The Bard is... (plus, analysis of the ranger poll)

[Jack Daniel]

Okay, here's the breakdown from the last poll.

People who think the ranger is Drizzt -- 1.23%
People who think the ranger is archery -- 12.35%

Roughly 13% of people chose to define the ranger by a combat style. Now I find this about as silly as defining the fighter by one combat style, but apparently there are those of you out there who do not. The archers certainly outweigh the two-weapon fighters (even though the ranger class has never had much at all to do with archery), but in any event the important thing to remember is that the ranger is a warrior, not a skill-user, by definition.

People who think the ranger is defined by its D&D class-- 29.01%
People who think the ranger should be exactly the opposite of its class -- 13.58%

Clear winner in this category. Spellcasting, monster-hunting, fighting rangers are about twice as popular as skill-centered, rogue-like rangers. Well duh.

And then there was the wildcard option, "wilderninja," a term previously used by people to describe overpowered alt.rangers that carried all the fighting, spellcasting, and skill use you could ever want in a single core class. An astounding 43.83% of the voters were munchkins and believed that rangers ought to be an overpowered class that fills all niches rather than just "monster-slaying fighter" or "outdoorsy skill-user."

Wow.

So, in order to combat confusion in this poll (I certainly don't want to be accused of 'cleverly trapping' poll-takers again ), I'll narrow it down to two choices. Should the bard class represent the Robin Hood/King Arthur/Chanson du Rolland/general history archetype, or (as with the D&D ranger) have RPGs given the bard a life of its own? Let's find out.

 

[Irda Ranger]

Unfair Analisys

Jack -

I don't think it's fair of you to claim that all the people who voted for the “wilder-ninja” are “munchkins” who “believed that rangers ought to be an overpowered class that fills all niches”.

I voted for the “wilder-ninja” option because it was the only thing close enough to what I believed any class should be: flexible and not-railroaded. I don’t believe a class should be defined by weaponry style when no other warrior class is shackled to one style. I also don’t like the way Rangers are shackled to one type of enemy, when no other class is forced to do so.

I voted for the wilder-ninja because it was the only option close to “flexible and defined by feat choice and player style”. There are non-munchkin ways of giving Rangers some flexibility in character design. They get to choose feats like anyone else, so why not allow them to choose what they want to be best at within the rules provided in the PHB? Why does WotC force you to choose a specific enemy at 1st level, and force you into one fighting style (soon to be upgrading to a whopping two fighting styles)?

And by the way, your new poll is worse than the old one to my mind. As it happens, the second “non-historic” choice is pretty spot on to what I think a Bard should be, but by reducing poll options you don’t provide clarity. You just pigeonhole people even more into what you think the possible variations of Bard are.

Irda Ranger

 

[Tiefling]

Jack: Could you tell us what you voted for on this poll? I don't want to vote for the answer that will result in me getting insulted.

 

[Crothian]

This needs more then two choices, minstrel and celtic version of the bard are two entirely different concepts.

 

[Jack Daniel]

Jack: Could you tell us what you voted for on this poll? I don't want to vote for the answer that will result in me getting insulted.

Oh, you shouldn't have to worry about that. I only insult people who start firing first.

And besides, it doesn't take 20/20 vision to see where I've stood on the issue... like... forever.

 

[Jack Daniel]

This needs more then two choices, minstrel and celtic version of the bard are two entirely different concepts.

No, it needs precisely two choices. History of fantasy/D&D, vs. history of, well, everything. That's what this poll is all about.

Just to let you know, poll #3 will be fire-and-forget vs. spellcasting like a storybook/movie wizard. To give to some idea of the trends I'm trying to establish here.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

huh, off topic polls are banned, what about troll polls?

The bard archetype is a faceman. The bard archetype is a wanderer. In a fantasy setting, the bard archetype certainly has some instinctive magic. Often a rogue as well.

Think I'll post a useful poll on the question, since I was hoping for some actual discussion when I clicked this one.

(heh, I can't wait for your poll on clerics. Two options, useful D&D class or boring ink stained scribe...)

Kahuna Burger

 

[Crothian]

No, it needs precisely two choices. History of fantasy/D&D, vs. history of, well, everything. That's what this poll is all about.
.

But that is not what the poll says. So, you might want to actually plan it out before making it up as you go along.

 

[Spike]

let people be what they wish

i think jack as well as the rest of the posters should find something to do, instead of arguing what is munchkiny, be positive, if some-one wishes to play Drizzt incarnate, so what? and if some-one wishes to play a Ninja of the wild, thats cool too, spatting out the term munchkin is simply foolish.

 

[Remathilis]

Bards Suck.

Seriously, there is another poll just like this with more options and a multi-choice option. Its abit less skewed than this poll, or the ranger one.