The Bard and Bard Colleges

[Primitive Screwhead]

Sadrik and Fallen Seraph...

Damn those are some good ideas! And better yet, they can be tied together

The ritual you learn through the Bardic College unlocks the knowledge of previous College Members and links you to an extraplanar patron/spirit that enjoys bathing in strong emotional currents. Your performances create such currents and the spirit grants you emotional amplifiers in exhchange for relatively constant emotions.


This is why many bards adventure and hang out in taverns...thats where the emotions are.

Of course, the fluff on this would have to be rather setting specific..

 

[Rechan]

I always pictured musical bards doing the equivalent of "Ride of the Valkyrie" while they're engaged in combat, not standing in the back humming a few bars. Or "War cries/Religious Hymns/etc", not strumming a lute.

But yes - non-musical bards would be good. I wanted to play a bard that inspired via heroics, like a swashbuckler, but it just didn't play right.

Digging Fallen Seraph's interpretation - as long as my Bard can use fear effects. Sadrik's ain't bad either.

 

[djdaidouji]

The way I've always imagined Bards... Well, first off, it isn't just normal singing (/dancing, story-telling, etc), I imagine that he is concentrating quite hard on it, and there are some definite magical effects. A singing or instrumental bard has ethereal accompaniment. A dancer has ethereal music as well, and his body blurs slightly (not enough for a Blur effect), and a spoken word bard's voice booms out and pierces everyone's minds. But then again, I always tend to think of Final Fantasy X-2's Songstress costume. The Real-Emooo-tion's something something soooomething, I'll ne-ver-be-aaa-lone (what can I do for you, oh ohh)

As for the mystical knowledge rather then suspicious adventuring knowledge, I highly like that idea. "Why does the level 1 bard who has never left his home city know this much about dragon mating," was a quote said in the last game I played. (The PCs were arguing about a riddle).

One thing I'm doing in my upcoming campaign is giving the PC's the option of making up their own fluff. A wizard who casts spells with a sing song voice and exaggerated somatics is kind of like a bard, at least in fluff? If the PC wizard chooses to restrict themselves in that they need an instrument to cast, I'll give them some bonuses in other areas. YMMV of course. (Everytime I read that in someone else's post, I always fight the urge to reply with "your MOM may vary!")

 

[Scribble]

I think the Bard should definitely have an element of "performace" in his schtick... I'd prefer it to be just about ANY type of performace though... Just tied into performance...

 

[tombowings]

I think the Bard should definitely have an element of "performace" in his schtick... I'd prefer it to be just about ANY type of performace though... Just tied into performance...

In that case I'm taking Preform (heroic Pose). My body will inspire my allies just as well as a cleric can channel faith from the divine.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Considering my idea for Bard is a Tiefling Whore from Sigil, performance can mean a lot of things beyond just music...

 

[Sadrik]

Re: colleges. Interesting ideas. In practice it can be hard when a charecter power must depend on an organization. It can be interesting, or it can be just a hastle, and really depends on the pc, dm, and campaing.

No more so than a Warlock pact or a Wizard guild or any other specific adventuring guild. The bards within the college may not even know one another.

It could be that you are the last keeper in a long line of bards that hold secret knowledge that if it ever got out...

Then there are the evil bardic colleges that want to use the knowledge that they have to either rewrite history to glorify themselves or the people they work for etc.

Bards as historians makes all the sense in the world to me. Reciting an ancient tale, performing a beautiful tune written a millennium ago or drawing in an ancient style all encompass some kind of performance and these could still be part of the bardic culture. The are seers, historians and lorekeepers first by writing and committing the knowledge they gain to the bardic school for review. It's like wikipedia.

 

[Knight_Errant]

5. A free "dabble" into some other class to pick up odd powers here and there.

I like this alot. I really hope this is the direction they take the Bard in; allowing the player to effectively build aspects of his class by taking features from one or two others. That would be neat.

I wonder how many half-elf bards there would be if this were the case? A free at will from another class as an encounter power AND another ability from another class (which could be either at will, encounter, or daily--depending on how they design it)? Yes, please.

I agree that the bard class should contain some form of performance skill, if the default bard assumes music as the medium--I really hope they create some unique effects rather than fluff that states the bard can only use his powers by performing some type of art.
I would love to see a bad-boy bard, ala the Dirge, who uses his powers to compell, influence, and control the actions and emotions of others, using fear and playing on their weaknesses.

 

[Incenjucar]

I had an NPC bard that was also a lawyer at one point.

Perform (Oration) is great in court.

 

[MinionOfCthulhu]

There's nothing in 3.5 that requires a bard's "music" to be at all musical. Any perform skill can be used, and Perform is one of those open-ended skills where you can invent things. The bard I'm running for Curse of the Crimson Throne uses Perform: Fortunetelling for his bardic "music".

I had a bard that was an adventuring professor who used Perform: Oratory to lecture his allies.

Me: "And here we have Homo Bos Atroxis, also known as the minotaur. Note the size and shape of the horns, a unique shape found only in the minotaurs of this area..."
Party: "This really isn't worth +1 attack and damage."