Should the Bard have been primal?

[Dice4Hire]

I see bards as arcane characters. They could be refluffed to be more barbaric, but I still would not see them being a follower of the spirits. But I can see a campaign where they are primal, or divine easily. This kind of jack-of-all-trades guy can be msot any power source, like shadow or psionic.

 

[Garthanos]

Over all I am ok with the Bard as a class being Arcane.I think many of the abilities of the classic bard can feel primal. The fact that I can hybrid in an attempt to achieve that full flavor is great ... the fact that this hybrid is "lame" annoys me to no end. Anyone got ideas on my attempt to build Taliesin above??

Primal Flavoring: Ancestral spirits invoked via song remanifesting in your allies could be seen as a deeper presentation of Bardic inspiration .... what makes it powerful and magic isn't the falsehoods it is the elements of the stories which are real after all without his very real knowledge he would be a minstrel he isnt using deception to inspire but rather truth he is part of the religious hierarchy after all. Animal form might be letting an animal spirit ride you. The pied piper controlling animals is very connecting with nature spirits ... those in living beings.

I was thinking of represent the harm me and you are cursed Bardic Protection effect by using white lotus riposte.

 

[Kzach]

I don't think so. Today's Bard is less of a storyteller, more of a "music as magic" character. It fits more with the Tolkien concept of the music of creation being the magic that underlies reality.

The classic Celtic Bard might have worked as a Primal character but then he'd have been a storyteller, historian, and somewhat of a priest. You'd find him singing clan histories at the deathbed of chiefs, not singing up a fireball.

I agree with this.

The bard of 1st edition would much better suit a paragon path or even an epic destiny. It would require multi-classing and/or hybrid classes just to qualify for

 

[mkill]

If you want to declare Bards as primal at your table there is nothing to stop you. Power Sources in 4th edition are mainly a meta concept, you can easily switch or ignore them.

(The same reason why the Martial Controller is not really missing, even though I probably shouldn't have said that because it's a surefire way to derail the thread.)

 

[Garthanos]

If you want to declare Bards as primal at your table there is nothing to stop you. Power Sources in 4th edition are mainly a meta concept, you can easily switch or ignore them.

I mainly decided the power source isnt really what bothers me... but rather that some classic bardic powers which indeed feel like there primal heritage... are missing and virtually impossible to get in any satisfying form. A feat which boosts the encounter power granted by multiclassing in to druid transforming it in to at-will might be all that it took... would that make MC druid too desirable?

 

[Fifth Element]

Fireball was tossed in for effect, not accuracy.

That's usually how it's done.

 

[lukelightning]

Historically, most cultures don't differentiate power sources — you could easily say that in a Celtic framework, Druids and bards are divine, because they are priests. You could even say they are arcane, because they were the ones who studied the laws of magic, performing astronology, etc.

 

[Ryujin]

I mainly decided the power source isnt really what bothers me... but rather that some classic bardic powers which indeed feel like there primal heritage... are missing and virtually impossible to get in any satisfying form. A feat which boosts the encounter power granted by multiclassing in to druid transforming it in to at-will might be all that it took... would that make MC druid too desirable?

Given the power levels typically depicted in such characters, I think that would cry out for Paragon Multi-classing.

 

[Wepwawet]

I mainly decided the power source isnt really what bothers me... but rather that some classic bardic powers which indeed feel like there primal heritage... are missing and virtually impossible to get in any satisfying form. A feat which boosts the encounter power granted by multiclassing in to druid transforming it in to at-will might be all that it took... would that make MC druid too desirable?

How about doing it the other way around?
Goind Druid MC/Hybrid Bard for special bardic abilities, while reflavoring many druid powers. Your totem could even be a musical instrument.
If you want to have the Celtic Bard, this is even more accurate. Wasn't Bard supposed to be the training degree before Ovate and Druid?

 

[Garthanos]

Given the power levels typically depicted in such characters, I think that would cry out for Paragon Multi-classing.

Would that do the trick? havent really tried out PMC... the attack is not directly the power from the MC assuming that form is already at-will.
if so I will just look sheepish but happier.