Big J Money
Adventurer
I'll admit I'm not a huge fan of the bard class, although there are bard PCs and NPCs that I've loved along the way.
I'm running a 5E game without the PHBook and not very happy with the vague Bard writeup in the basic rules, so here goes my attempt. At the end are the Names of Power that my player is using. They're simply renames of existing Bard spells; see if you can figure out which is which!
Names of Power
Bardic spells aren’t at all like spells studied and cast by wizards, nor the power granted to holy zealots by their patron deities. No, bards are all born under the sign of, well, the first bard; and this makes them special. And sometimes unwelcome.
Millenia ago, Bards and Druids were together the greatest sages and teachers in the early civilized world. Druids knowing the sacred magic of the World’s Spirit, and Bards understanding its Infernal Power. Humans respected and feared the Druids and the Bards, but over time fear won as religious Imperial might took over the kingdoms.
Since then, the role of the Bard has changed. No longer masters and teachers, Bards have learned to become performers and entertainers; down-playing the intuition and power they can summon and increasing their worth and value in the eyes of their peers. In the most religious or ordered of locales, Bards are still seen as a nuisance and source of trouble, but in most places they are valued for the skills and gifts they bring in the way of art and spectacle.
Unlike a Druid, it’s not possible for one to become a Bard; it must be inborn, and breeding has no part of it, as far as anyone knows. Ones born under the sign of first Bard with the forgotten name possess the ability to call on the various names of the World’s Power. This is no easy task, however, and a Bard can only suffer channeling the names of such great power so much before they must rest. Because of this, and because of Bards’ elusive and mercurial nature, even most Wizards and Clerics have never seen a Bard actually speak a Name of Power; many doubt they can.
Bards also use this power in more subtle and controlled ways to fortify their entertaining arts with magic, or call on more pedestrain names of reliable household magics; much like the cantrips of Wizards.
All bardic names use a Verbal component only. These words uttered into being by Bards are only understood by other Bards, and even then only by those who know the same names. Bardic names can never be countered nor dispelled except by another Bard more strongly wielding the same name (compared roll). Bards cannot cast rituals.
List of Names rumored to be known by the Ever-Captivating Baptiste:
Household Names
Name of Whispers
Name of Mockery
1st Level Names of Power
Name of Ruin
Name of Friendship
Name of Language
Name of Revelry
I'm running a 5E game without the PHBook and not very happy with the vague Bard writeup in the basic rules, so here goes my attempt. At the end are the Names of Power that my player is using. They're simply renames of existing Bard spells; see if you can figure out which is which!
Names of Power
Bardic spells aren’t at all like spells studied and cast by wizards, nor the power granted to holy zealots by their patron deities. No, bards are all born under the sign of, well, the first bard; and this makes them special. And sometimes unwelcome.
Millenia ago, Bards and Druids were together the greatest sages and teachers in the early civilized world. Druids knowing the sacred magic of the World’s Spirit, and Bards understanding its Infernal Power. Humans respected and feared the Druids and the Bards, but over time fear won as religious Imperial might took over the kingdoms.
Since then, the role of the Bard has changed. No longer masters and teachers, Bards have learned to become performers and entertainers; down-playing the intuition and power they can summon and increasing their worth and value in the eyes of their peers. In the most religious or ordered of locales, Bards are still seen as a nuisance and source of trouble, but in most places they are valued for the skills and gifts they bring in the way of art and spectacle.
Unlike a Druid, it’s not possible for one to become a Bard; it must be inborn, and breeding has no part of it, as far as anyone knows. Ones born under the sign of first Bard with the forgotten name possess the ability to call on the various names of the World’s Power. This is no easy task, however, and a Bard can only suffer channeling the names of such great power so much before they must rest. Because of this, and because of Bards’ elusive and mercurial nature, even most Wizards and Clerics have never seen a Bard actually speak a Name of Power; many doubt they can.
Bards also use this power in more subtle and controlled ways to fortify their entertaining arts with magic, or call on more pedestrain names of reliable household magics; much like the cantrips of Wizards.
All bardic names use a Verbal component only. These words uttered into being by Bards are only understood by other Bards, and even then only by those who know the same names. Bardic names can never be countered nor dispelled except by another Bard more strongly wielding the same name (compared roll). Bards cannot cast rituals.
List of Names rumored to be known by the Ever-Captivating Baptiste:
Household Names
Name of Whispers
Name of Mockery
1st Level Names of Power
Name of Ruin
Name of Friendship
Name of Language
Name of Revelry
