Bravely bold sir Robin, rode forth from Camelot... He was not afraid to die, oh brave sir Robin. He was not in the least bit scared to be smashed into a pulp. Brave, brave, brave brave sir Robin...
That bard of Sir Robin's would have been a great satirical bard, weaving tales of giants using orcs to steal goods from humans, all for to earn the favor of the giants' leader to further their desires.
I think you missed one: the bastard. This is the bard who uses his skills to deceive everyone he meets, who remembers every secret, and who is basically a particularly nasty rogue with a lute. It is an awesome character to play.
That's basically my bard in the new campaign. I can walk into a room and make a performance and charm everyone including the barkeep, inkeep, and any NPC in the room. I once gained 30 go just by playing an impromptu set, and then rolled out
So College of Whispers. I tried to go this route with my current bard but I'm... not currently good enough at being that character to make it really work. That aside from the fact that the whole infiltrator theme does not always pair well with... you know... being a member of a party. I don't want to turn into the stereotypical rogue who just leaves the party in a ditch to go sneak around somewhere. Also we already have a rogue... So he went off to infiltrate something on his own somewhere and will show up again in the future as a DMPC to feed the party information that they will need to act on.
@@hansoeij539 It worked out great, I still can recall many of them to this day. I recommend plagarizing well known songs and rewriting the lyrics to suit the events of your game, or do some limericks. Really play with it, switch up the style and have fun. Surprise your fellow gamers. Our bard would then read his poem at the start of the next session as a form of recap and it was definitely a highlight for everyone involved and helped everyone fall into character straight away. We even did a follow up campaign which was set years after the events of the original and the poems he wrote were canon in the world - NPCs knew about the party and what they did through "The collected works of Beadle Hollowfern". He literally sold them and made himself and the other famous for future storylines. Just some long term ideas for you, good luck and hope it goes well :)
My favorite bard was "Sarge" Dayb, my half-orc sergeant. He had charisma from his leadership experience, and his songs were all battle and march songs, I used his army experience as a reason for his bardic knowledge and jack-of-all-trades skills. "Thats Mountain Dwarf script, Lads, I ran across some a' that in our second siege of Taypool, lemme see if I can make it out.". Great character.
I played a bard as a reporter before. Usually said, “extra extra! Read all about it!” Before proceeding to cast a spell or insult the enemy with viscous mockery. The headlines I came up with was pretty funny.
How about the "Jester" bard. They tell stories through staire and jokes and are equally focused on demoralizing their opponents as they are inspiring their own team.
The Jester / Fool is the only person who can speak "truth to power" ... the King needs to know what the people think about him w/out kowtowing. A proper fool can be all the places regular folk aren't allowed.
JangboFett Yeah, we're doing ToA as well. Not very far in, but lots of fun so far. We're only level 2 as well. What subclasses are you thinking of taking? She's planning on swashbuckler/college of swords for that sweet sweet mobility
1217 BC First subclass for me is Scout. I’m a sucker for skill and expertise. Therefore I think I will go for Lorebard, if I ever dare to change career. I have never done multiclassing and still not sure wether it is a good idea or not. But when I thought of my character I saw rogue/Bard, versatile and full of knowledge
1217 BC I even thought of a level or 2 of Knowledgecleric (if the opportunity comes, I like to roleplay my advances. So I need an intervention from a temple of some sort for that :))
I played a "singing" Bard in a one shot. (I can't sing at all) He carried around a bucket with him with "a tune" carved into the bottom... it was great.
I've rather enjoyed playing the "singing bards" horribly... I usually never voluntarily played a bard (nor did I often get the choice...because lolz)... BUT when I was the bard, the songs were obscure in source, and worse than off tune or out of rhythm... The ballads were almost inspiring though... until of course that last line... (and here I always thought it was a personal problem)... ;o)
You forgot to list my favorite two types of bard. The trickster and the harlequin. I played a harlequin trickster style bard. My party hated me for it, but I had a LOT of fun. It's all about performance and clever use of magic. Being a jester, playing tricks, performing acts...
A good played bard, in a good story, is a great character. Not a warrior or mage super hero, or a cleric destined to become a god. A bard is an itellectual, knowledgeble in local history and old legends. The person you want to have in the party to solve riddles or discuss with a very angry evil lord. Miss playing!!
I mean, even if the Evil Lord hypothetically 'were' the Bard's ex, there's probably a dozen other good reasons for them to murder the party, so the point is really moot, isn't it?
Thanks to the misadventures of Dante in your Kharos Stones Save or Dice campaign, I have been inspired to create a half orc bard character who writes and sings operas. His mother was a stout comely human lass who loved the opera and wanted a child more than anything. Sadly none of the men of her village would have her so she grabbed a hapless runt orc and took advantage of him during a raid of her village and nine months later Braumbauer was born. He tried to appease his loving but domineering mother by joining the opera but they would not have a half orc in their troupe. Operas can be so picky, you know. He took his father's great axe that his mother kept as a souvenir of the most 'romantic' night of her life and set out on the road to adventure... He's only ugly on the outside! Thank you for being such an inspiration, Guy! Braumbauer is sure to be a lot of fun!
One of my favorite PCs I have ever played was an "Emo bard." RPed it so that I was bumming out my opponents and weakening them rather than bolstering my allies.
As the parties Bard I post stories and songs after most of our sessions in our forums. Other member add to them and we clear up a lot of micro management out of game so that we don't have to waste in game time. Since I tend to embellish the stories the songs and the GM enjoys players input I've shifted the in game narrative several time. The fact that the GM declared that Bards do not lie makes altering the true events even more fun.
I'm leeading a Shadowrun Party with someone very similar to a (Ambassador) Bard. He plays an actor and charms his way into situations where the others van't infiltrate and is very happy with it. One time they played a mission very save (over a long time). While everyone else was preparing climbing gear, hacking Matrix-Nodes etc., he was EMPLOYED by the Mega-Con they wanted to rob. While the others where preparing, he had only to talk, which was for all of us the most exciting part of the Run. It actualy got a bit boring, when they startet the heist and got into action, because he was talking himself from the fryingpan into the Vice-Junior-Executive-Position into the fire and back. Hilariouse! Best of all was the name he introduced himself with: Max Power!!!!
