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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BSF" data-source="post: 1088353" data-attributes="member: 13098">Hmm, Bards.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Well, Stephen is half-elven.  The black sheep in his otherwise noble human family.  For some reason, his mother was given to his father as a consort, but the Marquessa of an Elvish nation, in fact the other half-elf in the party is in the same situation.  That is still a plot point we haven't figured out yet.  The realm where Stephen was born has outlawed magic and has a very rigid structure.  Stephen has 3 older half brothers (well, 1 is deceased), 2 younger half sisters and a younger half brother.  Being the 4 eldest, and a half blood bastard at that, he has no place in the inheritance structure.  His step mother hates him, his eldest half brothers hate him.  He was constantly derided and made the butt of many jokes growing up.  For many people, this would have crushed his ego, for Stephen, it only enhanced it!After all, they were all just jealous.  He is half-blood and he knows that sets him apart from the rest of his family.  Though his real mother died when he was three, he always remembered her songs.  He loves music.  He also loves knowledge.  As he got older, he took up the mandolin and started visiting the manors of the rest of the family.  (Aunts/Uncles, Cousins, etc)  He would play his mandolin in the day, flirt into the evening and when everyone had gone to sleep, he would creep around to the private libraries and seek out any scraps of forbidden lore regarding magic.  After a while, he would move on to another family estate, often leaving one or more of the local girls heartbroken for a time.  Throughout the family, everyone agreed that Stephen had not really developed any useful skills and was a typical lounge-about.  But, he is just so likable!  As his father's health began to decline, Stephen knew that his half-brother would soon have control of the family.  Because of appearances, his brouther would be forced to maintain Stephen's lifestyle.  However, it is not uncommon for such relatives to begin to partake of wine too often and eventually die of "alcohol poisoning".  Averting this course, Stephen approached the family about taking out a sizable loan and being allowed to head off for the Adventurer's Guild.  He would be able to hone his skills and explore the world.  If he ever returned home, he would repay the loan.  His stepmother and his half-brother both supported the plan.  They both reasoned it would be less expensive in the long run than to wiat for Stephen to "drink himself to death."  (Besides, his older brother was a bit afraid of Stephen's dueling prowess since Stephen had made darn sure that plenty of rumors abounded on his skill with steel.)  Besides, it is likely that Stephen will end up dead.  Being an adventurer is dangerous.  ~~~~~Over the course of the campaign, Stephen has gone from being the rebel to being a bit more moderate.  His range of skills still betrays his near inability to really focus on one subject, except music.  His love for music shines through everything else!  His songs can make you cry, they can ignite passion, they can ease the suffering of those that have lost loved ones.  He is developing quite a reputation as a performer.  For his adventuring companions, he helps them excel at whatever they are trying to achieve.  He once had a conversation with the party ranger.  He explained it as using his song to influence the spark of fire at the core of each soul.  Sometimes, he can inflame it to batter away fear and doubt.  This often helps his friends improve their combat prowess. Sometimes he can help them focus their flame so that they do not notice distractions when engaged in dangerous tasks.  He can also use his song to hinder the flame in others, making them more ammenable to his suggestions.  However, he does not like that ability as much.  It can be useful, but he is free-spirited enough that he does not like to squash the free-will of another.  There are times when it is a better option than slaying them, so he doesn't begrudge it too much, but he would rather concentrate on helping improve his friends.That is a common theme for Stephen.  He has a few healing spells, he can help improve his companions dexterity, he can use improved invisibility and haste.  He looks for places where he can shore up possible weaknesses.  With his range of skills, he can try to do several things, though not necessarily well.  With his Diplomacy and his Perform, it is not often that he can't turn non-hostiles into new friends.  And his ability to force a magic item to work, despite not knowing the command word, or how to use it, has been very useful more than once.  In combat, he somehow manages to hold his own with his rapier.  The ranger prefers to use ranged weapons, so Stephen often ends up backing up the monk while the wizard and the druid drop their spells.  Of course, the druid will also change into Dire form and then it isn't so important that Stephen use his rapier.  I like to play Stephen because of the RP.  I really play up the range of skills.  Admittedly, a social rogue could do as much as he does, but a social rogue does not have the bardic music and the smattering of magic.  Glitterdust is nice because it can blind and it can reveal invisible enemies.  Having access to some curing allows the Druid to focus more on different spells.  It isn't the class for everyone, but we are a 5 person group and the bard has enough range that he can lend a hand in several areas.  Supporting role is the key, at least until we get to town and need the "face man" to accomplish something.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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