A dilemma about the contest...

[Vaxalon]

If I were going to set up my campaign for just myself, I'd use Monte Cook's Bard. I'm not sure I can use it if I get into the ten-pager. I'll wager WotC only wants to see WotC content.

Woof.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Possibly true because of cross-licensing issues.

However, I would like to bet that they would consider a setting where magic was fundamentally changed - and involved potential changes to the Bard class (or others). I didn't do this because I was working on the basis of my existing campaign, but I considered the idea - e.g. magic doesn't have schools but has elements - such as fire, earth, water, air, darkness and music - or Up, Down, Strangeness and Charm