Bards - Why do so few people play them?

[jemkym]

And The Cast of Supporting Characters

Just tried playing a bard for the first time and didn't really like it that much; he seemed to be reasonably good at everything but didn't excel at anything (apart from his musical abilities).

A bard seems to at his best when helping others (inspiring courage, competence) etc.. I also think there is probably a little confusion as to a bard's abilities such as countersonging etc..

So I've taken a couple of ranks of paladin and now I've got a bardic paladin on my hands... I'm trying to control him, but it's hard!

 

[Glaurung]

I should help Nighfall shamelessly plug our book--so be forewarned

The bards sections of the Player's Guide will delve into the histroy of bards in the Scarred Lands, discuss bardic magic-how and why it works and why it is different from wizard magic, introduce unique SL instruments, NPCs, and epics, and introduce a variety of bardic traditions. An example of a bardic tradition would be the previously discussed Mourners of Hollowfaust--unique groups of bards who share a performance style, goal, or culture. Many of these traditions are linked to a new type of feat called a tradition feat (similar to bloodline for sorcerers, but powers are more varied). In addition, the book will introduce several prestige classes that are appropriate for bards (I had nothing to do with them, so I can't really tell you about them) and new bardic spells (no idea).
The bard is one of my favorite classes, and I think this book really fleshes them out for the SL campaign setting-while being useful material for other settings (and to a lesser extent detailing sorcs and wizards, but who cares about them? )

For those who think bards are "too wimpy" and aren't of any use in combat-I say you're dead wrong.
Has anyone ever used Monte's bard? I was doing about 50 damage per hit as a touch attack using a 1st level spellsong (and making like 3 attacks per round, he had that feat from EM3)--at 15th level, I was doing more damage than the party's fighter! Then I had another bard (PHB) who took levels in Spurlord (see Lords of Darkness)-he could shoot off bolts of negative energy based on his Cha modifier (quite high) and his level, while singing to support the rest of the partyand/or attacking with his rapier. Sure he was an evil bastard-but have you ever thought about how much damage an evil bard can do? They make excellent nemeses (ie, Kefka, Grima, Pharaun (I know he's a wizard, but he's pretty bard-like), etc.)
Well, now I'm rambling-need sleep.

 

[Tyberious Funk]

I've always loved the talking style characters. In d6 Star Wars, I've played a smuggler with high Con and Bargain skills, in Cyberpunk2020 it was usually the Corporate, Fixer or Rockerboy classes... and of course, in D&D it was the Bard. In 2e, a lot of my fast talking attempts failed because there wasn't a mechanism to resolve them really and my DM usually made a ruling based on my outrageous acting. In 3e, the rules are much more friendly to the slick, smooth talker... Diplomacy, Bluff etc. I found my style of play was extremely useful in small groups where you might not want to get caught in battle (eg, in Star Wars, I rather infamously avoided a squad of Stormtroopers by stealing some clothes and dressing up and impersonating a woman).

These days, I play in a much larger group. Most of the characters have things covered - we have some real grunt power from the fighter, the healing and divine powers of a druid and cleric, plenty of spell casters and an insanely munchkin rogue. The guy playing the bard still does pretty well for himself though... I think he gets some serious powerups from magic items. Nonetheless, take a closer look at the spell list for the bard - there is a surprising number of extremely useful (if not necessarily powerful) spells that are lower level for bards than for wizards and sorcs.

I really don't think the class needs any further power. Just some classes take creative roleplaying to be used to their maximum. The bard is one of these.

 

[Nightfall]

Thank you Mike! I appreciate the hard work you put in. I'm sure it will pay off when people see the final product come Feburary.

 

[Xilo]

if you take perform (mime) or perform (interpretive dance), i'm flying home tomorrow to give you the smack down...

I don't know could be fun... I can just see it now. A 2'11 hobbit doing interpretive dance..... *evil grin*

 

[Xilo]

Satire, improv, fire swallowing, sword swallowing, ice dancing...

ohhhh they'r egood too. thanks guys. I've got a lot more out of this thread then I thought I would in the beginning.

 

[KB9JMQ]

If our party didn't have a bard, we'd be hard pressed figuring out what anything was, especially magic items. It's not as if a Horn of Blasting (tm) comes with a warranty card and instructions on use.

"This end towards foe."

LOL Thanks for the new sig

 

[tarchon]

Look out! It's the Bard's Munchkin Fakebook!

 

[garyh]

Re: Re: Bards

That's one of the reasons why I think bards are so fun to play is because of the music! It adds a lot more fun to the role playing experience. A lot of bards I've seen people play don't do anything except say "I'm singing a song now" or "I'm playing a flute now".

True. One of the fun players I've DMed had a half-elf rogue/bard, and when he used his bardic music, he either chanted limmericks or read his original poetry. It was a blast!

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

LOL Thanks for the new sig

I'm quoted in someone's sig - I have made it as an enworlder.
*dancing a happy dance*