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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CleverNickName" data-source="post: 6232755" data-attributes="member: 50987">I voted "Missed Expectations," but that isn't entirely true.  I'll explain.In every edition I've played, the Bard has missed the mark in my opinion.  But that is a problem with my expectation, not with the class design over the years.  (So I guess you could say that it actually DID meet my expectations...but not really...ugh.  Nevermind.)The thing is, the bard has always felt like a multiclassed thief-mage to me.  Sure, there are cosmetic differences (singing and strumming a lute instead of waving a wand and muttering incantations, fascinating your foe with music instead of distracting them with ventriloquism, etc.), but nothing that really sings.  Pun intended.  At the end of the day, the "bard" is just another high-charisma rogue who can cast a few spells.  Why do they need to pick locks and cast spells at the same time?  Nobody knows...they just do.  With a lute.  Somehow.But like I said: that is my problem, not the game's problem.  And I'm working on it.  Right now, one of the villains in my ongoing campaign is a high-level bard, and he is a lot of fun to play.  (A high-level bard can be devilishly frustrating to PCs.)  But it still feels like I'm playing a weird wizard, not a separate character class.Anyway, back on topic.This version has a lot of potential, though.  I am very interested in the Colleges--it would be a great way for me to separate out the different interpretations of the class...not all bards play musical instruments, for example, so it would make sense that some of them studied under a different school.  This is an elegant way to make the bards versatile, and to give their magical music a solid background.But then they have things like Wit, which feels like a giant step backwards to me.  Players who choose to play the bard usually do so because they like the immersive, interactive style of roleplaying.  This mechanic, the way I am reading it, seems like it would take that special bard-flavor and panache and reduce it all to a dice roll.I'll be curious to see how this class ends up in print.</blockquote>

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