And why is it warlords?
What did 4e do right?
Lincoln Green
Brandon Long
Class Balance
Role Definition
Interesting New Classes
Making Martial Classes Interesting
Easy DM'ing
Easy Encounter Creation
Better Skill System
Better Skill List
Magic Items
Better Magic System (AEDU over Vancian)
Inherent Bonuses
Easy to Learn for New Players
Simpler and More Intuitive Noncombat Rules
Ability for Healers to be more than healbots
More good "healer" options than just cleric
If I think of more, I'll let you know
Leo Richardson
I've heard good things about their monks and swordmages
Josiah Harris
Fell's Five.
Connor Edwards
Both were pretty fun to play/see played. Monk could basically move all over the battlefield punching things like it was straight out of a kungfu movie, and swordmage did Gish REALLY well and mixed with other classes pretty easily.
Elijah Cook
Fucking this those guys are amazing
Lincoln Taylor
It's the warlords
Holy fuck warlords are amazing
Battle Master Fighter isn't the same, it just isn't the same.
Kayden Torres
RIP Fell's Five, we hardly knew ye.
Leo Perez
Not a fan of 4E in the slightest (and yes I gave it numerous tries), but I agree that the warlord is an example of great character concept design.
It took the standard beater and figured out ways to reapply it to other character niches like control or buffbot, in ways that mostly kept the character itself interesting. Very cool.
The last time I saw this was in World of Warcraft. Right before Burning Crusade came out (or right after? I forget), there was a period where a properly spec'd and equipped warlock could be an effective raid tank in certain situations.
It was a very, very cool period until they patched the concept away because they felt like casters shouldn't be allowed to have a tank spec. I think that was a mistake, because it was a very fresh take and the warlocks in my guild (I wasn't playing one at the time) were trying all kinds of fresh new tactics. It was a fun way of playing, and the damage dealers and healers had to learn weird ways of adapting effectively.
Anyway, there's a saying from GURPS, that without rules, you're limited only by your imagination. With good rules, you're not even limited by that! Which means that rules can suggest possibilities that hadn't occurred to you, make new things possible that you hadn't thought to include.
IMO the warlord was a great example of that. Like I said, I hated D&D4E but this was one really great idea to come out of it.
Josiah Martinez
>what did 4e do right?
Ceased production.