That sounds a lot like the bard I'm currently playing in DnD. One who would rather infiltrate and manipulate than tell stories, and takes over the establishment from the inside.
I am playing a Bard for the first time tonight. I've watched about a half dozen "How to play a Bard" videos prior to watching this one. All of them were really just Class Feature run-downs and offered no real insights into how to actually RP the Bard. Thank you for your video. The insights you provided were much needed. I had intended on making my character something in between Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, and Bob Dylan, because I'm a 50 y/o dude and that's about where my voice lands. I was thinking about chronicling our adventures, which you mentioned and now I'm excited. Stay well
One of my favorite characters actually touches on this and your video of evil characters. I treated him like a struggling merchant and fell into the ambassador type of bard you described. He focused only on supporting and augmenting his players. He had minimal damaging spells, but rather concentrated on making sure his caravan guards (the other PCs) were extremely effective in every aspect of their adventures. The good intentions that they had, always allowed my character the opportunity to fill the void that their actions created. Like Lord Vetinari's (of Discworld) philosophy on the necessity of evil being the only way to plan for the long term. He wouldn't betray his own group, just as you wouldn't betray your own sword arm, or wouldn't betray the armor you wear. That is just hurting yourself and your investments. But by establishing the next thieves guild in the town after they destroyed the previous one, allowed the adventure to continue and created a library of downtime interaction.
Might I suggest another kind of Bard? I've been working on an idea for a sort of drill instructor or skald bard. Using 5e with the Valor Bard, this is the character keeping everyone calm in combat and buffing their teammates. They focus more on seeing the party through thick and thin. Their shouts causing friends to regain health or inspiration. Outside of battle, maybe they know old stories of chivalry. Perhaps they can recall poems of battle. Or could they use their booming voice to give a rallying speech.
Bard was a class in 1e except that you had to earn your Bard title and there were restrictions. Needed to be something like level 4 and have four stats 15+, could only be a human or half-elf, etc.
1e, Unearthed Arcana. Had to be a Fighter 3/Thief 3. I was aiming to, but only made it to 3/1 when our group folded, so was delighted to revive him straight into class for 5e. He started out a good hearted scoundrel, but after the deaths of several friends, the fate of his home town and a spot of time travelling, he’s now the heart/moral compass of his party and the Indiana Jones description is actually pretty close.
Bards can be very powerful, even when they seem like a simple comic relief. Take Scanlan Shorthalt for example. But I would consider them full magic users if they take the college of lore.
Like how he assaulted a manor home, defeated a dozen guards, escaped to the roof just to set the house on fire, and then single-handedly defeated the commander by throwing him off the side of the house!
I know not this Scanlon of whom you speak. But I agree that bards can be both formidable warriors and full casters. Perhaps I mis-played by valor bard egregiously by not sticking strictly to a support role, but even as he doled out inspirations he managed to achieve major battlefield control with spells like Tasha's laughter, Suggestion, Dispel Magic and Hypnotic Pattern. He also managed to deal damage reasonably well, with Heat Metal or Animate Objects, combined with decent-high Dex sharpshooter attacks(2). Of course, they're also awesome at support roles! Making other characters invisible, polymorphing them into giant beasts (better than healing the near-dead or depleted, just make them into a whole new ally!), or tiny hut-ing them up for the night while healing them with a song of rest, they've got the utility spells of a full caster as well. Plus, they're better than anyone else except rogues at the skill-monkey thing, and they're high-Cha faces to boot (Friends and Charm Person for the auto-persuade). Seriously, what's not to like? They're decent in melee, powerful casters (except for non-concentration blasting, but nobody's perfect. Oh wait...magical secrets at 10th level...yeah, they can blast eventually too, if that's what you want), support-flexible skill monkey faces. They rock!
I currently have a Lvl 18 college of whispers bard, and I chose my spells to fit thematically instead of being good in combat. All my spells are saving throws and I don't have any spell attacks other than booming blade. But shillelagh, booming blade, and psychic blades can all be used to do some very powerful melee hits, and the amount of crowd control I have can be very useful.
I consider my bard (ranger/bard) Solitaire as a collector of emotions. A perpetually masked fallen aasimar, who delights in traveling the land in search of the extremities of mortal emotion. Solitaire spends much of his spare time privately repainting his otherwise expressionless masks into visages of emotions he has collected from his subjects abroad. Solitaire never stays anywhere long and never leaves anything behind, save memories in the minds of those whom he has affected. Solitaire has found that the extremes of despair, fear, and remorse tend to please his palette more than the extremes of joy, love, and honor and as such I roleplay him more on the evil side. This is not to say that he does not relish in captivating a tavern full of patrons with his words and music, for these are the situations that Solitaire most often finds himself. The more maliciously acquired flavors of emotion are not quite so easy to come by... P.s to Guy: I just discovered your channel yesterday and I will summarize my admiration by simply saying: you, sir, inspire me. In writing the above, your voice and manner of speaking were at the forefront of my mind. Excellent content and keep up the good work!
A while back I played a pirate Bard who actually filled the role of both singer and ambassador in the party. She was a half elf/half orc that resembles the former more strongly (until she flashed a grin with those pearly white tusks) that had been raised by her elf noble father (who was very drunkenly traveling the land so his family didn't have to deal with him or publicly disown) to learn the ways of nobility and social prowess as well as a bit of bar hopping. Eventually, she was swept off with her mother's pirate crew when she was old enough to serve as a member of it. In the party she was the most eloquent and knowledgeable about the higher class and managed to win quite a few second looks from benefactors for the party just by knowing her shit and had an automatic +7 to intimidate should things go south! She was loads of fun to play because she had an odd balance between two very different worlds and no one was sure how to approach her because she dressed so common but held herself so well in the fancy pants clubhouse. The campaign didn't last as long as I would have hoped but I really loved playing her as this intelligent and witty person who could also get down to business. She pretty much became the singing rouge in a way 😂
Sounds really fun! Pity that the adventure didn’t last that long. Singing ambassador bards are the best. Even if my bard probably couldn’t intimidate anyone if her life depended on it.
