Bard limitations.

My twin, Imia, and I are Bardic characters as well. We play with a mix of spells that affect our insturment sounds to minor illusions that a person may see if they are watching us play. Best way to do it, we have found, is to just be discriptive without saying "Your character HAS to feel this way" Vague ideas of how the sound should make a person feel or react is a lot easier to do..and tends to bring up fewer arguements. THough in all honesty don't be discouraged if your character and the characters song just get ignored....todays characters just to seem to have the time to sit and listen anymore!

Ah, as a vampress player, myself, I have seen one or two bards with the vampiric touch. It really all depends on which spot you are putting your vampire in, which character traits to follow. In White Wolf, no vampires can't be comparative to celestials, but they can be anti-destructive, friendly, and rather fond of other beings. It's the twists and control that you put in your character that'll make the difference.

Anyway, the type music that you're looking at, I would agree, would have to have some history behind it. It'll be unusual and you will be questioned. Cuz if I catch you, I'll be askin'! *grins* I, for one, will be interested in seeking out your character to observe how you describe it. Maybe then people won't fully ignore you

Oh, and welcome back sweetie!

Ah, thank you very much for the information Akea. And thank you, I am happy to be back. And to be honest, I have 4 different bards in the works. Velira, then there is the Vampire I was thinking about. I have a wood elf and a lycanthrope in the works as well. So it should be interesting to see how they turn out. I will try my best to put as much effort into the reasoning behind the unique style. I know that is important.

I will give this warning about the style of music you want to play; once i played a bard myself who sung a mildly violent song and i pulled nothing but negative reactions from players. But if you want to keep your nice and cool sounding foundation for this characters here are some pointers. First, before playing a song message all the players in the room in PM and warn them first that the song your going to be playing is agressive, and if they are offended by it then to please let you know at any time and you will stop. It doesnt always work because i did that and AFTER the song i had people saying "yes it offended me" and all i could ask was "Then why didnt you tell me?" give players fair warning becuase for as violent as chat can get, apparently people dont like angry music.

also if you want a list of bardic spells and how they work,
Go Here it is for 3.5 unfortunatly but it works for you as a player. Works also so you can see how a bit of DnD works.

Ah Imreis. Yesh yesh we used to IM alot. Excellent pointers as always. And thank you for the warning I will take it to mind along with the link you have provided. But the only one that will sing aggresive music will be the vampie. I will be cautious about it as I know the risks now.

*winks* Your welcome as always. i would just hate to see an interesting character concept go down the tube

Hehe, trust me. It will be an interesting one.

Two words, darlin'. Dirge Singer.

*glances around furtively* And yes, I know this reveals me as a complete nerd, but let's be honest with ourselves...who isn't on this site? Those of you raising your hands, put them down. Liars.

The Dirge Singer is a twisted version of your core D&D bard. While most bardic music abilities are centered on bolstering your allies: Inspire Greatness, Inspire Courage, etc... The Dirgesinger's class abilities are more geared toward the darker side of things; i.e., controlling darker emotions and influencing undead (particularly apt for a vampy char, I would think.) For example, the first Song ability they gain, instead of bolstering their allies, will inspire fear and depression in their enemies. They have another Song ability at later levels that can raise a dead body and control its corpsified grossness like some kind of meat puppet.

That's a lot of game mechanics mumbo-jumbo that basically amounts to "Yes, a bard who concentrates on darker, nastier music is more than possible and even supported within the rules system". I played a half-vampire Dirgesinger once. Greatest char combo ever. *tapes mouth shut before the campaign stories can get out of hand.* I think the important bit has been mentioned earlier: you don't have to stick with the system in order to play the character you want. Just with the CoC. But admittedly, I've found it does help to have that grounding in basic D&D structure when you want to relate abilities and effects to other players. Just my two cents on that subject.

Here is the thing, if you go into a social gathering of generally good natured people, the more violent and painful feeling the song, and playing conveys, probably the worse the reaction. As it is in real life, nice and very helpful people that enjoy classical music and pop will generally not like -death metal- nor do they usually grasp the meaning behind it.

If you are a vampire, I would have though a negative reaction would have been more pleasant, if anything appreciate the music if not the substance in the words. I wonder how it will turn out, my troll may hear it and laugh. And throw a coin.

I am just not sure asking the folks in the room if its okay to sing or play, its more your right to play, they can ignore it or better yet!!!!! IC interact to show despleasure, if only for the lyrics alone. Might make for some interesting plays.

Character named Magatsu (my character) have a very good playing style of music and song, though he lost his arm, his playing days are over, for now. I have thought about a way to bring it back up to par.

I appreciate everyones input on this. I may worry too much about it, but my last experiences with my old characters didn't turn out well. My fault though. The whole thing with Dark Mayu, then the squabble with some of my other chars. I just want this time around to be different. That's why I am seeing what the community thinks of the char before I shove her in their faces. ^_^