why on earth does the bard only get 4 skill points/lvl???

[Negative Zero]

am i the only one who thinks this is really brutal? bards get more class skills than even the rogue, who gets a total of 31 and 8 SP/lvl. while without any of her knowledge skills the bard gets 27 class skills and HALF of what the rogue gets when it comes to SPs. when you add the knowledge skill to the mix, it gets kinda ridiculous!

i know that Monte's bard gets 6/lvl (i think), but it's also a whole different bard. so barring that, does anyone else think that this is right? or am i just blowing hot air out of my ... nevermind

whaddaya think?

~NegZ

 

[Chairman_Kaga]

Not on my world he doesn't...

Two words...


RULE ZERO.

 

[Eryx]

The Rogue is THE traditional adventurer. The dungeon delver who can fight and deal with traps encountered.
The Bard is not that. The Bard has many special abilties that can be more effective in other ways than the Rogue special abilities.
That in my eyes is why the Rogue gets more skill points.

 

[Sodalis]

in almost every variant bard, I have seen people give them 6 skill points- smak dab in th emiddle of the rogue and every other skilled player.

this makes sense caus he is more skill oriented than most classes, but not as skilled as the rogue

 

[Dr. Zoom]

I give bards and rangers 6 skill points.

I am also thinking about increasing skill points per level across the board by 2. Thus fighters would get 4, barbarians 6, bards and rangers 8, rogues 10, etc.

 

[Alaric_Prympax]

Yep, Bards get 6 skill points IMC and in another that one in my group started. I have no problems with the Rogue having 8 skill points but the Bard is supposed to be the 'Jack-all-trades' character and with all those class skill 4 just does not seem enough so we up them in my group.

 

[Eryx]

but the Bard is supposed to be the 'Jack-all-trades' character and with all those class skill 4 just does not seem enough so we up them in my group.

The Bard is a Jack of All Trades and as such has a much wider range of skills to cover, but that doesn't mean the class needs more skill points.


Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one who is happy with the way the classes are covered in 3rd ed.

 

[Staffan]

the Bard is supposed to be the 'Jack-all-trades' character

You forget the rest of that phrase: "Jack of all trades, but master of none." The bard doesn't get very many skill points, but he gets lots of class skills to spend them on. A bard isn't supposed to be the best at any skill except Perform, he's supposed to have a wide range of skills at lower levels.

Oh, and the bard gets the whole "bardic knowledge" thing as a class ability, removing much of the need for Knowledge skills.

 

[Negative Zero]

Eryx, assuming a human bard with an 18 int, a bard would get a max possible of 36 1st lvl SPs to spend. taking only 5 of the 9 knowledge skills listed in the PHB, the bard ends up with 32 class skills! the jack of all trades could at best end up with four skills with 2 ranks and 1 in all the rest! taking all the knowledge skills means 1 point per skill!!! ONE

this doesn't really seem at all balanced to me. especially in a class that's already, arguably, the weakest one in the game. not to mention the fact that it's already a skill dependent class. where's the value of having a skill dependent class with substandard abilities in her skills?

i'm not suggesting that the bard should get the same number of SPs as the rogue, but half the amount for more class skills seems downright wrong to me.

Chairman_Kaga, (and the rest of you guys) i'd love to rule0 it, but alas, the power of the DM is not mine. i'm trying desperately to convince him tho. it's not looking good so far.

~NegZ

 

[Negative Zero]

Staffan, i'm not forgetting the rest of the phrase at all. but not being a "master" doesn't have to automatically mean that you're mostly inept at it, does it? also, Bardic Knowledge isn't really a replacement for knowledge skills. the DCs for Bardic Knowledge checks are really high, and beyond the one feat in S&S there's no way to raise the skill on your own.

~NegZ