D&D General What's Bardier than a Bard?

[UngeheuerLich]

I think the DnD bard has made a name for themself.
What I would imagine would be taking him farther away from music and strengthen its role as Jack of all Trades.

Mountebank comes to mind.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Minstrel maybe?

View attachment 151558

LOL, too bad they can't spell...

Ummm…I can tell you from personal experience that those unfamiliar with the word “minstrel” CAN and DO mis-hear it as “menstrual”. And the reaction to that is usually not good.

So why borrow trouble?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Honestly? “Rogue” would have been perfect.

Perhaps…

Bohemian
Rake
Fop
Raconteur
Dilletante

 

[GreyLord]

Jack. That's the actual archetype at play, here, IMO, and it's a perfectly good name.


I would then use the name Bard for a class more inspired by the Irish Fili, but something with a greater relation to the Druids also makes sense.

If you take away the few musical abilities or replace them with a non-musical counterpart...THIS.

This is what the Bard has been since 2e, basically a Jack of all trades. Someone who can fill in the gaps of another class (cleric, warrior, mage, rogue) in a snap, but may not be quite as specialized in that field.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Ummm…I can tell you from personal experience that those unfamiliar with the word “minstrel” CAN and DO mis-hear it as “menstrual”. And the reaction to that is usually not good.

So why borrow trouble?

FYI, to clarify, the "too bad they can't spell" is because they misspelled "Inspiration" in the pic, not because people mistake Minstrel for another word--just in cast that was your line of thought.

Second, it's a word like any other, "trouble" is in the eye of the beholder, and if people take issue with it they should probably grow up a bit IMO.

"Rake" was going to be my other suggestion, but a lot of people don't know the meaning of that word in this connotation. So, since Minstrel was one of the suggestions in the OP, I went with that one, as did a few others posting in the thread.

Another thought was "Scoundrel", but that has too much of a negative connotation with it. I figure that is also why WotC went away from Thief and used Rogue instead, too much is implied in the name otherwise.

 

[Lycurgon]

I have no issue with Bard but if I want a ting an alternative I think the only terms I can think of that are general enough to fit the class as is are Minstrel and Troubadour. Other names carry too much flavour in a particular direction that I don't think they fit. Gleeman would be okay if it wasn't a gendered term.
Out of those names, Minstrel is more oriented towards music which suits the way the Bard class is written, but in my opinion Troubadour is a bit more open to non-musical concepts. I have considered using Minstrel for a non-Spellcaster version of a Bard that uses magic songs to boost and effect allies and enemies rather than using spells.

So Troubadour would be my preferred alternative for Bard.

 

[bedir than]

Rake, Jack, or Gleeman

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Honestly? “Rogue” would have been perfect.

Perhaps…

Bohemian
Rake
Fop
Raconteur
Dilletante

I like Dilletante.
Maybe dabbler.

 

[Deset Gled]

Perhaps…

Bohemian

Are you aware that Bohemia is a real place (region of the Czech Republic, formerly it's own kingdom)? It's not any type of a slur to use it as an adjective, but in a world where we occasionally get into debates about ethnicity and the etymology of the word "barbarian", naming a class "Bohemian" seems like it would be a bit much.

 

[Scars Unseen]

It's not any type of a slur to use it as an adjective

So interestingly, it seems to be slur adjacent. Or at least, it's like the other side of a slur mirror in that the term was popularized in France as a way of referring to the Romani people. It's pretty much "gypsy" but well meaning. The word has taken on other meanings since then, but even a book written less than 20 years ago uses the term "gypsy" when describing modern Bohemianism, albeit in a romantic light. I don't think modern use of the word is generally intended to reference actual Romani like it once did, much less the actual historical Bohemian people, but it's something to think about, certainly.