NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="erucsbo" data-source="post: 3069584" data-attributes="member: 40110">imho the core classes are all good - if played the way they are intended.In many respects the 4 iconic classes (fighter, cleric, wizard, rogue) have a fairly well defined role and thus it is relatively easy to see how they can contribute effectively to a party, and how to make the character work.The other basic classes (Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Monk, Paladin, Ranger and Sorcerer) vary in how well defined the role is and thus how they can contribute effectively.Sorcerer - easy - wizard without the book, fewer spells, but spontaneous casting (focus on spells)Barbarian - easy - follow Conan's example (or Wulfgar from the Drizzt books) (focus on fighting)Ranger - fairly easy - Aragorn, or fighter with some sideline skills (focus on fighting)Paladin - harder to play properly but still primarily fighter (knights of the round table - especially Galahad or Lancelot, or Paksennarion from 'The Deed of Paksenarrion') (focus on fighting)Monk - primarily fighting, including grapple, unarmed etc - martial arts flicks for examples (focus on fighting)Druid - Divine spellcaster with a nature flavour - treat as a variant cleric without the ubiquitous spontaneous healing in order to get a basic contribution (focus on spells).Bard - here is where we run in to difficulties of finding a good role-model as the primary focus of a bard is NOT fighting, NOT spellcasting, NOT skills, but a combination of all. The class is extremely versatile and a good player with a bard can actually take the limelight from pretty much any of the other classes (which is not a good thing btw).They get treated as a support role or a diplomacy specialist or a gap filler - none of which are all that exciting to play in a team environment (ever notice how bored ALL the other characters get when 1 player is doing the diplomacy thing).The challenge - come up with a bard from books or movies that -  A - would be fun to play, and  B - would work in a team environment, while  C - not dominating or being dominated by other party members for long periods of time.A bard can be the source of knowledge for a party, or a source of confusion and chaos.A bard can give the unexpected edge in fights, or just get in the way.A bard can be a buffer - but that is a boring as a cleric who is a walking medikit.A bard is the least likely class to be able to be cookie-cut, and due to the huge variability in how bards have been treated from 1st edition, through 2ed, and now in 3ed (with significant changes between 3.0 and 3.5) it is no wonder that even long-time players have trouble getting the concept right.A bard *should* be the DMs greatest ally insofar as the story-telling aspect of the game is concerned. A well-played bard makes the game sessions memorable. You don't necessarily have to be a good player to make a bard work (though it helps), but you do need to have a clear focus as to what your character's role is, and having a role-model (particularly for the less talented players) makes a HUGE difference here.At its simplest level - a bard should know what the party's goal is and look for ways towards that goal that might not necessarily involve fighting etc. In that respect ALL OF THE OTHER CLASSES BECOME SUPPORT CHARACTERS FOR THE BARD - gives purpose and direction to the game, and means that non-hack'n'slash/search-disable-sneak/blast-with-spells options are always being considered.</blockquote>

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