Designers: Say Yes to Bards! Save the Class

[variant]

Mechanics are just mechanics. A bard could easily be made mechanically a striker or a leader.

Relax. According to Andy Collins at the "Future of D&D" seminar at GenCon, every class that's in the 3.5 PHB will appear in 4E eventually. So even if it's not in the 4E PHB, you can expect to see it at some point.

I don't want an eventually. My favorite character is a Bard from clear back to 2nd edition and I want the Bard immediately.

Bards (and Druids) should appear in a Celtic lands sourcebook. It should also have a section on fey, and everything else that is typical of the British isles. Whenever I think Bard, I think Fflewder Fflam. It has always bugged me that they expect these icons of specific world cultures to fit into every campaign . . .

D&D is primarily based around the European mythology including the Celts. It's is all the other junk like Monk that needs to go.

 

[Riley]

In 3e, it got worse, with reasons to sing all the time instead of doing other things, and few reasons not to. In 3.0 he lost his leather armor, then got it back in 3.5.

My favorite 3e bard was a wizard/rogue with a few ranks in perform. Much more fun than wasting your time "inspiring confidence" by singing in battle.

 

[JoeGKushner]

The bard should go back to the way in was in 1st edition! The original PrC!

Nah, just kidding. The bard as it stands doesn't offer a lot of... uniqueness to the game that is actually useful. Monte's take was interesting because it was different.

What defines a bard? Musical special abilities? Entertainment? Singing?

It would seem that with the idea of talent trees, that some other core (skill user?) could easily be customized to fill most of those roles.

 

[GMSkarka]

Actually, I would like to see the Bard return to the 1st Edition-style Celtic bard. A character that inspired a bit of awe, simply because you knew that they had to have levels of Druid, and Cleric, and Fighter, etc.

I don't think they work as a core class, really -- and that's coming from somebody who *loves* the Bardic archetype.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Heroism, haste, rage, remove fear. Admittedly, bards don't get prayer.

Okay, then, after four rounds of a combat . . .

 

[howandwhy99]

This is one of the things on messageboards that just boggles my mind. Designers cannot lock Bards in the closet. They cannot kill all the Gnomes. They cannot transform Paladins into a Prestige Class for high level characters only. Nor can they put Tieflings in the game. Or two-headed flails. Or two-headed whips!

They are not publishing 4E as a setting. These are rules, and presumably, you and your DM will be able to use the rules to create whatever setting elements you wish and remove the ones you don't.

How scared of creating rules have we become?

If they cut gnomes from the PHB4-1, we will see a hundred different iterations on the internet within the first month.

Remember 3.0 Rangers? And that was simply distaste for the rules actually included.

 

[SSquirrel]

What I would *not* like to see is an implementation like the one that exists now, where they are basically a rogue/sorcerer multiclass, with some of the abilities of each, but half the power and little of the style...

I really liked how Bards played, but my group was not exactly bard friendly w/the style of adventures we went on. I actually really appreciated the fact that bards could use healing magic. Made things a lil easier on our priest. Then again, if I play Arcana Evolved I don't have to worry about the Arcane/Divine split

 

[Nifft]

I'd like to see 1e Bards back in the game. It was the first PrC, it deserves to stay a PrC.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Selvarin]

Yes, bards as a PrC!

I liked it like that in 1E, and frankly by making bards a PrC in 4e (almost as shown in Unearthed Arcana) would be a step up...

 

[SSquirrel]

I had already turned Paladins and Bards into PrCs in my game anyway. Not a biggie for me if they're a PrC instead