Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Saving the Bard
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7824394" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>Rather than debating the mechanical details of one PC build in one RPG, can we talk about the role, in FRPGing or similar mediaeval-themed RPGing, of a bard-type character?</p><p></p><p>So we're talking here about a character who is personable or even charming; who is a traveller; who perhaps knows bits and pieces of lore, or is a storyteller; and who - when we think about adventure RPGing - is probably a bit roguish or a thief or con-artist.</p><p></p><p>For that sort of character to be viable, what do we need?</p><p></p><p><em>Setting</em>: plenty of people about to be charmed or conned; tales that are worth telling or lore that is worth knowing; new places to go to when old ones get too hot!</p><p></p><p><em>System</em>: some sort of social mechanic, so that the charming and the conning can be resolved in an engaging way that doesn't involve pre-determined outcomes; probably some sort of mechanic for determining what happens if you work a crowd picking pockets, or busking, or similar; and if you want to be part of a bigger team, some sort of mechanic for conferring benefits of rousing a crowd, or distracting it, or similar.</p><p></p><p>I mentioned Prince Valiant upthread, and it handles all this sort of thing straightforwardly. It's default setting - an Arthurian Britain (and Europe) as a backdrop to knight errantry - is perfect. Cortex+ Heroic would do all this well also, both system and easily accommodating the requisite setting (the closest I've come to GMing a bard character in that system is Nightcrawler in our MHRP game). HeroQuest revised is another example. I don't have any Fate experience, but think it should be able to handle all this too.</p><p></p><p>I also mentioned RM upthread. It has a (slightly creaky) social resolution system that can handle some of the charming and conning although leaning a bit more heavily on GM fiat than is my taste these days. It hasn't got a good system for working a crowd for money, and it has no system - other than GM fiat - for rousing or distracting a crowd to the benefit of one's companions.</p><p></p><p>I'll leave it to others to consider these matters through a D&D lens.</p><p></p><p>EDIT: One of the better movie representations of a bard that I know is Geoffrey Chaucer in <em>A Knight's Tale</em>.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7824394, member: 42582"] Rather than debating the mechanical details of one PC build in one RPG, can we talk about the role, in FRPGing or similar mediaeval-themed RPGing, of a bard-type character? So we're talking here about a character who is personable or even charming; who is a traveller; who perhaps knows bits and pieces of lore, or is a storyteller; and who - when we think about adventure RPGing - is probably a bit roguish or a thief or con-artist. For that sort of character to be viable, what do we need? [I]Setting[/I]: plenty of people about to be charmed or conned; tales that are worth telling or lore that is worth knowing; new places to go to when old ones get too hot! [I]System[/I]: some sort of social mechanic, so that the charming and the conning can be resolved in an engaging way that doesn't involve pre-determined outcomes; probably some sort of mechanic for determining what happens if you work a crowd picking pockets, or busking, or similar; and if you want to be part of a bigger team, some sort of mechanic for conferring benefits of rousing a crowd, or distracting it, or similar. I mentioned Prince Valiant upthread, and it handles all this sort of thing straightforwardly. It's default setting - an Arthurian Britain (and Europe) as a backdrop to knight errantry - is perfect. Cortex+ Heroic would do all this well also, both system and easily accommodating the requisite setting (the closest I've come to GMing a bard character in that system is Nightcrawler in our MHRP game). HeroQuest revised is another example. I don't have any Fate experience, but think it should be able to handle all this too. I also mentioned RM upthread. It has a (slightly creaky) social resolution system that can handle some of the charming and conning although leaning a bit more heavily on GM fiat than is my taste these days. It hasn't got a good system for working a crowd for money, and it has no system - other than GM fiat - for rousing or distracting a crowd to the benefit of one's companions. I'll leave it to others to consider these matters through a D&D lens. EDIT: One of the better movie representations of a bard that I know is Geoffrey Chaucer in [I]A Knight's Tale[/I]. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Saving the Bard
Top