airwalkrr
Adventurer
A bard makes the perfect 5th-member of an already balanced party. If you have a character focused on melee, a character focused on skills and traps (usually rogue), a character focused on divine magic, and a character focused on arcane magic, then the bard can fill in the gaps where needed.
Regarding skills, the bard can fill in the gaps left by the other party members with social, scouting, and Knowledge skills. Regarding magic, the bard is a secondary buffer, healer, and enchanter. Having a second person to roll initiative to make sure you cast ever-important buffs like haste never hurts. In combat the bard can be comically referred to as a flanking post, but can be fairly effective in melee, especially considering that he benefits from his songs as much as anyone else.
One ability which can truly allow a bard to shine in ANY group however is bardic music. There are several uses of bardic music that are incredibly powerful when the right circumstances present themselves. Fascinate is perhaps the most well-known. It is not difficult to get a high Perform skill and since Perform sets your DC, this is the most difficult Will saving throw that any party is capable of offering. It can end a battle before it begins under the right circumstances, or merely provide distraction for some challenging foes while the party prepares out of sight. Once a bard can add suggestion into the mix, fascinated foes can become allies if the suggestion is worded properly. And finally, Inspire Courage along with other higher level bardic music buffs stack with just about everything else in the game, adding huge numbers to almost everyone in the party. So when the fighter hits because of that extra +X to hit by your music, you might as well count all the damage he dealt with that hit as your own, because if you weren't there, he would have missed. And don't forget to add that extra damage from your music too.
Bards are an excellent class, but they do require a fairly experienced or at least knowledgeable player to play effectively. They have an enormous host of abilities. A player who is able to master half of them can make the bard a shining member of the party.
I think the primary reason a lot of people consider bards "ho-hum," weak, or gimped is because they are not a typical min-max class where you get the most out of them as long as you put the right numbers in the right spots. They require a lot of attention to detail to exploit. But they can be exploited to great effect in numerous situations. I have seen bards do incredible things.
Regarding skills, the bard can fill in the gaps left by the other party members with social, scouting, and Knowledge skills. Regarding magic, the bard is a secondary buffer, healer, and enchanter. Having a second person to roll initiative to make sure you cast ever-important buffs like haste never hurts. In combat the bard can be comically referred to as a flanking post, but can be fairly effective in melee, especially considering that he benefits from his songs as much as anyone else.
One ability which can truly allow a bard to shine in ANY group however is bardic music. There are several uses of bardic music that are incredibly powerful when the right circumstances present themselves. Fascinate is perhaps the most well-known. It is not difficult to get a high Perform skill and since Perform sets your DC, this is the most difficult Will saving throw that any party is capable of offering. It can end a battle before it begins under the right circumstances, or merely provide distraction for some challenging foes while the party prepares out of sight. Once a bard can add suggestion into the mix, fascinated foes can become allies if the suggestion is worded properly. And finally, Inspire Courage along with other higher level bardic music buffs stack with just about everything else in the game, adding huge numbers to almost everyone in the party. So when the fighter hits because of that extra +X to hit by your music, you might as well count all the damage he dealt with that hit as your own, because if you weren't there, he would have missed. And don't forget to add that extra damage from your music too.
Bards are an excellent class, but they do require a fairly experienced or at least knowledgeable player to play effectively. They have an enormous host of abilities. A player who is able to master half of them can make the bard a shining member of the party.
I think the primary reason a lot of people consider bards "ho-hum," weak, or gimped is because they are not a typical min-max class where you get the most out of them as long as you put the right numbers in the right spots. They require a lot of attention to detail to exploit. But they can be exploited to great effect in numerous situations. I have seen bards do incredible things.