MysticaFaery Honestly Dolma (my Bard) was something of an unusual take on the class with having the back ground that she did haha 😂 she learned how to play, flirt, and socialize from her father and then how to fight, command, and inspire fear from her mother and that made for great tension from what people expected versus what they actually got in the end. If I could find another campaign to play her in it would be loads of fun because I miss player her!!
"...I want to sing and dance! I want to sing and dance! I want to be a pirate in the Pirates of Penzanse... Wear me silver buckled slippers and me' tight shiny pants... I want to sing and dance!" ;o)
I just started playing D&D a few months ago on roll20 (where have you been all my life??) and the second character I made is a half-elf Chaotic Neutral bard. I had an EPIC RP moment in my last game: Two guards were standing outside a cave and my teammate decided to approach and attack. I stepped in to help, cast Charm Person (it was my first time using it!) and proceeded to convince the guard that he had taken me out on a date once, ghosted me and felt REALLY bad about it since. He then got into an argument with the other guard, giving my teammate a chance to knock him unconscious. I then asked for rope, asked the charmed guard to lie face down, tied him up, and looted him while my teammates questioned him. After they were done, I knocked him unconscious, shot an arrow in his knee (matching the injury of the other guard), disrobed both guards and finally made my way into the cave. 😂 My DM and party were laughing and said they enjoyed it 🥲 I'd had a shit week and that 5ish minutes of RP made the stress all melt away. I love my bard 🥰
I'm playing the last "Indianna Jones" type currently. Well, it bit more Nathan Drake, but in kobold form. He's less than a decade old and escaped his warren, and is out exploring the world, learning myths and aiming to explore them. He's not the most Wise or Intelligent, but he's charming and plucky and is always the first to dive in to an adventure and poke at the curious thingamy. He's happy to play a song or two, but his ultimate aim to to explore the world, have many an adventure and make all sorts of friends along the way.
Currently playing a half-orc bard, who's mostly a story teller, but also composes limericks (usually regarding the local pantheon). He joined the party after leaving a traveling group of mummers, as being the only guy among a group of master thespians, was getting... quite awkward.
I have played a xenopologist Bard, a propagandist Bard, Cantor Bard, Scourge Bard, Dread Bard, and a Spy Bard. It's the most versatile class around. My Xenopologist is new. He studies the culture and society of the lesser intelligent creatures (currently working on learning Goblin culture). My propagandist destabilized an entire kingdom by spreading hatred against the crown. My cantor, Cleric Bard multiclass, summoned angels and then boosted them with songs and spells. My scourge came out before the Marshal class came out in 3.5, and functioned very similarly. And my Spy Bard, functioned at a much higher level than the actual spy class in 3.5
Found your channel after I was invited to a D&D game and wanted to say thank you for all of the information! I'm actually playing a bard myself, and I think it would fall under that 'scoundrel' classification; He's a storyteller, technically... but more of a liar, embellishing his own feats and convincing people that he's more famous and more skilled than he actually is. (I came up with the idea when I thought about a character who has the REPUTATION of being the world's greatest knife fighter, but no actual skill in it.) He travels a lot and has a lot of local knowledge, but mostly he tries to talk his way out of situations he got himself into.
My favorite kind of bard is the demagogue. They don't sing, they don't tell stories, but they excel at motivational speaking and can psych the party up or demoralize the enemy simply by delivering powerful and evocative speeches on the spot.
My bard is actually the Indiana Jones -type! (I am an archaeologist myself, so that explains some of it.) On top of this she is also the diplomat type - well at least one of her split personalities is! Yes. I play a half-orc bard, who thus far has two split personalities. And it is a blast! :D
One of my favorite PCs I have ever played was an "Emo bard." RPed it so that I was bumming out my opponents and weakening them rather than bolstering my allies.
I've been playing a bard in my current campaign. A glamour bard who can be a tad manipulative and possibly narcissistic who is largely interested in attaining power, but political / socioeconomic power rather than magic or strength, though magical power can be used as a means to the primary objective. She is slowly coming to better play the support role and actually put trust in her teammates and I've been having a blast playing as her. From the descriptions you gave, I'd probably pin her as somewhere between an Ambassador-type and Scoundrel-type bard. The most recent session was a single boss floor of a tower dungeon against 2 hydras who kept not-quite-one-shotting one of our party members who was only able to survive from chugging from a giant keg filled with healing potion along with a Beacon of Hope I set up. A little later and a demon lord we summoned was one-shot by a hasted 22-headed hydra leaving a circle of hell with no king. Our summoner happened to be the right race to have a chance at claiming the throne, but we found my deception and persuasion were high enough that I could conceivable convince him into giving me the throne. TLDR: How a glamour bard managed to bullshit her way into potentially becoming a princess of hell. Before that she just messed with another party member who turned invisible to avoid being caught be the authorities, and I just turned and stared at him while smiling thanks to See Invisibility. Didn't say or do anything, just smiled at him while he was invisible.
