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Message: <blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 6274328" data-attributes="member: 3192">This is an interesting take. The core question for a Bard's spellcasting is: Is the source of effects arcane (inner plane) or divine (outer plane) or something completely different? I like the clerical bent with healing and emotion. Perhaps there could be a slight throwback to the Druidic subclass where Divine Magic is from the Prime Material realm? Gaia, earth, nature or whatever is for Druids worship directly, but for the Bard the arts, music, dance, storytelling, etc might be used as a manifestation of the former? This would still be divine power though, so I'd see a mystical tradition as the best possible answer. It partially answers the question, "Where do the powers the Bard derive from?" Players might be more specific, or settings. For some it may be soul-based, for others divine creatures in the world. Perhaps quasi-deities like the Fairie Queen? If not these sources, then perhaps more mundane in nature. Bit music and dance in more scientific understanding definitely go the other way: Arcane magic. Also, magical beings like nymphs and satyrs sing and dance, but they are not usually divine creatures...though maybe their magic is due to partaking in divine practices themselves so their magic comes from gods? It depends on the campaign really. It's interesting to speculate.On the other side, not the affective, emotive or healing spells, are the words of power and trickery magic. Words of power are traditionally arcane, but as scripture, the names of gods, demons, devils, etc., they could work as well. The magical arts involved in trickery on the other hand are basically like enchantments and illusions, squarely in the arcane side again traditionally. However, I could see how those could be understood as a particular focus within the artistic realm. Charisma, wooing, evoking emotion to sway others feelings and thoughts. "Sneak dancing". Painting a picture to confuse someone. Those are definitely in the Bard's wheelhouse, so perhaps these could be divinely assisted mundane acts for the Bardic Inspiration mechanic. Or maybe the mechanic isn't spellcasting at all? By design I don't think it should be. It should be useful all the time. Or limited by endurance to play for long periods. As it stands the Bardic Inspiration mechanic fails due to its metagame nature, like using luck points with no in-game reference to tell players.Also, I'd be interested to hear how the skill features of the class apply to games which don't use skills or checks at all.</blockquote>

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