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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Benjamin Olson" data-source="post: 7893597" data-attributes="member: 6988941">Yeah, they get a fair number of such options. But they're spell list is far more heavily support oriented than the other casters (arcane casters at least). You can, of course, build classes a wide variety of ways, and a Bard doubly so when they get their magical secrets (if you play that long). But their main damage cantrip has the smallest possible damage die with a debuff rider, and that is the general vibe of the class' magic. The class list is very thematic, and support is a big part of the theme of a class whose iconic ability is to give other people an extra die to roll. It's not that they can't be the MVP in an encounter, it's that nearly any other class will be more often, particularly at lower levels.In any case, all I'm really getting at is that the particular field where the Bard surpasses all others is in social encounters, and expertise heavily supports this. They are also the class designed to be able to fill in the holes in the party, and being able to invest expertise in skills that nobody else has the ability score to really excel at is part of what makes them suited to this.</blockquote>