I've never played before but am really interested in doing so. I've been building a charater and backstory that follows the living style of my favorite tv character Raymond Reddington from the tv show Blacklist. He is a criminal mastermind and fence. It seems like the coolest to play in persuading people to get your way and fencing stolen gems and artifacts to people in power and wealth to sway power in a world and the bard makes a perfect fit. A smooth talking overconfident "concierge of crime"
i'm playing a bard right now in a campaign and i actually play him as an instigator/wild-card xD with so much versatility i can come upon a multitude of situations where i can go, "Oh if i do this thing i bet something interesting will happen" For example, my party and i were at a town and one of the players got some drugs and Over-dosed someone who was rude to them by slipping said drugs in their drink, this caused the fellow to go on a rampage. I on the other hand had talked an Alchemist into giving me some oil (and some other things) as down payment for a quest earlier on. The inn (which is where we were at when the guy got drugged) had a sign out front that said no Dark elves allowed (i'm playing a half-elf drow bard, and i and my character didn't take kindly to this.) so as i and a few other took cover in a room i messaged the DM and said i dump out the oil i got from the alchemist in the room and proceeded to push everyone out with some sort of excuse and then lit it on fire. The rampaging guy had broken through one of the walls of the inn as he was fighting a few of our party members and the brawl had spilled out into the street. Remembering that there was a bank in town i went over there as my party kept fighting the Rampaging guy and told the guards about how the inn was on fire and that there was some guy rampaging in the street. They rushed out of the bank and left me alone with just one teller. i killed the teller and robbed the bank blind (i had a bag of holding) while the guards i had sent helped the party take down the rampaging idiot. and that's the story of how i set an inn AND a bank on fire all the while "helping" my party fight some guy AND robbing a bank. Bards are great :D
The best bard I ever played to date was a valor bard in a d and d 5e campaign. he was an orc (thankyou skyrim)and his background was barbarian tribe member. He would wade into combat swinging a twohanded greataxe while shouting encouragement to his allies and insults at his foes. casting faerie fire on enemies allowed the rest of the party to hang back and use ranged attacks with advantage. being an orc, he was rather tankish with maxed out strength and constitution. being a bard, he had a high charisma (for an orc) which lead to lots of fun npc interactions.
I am playing an ambassador bard right now in Kingmaker (pathfinder) and I am surprised to hear that it’s not more popular. Her skills as a diplomat (and lots of really cheesy pick up lines between myself and the man playing the King, haha) has lead to the point to her becoming Queen. 👑 On the ambassador front I try to keep the peace in the party (a right nightmare at times!), talking to a lot of our citizens peasants, soldier and noble alike. And I have rarely felt useless in a fight - high level bardic preformances are amazing. I actually (both in and out of character) helped two of the players to mend their IRL friendship after lots of game related drama. And also wrote two (hopefully) funny little plays about the groups victories. 😊
My DM wants to do an all Bard group at some point and while i have my.... reservations about it, you've definitely given me a lot to think about should this ever come to pass.
I'm taking a Bard in a different direction. My character is a half-elven female, and she was raised as a foundling in a lawful good temple. This lawful side wars with her natural chaotic elven side. She also struggles with the patience of an elf vs the live-for-today attitude of her human side. She "split" her personality as a result, so when her lawful side is in control, she is a lore bard, gathering information and acting as an ambassador. When her chaotic side is in control, she is dramatic, fiery and ready to defend her party at great risk to herself. This also prevents the "Doctor Jekyll & Mrs. Hyde" trope, since she can be an asset to the party either way; she just shows it differently. She even takes it upon herself to change her appearance to match the side that is in control.
I play a bard who is a conartist who is always using his wit and charm to trick others out of information, money,, and etc. I also on purpose made him very weak in combat so he needs others to lean on when things go south. He is a lot like rouge who never fights
I play the ambassador(sp?) bard. So far he's turned into the leader/father-figure/mediator/guide in the party. As far as our story my bard is the one that set up our group's path as heroes out of a selfish need to learn about the kingdom he is in so as to better do his future task as ambassador from another kingdom.... His spells are all instrumental no singing, though I did talk with my DM and some not all spells have both a melody and lyrics that determine spell level. Strange thing is I made him a Valor Bard thus he was going to be a mysterious musician who could defend himself and others before the story made him the ambassador type.
I guess you could call my last bard an ambassador, but I classed her more as a spy than as an ambassador. It was a character who used a combination of stealth, deception, charm and magic to acquire information, undermine the enemy, and to get out of trouble. It probably blurred the line between bard and rogue, but that's what I was going for, it was a bit of a Dragon Age: Origins approach to a bard with D&D mechanics.
I played a Bard who was a trader. He would travel from town to town buying up items cheaply that he knew he could sell elsewhere. 80% of the campaign was shopping, it was glorious.
In my games, Bards are essentially sorcerers and wizards who’s magic is so powerful that the only way to express their magic into the world is by music, words and beauty
I play a half-ling light-footed Bard Named Banjo Jack that's a clown... My main character goal/backstory is to find great heroes to join/follow so I can tell their stories of adventure. and escape legal troubles at home. I am mostly a spell caster as I have far more spell slots than most others in my party. Plus with college of Lore knowing 6 spells of ANY class is huge. It is quite beneficial to the party with the extra healing, bardic inspirations and now at 16 gained the feat inspiring leader which grants +21 hp to the entire party of 8 hours.
I've been thinking about the bard-barian. Someone who comes from the tribal traditions of the barbarians but passes down the stories of their culture. A vikingesque bardbarian who uses the studies of the runes as a focus of magic and his voice to channel that power. A warcry demoralizes his enemy ir inspires his friends. He travels with a fellow barbarian as his announcer and chronicler. I like the idea of being the guy in the bar telling a rousing story but when the chips are down he can get into a rage and step into a fight.
