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A bard walks into a bar
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<blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 6345424" data-attributes="member: 7635"><p>My rationale (as a bard player myself in 2e, 3e, and PF, had quit 4e before ever trying one). </p><p></p><p>If we imagine the Four Basic Food Group Classes (Fighters, Rogues, Clerics, Wizards) we get a sense of what each classes "role" is (not in 4e sense of the term, but the more generic earlier). Fighters were supposed to be good in melee, wizards had spells, cleric's healed, and rogues were sneaky, larcenous, and trap-finding. </p><p></p><p>Most classes tried to "fill" one of those roles: a druid could be a decent cleric, a ranger or paladin did a fighter's job, a sorcerer was a replacement wizard, etc. A bard didn't. He couldn't fight to fill a fighter's role (low hp/attack), a clerics (no healing in 2e, weak and slow healing in 3e), a wizards (solid in low-level 2e, but lacking in 3e) and a rogues (the four worst thief skills in 2e, and average-good skill points in 3e but no traps thanks to trapfinding). Even with a bard's songs and stuff, they were never good enough to replace a core four member, so they always were the "5th wheel" after you filled the other roles first.</p><p></p><p>4e did break that mold by making them leaders, a tradition the 5e bard proudly carries on. A 5e bard CAN replace a cleric now. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I think this is a major tonal shift: before a bard had hack-eyed casting to support their magical songs and now they are primarily spellcasters and have some minor song-based powers to augment that. Which is why I think the cleric example is apt: bard inspiration is pretty much on par now with Channel Divinity rather than being the be-all-end-all of the bard. I wager they'll be more a debuffer-healer (or in 4e parlance: controller/leader) than the preview walking prayer-spell. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><a href="http://deadgentlemen.com/projects/the-gamers-series/the-gamers/" target="_blank">The Gamers</a> was a COMEDY dude. I'm pretty sure they know (and are making fun of) the perception of bards.</p><p></p><p>Lighten up Francis.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Remathilis, post: 6345424, member: 7635"] My rationale (as a bard player myself in 2e, 3e, and PF, had quit 4e before ever trying one). If we imagine the Four Basic Food Group Classes (Fighters, Rogues, Clerics, Wizards) we get a sense of what each classes "role" is (not in 4e sense of the term, but the more generic earlier). Fighters were supposed to be good in melee, wizards had spells, cleric's healed, and rogues were sneaky, larcenous, and trap-finding. Most classes tried to "fill" one of those roles: a druid could be a decent cleric, a ranger or paladin did a fighter's job, a sorcerer was a replacement wizard, etc. A bard didn't. He couldn't fight to fill a fighter's role (low hp/attack), a clerics (no healing in 2e, weak and slow healing in 3e), a wizards (solid in low-level 2e, but lacking in 3e) and a rogues (the four worst thief skills in 2e, and average-good skill points in 3e but no traps thanks to trapfinding). Even with a bard's songs and stuff, they were never good enough to replace a core four member, so they always were the "5th wheel" after you filled the other roles first. 4e did break that mold by making them leaders, a tradition the 5e bard proudly carries on. A 5e bard CAN replace a cleric now. I think this is a major tonal shift: before a bard had hack-eyed casting to support their magical songs and now they are primarily spellcasters and have some minor song-based powers to augment that. Which is why I think the cleric example is apt: bard inspiration is pretty much on par now with Channel Divinity rather than being the be-all-end-all of the bard. I wager they'll be more a debuffer-healer (or in 4e parlance: controller/leader) than the preview walking prayer-spell. [URL="http://deadgentlemen.com/projects/the-gamers-series/the-gamers/"]The Gamers[/URL] was a COMEDY dude. I'm pretty sure they know (and are making fun of) the perception of bards. Lighten up Francis. [/QUOTE]
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