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ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Neil Aitken" data-source="post: 1452323" data-attributes="member: 17811">I think I'm fond of playing bards largely because I'm somewhat of a bard in RL (I write poetry, read at open mic venues, and will be starting my MFA in Creative Writing this fall).  Being a bit on the introverted side, I'm usually not standing up and acting out my bard abilities, but I do compose lyrics to commemorate our actions following each gaming session.  Often I write parodies of popular songs, and have produced such cult classics as:*The Fate of A Courageous Band (based off of Gilligan's Island Theme)*The Devil Down in the Dungeon (based off of The Devil Went Down to Georgia)*Snuffed the Magic Dragon (really, this was quite fun)*Eye of the Beholder (yep, the standard Eye of the Tiger rip-off)As a bard, I've also written original work - usually eulogies and dirges for fallen comrades.  These are sometimes performed in-game, and usually posted on our yahoo group list for posterity.In terms of practical roleplaying - I tend to run a support bard.  Being fairly smart and aware of one's mortality, I focus on accomplishing the necessary tasks which sometimes get forgotten in the midst of battle:  pulling the levers, creating diversions (bluff), retrieving items and transporting things between other players.  I will admit though, that the best bard I ever ran was actually a rogue/wizard who told everyone he was a bard  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />   It took some people a long time before they realized that there really wasn't any special "bardic damage modifier" in 3.0.  One of the best bard variants I have seen was a gnomish Rogue/Speaker in a Midnight d20 game.  Everything was built into his Bluff and Diplomacy, and by the end of the campaign he could talk his way out of almost any combat (he had almost epic level modifiers around +50 to +60).  We neutralized several potentially fatal encounters because he chose to speak first before attacking.In general, I've probably played my bards as intelligent witty and sometimes sarcastic characters.  One option I've recently entertained though has been to create a Mime bard wizard or sorceror levels.  I think having a silent bard who pantomimes everything could be quite fun -- especially if that was how he cast spells.</blockquote>

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