I have played the ambassador Bard to great effect. My party consists of a cleric, a paladin and myself (a bard). As per the suggestion in the players handbook my paladin friend took the Noble background. Within the campaign Manticore were posing a problem due to the Griffon riders (called winged Hassars) were letting their Griffons free range hunt in Manticore lands. I talked to some manticore to gain this information and then the party went to the captain of the force to tell him about the problem. Upon meeting he was in front of a crystal ball where he said he saw his home city burning. I convinced him to take all his fastest men (the Griffon riders) and check on his city but he had to leave the army in someones charge to which I convinced him to leave in the capable hands of the Noble Paladin (the party had won a tournament in town and had met him in the winning circle earlier that month so he knew of us and our prowess) the DM stopped the session early so he could figure out what to do with us now that we had an army. The day of his departure the Paladin takes the Captain aside and asks what a reward would be if we were able to convince the King and Queen to join the Polish empire and not the Roman(they had different names but this was essentially the conflict) I then convinced the paladin to make me his actual Ambassador so i could gain entrance to the castle and retrieve schedules of the king and Queen and to come to a better understanding as to where they were in the negotiations with "Rome"
Session zero is important for bard players, if your dm is anti-bard all your work with these ideas will be wasted. Spent a lot of time putting words to a popular song that told the tale of our encounter did a dance step and was awarded 100 Xp. Never did that again, even tho he tried to encourage me, I told him it wasn't worth the time, all he said was "you got 100 xp, what more do you want. I told him next time we go into town, I want the town bard to sing a song, and wouldn't you know it, towns never had a bard after that.
I’d say the chief reason poetry is so bad these days is because of technology. Normally you’d throw a dead poets trash out, but now it is archived forever.
One of my favorite experiences in a D&D game involved all the casters having to come up with the verbal components of their various spells. And during game play, the caster had to use the words to cast the spell. If you didn't, then the spell failed.
Hey man love your vids; i use alot of the tips you give to try and make my character more real keep up ^_^ PS: i think that this vid is a little to bright
One great possibility for the "Ambassador" is the Noble (background) Bard. In Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series, the Assassin's guild became the de facto choice of school for nobles due to the skillset that assassin training provided (to the point where there were probably more non-practicing graduates than active assassins). I could see a bardic college (or just hiring a Bard as a private tutor) occupying a similar niche in a D&D world. Students learn swordplay, history, rhetoric, a smattering of magic and master several musical instruments. For a noble couple looking for a place where little Cedric can reach his full potential, what's not to love about Bardic training? He'll learn a variety of interesting and valuable skills that will leave him well suited to a life at court and well prepared to defend the family's interests. They're going to be _so_ disappointed when Cedric runs off with a group of low-born ne'er-do-wells shortly after graduation.
The biggest obstacle for me and bards is that (In 3.5E at least) so much of the class is tied up in the bardic performance. I have a hard time justifying in any intelligent manner the bard just bursting into song and dance (And I know it can be something else) in the middle of a potentially deadly combat situation, and sadly most of the class's features beyond the first few levels are centered on making that particular skill better.
I have played the Ambassador Bard. I loved the character, but I found the GM neglected the narrative for combat and their story to longer the game endured, until I ended up quitting. I have found over a couple characters that this type of Bard is extremely useful for the party, though the GM must be able to keep up socially or at least improvise on a similar level. Being the normal group GM with about 10 years experience on them, I kinda just roled their NPCs in all social situations and they hated giving me plot early, so they just removed more and more narrative, or stone walled my character from having conversations. Also the GM resorted to very meta-game tactics, including NPCs knowing spells I had even when I never even had a chance to cast them since the level up the session prior. It ended with a combative GM scenario, so I exited after not making progress over a month or two. It was a great learning opportunity for me. Thanks for the great video content btw.
The bard is so versatile, that you can make all kinds of other types. I wanted to make a bard who uses a non-musical medium to inspire and beguile others. Painter, dancer, acrobat, whatever. A bard is a kind of artist, and their charisma is a bit like their "creativity." I'm sure that with the right DM and party, you could have ton's of strange bard varieties, and just make sure to keep the gameplay consistent and logical. Imagine a talented painter/illusionist type bard with a magic paintbrush...He would be epic as hell to fill the bard role. :)
I actually had a spy bard one time when I was in a campaign as there were no rogues, but I didn't want to be one. However, if he bit it in the campaign, I had an idea for another bard who was essentially a historian type. Sadly, the campaign fell through and the scraps of that idea went into a Halfling Knowledge Cleric. I still would like to make such a character again.
Palpatine and wormtounge is also bards in a way. the more whisper lies and suggestion style of evil bards. And also the satirical joker at the court fit the bard as well.
My bard is a 28 year old loli, with 18 cha. 14 wis. 11 int. 14 cons. 11 dex. And 16 strength, and she carries around a huge great club she uses when she runs out of spells, or gets close to the opponent somehow. She can play you a lullaby on her ukelele then bash your head in while you’re asleep
wow im surprised by this video. I've tried to diversify my playstyle with different mixes, so I'm utterly perplexed as to how you draw such positive light on the bard yet brush away the monk. I Would argue that with the level of imagination you applied to a bard you would have just as great effect on a stories narrative and combat with any class including the monk.
My favorite bard I played was a valor/sword bard (i can never remember which is which) and I learned a bunch of shanties to sing while we traveled.....yes i play lots of pirates and sailors leave me alone.
Playing a bard in my new campaign.. My tiefling bard has already charmed an entire tavern into free drink and lodging through an amazing charisma and performance check. And then charming a dragon kin into sparing my party, and casting an amazing thunderwave through his tambourine to knock off three halflings charmed by said dragon kin. Being a musician and a first time magic caster I'm having so much fun playing a bard
I am also playing a Dragonborn Experiment (Purple dragon; psionic) Bard who is quite bitter about the wizard that stole her from her progenitor and performed experiments to create a performer for the Court of Cormyr. She got a little angry and busted out of the joint and stole her captor's ritual book and trying to find her way to the Underdark and find home. Using a lot of disguising to mask the purple scales to black...luckily the area my party is exploring have not seen many Dragonborn and have not questioned the slit-like eyes and tail she has. She has a sensitivity to light and has shares in Murosa balm to stay non-crispy when travelling during the day. I'm looking at trying to understand how faerzress has affected my mutation and how this may have resulted in the wizard's experiment being a "success". Seems like I might only get answers down below?
