Juggernaut Application: A guide to Tanking (updated)

[Arkhios]

High HP, AC, Saves, and all that good stuff absolutely makes you a Tank.

Not only high defenses, but also the potential to be seen a big enough threat or annoyance, or just tempting enough a target, so that you're not simply ignored due to the fact that you're basically an impenetrable walking fortress.

If you're only a big blob of HP, and have both the AC and saves through the roof but you are also an insignificant threat to your enemies, in D&D you are more than likely to be ignored without a strong enough incentive to attack you instead of others (that being an equivalent of a taunt mechanism such as Marking from 4th edition or being capable of dishing out huge damage regularly, such as a rogue's sneak attack).

[Specter]

Frightened is good as a debuff. If you would like to use debuffs, you shouldn't focus on a tank. Much of what you're talking about is buffing and debuffing. Perhaps we do fundamentally think of tanks differently. I think it's also a large difference in each of our playstyles. For instance, you say you've never seen flanking in use, while I see it in most encounters (99% of them when we had a rogue in the party). A tank also holds the front line well. An enemy, if proper tactics are used, must get past the tank. Grappling, movement, distances, battlefield control, and all that good stuff should keep an enemy away from the back line (wizards, rogues, etc.). I suppose much of the guide and many of my opinions are based around that idea that you'll have a proper party with you to buff, debuff, and battlefield-control as necessary. Either way, I think the base difference in views (specifically flanking) is the main cause of disagreement. In the way that my group plays, advantage is often given from flanking, and both allies and enemies will utilize the tactic if they can, thus advantage from an ability like that has a much smaller value to me than someone else who doesn't use flanking in combat.

Also, you've clearly never played with a devious DM with a flair for spellcasters

- You're taking a shoehorn approach to this. If by debuffing an enemy you have his attention and you actively want his attention, then you are tanking. Even being up close to the enemy can be considered a debuff ("you can't move away from him without taking damage/not moving").
- Oh, I've played with and been that DM, believe me. And if they're smart, Resilient (WIS) won't save you anyway, unless you can face Banishment, Disintegrate and the likes of that on your own.