Bard Adjustments

[Sinistar]

Hey there. I would like a little response to this idea. I like running core classes as they are out of the PHB. I don't mind tweaking PrCs any and I am pretty generous with them. But I have always been pretty stingy with the actual base classes.
That said, I recently played in a game where one of the PCs was a Monte alt. Ranger. It seemed OK, and not too bad of a change. So this time I was looking at the Bard and I would like to see what people think about this tweak.

It is actually very similar to Monte's bard in the BOEMII. Except I don't want to use a new spell system. So the Bard has the same BAB, Saves and spell progression as the PHB. However I want to boost the skills to 6/per rather than 4/per. I also like the idea of giving them evasion at around 5th level. However rather than improved evasion later (as in the BOEMII version), I would like to sneak in the Easy Allies ability from the Monsternomicon's Adventuring Scholar prestige class. For those who have not seen it, it allows a character to make a check in each city they go to in order to see if they have any allies handy. Like Indiana Jones and Sala... I thought this was perfect for a mid to high level bard and would like to include it around 10th level or so.

Is this too generous for a Bard in a party with basic PHB classes? Does this give them too much of an advantage?

 

[Crothian]

I thing those changes fit the Bard well, and should not give you any problems.

 

[Spatzimaus]

IMC, both the Bard and Ranger got similar overhauls. Effectively I removed stuff I didn't like (the 2weapon/Ambi for Rangers, healing spells for Bards, and a few other things I won't go into here) and let them pick Bonus Feats from specialized lists.

Rangers: levels 2, 5, and 8 pick a Feat from a limited list (2-Weapon, Ambi, Dodge, Mobility, Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot). You can only use them while in light/no armor, any Feat that depends on them gets the same limitation, and you still have to meet any normal prerequisites.
(I was thinking of extending the progression further, like a Psychic Warrior, but frankly the Ranger spell list is really nice, once they get to decent levels they don't need any help. Plus they still get Track at 1, and the Favored Enemy stuff.)
Bards: levels 2, 6, 10, 14, 18 pick a Feat from a limited list (Armored Caster, armor proficiencies, weapon proficiencies, Leadership, some bard-specific Feats from Song & Silence)

 

[Sinistar]

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate your responses.

I did not think it was too much, though there was some concern with the skill points. Our group has always contended that Intelligence was what boosted the Bard's skill points to the 6 range. In other words the reason why Bards, Clerics and Wizards had low skill points (well I think Bards any way) was because they were expected to have high intelligence scores that would put them into more points.

I have not agreed with that in general, but rather than drop skill points for others (Barbarian at 4?) boost these classes by two each. Has anyone tried this or seen if that makes a difference?
thanks

 

[Crothian]

In mny games Bards get 6 skill points a level. We never had any problem with it. Personally, I tink people get too few skills points in general, but the Bard is the only call that I've increased the number they get. All characters do get extra skill popionts at level one to go into background skills like craft and knowledges.