I'd be very interested in your grade on the Unearthed Arcana classes: the Artificer and the- well, I'm not sure what the other is called. It's like a super powered magic overcharged monk maybe? Perhaps someone in the comments could help me out here
I've been playing a Bard with a custom race I made up (Aarakockrans breeding with Elves create half-elves with bird-like wings), the culture of said race being that they're a democratic, peaceful civilization of mountain hermits that keep to themselves. My character had evil intentions and used his magically bonded lute (everyone in his race had a magically attuned item) for chaos, and wanted to convince his people to go out and conquer the world with their superior intellect. The chief refused and was murdered in cold blood. So now he has set out to amass allies so he can secretly begin conquering the world, using his party as the hammer on the anvil. Though his intentions are secret, for now. He plays a Chaotic Good Bard in the College of Glamour, and he plays as two examples that you've mentioned. He plays as both the Diplomat, negotiating terms with a variety of people, and also as a performer to tame beasts and impress important people. I disagree harshly with anyone that says Bards are useless. You haven't seen someone that focused on roleplay. Combat wise yes, bards are sub-par. But they're supposed to be. The bard's primary role is the negotiating table, the stage, the tavern, so on and so forth. You NEED to take charge and be active in your roleplay to be successful, be useful and enjoy yourself.
Great video!!!! I know the Mystic is not an official class but I was wondering if you could make a video about them similar to this one. Thank you for all the great content!!!
Honestly, I love bards. Some of my favorite characters have been bards in the past. Like the healer in a previous party was a bard who used to be a preacher. In a vikings game, I had a skald who played a guitar that was also an axe. In an Asian-themed game, I had a bard who came from a monastery of monks who was looking for enlightenment and gave inspiration by firing chinese bottle rockets at people in the party for them to use. In the future, I plan on playing a bard who is a chef traveling the world looking to literally cut through crime while searching for the perfect ingredient for a souffle. I love them. They are so versatile.
I think you forgot a couple very interesting bard archetypes, and I played one of them. I played a charlatan. My character was an actor, and I would roll for spells while performing or reciting. Another interesting kind of bard is the "jack-of-all-trades"; he's a charlatan in life that will attempt anything to the best of his ability, but never excelling in anything. Think of the con-man/street urchin/ and yes, it can also be played as a rogue, but as a bard the main focus being charisma instead of combat brings a new level of gameplay.
Bards can also be good for distracting large groups while the party sneaks, or the glamour bard I have tends to focus on manipulating people into doing what he wants. He was raised in a moon elf town split between the Feywild and the Prime Material. He keeps “faerie dust” (glitter) with him, to throw in people’s faces, cast minor illusion to give them wings, and convince them that they can fly. It’s really useful when you’re near the edge of a cliff or a high window and have already convinced this person to make you the heir of some item or title they have.
My first real character was a human bard, she had abysmal stats in all areas except for a 20 in charisma, she was designated the "Ambassador" of the group. Every time we entered combat, she'd start playing her flutey flute, and then promptly be hit by an arrow and knocked down to 0, so her in-combat usages were limited. I was never super talented as a player when it came to negotiating with in-game diplomats and stuff, so even though I had an excellent Diplomacy skill, I 100% caused more problems than I solved in that campaign. Friendly reminder: If somebody asks you "Are you a god?", just roll with it and say yes.
The bard I am currently playing as in the curse of struad has been strucken with immense fear from being left in the death house(I wasn't at the last few sessions and my DM punished me for it) that I have no longer the flair or drive he once had. Now he is a shadow of his former self.
Starting one of our first campaigns with a DM that isn’t as new. It’s very political heavy so far and as the bard of the team I look forward to trying to be the ambassador story-telling bard. Unfortunately I’m a tiefling with a flaw of violence being my answer. So that’ll be interesting.
I find bards to be by far the most useless class. They sell themselves to be the jack of all trades, and for me being ok at everything is the same as being able to do nothing. They aren't the first choice to use in any scenario so they would never be sent out for anything. I love any excuse to sing anywhere. But is anyone able to give me a good reason to play a bard?
Probably depends a lot on the system you play in. For example in Pathfinder, from what I can gather, bards are heavily disregarded (unless they take some prestige class), but on the other hand in 5th edition they're actually damn good. To break it down into points for easier read: - They're full casters, so get access to spells up to 9th level, and 3 times (or 4 if Lore bard) they get to pick 2 spells each time from any class they want. - They have Jack of All Trades (which gives them bonus of half their proficiency to all skills), so they can still fill the gaps in any skill no other party member covers. - But much more importantly: they also get Expertise, with doubles their proficiency with chosen skills (4 skills total), and keep in mind that Expertise is a powerful feature in 5th edition, that only Bards and Rogues get access to. - If you're a Lore bard, skills get even more ridiculous with your archetype capstone ability: Peerless Skill. This allows you to use your Inspiration Die on yourself, whenever you do an ability check. So if you're lucky it's up to +12 to a ability check, which equals basically a better Expertise in every skill. That includes things like initiative rolls or even counterspell/dispel magic checks, so you're even better than an abjuration wizard in this regard. - If you have access to Xanathar's Guide to Everything, I recommend to take a look at College of Swords bard. It's too much to quickly describe here, but in short, they can use their inspiration die to boost their damage, movement or even AC (yep, +12 AC for a round if you roll good) and generally kick ass. All that in addition to being a full caster. So in general, being a bard in 5th edition D&D isn't being mediocre at everything. It's more along the lines of being just as good as the others in many things, then being absolutely amazing in a few things, overshadowing others, and then still being slightly better than anyone else in everything else.
KubinWielki I mostly do e5 and I've heard that bards become op above level 10. But as someone whos never been above level 8, they still seem to half do everything instead focusing on anything.
My bard is a cowardly comedian who fights by shouting puns at his foes. I have a "Ye Olde Tome o' Jokes" where I document every pun he comes up with, it's a pretty good time, especially when you kill stuff with a punny vicious mockery. My power GROWS every time I get the killing blow.
