Evil Bard Prestige Class?

[Thebalrog]

Creating an NPC that is evil or at least pretty bad. Was wondering if anyone knew of any interesting Prestige classes, official or not is fine, that I could put him in to, to spice him up a bit and that would still maintain singing or bardic stuff as his primary skills.

 

[Al]

There's nothing to prevent a virtuoso (Song & Silence) from being evil. Especially combined with the class abilities and skills, he could make a very interesting 'roleplaying' villain- it's unlikely that the PCs can storm a crowded theatre and assassinate the main performer without arousing a few suspicions from the local guard.

 

[F5]

It's not exactly genre-approporate, but for a primer on how to run a high-level, Evil Bard you should go see (rent, whatever) Phantom of the Opera. The Phantom has this bizarre charisma that he uses to manipulate people throughout the show (Bardic ability: fascinate and Suggestion). He has a whole network of secret tunnels and passages in the Paris Opera House that he uses to vanish and re-appear (lots of ranks in Hide and MS, plus a Knowlege skill of some kind). And throughout the whole thing he's kind of vaguely magical without actually throwing obvious spells around. That, and he's all kinds of evil, and the half-mask just looks cool.

 

[Voadam]

There is the dark minstrel from Librum Equitis 1 and the Enchiridion of Mystic Music which is a sort of dark bard based on tragedy. Also the Enchiridion also has extra bardic abilities and mechanisms for aquiring them, as well as other bard prestige classes such as using bard music to summon outsiders. Check out my review of it on the reviews page if you are interested. Also there is a necromantic bard from the Hollowfaust accessory but I don't remember their specifics off the top of my head.

 

[The Dungeon Nazi]

There is the dark minstrel from Librum Equitis 1 and the Enchiridion of Mystic Music which is a sort of dark bard based on tragedy. Also the Enchiridion also has extra bardic abilities and mechanisms for aquiring them, as well as other bard prestige classes such as using bard music to summon outsiders. Check out my review of it on the reviews page if you are interested. Also there is a necromantic bard from the Hollowfaust accessory but I don't remember their specifics off the top of my head.

That Dark Minstrel was WAY too gothy for me. I recommend using skills and feats to create something like the AD&D bard kit called the Blade, whose performances onstage involved elaborate displays of deadly-looking swordplay. He dresses in stuff like black studded leather to add to the intimidation factor, and when adventuring, played up that whole angle of being a man who was deadly with a blade.

The kit also talks about how he'd take spells like Invisibility and Hold Person in order to act as an assassin after-hours, using his position as an entertainer to gain the confidence of the local rich, tyrannical landlords and then sneak into their bedchambers after dark to paralyze them and bleed them to death, or some similar form of torture.

 

[Psion]

I thought the Dark Minstrel in LE1 was excellent. A bit gothy and tragic? Yeah, that's pretty much the concept. But funny how tolerable and even interesting the tragic-goth yarn becomes when you aren't inundated by it from every direction.

 

[gamecat]

Evil bards? Don't they travel in packs of nine and wear masks and coveralls?

 

[warpmind]

In the SL's Hollowfaust you can find a quite sinister PC for bards. It's not designed specifically for evil bards but it's the best option I've seen for playing such a character.
The main problem is that I don't like using PCs from a campaign setting on another one. If it's not your problem, I think this PC can be ine of your best options.

 

[the Jester]

If you're interested, I could post the orcish war beater prestige class, which is an evil bardic drummer class. They can eventually do things like inspire their allies with a barbarian rage, rally troops, name a champion who receives many enhancement bonuses, or allow everyone an extra move-equivelent action each round (doubletime).

 

[Thebalrog]

Sure, actually I'd like to hear more about the Warbeater and the "Necromantic Bard". Is the Dark Minstrel open sourced anywhere yet?