D&D (2024) Bard Playtest discussion

[Ruin Explorer]

I mean in truth the school of Necromancy should be renamed 'Animancy' or 'Biomancy' and be about the entire circle of life and death, in which case healing would go here. But the Necromancer concept is so ingrained in D&D that no one has really ever tried broaching the idea of changing the school's name to make the healing spells really fit. So what can you do?

What's really dumb is in fantasy literature, and mythology, life and death usually ARE two sides of the same coin. Someone who can heal you probably can also harm you, magically-speaking. Only D&D would backtrack on that and decide to try and make them entirely separate coins.

 

[Weiley31]

I must say the Cutting Words upgrade is hella neat and lends itself to the mental image of taking somebody out with a verbal smackdown. The Bard's version of Eldritch Blast if ya will.
Also: Songs of Restoration is a really awesome thing. And as I mentioned before in the main Expert Class thread, it
reminds me of it being the Bard's version of Patron Spells, Oath Spells, and Domain Spells.

And going by that logic, a Bard having choices of "Songs" that do things is really intriguing. So, if you have Songs of Restoration, you get healing spells. If you have Songs of Misdirection, you get Illusion spells, etc etc. I mean, really different Bard subclasses going forward would be able to do that if the idea goes through during the playtest survey.

 

[TwoSix]

And going by that logic, a Bard having choices of "Songs" that do things is really intriguing. So, if you have Songs of Restoration, you get healing spells. If you have Songs of Misdirection, you get Illusion spells, etc etc. I mean, really different Bard subclasses going forward would be able to do that if the idea goes through during the playtest survey.

The best part is getting rid of the consistently confusing and not very useful "Song of Rest" ability.

But yea, it wouldn't shock me if "Songs of Restoration" turns out to be a menu of possible spell choices for that level 2 feature.

 

[DEFCON 1]

What's really dumb is in fantasy literature, and mythology, life and death usually ARE two sides of the same coin. Someone who can heal you probably can also harm you, magically-speaking. Only D&D would backtrack on that and decide to try and make them entirely separate coins.

I dunno if I'd say only D&D. The Necromancer is such a defining villain identity in fantasy literature that it appears everywhere, and D&D is just following the flow of the river to let players play that fantasy. I mean even though 'animancy' and 'biomancy' might be more applicable names, I fully admit they both sound pretty goofy and are not nearly as cool as necromancy. So I won't dock WotC points for staying with the name but then trying to place their healing spells in a different school.

 

[Weiley31]

I dunno if I'd say only D&D. The Necromancer is such a defining villain identity in fantasy literature that it appears everywhere, and D&D is just following the flow of the river to let players play that fantasy. I mean even though 'animancy' and 'biomancy' might be more applicable names, I fully admit they both sound pretty goofy and are not nearly as cool as necromancy. So I won't dock WotC points for staying with the name but then trying to place their healing spells in a different school.

Agreed. It just wouldn't be the same if Necromancer/Necromancy had its name changed like that.

 

[Krachek]

The fact that bards can now swap out their spells every day with anything on their list just puts their flexibility even further beyond. That ability alone is an incredible boost in class power.

Don’t worry all caster will do the same!

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Bardic Inspiration as a reaction is a great idea. It will speed up combat, too, because it removes the time on your turn to assess who could use Bardic Inspiration most in the coming round - now you immediately know. Also, being able to heal with it is a great utility for rescuing downed PCs.

Agreed. There's also been an issue in the past that the Bard will give someone their Bardic Inspiration, but the PC will never use it because the Player forgets about it. It being a reaction makes it solely on the Bard to remember, which makes it far less likely to be forgotten.

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Side Note: Did anyone else notice how Cantrips are prepared now? Because that's interesting.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Sometimes I felt like such a noodge at the table, always reminding people that they had bardic inspiration if they want to use it. And then there were the times they'd use it and get a 24 before they even calculated it in.

Agreed. There's also been an issue in the past that the Bard will give someone their Bardic Inspiration, but the PC will never use it because the Player forgets about it. It being a reaction makes it solely on the Bard to remember, which makes it far less likely to be forgotten.

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Side Note: Did anyone else notice how Cantrips are prepared now? Because that's interesting.

 

[Gorck]

I finally got home from work and got a chance to start reading this playtest. I got as far as page 4 before noticing a peculiarity: the Bard is proficient with Simple Weapons, but then the Starting Equipment lists a Shortsword. Either it's a typo, or Shortswords are going to move form Martial to Simple.

 

[Weiley31]

I finally got home from work and got a chance to start reading this playtest. I got as far as page 4 before noticing a peculiarity: the Bard is proficient with Simple Weapons, but then the Starting Equipment lists a Shortsword. Either it's a typo, or Shortswords are going to move form Martial to Simple.

They are INDEED Simple Weapons now.