My bard joined his party for the chance to travel. He is part ambassador, part businessperson. He travels with his group acting away from town as an assistant, boosting the other PCs in battle, identifying items for magic and value, etc. But the fun part for me is when they return to town. He sings and tells the story of the most recent adventure to the town members in order to raise the party's popularity. But his main goal in town is to trade songs, stories and even languages. He teaches a song in exchange for learning a new song, etc. He also sells the items the party collects for the best price and buys new items. His real currency is what he knows which he trades for new knowledge. "Good day all, my name is 'Half-note' Cunningham. I've come here to tell you of the defeat of an evil necromancer. My friends Dayton and Gormick and I... Now that you know our tale, have you any troubles you need solved? Come now, good sir. I know the true value of this wand. I believe we can come to a better agreement. I know you need to make a fair profit as you know I do as well. So let's not bother haggling and you buy it for a price where it will sell less 15%. I hear you speak Goblin... I have always hoped to learn that language. Mayhaps you are open to learning one of the many languages I know... That's a banner I've never seen before. What does it stand for?... Ah, that reminds me of my homelands king's flag which looks like this..." My main goal as a player is to build my PCs knowledge base. The more he knows, the more effective he is on adventures. He even knows a fair amount on barkeeping and brewing and distilling. He can party with the best of them.
"they're not front line [...] not as heavily armed [...] as [...] front-line individuals" I respectfully, but highly, disagree. TL;DR: Bards can tank if you set them up for it. I play a bard and am the main tank for my 6-player party, with 20 AC at lvl 3 (splint mail, shield, +1 AC armor infusion). This is attainable thanks to being a College of Valor bard with the Heavily Armored feat (heavy armor proficiency, +1 STR) and the +1 AC infusion is courtesy of our new artificer party member. Combined with defensive spells like Heroism and Mirror Image for personal use and Dissonant Whispers for either getting your party members out of harm's way or for massed-attack-of-opportunity-dmg, I can tank pretty well. I've lived through tanking an Umber Hulk, a Hooked Horror, and even a Bulette (all powered down somewhat, ofc... we're only lvl 3 after all). Come lvl 4, I'm going to be taking a feat that will give me dmg resistance when I'm in heavy armor and a further +1 STR; I'll get a set of full plate as soon as gold allows (or, if the trend continues, when my in-party rogue love interest finds one and gifts it to me... like she's done with ALL my other armors xD ). CHA (16) and STR (14 initially and 15 now) are my main stats - I'll probably favor STR going forward. My only instrument is a horn, but I speak 3 languages from the get-go (and have Comprehend Languages for when I run into something unfamiliar... plus I'm going to learn Abyssal from my love interest) and have both proficiency in blacksmithing and carpentry, along with proficiency in History, Arcana, Religion, Investigation, Insight, and Persuasion - basically I heavily lean into the 'jack of all trades' bardic angle as far as knowledge goes. I actually act mostly like a paladin (no Vicious Mockery for me, thank you very much) and worship Helm - this may lead me to multiclass into paladin after 4th, 5th, or 8th lvl... or perhaps I might multiclass into a divine-blood sorcerer thanks to the other god my character worships - Sharess (due to backstory involving my dead kitty). I might multiclass into both, gods willing (my GM isn't yet convinced, as to him, gods are somewhat greedy things and don't like to share champions with other gods, but I'm hopeful I can make my case by continued service to both gods in the campaign). I may even go cleric or warlock instead of sorcerer (same patron god though - Sharess, but expressed differently). With some RP and backstory choices you don't need to be limited to the classic tropes as far as D&D 5e classes go.
The Bard isn't new at all. The "original" AD&D (the brown book) had Bards, and they were super-powered. You started with 5 levels in Fighter, then about 3 levels of Thief, and THEN learned their true Bard skills. If anything, the class was considered too powerful and was often not permitted by DMs.
My favourite character to play was a Kobold ambassador bard. His goal in life is to integrate kobolds into human society, in order to improve his species' quality of life. (and stop being hunted as monsters) Playing a monster ambassador was very interesting. The DM did not make it easy at all, which was far more satisfying when my plans worked. I'd trade governers things like a method to determine longitude without a clock in exchange for permission to build a school, or a firestation, or an apothecary in their city. (the idea was for humans to be eventually raised by kobolds in schools, saved by kobolds in firestations, healed by kobold medicine and fed by kobolds in inns, farms, taverns etc.)
My kobold would never lie, or disguise himself or try to sneak into cities. Guards would always stop him at the gates and he'd have to bard his way in. Stories, Songs, Deals, whatever it took. He made a point of never looking different from a regular kobold too, so guards wouldn't recognize him as an ambassador with special treatment.
I have a character I'm working on who starts out as an emotionally repressed wizard and slowly breaks out of their shell, accepting that theyre actually ALLOWED to enjoy music and changing to (or multiclassing to somehow) a bard. I plan on having them take an ambassador bard-esque role earlier on- along with some weird workarounds to the issue of charisma in such an unconfident character like "kinda endearingly awkward" or "so verbose people just tune out and assume they're right" or "moderate doormattery translates to being very good at deescalating situations by making concessions one may or may not plan to stand by" (intelligence-based casting wouldn't work for them since they don't let themselves put in the work to bring together a system of magic like that when they could be cultivating their Acceptable Wizard Magic™). Not to mention I'm a complete newbie at D&D at any rate and, having no in-game experience, have resorted to building characters for story with no thoughts about playability. What fun.
Made a teifling bard that was basically a battle rapper and dissed the enemy to attack them. He spits pretty good bars every now and then
Bravely bold sir Robin, rode forth from Camelot... He was not afraid to die, oh brave sir Robin. He was not in the least bit scared to be smashed into a pulp. Brave, brave, brave brave sir Robin...
Nils Vos we have the same profile pic haha
That bard of Sir Robin's would have been a great satirical bard, weaving tales of giants using orcs to steal goods from humans, all for to earn the favor of the giants' leader to further their desires.
