Bards as the only spellcasters?

[Particle_Man]

How would the game world change if Bards were the only spellcasting class around?

 

[iwatt]

How would the game world change if Bards were the only spellcasting class around?

Silence would be a very popular spell.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It'd probably change the cultural importance of music. Since every song could be a spell, I imagine it'd kill off the casual use of music pretty quickly, and that likely has all sorts of social ramifications.

 

[rgard]

Silence would be a very popular spell.

lol

 

[Darklone]

I had a campaign a long time ago... with hardly any spellcasters, but all priests were bards.

There were clerics... from an evil theocracy in the north.

A few wizards... some psions. That's it.

Bards were simply... priests, loremasters, scribes (yeah, I removed literacy), sages... everything. But well... Later I added the adept spell list to their list of available spells.

You simply NEED some firepower.

 

[Giltonio_Santos]

I believe the role of magic would be greatly diminished in a campaign setting with only bards as spellcasters. I mean, bardic magic is weak when compared to the magic of wizards and clerics; people would not get teleported or ressurrected, and you'd not even dream of a wizard sweeping the battlefield with fireballs.

Bards are really good in settings based in a paradigm of subtle magic. When I want to DM a low magic setting where the figure of the wizard/priest is still important, I use the bards class all the time.

Cheers,

 

[pawsplay]

No holy weapons.

 

[Korgoth]

How would the game world change if Bards were the only spellcasting class around?

It sounds like an interesting idea to me. Bards have healing magic in 3.5 as I recall. The spellcaster as loremaster angle would be interesting. Perhaps you could play up the magic and music connection by making spells involve some sort of recitation of epic poetry. If these characters would an accepted part of society they would probably be highly respected in the community. Or perhaps they hide themselves away to pursue their tomes in peace, like traditional wizards.

This would be a good baseline for a low-magic fantasy campaign. If you wanted to divorce the class from the musical/poetic elements you could just call the song powers "incantations" or something like that.

 

[Nifft]

No holy weapons.

Wouldn't it be super-ironic if only Bards and Warlocks were around, and only a Warlock could make a Holy weapon?

Cheers, -- N

 

[Particle_Man]

You know, I actually think that would be an interesting plot point. That the only holy weapons are those made by the relatively few good Warlocks (or former Warlocks).