Re: how about as a PrC
paulewaug said:
In AD&D ("v.1.o")
Bard was basically a prestige class.
After a few levels of Fighter and a few levels of Thief/Rogue you could become a Bard. I Think they were restricted to chain shirt or lighter and certain weapons. (bascially no Greatsword or Greataxe or polearms, etc.)
Maybe you could handle it that way?
d8 hd sounds good to me-
right in the middle of the d6 and d10.
The bard is already generally considered the weakest class in the game. Who in the world would take it as a
prestige class? It'd have to be powered up far more than we're talking here to be attractive vs. the Arcane Trickster, that's for sure...
Originally posted by LazarusLong42
In fact, as I think about it, except at low levels where he can't really use it every combat, this makes the Bard's effective BAB progression very nearly full. Let's see:
I don't think this holds water. You can't base a class's BAB on their ability to buff. If you could, then the wizard has a +15 (
Greater Magic Weapon), the cleric has a +20 (same), and the druid,
wildshaped into a dire ape and
animal growthed...well, let's just say it's high.
You also can't say "with bardic music the bard's BAB is nearly as high as a fighter's" because you're forgetting that bardic music also effects the fighter. So while the bard has a +19 at 20th-level, his bardic music is also giving his fighter buddy a +24. Again, the bard is left behind.
Originally posted by Voadam
OK flavor wise for the class concept, why would the bard be better at striking and making attacks than a monk, cleric or rogue?
Which flavor are you talking about, game-wise, literature-wise, legend-wise?
D&D-wise, PA already gave a good answer. literature-wise, I'm hard-pressed to find any fightin' bards (save perhaps Robin of Locksley, who could arguably have been a bard or a rogue, or perhaps a multiclass). But I'm just as hard-pressed to find a cleric in full-plate, so it's a wash. Legend-wise, again, the other D&D staples are as absent as the bard.
I think a part of what the bard represents is the swashbuckler, more than the fighter or the rogue. The agile PC who whistles a merry tune as he's fighting the mooks up the staircase, then swings across the ballroom on a chandelier. That archtype deserves a better BAB.
Originally posted by Ravellion
I think the good will and reflex saves might make the bard too strong with a full BAB. Casting in chain shirt is also very good because it is more easily upgraded than bracers of armour or the MAge Armour spell, which will net a slight increase in power. Craft MAgic Arms and Armour would be a very good feat to take for the full BAB Bard.
When you say "too strong" what are you comparing it to? Do you believe such a bard would be more powerful than a wizard? Or a druid? Or a ranger? (I'm dropping cleric. After all, we definitely don't want something as or more powerful than the cleric!

)