D&D 5E A bard walks into a bar

[Evenglare]

Damn that bard is badass. Best bard art ever imo.

 

[Baumi]

I love that we finally have an Arcane Class that is on par with the Cleric! D8 HD, Armor Proficiency (not as good as the cleric, but the bard has better weapons), buff-features, full-caster (including healing spells). 8D

 

[Waller]

Is it me, or is EnWorld pretty much now the only site on the entire internet not to get exclusive 5e previews or interviews? Anything you got coming [MENTION=1]Morrus[/MENTION]?

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Things I've noticed changed from the playtest:

Bards get D8 Hit Die just like I suspected they would.

Oh good point! I have been making a Bard in PF and am so used to 1d8 that I forgot they had 1d6 for a while!

And they get 5 ability score increases, which is more than I think they did in the playtest and now seems to be the minimum every class gets.

Song of rest, is now an ability for all bards.

Magical secrets is spread out around more levels, and they get 9th level spells (old news), and more spells known than the sorcerer it seems.

Song of Rest was for all Bard in Alpha, still is. Ability Scores, same as Alpha. 2 more spells known than Alpha, 1 LESS Cantrip known (LOUD BOOING SO LOUD!!!!! Cantrips are literally one of my favourite things ever!), Magical Secrets same as Alpha.

Sorry to be a worthless Alpha Quoting jerk, btw, just comparing because you pointed out a major change I had missed and wondered if there were others!

 

[Michael Morris]

Is it me, or is EnWorld pretty much now the only site on the entire internet not to get exclusive 5e previews or interviews? Anything you got coming @Morrus ?

Been wondering about that myself.

 

[Jack Daniel]

Oh good point! I have been making a Bard in PF and am so used to 1d8 that I forgot they had 1d6 for a while!

By "a while", do you mean throughout all of 3.5, 3.0, 2e, 1e, and their initial appearance as an OD&D class in Strategic Review?

Incidentally, look at this table of hit dice by edition:

Edition	Cleric/Druid	Thief/Rogue	Bard
OD&D	d6	d4	d6
1st	d8	d6	d6
2nd	d8	d6	d6
3rd	d8	d6	d6
PF	d8	d8	d8
5th	d8	d8	d8

I find this kind of fascinating. In original D&D, bards' hit dice lined up with those of druids, to which they were meant to be quite similar. But from 1st edition onward, thieves got an upgrade to d6 and priests got an upgrade to d8, while bards stayed the same. And so for the next twenty years, bards just got sort of shoe-horned in with the thief. They went from being druid's apprentices to roguish scoundrels, a magical alternative to the thief class. Only with more recent editions do we a see a leveling of hit dice again, with all the classes in between fighter types' d10s and mage types' d6s getting the median d8. Which I rather kind of like, by the way, because it reminds me of basic D&D. (Even though thieves got d4 hit dice in basic, just like magic-users, they leveled up so fast that their hit points just about paced the cleric anyway.)

 

[Remathilis]

Reminds me, I want to play a bard proficient in Cello.

 

[Remathilis]

I love that we finally have an Arcane Class that is on par with the Cleric! D8 HD, Armor Proficiency (not as good as the cleric, but the bard has better weapons), buff-features, full-caster (including healing spells). 8D

I'm wagering that is its gift from its time as a Leader/Cleric Replacement in 4e.

I approve though; a class that fill the healer role without being a priest is welcomed.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

By "a while", do you mean throughout all of 3.5, 3.0, 2e, 1e, and their initial appearance as an OD&D class in Strategic Review?

Incidentally, look at this table of hit dice by edition:

Edition	Cleric/Druid	Thief/Rogue	Bard
OD&D	d6	d4	d6
1st	d8	d6	d6
2nd	d8	d6	d6
3rd	d8	d6	d6
PF	d8	d8	d8
5th	d8	d8	d8

I find this kind of fascinating. In original D&D, bards' hit dice lined up with those of druids, to which they were meant to be quite similar. But from 1st edition onward, thieves got an upgrade to d6 and priests got an upgrade to d8, while bards stayed the same. And so for the next twenty years, bards just got sort of shoe-horned in with the thief. They went from being druid's apprentices to roguish scoundrels, a magical alternative to the thief class. Only with more recent editions do we a see a leveling of hit dice again, with all the classes in between fighter types' d10s and mage types' d6s getting the median d8. Which I rather kind of like, by the way, because it reminds me of basic D&D. (Even though thieves got d4 hit dice in basic, just like magic-users, they leveled up so fast that their hit points just about paced the cleric anyway.)

You seem to have skipped an edition there, bro. Just sayin' (I know one didn't roll HP but including the HP/level might be instructive!). Also I had forgotten they were 1d6 in 3E - I had mentally blocked how unfairly crappy Rogues/Bards were in 3E, but now it's all rushing back!
[MENTION=7635]Remathilis[/MENTION] - Definitely agree there. Bards make a very good replacement for Cleric, healing-wise, in that it seems fairly natural to their abilities, they're magical (saving them from the wrath of those who hate non-magic healing), and avoid all the Cleric-y religious business. I really do hope we see one which cuts down on the spellcasting and up on the Bardic abilities, though. I imagine we will, eventually.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Ugh, vicious mockery is back? Damn it. That power was one of the reasons I banned the bard class from my 4E campaigns. Combat was a joke--literally. The bard would make fun of enemies (in character) and they'd drop over dead. It was funny the first time, but it got old real fast.

(Please note that I say one of the reasons, not the only reason. Vicious mockery was just the most prominent example of what I hated about the class. In early 4E, they went way overboard converting everything into a damaging attack power, whether it made sense or not. With the bard, it almost never made sense; the result was a class that needed to be completely reskinned for me to not find it absurd, and since the player wasn't deeply committed to playing a bard, it wasn't worth the effort.)

I kind of liked Vicious Mockery myself. Even as an HP-as-meat guy. I always imagined the target of the spell simply springing wounds from their flesh as the bard insulted and belittled them, literally shredding them to ribbons with cutting insults.

"Your nose is repulsive! Your face would be better without it!" and slices appear on the target's face.

"You're a fool for marching behind this blackguard!" and the target stumbles as his leg muscles experience a sudden slice.

"Thank you for cooling my skin, but I can't help but think you waggling your sword around like that is a tremendously inefficient way to fan me." And the target's arms begin to bleed from cuts.

"Sniveling whelp." And the orc's skin is flayed from her bones in an instant.

That's part of the awesome bard magic to me, the ability to shape words into weapons. What a wizard does with bullets of force, a bard does with barbed tongues.

That said, it is a cantrip. Would not be shocked if it did no damage in 5e.