Where does "Bardic Knowledge" Come From?

[TarionzCousin]

The SRD states:

Bardic Knowledge
A bard may make a special bardic knowledge check with a bonus equal to his bard level + his Intelligence modifier to see whether he knows some relevant information about local notable people, legendary items, or noteworthy places. (If the bard has 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (history), he gains a +2 bonus on this check.)

A successful bardic knowledge check will not reveal the powers of a magic item but may give a hint as to its general function. A bard may not take 10 or take 20 on this check; this sort of knowledge is essentially random.

But I want some flavor text to give my players, such as:

1. You remember a line in a ballad....
2. You read it in a scroll....
3. As you recall, it was in the ruined library of Kynoszia that you found the tome within which these words were scribed....
4. Among the hundreds, if not thousands, of tedious and boring lectures your mentor gave at college, he told the tale of....

What are some more sources of Bardic Knowledge?

 

[Corsair]

My Loremaster used to be a librarian. Her hobby was reading. Any new city she goes to, she seeks out any local sources of knowledge (temple archives, trading favors with local wizards, etc), and that is where she gets the vast majority of it.

 

[WayneLigon]

My bard was the son of an innkeeper; the inn being a huge thing on a major trade crossroads. He heard thousands of travellers' tales and songs while growing up and working in the inn, heard dozens of languages over and over, saw a number of different races, etc. That was where a great deal of his came from. Once he was old enough to be out on his own, he became an actor and player, and later a kind of Eberron-like finder of Lost Things.

 

[the Jester]

What are some more sources of Bardic Knowledge?[/B]

Bits of poetry/doggerel... maybe lyrics from a song... old maps might sometimes be a source, or old works of art (paintings, sculpture, etc). Almost anything, really.

 

[MarauderX]

Being a member in a band, I know the number of weird subjects mentioned in bars & pubs when you meet new people. Most are really great to spend an hour or so with, and they can tell you all about the entertaining nuances of their job. Sometimes you run into those who you would never think would be in a bar, or someone who works with someone in the news. When you have a thriving city, people talk, news gets around, and even when it happens to be boring it might come up several years down the road.

For instance, we have several fans that happen to work for the group doing the Warhammer Online game. They refer to the programmers as the 'mole people' because they keep the office lights off, walk with a slight hunch, and many wear glasses. Important? Not to me, but I later ran into fellow gamers at D&D Experience last week who were excitedly waiting for the game to be released. When I told them about what I knew they laughed and pressed me for more information on the behind-the-scenes.

 

[Wraith Form]

Bardic mommies?

 

[Imperialus]

I completly re-wrote bards to be more like historical celtic bards. IMC it's just part of their training. Bards are culture specific PRC's and one of the requirements is that you spend at least a year under the tutalage of a senior bard learning the oral history of the world. After a year you need to make a DC20 bardic knowlage check to be accepted into the order, if you fail you need to spend another month studying before making the check again. Each month you fail nets you a +1 bonus to your next check. You have a maximum of 2 years to become a bard (+12) if you still fail that last roll then you are forbidden from ever entering the PRC.

Needless to say bards are rare and powerful in my campaign.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Well, parts of it might be part of the education (if they went to a bardic college). Then, there's all the songs they know - many of which are based on legends and other true stories (most were made by bards, who were parts of adventuring bands, who had all those adventures).

And then, as someone else said, there's talking to people. That, and rumourmongering. A bard gets around a lot: You play in this tavern today, and on a village square 10 miles away tomorrow. You'll earn some coin, and you'll also earn a hearty meal and some pints. And people will talk with you - most of the time, there's the same people around, with the same topics, but you're a change of pace, so they tell you all those stories which bore the other locals to death by now but which are new and interesting to you.

Plus, they know that bards are rumourmongers. So those who trade in gossip (you know the type) will chat with you: They'll tell you some rumours they heard, and expect some more rumors in return. As a "professonal", a bard will know which parts of the tale are likely true, and what is fabrication and exaggeration. Plus, if you hear a story often enough, you'll see which parts are consistent, and which parts vary depending on the teller.


You take all that together - stories and songs heard about legends and tales of heroism, formal education, and gossip - and you have what D&D calls "bardic knowledge".

 

[Tonguez]

I agree with al the above songs a really good for tracking information. -take the story of Brenda Spencer for instance, the only reason I even know it is because the Boomtown Rats sung 'I Don't Like Mondays'. It also provides a reference to tie all the simlar stories too

Also in a purely oral culture remembering is elevated to an artform and thats where the Bard fits.
I have a friend whose grandmother was a celebrated 'composer' within our oral tradition he is able to track the history of our people through songs composed in each era and the references those songs point to. Its no easy but learning geneology and the associated stories, songs and axioms provides a highly structured mnemonic matrix upon which other references can be interwoven, this is what I consider to be the source of Bardic Knowledge.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I completly re-wrote bards to be more like historical celtic bards. IMC it's just part of their training. Bards are culture specific PRC's and one of the requirements is that you spend at least a year under the tutalage of a senior bard learning the oral history of the world.

Not to mention needing to reach at least 5th level as a fighter and 6th level as a thief before entering druidic tutelage?

-Hyp.