D&D General Rulings, not Rules: How Will You Solve the Bard / Half Elf Dilemma?

[TwoSix]

Load up on dice, bring your friends
It's fun to roll and to pretend
Twosix is over-bored, and self-assured
Oh no, "bard" is a dirty word ...

When I multiclass, it's more dangerous
Here the bards are, entertain us
UA is stupid, and contagious,
Here the bards are, entertain us
A mulatto, what's my THAC0,
18 double zero, my libido, yeah

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

When I multiclass, it's more dangerous
Here the bards are, entertain us
UA is stupid, and contagious,
Here the bards are, entertain us
A mulatto, what's my THAC0,
18 double zero, my libido, yeah

And Twosix forgets that bards eat paste
Oh yeah, I guess that makes me smile
I killed the bard, wasn't hard to find
Oh well, whatever, never mind

 

[TwoSix]

As a total aside, it never made sense to me that the long-lived races were the ones that leveled multiple classes simultaneously, but the ambitious, short-lived race only did one thing at a time and then would switch. Wouldn't dual classing make more sense for the races with level limits, that have hundreds of years to get better at new things? And wouldn't the ambitious, driven race try to do multiple things at once?

 

[HalfOrc HalfBiscuit]

Ban half-elves.

 

[Voadam]

I think the most natural reading is that bards are a pre-3e prestige class using the dual class rules and as written contradict those rules in the stat prereqs and half-elf aspects.

If I had a player ask about being a 1e PH half-elf bard as written I would like the unified single bard class theory that they are bards from the get go, but it looks a lot like a fighter to start who must then switch within the specified window to become like a thief, then switch again within a specified level range to become a bard trained by druids. This would mean they would have the bard limits and options for armor, shields, weapons, alignment, and such from level 1 on when they are like fighters.

While the full dual class requirement is a natural and reasonable reading, it is not a necessary one and hidden gnostic 1e technical paths are kind of aesthetically pleasing to make something work with the 1e RAW.

I would probably also allow the original bard class from The Strategic Review and the 2e one as options too (I forget if they allow half elves). When I did a Pathfinder 1e to AD&D 1e conversion for while the party entered the Fey First World where reality seemed more primal but ruled by weird esoteric rules that were difficult to parse out, I had the party kitsune bard use the original bard class and not the 1e version as his feyworld version class.

 

[Lord Shark]

This is why nobody at my table became a bard in 1e.

There was an article in The Dragon that had a 1E bard class that was not a sadistic practical joke. We used that on the rare occasions someone wanted to play a bard.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I wish I had known the Dragon magazine bard even existed back then. It's a far better, more coherent, class than the proto-prestige class of the 1e bard.

I actually did play a bard in 1e, going through all the hoops. And by the time I qualified, I was bored of playing that character. Figures, but at least I can say I actually did play a 1e bard.

 

[nevin]

The rules for Bard if actually followed require so much investment in time that if someone were willing to suffer through the penalties for Dual Classing I'd let it happen. Remember when Dual Classing you have access to all your abilities but if you use any of the higher level abilities you get no experience in the class you are leveling for that encounter. Which usually means you are running around with much lower level abilities, than everyone else for a loooooong time to get there. since 1977 i've never seen anyone willing to do what it takes to actually get there. I've only seen a few dual class. in 1e it just wasn't worth the effort and pain.

 

[AmerginLiath]

In actual play, we only ever used the Dragon Magazine version to do a half-elf bard (my brother played one), but I just voted #4 because I thought of a way for the multiclassing rule to work here.

A half-elf fighter/thief could qualify for the level requirements and enter the bard class (which is a special case versus a traditional dual-classing). However, note that it’s explicit that only humans can dual-class, therefore the new half-elf bard doesn’t benefit from the rule wherein he can again use his old fighter and thief abilities when his bard level matches his old levels — he has to stay completely dedicated to his new path to continue gaining XP. That seems Gygaxian to me.

 

[Sithlord]

The rules for Bard if actually followed require so much investment in time that if someone were willing to suffer through the penalties for Dual Classing I'd let it happen. Remember when Dual Classing you have access to all your abilities but if you use any of the higher level abilities you get no experience in the class you are leveling for that encounter. Which usually means you are running around with much lower level abilities, than everyone else for a loooooong time to get there. since 1977 i've never seen anyone willing to do what it takes to actually get there. I've only seen a few dual class. in 1e it just wasn't worth the effort and pain.

Yes. I got my first bars to 3rd level then failed a death save. That was is in 1990. I am playing my second one now that is a 5th level bard. Now consider that the rest of the party is about 11th level. If not for a couple problems i could have got there a little earlier. And I am no where near the most powerful member of the party. In fact my playmates and DM tease me about being a masochist and i should have just played a Druid.