Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Dan'L" data-source="post: 5064974" data-attributes="member: 68954">*shrug* Well we've got ourselves a horse race, because it always seems goofy to me to build a bard that way.&nbsp; If I were to make a list of words to describe what &quot;bard&quot; meant to me (outside of D&amp;D) &quot;sword-wielding&quot; and &quot;tak(ing) it SERIOUSLY, damn it&quot; would probably not be in the top 50.I mean, I know it's kind of become the D&amp;D standard that a bard is someone who gets in the middle of the donnybrook sword a-swinging, because at the end of the day it's a battle game and you don't want your player to feel left out.&nbsp; But there's still a big disconnect for me between the minstrel and the mercenary.&nbsp; For me, a bard is like a frontline reporter, offering support and telling the world what is going on out there, and enjoying their job &amp; finding fulfillment in it because if they didn't then they wouldn't be doing it.&nbsp; They report through performance, be it a song or a story-hour (because that's what it takes to get people to pay attention and hear) and consequently know how to manipulate an audienceWhile I can understand sometimes a reporter will roll up their sleeves and get involved with their story, and am happy enough that there's build options available to support that kind of character, I wouldn't expect that to be the rule for all builds.But all this is just a long rambling way to say that it's all in the fluff that you bring to it.&nbsp; If you play your bard goofy, your friends will say &quot;bards are goofy.&quot;&nbsp; If you play your bards as &quot;sword-wielding, spell-slinging, rousing battlesong-singing people who take it SERIOUSLY, damn it&quot; and your friends find that kickbutt cool and fun, then your friends should say &quot;bards are kickbutt cool and fun.&quot;-Dan'L</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dan'L, post: 5064974, member: 68954"] *shrug* Well we've got ourselves a horse race, because it always seems goofy to me to build a bard [I]that[/I] way. If I were to make a list of words to describe what "bard" meant to me (outside of D&D) "sword-wielding" and "tak(ing) it SERIOUSLY, damn it" would probably not be in the top 50. I mean, I know it's kind of become the D&D standard that a bard is someone who gets in the middle of the donnybrook sword a-swinging, because at the end of the day it's a battle game and you don't want your player to feel left out. But there's still a big disconnect for me between the minstrel and the mercenary. For [I]me[/I], a bard is like a frontline reporter, offering support and telling the world what is going on out there, and enjoying their job & finding fulfillment in it because if they didn't then they wouldn't be doing it. They report through performance, be it a song or a story-hour (because that's what it takes to get people to pay attention and hear) and consequently know how to manipulate an audience While I can understand sometimes a reporter will roll up their sleeves and get involved with their story, and am happy enough that there's build options available to support that kind of character, I wouldn't expect that to be the rule for all builds. But all this is just a long rambling way to say that it's all in the fluff that you bring to it. If you play your bard goofy, your friends will say "bards are goofy." If you play your bards as "sword-wielding, spell-slinging, rousing battlesong-singing people who take it SERIOUSLY, damn it" and your friends find that kickbutt cool and fun, then your friends should say "bards are kickbutt cool and fun." -Dan'L [/QUOTE]

Verification