlord Class

Dungeons & Dragons should bring back the Warlord class from fourth edition, as it combined the best aspects of the Bard and the Battle Master subclass for Fighters. The core lineup of character classes rarely changes in D&D and Warlock is the only major addition in a long time that has stuck around, considering the Warlord was canned after a single edition.

The Cleric was the main healer and buffer for the party in most editions of D&D. The Bard’s current role as a primary spellcaster was only introduced in the current edition of D&D, as it was more of a jack of all trades class in the old days. The Druid has some great healing and buffing spells, but they can get lost in the shuffle of the class’s other powerful offensive spells and their shapeshifting abilities.

D&D still needs to fill out some of the class roles, as D&D needs a class alternative for the Rogue. The Warlord class no longer exists in D&D, but it should be brought back to the game in a future rulebook, as it offered a great alternative to the Bard and Cleric, while also possessing some martial fighting skills of its own.

The Warlord Is The Inspiring Leader On The Battlefield

The fourth edition of D&D introduced the Warlord class, which was a nonmagical class that could heal and buff its allies. The idea was that the Warlord was the ultimate battlefield commander, who could use their tactical mind to see holes in the enemy’s defenses and bolster their allies’ fighting spirit through sheer force of will alone. The Warlord was scrapped in the transition to fifth edition, and its inspiration/buffing abilities mostly passed to the Bard, while its battlefield manipulation was given to the Battle Master subclass for Fighters.

A fifth edition version of the Warlord could have features that allow it to give up its own action to affect an ally or an enemy. This could involve giving the ally extra movement speed, a bonus on their next attack, or an extra saving throw against an existing effect. The Warlord could use the same feature to give a penalty to an enemy, slow down their movement, or force them to make a save against the Shaken condition. There should be two tiers of these features, with stronger ones requiring a long rest to replenish, and weaker ones requiring a short rest. They should also be allowed to take some kind of action with their Bonus Action, as a class that only exists to boost other players might not be satisfying to all players. Bringing the Warlord class back to Dungeons & Dragons could provide a nice middle ground between the martial classes and the healers, as it can strengthen its allies on the battlefield, but can still go toe-to-toe with enemies.

About The Author

Scott Baird
(2543 Articles Published)

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Scott has been writing for Screen Rant since 2016 and regularly contributes to The Gamer. He has previously written articles and video scripts for websites like Cracked, Dorkly, Topless Robot, and TopTenz.
A graduate of Edge Hill University in the UK, Scott started out as a film student before moving into journalism. It turned out that wasting a childhood playing video games, reading comic books, and watching movies could be used for finding employment, regardless of what any career advisor might tell you. Scott specializes in gaming and has loved the medium since the early ‘90s when his first console was a ZX Spectrum that used to take 40 minutes to load a game from a tape cassette player to a black and white TV set. Scott now writes game reviews for Screen Rant and The Gamer, as well as news reports, opinion pieces, and game guides. He can be contacted on LinkedIn.

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