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General Tabletop Discussion
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E)
Battle Hymn Mechanics
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<blockquote data-quote="Heraldofi" data-source="post: 8720374" data-attributes="member: 35058"><p>My understanding is that you're correct that it's entirely outside the action system. The decision chart is thus:</p><p></p><p>Bard's Turn</p><p>1. Activate Hymn?</p><p>1a. Choose Hymn</p><p>1b. Spend Bardic Inspiration</p><p>2. Normal actions</p><p></p><p>Other turns at any point:</p><p>1. Choose target for Hymn</p><p>(Most of the abilities modify a roll/react to circumstance, so the triggers are pretty obvious for when to use them)</p><p></p><p>Bard's Next Turn</p><p>1. Does Hymn have target?</p><p>1a. If no: Sustain for free (essentially just holding it for another round to activate later)</p><p>1b. If yes: Hymn ends.</p><p></p><p>The design achieves a few things:</p><p>Pro: it's not an action, so you can still cast spells and hand out other Bardic inspirations/make attacks on your turn in addition to doing something musical. </p><p></p><p>Con: You have to commit to what benefit you're going to hand out before you know it's necessary. You might be able to disadvantage enemy attacks, provide a save boost, or do an emergency heal, but you have to commit to which effect you're queuing up before it applies.</p><p></p><p>I think this filled a real hole I felt like the 5e bard had, where they didn't have any real incentive to perform in combat, outside of the implied performances in their spell components. "Start singing to give a bonus to your friends" from Inspire Courage and other bard songs in previous editions felt missed, but those abilities were not very dynamic and mostly just a set it and forget it type thing. Now the bard has a few different buffs to play with, but has to decide which one they want to prepare.</p><p></p><p>The text is also more fiddly than ability really is in play. If you're willing to tie up your concentration for a buff (Battle Hymn focus at 4 will make that either a lot more appealing when it's a team buff, or free if you remove the concentration requirement), you pick the one you want, and then wait until it becomes relevant. Only after you've spent it do you have to worry about picking a new one.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Heraldofi, post: 8720374, member: 35058"] My understanding is that you're correct that it's entirely outside the action system. The decision chart is thus: Bard's Turn 1. Activate Hymn? 1a. Choose Hymn 1b. Spend Bardic Inspiration 2. Normal actions Other turns at any point: 1. Choose target for Hymn (Most of the abilities modify a roll/react to circumstance, so the triggers are pretty obvious for when to use them) Bard's Next Turn 1. Does Hymn have target? 1a. If no: Sustain for free (essentially just holding it for another round to activate later) 1b. If yes: Hymn ends. The design achieves a few things: Pro: it's not an action, so you can still cast spells and hand out other Bardic inspirations/make attacks on your turn in addition to doing something musical. Con: You have to commit to what benefit you're going to hand out before you know it's necessary. You might be able to disadvantage enemy attacks, provide a save boost, or do an emergency heal, but you have to commit to which effect you're queuing up before it applies. I think this filled a real hole I felt like the 5e bard had, where they didn't have any real incentive to perform in combat, outside of the implied performances in their spell components. "Start singing to give a bonus to your friends" from Inspire Courage and other bard songs in previous editions felt missed, but those abilities were not very dynamic and mostly just a set it and forget it type thing. Now the bard has a few different buffs to play with, but has to decide which one they want to prepare. The text is also more fiddly than ability really is in play. If you're willing to tie up your concentration for a buff (Battle Hymn focus at 4 will make that either a lot more appealing when it's a team buff, or free if you remove the concentration requirement), you pick the one you want, and then wait until it becomes relevant. Only after you've spent it do you have to worry about picking a new one. [/QUOTE]
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