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Bards have an identity problem!
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<blockquote data-quote="Marandahir" data-source="post: 8073020" data-attributes="member: 6803643"><p>Bards are artists, performers, creatives. They're dabblers in magic, with full spellcasting and a broad range of spells that seem to be drawn from all of the Wizard, Cleric, Druid, and Sorcerer lists, not any one other casters. But while they have access to many different types of spells that they can learn, they have very limited numbers of individual spells known, more akin to that of a Ranger in that sense.</p><p></p><p>They're also skillmonkeys like a rogue and not entirely useless in melee combat (and the Colleges of Swords, Valour, Whispers, and the Dirgesinger all have melee-benefitting abilities).</p><p></p><p>They're supporters, beguillers, enchanters, thaumaturgists, musicians, poets, dancers, courtesans, troubadours, artistes, skalds, choir singers, war chanters and war drummers. Music CAN be a major part of the class, but it's not required - performance of some sort, however, is.</p><p></p><p>Your Bard could be a prima donna ballerina, or a Geiko master of tea ceremonies, dance, song, and traditional arts. Your Bard could also be a 4e-style Warlord, or an itinerant jester travelling with a circus. You could be the 1st Viola in an orchestra ensemble (and thus, despite your expertise, the butt of everyone's jokes). You could be a philosopher-senator in a Greco-Romanesque forum, debating the merits of logos, pathos, and ethos. You could be a playwright, an actor, a gladiator, a warrior-poet, a scholar-bureaucrat, or even a phantom thief.</p><p></p><p>This is not an identity problem, it's a THEME.</p><p></p><p>Unlike any other class, The Bard is all about being a Polymath (at best) or a Dilettante (at worst). It's the classic Jack of All Trades, Master of None, and rather than restricting their mastery of spells by halfing the number of spells prepared each day, 5e restricts their spellcasting via a limited number of spells known.</p><p></p><p>Wizards are versatile in that they can know basically every Wizard spell as long as they can find the formula for it and inscribe it into their spellbook.</p><p>Sorcerers are versatile in that they can shape and sculpt their spells with metamagic to do different things with them than they'd normally do.</p><p>Warlocks are versatile in that they can cast all day long with their short rest-recovery spells and at-will invocations that sculpt their cantrips.</p><p>Bards are versatile in that they can learn almost any spell from any spell list and their default spell list crosses the thematic streams of every other spellcaster, to boot.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marandahir, post: 8073020, member: 6803643"] Bards are artists, performers, creatives. They're dabblers in magic, with full spellcasting and a broad range of spells that seem to be drawn from all of the Wizard, Cleric, Druid, and Sorcerer lists, not any one other casters. But while they have access to many different types of spells that they can learn, they have very limited numbers of individual spells known, more akin to that of a Ranger in that sense. They're also skillmonkeys like a rogue and not entirely useless in melee combat (and the Colleges of Swords, Valour, Whispers, and the Dirgesinger all have melee-benefitting abilities). They're supporters, beguillers, enchanters, thaumaturgists, musicians, poets, dancers, courtesans, troubadours, artistes, skalds, choir singers, war chanters and war drummers. Music CAN be a major part of the class, but it's not required - performance of some sort, however, is. Your Bard could be a prima donna ballerina, or a Geiko master of tea ceremonies, dance, song, and traditional arts. Your Bard could also be a 4e-style Warlord, or an itinerant jester travelling with a circus. You could be the 1st Viola in an orchestra ensemble (and thus, despite your expertise, the butt of everyone's jokes). You could be a philosopher-senator in a Greco-Romanesque forum, debating the merits of logos, pathos, and ethos. You could be a playwright, an actor, a gladiator, a warrior-poet, a scholar-bureaucrat, or even a phantom thief. This is not an identity problem, it's a THEME. Unlike any other class, The Bard is all about being a Polymath (at best) or a Dilettante (at worst). It's the classic Jack of All Trades, Master of None, and rather than restricting their mastery of spells by halfing the number of spells prepared each day, 5e restricts their spellcasting via a limited number of spells known. Wizards are versatile in that they can know basically every Wizard spell as long as they can find the formula for it and inscribe it into their spellbook. Sorcerers are versatile in that they can shape and sculpt their spells with metamagic to do different things with them than they'd normally do. Warlocks are versatile in that they can cast all day long with their short rest-recovery spells and at-will invocations that sculpt their cantrips. Bards are versatile in that they can learn almost any spell from any spell list and their default spell list crosses the thematic streams of every other spellcaster, to boot. [/QUOTE]
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