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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kaomera" data-source="post: 3203185" data-attributes="member: 38357">Bard, Marshal, Dragon Shaman; I'm not quite sure how to handle these classes. I'm most familiar with the Bard, but I've got a Dragon Shaman in my current game (I've never actually seen the Marshal in play). I'm not personally much of a fan of the Bard. I just find the whole "musical magic" aspect a bit goofy. That's just a personal preference, as a DM I don't disallow Bards by any means, and I've seen several played very well, creating much fun for everyone involved in the game. Unfortunately I've also had problems with a few players who chose to play as Bards and Dragon Shaman. There seems (in these instances) to be two main things that have gone wrong:1) All of these classes are "Jack-of-All-Trades". While they have their advantages, they aren't really liable to be the best among the PCs in any area. In fact, in my experience they aren't even usually #2. I do tend to run larger games, with 6 to 8 PCs. I think that in a 4-man party they could fill a hole, but they still aren't going to be as good as having a specialist for that role. Most of the well-played Bards I've seen have taken advantage of this, being there to cover holes when another character is elsewhere or else serve as backup, with aid another, etc. The players I've had problems with have often seemed like they expected to be able to compete with the specialists in their own niches... Sometimes it seems like they actually expected to be a "Master-of-All-Trades"... I have found that this causes disappointed players, and disappointed players aren't usually really that much fun to have at the table.2) A lot of players really don't seem to appreciate buffs as much as they (IMHO) should. This extends to other spellcasters, as well, I've had players who will gripe when the Fighter gets an Enlarge Person / Bull's Strength / Haste, because that's a "waste of a spell" that could have been a Magic Missile / Scorching Ray / Fireball... Usually, as long as at least a few players do appreciate getting these kinds of boosts, there isn't any real problem. And a Cleric or Wizard can change which spells they have prepped if no-one actually wants buffs. But the one unique thing a Bard (or Marshal or Dragon Shaman) really brings to the table is their buffs. When no-one actually cares that you're in the back playing your lute (or what Aura(s) you have running...) it's easy for a player to start looking for other areas to excel at, which can lead us back into problem #1...Does that make sense? Am I missing anything here? Is my lack of interest in / experience with these classes causing me problems here? Any suggestions on how to make things more fun for the player of a Dragon Shaman (in particular)?</blockquote>

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