What makes a bard a bard?

[Kzach]

You haven't heard of Orpheus? Or the Pied Piper? Or Apollo? Or Pan?

Ok, Orpheus I forgot about. But the Pied Piper? C'mon, he's not a freakin' bard, he's just some dude with a pipe. Apollo was not a bard, he just happened to be good at poetry, as most gods were. And Pan was most definitely not a bard.

So Orpheus and Taliesin... I stand by my original claim that there are few examples of bards and that they are hardly representative of a major cultural trend that can be replicated in a game system as a PC class.

Give everyone the Perform skill and make up some sort of benefit system based on reputation. The more often someone sings of their own praises, the better their reputation.

There. Done. Bards.

 

[CleverNickName]

In my mind, a bard has always been a rogue with a magical harp (or lute, or cowbell, whatever.)

If "Legacy" items exist in 4E, it won't be very hard to create a "bard" character. Just give your character a special flute, one with magical powers that can be unlocked with different rituals. Done.

It doesn't even have to be a rogue, now that I think about it. The warlord, with all of that natural leadership and whatnot, is a born front-man for Faerun's next rock sensation. Just give him that legacy guitar known as Fender's Stratocaster, and he's ready to kick mighty ass.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

and besides: +3 at LVL 6 to hit can make the difference between no damage and full damage +3 (the damage boost is only aditional damage, the to hit bonus is more important)

It still doesn't stack with bless, heroes feast, righteous wrath of the faithful, and probably a couple others I'm not thinking of. It might not even be +3.

just make a list where you missed by 3 points (don´t forget confirm crits and especially 2nd and 3rd attack) and count it up...

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it happens less than 15% of the time.
Here is a list of the times that the +3 has no effect at all:
-rolled a 1
-would hit on a 2 regardless of whether you have the +3 or not
-would miss on a 19 regardless of the +3
-rolled a 20 and roll a 20 or 1 on the confirmation roll
-don't make an attack roll or you attack with a non-weapon

It also adds a 15% to hit if you only hit on a 17 or less WITH the bonus. If you hit on a 18+ without the bonus, then essentially it is only adding +2, if you hit on a 19+ then it is only adding +1. Which, strangely makes it weaker against really hard to hit things(or with your 3rd attack).

I don't have the math skills to figure out how many of your rolls your song will effect given those exceptions. However, I can tell you that it has to be less than 15% of the time. And if we can assume that 10% of the rolls are natural 20s and natural 1s, it probably has an effect less than 5% of the time. Plus, it likely isn't affecting the wizard or cleric a large portion of the time.

When your prime ability is nearly useless over 80% of the time, it doesn't count as a prime ability anymore.

 

[Victim]

It still doesn't stack with bless, heroes feast, righteous wrath of the faithful, and probably a couple others I'm not thinking of. It might not even be +3.

With Song of the Heart (Eberron) and Inspirational Boost (SC), Bard Song can be +3/+3 by 6th level. RWoftF is a level 5 spell, feast is level 6, bless doesn't add to damage.

I seem to recall +3/+3 boosting the damage of a 6th level two handed style fighter by about 30% or so. That's not bad. In the right group, the bard can basically throw in one character's worth of damage with just his opening action. Naturally, the bard buff is most useful in a group heavy with characters making physical attack/damage rolls and less so if the party is reliant on save based autohits.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

With Song of the Heart (Eberron) and Inspirational Boost (SC), Bard Song can be +3/+3 by 6th level. RWoftF is a level 5 spell, feast is level 6, bless doesn't add to damage.

True. I'm not saying they are completely useless. The bonus provides something. It just doesn't provide as much as a cleric to the party.

I seem to recall +3/+3 boosting the damage of a 6th level two handed style fighter by about 30% or so. That's not bad. In the right group, the bard can basically throw in one character's worth of damage with just his opening action. Naturally, the bard buff is most useful in a group heavy with characters making physical attack/damage rolls and less so if the party is reliant on save based autohits.

Yeah, it's not too bad when you look at it in terms of percentages. But when you are looking at a character who, when he hits does 1d6+6 damage, then yes, it provides about a 30% bonus in pure damage and even more than that due to an increase in to hit bonus.

If you are providing the bonus to a raging barbarian who needs 2s to hit with his first 2 attacks and is doing 3d6+21 damage per hit...it adds a really low percentage of damage.

The problem is that the bard's use HEAVILY depends on the group you are in and your ability to stack spells, magic items, feats, and the like onto your Bard Song. Some of these things(Song of the Heart, Inspirational Boost) were created because of a problem with the bard. It sucks to know that you're taking feats and spells just to make yourself adequate.

 

[pawsplay]

Ok, Orpheus I forgot about. But the Pied Piper? C'mon, he's not a freakin' bard, he's just some dude with a pipe. Apollo was not a bard, he just happened to be good at poetry, as most gods were. And Pan was most definitely not a bard.

Actually, Apollo and Pan definitely are bards. Apollo acquired the lyre from Hermes and became patron of music. Pan invented the flute.

 

[Brudewollen]

Looks like we were doing it wrong on the Bardic song ability. I'm not as up on the rules as I used to be, we only get to play every two weeks these days and my head just isn't in it like when I used to play weekly or twice a week.

I resolve 75% of my encounters with bluffs, diplomacy (which I like to role-play out) and charms anyway, so it's not the end of the world.

 

[Afrodyte]

Actually, Apollo and Pan definitely are bards. Apollo acquired the lyre from Hermes and became patron of music. Pan invented the flute.

And let's not forget . . . Lucifer!

As if D&D needed more devil-worshipping accusations, the Prince of Darkness (*insert other titles here*) has been cited as the source of many a musical phenomenon (Google Robert Johnson and "Devil Went Down to Georgia" if you get a chance).

And the 3.X bard's class abilities are a perfect fit for the Pied Piper's ability to compel people and animals to go where he wants them to. Suggestion, anyone?

 

[RandomCitizenX]

I see the bard as a Leader/Controller with songs/performances buffing his allies while dealing thunder damage or creating illusions.

I really am expecting that most Arcane classes will have controller aspects as a way to unify the power source, just like I suspect that Divine classes will lean toward leader

 

[Kzach]

Actually, Apollo and Pan definitely are bards. Apollo acquired the lyre from Hermes and became patron of music. Pan invented the flute.

Both are a very huge stretch to call them bards.

By your definition, anyone who ever sung a song or wrote a poem or played an instrument would be a bard.