Merlion said:
Because theirs not a lot of reason why bards would have non-verbal components to their spells, and so they can actualy take advantage of their armor profciency without suffering the chance of totaly losing other class abilities 
Actually, I see as much reason to get rid of Bardic verbal components as somatic components. Don't any friggin' Bards play an instrument or dance a jig anymore? Doing so is _definitely_ a somatic component, unless you've got some sort of cyber-flute.
To say that _every_ Bardic spell has a verbal component of singing or poetry makes no more (or less) sense than saying that every Bardic spell requires a somatic component in the form of dancing or miming (only evil Bards may use mime). What makes the most sense is that spells which require a verbal component require singing, etc. and spells that require a verbal component require dance, etc.
From a mechanics point of view, Bards use arcane magic. One feature of arcane magic is that restricted movement may cause a spell to fail. This is a property of the type of magic, not of the caster. If Bards don't have a chance of failure, then they are not using arcane magic.
I don't really have a problem with Bards casting divine magic. They did in 1E. Historically, Bards have often been linked with the gods (anyway, bards who wrought magic, like Vainamoinen, were). They cast healing spells, which have always been a reserved divine ability. Maybe Bards tap into the "inherent power of music" the same way Rangers/Druids tap into the "inherent power of nature" without gods.
Anyway, I really didn't mean to get into a 3.5 bashing mode, which is why I didn't elaborate much. I do tend to think, though, that letting Bards get away without having an arcane failure is a narrow-sighted and internally inconsistant fix. Minor issue? Heck, yes, which I indicated. Still, I look at this, Weapon Familiarity, and the Mystic Theurge. None of them are too bad by themselves, but if you through enough "one offs" into the mix, the game becomes significantly less attractive.
I really am excited, overall, about 3.5. I've never liked all the rules in any game I've ever played and I'll always have house rules. 3E involved the fewest major house rules to date for any RPG I've played. I'm hoping that 3.5 makes things even better and "takes it to the next level". I'm just cautious about my hope, and some of what I'm hearing makes me more cautious.
but thats ok