In the winter they were forced to eat sir Robins Mistrals.....And there was much Rejoicing.
D
... _yay_ ...
I think you missed one: the bastard. This is the bard who uses his skills to deceive everyone he meets, who remembers every secret, and who is basically a particularly nasty rogue with a lute. It is an awesome character to play.
That's basically my bard in the new campaign. I can walk into a room and make a performance and charm everyone including the barkeep, inkeep, and any NPC in the room. I once gained 30 go just by playing an impromptu set, and then rolled out
I would say that's a scoundrel still.
So College of Whispers.
I tried to go this route with my current bard but I'm... not currently good enough at being that character to make it really work. That aside from the fact that the whole infiltrator theme does not always pair well with... you know... being a member of a party. I don't want to turn into the stereotypical rogue who just leaves the party in a ditch to go sneak around somewhere. Also we already have a rogue...
So he went off to infiltrate something on his own somewhere and will show up again in the future as a DMPC to feed the party information that they will need to act on.
ayyy this is essentially the bard im creating
The bard in my game summarises the events of each session with poetry. It's great
I'm about to play a bard and this is an amazing idea
@@hansoeij539 It worked out great, I still can recall many of them to this day. I recommend plagarizing well known songs and rewriting the lyrics to suit the events of your game, or do some limericks. Really play with it, switch up the style and have fun. Surprise your fellow gamers.
Our bard would then read his poem at the start of the next session as a form of recap and it was definitely a highlight for everyone involved and helped everyone fall into character straight away.
We even did a follow up campaign which was set years after the events of the original and the poems he wrote were canon in the world - NPCs knew about the party and what they did through "The collected works of Beadle Hollowfern". He literally sold them and made himself and the other famous for future storylines.
Just some long term ideas for you, good luck and hope it goes well :)
My favorite bard was "Sarge" Dayb, my half-orc sergeant. He had charisma from his leadership experience, and his songs were all battle and march songs, I used his army experience as a reason for his bardic knowledge and jack-of-all-trades skills. "Thats Mountain Dwarf script, Lads, I ran across some a' that in our second siege of Taypool, lemme see if I can make it out.". Great character.
I played a bard as a reporter before. Usually said, “extra extra! Read all about it!” Before proceeding to cast a spell or insult the enemy with viscous mockery. The headlines I came up with was pretty funny.
"QUICK HIDE BEHIND THE MOUNTAIN OF DEAD BARDS."
One of the greatest movies of all time! 20 ranks in seduction to you.
"How many of those have you got?"
"50!"
Oh thank god I was afraid no one would know it! And yay, I'M GONNA SEDUCE THE PRINCESS
This movie is glorious. I am in your debt for pointing me in its direction.
Lightbearer you are welcome!
How about the "Jester" bard. They tell stories through staire and jokes and are equally focused on demoralizing their opponents as they are inspiring their own team.
We honestly still need the collage of comedy.
just roast your enemies into submission!
The Jester / Fool is the only person who can speak "truth to power" ... the King needs to know what the people think about him w/out kowtowing. A proper fool can be all the places regular folk aren't allowed.
My wife is currently playing a tabaxi rogue/bard with the archeologist background and a distinguishing hat. So, Indiana Jones crossed with a kender
sounds like a fun lady . . . I envy you
That’s my character for Tomb of Annihilation! Well, only lvl 2 for now, so no levels of Bard yet.
JangboFett Yeah, we're doing ToA as well. Not very far in, but lots of fun so far. We're only level 2 as well. What subclasses are you thinking of taking? She's planning on swashbuckler/college of swords for that sweet sweet mobility
1217 BC First subclass for me is Scout. I’m a sucker for skill and expertise. Therefore I think I will go for Lorebard, if I ever dare to change career. I have never done multiclassing and still not sure wether it is a good idea or not. But when I thought of my character I saw rogue/Bard, versatile and full of knowledge
1217 BC I even thought of a level or 2 of Knowledgecleric (if the opportunity comes, I like to roleplay my advances. So I need an intervention from a temple of some sort for that :))
I played a "singing" Bard in a one shot. (I can't sing at all) He carried around a bucket with him with "a tune" carved into the bottom... it was great.
I've rather enjoyed playing the "singing bards" horribly... I usually never voluntarily played a bard (nor did I often get the choice...because lolz)... BUT when I was the bard, the songs were obscure in source, and worse than off tune or out of rhythm... The ballads were almost inspiring though... until of course that last line... (and here I always thought it was a personal problem)... ;o)
You forgot to list my favorite two types of bard. The trickster and the harlequin. I played a harlequin trickster style bard. My party hated me for it, but I had a LOT of fun. It's all about performance and clever use of magic. Being a jester, playing tricks, performing acts...
A good played bard, in a good story, is a great character. Not a warrior or mage super hero, or a cleric destined to become a god. A bard is an itellectual, knowledgeble in local history and old legends. The person you want to have in the party to solve riddles or discuss with a very angry evil lord. Miss playing!!
Is the very angry evil lord one of the Bard's exes?
I mean... this HAS to be asked. xD
I mean, even if the Evil Lord hypothetically 'were' the Bard's ex, there's probably a dozen other good reasons for them to murder the party, so the point is really moot, isn't it?
I actually made a bard that uses his music and his magic to steal, manipulate and control both friends, and enemies.
I called him Morron.
Thanks to the misadventures of Dante in your Kharos Stones Save or Dice campaign, I have been inspired to create a half orc bard character who writes and sings operas. His mother was a stout comely human lass who loved the opera and wanted a child more than anything. Sadly none of the men of her village would have her so she grabbed a hapless runt orc and took advantage of him during a raid of her village and nine months later Braumbauer was born. He tried to appease his loving but domineering mother by joining the opera but they would not have a half orc in their troupe. Operas can be so picky, you know. He took his father's great axe that his mother kept as a souvenir of the most 'romantic' night of her life and set out on the road to adventure... He's only ugly on the outside! Thank you for being such an inspiration, Guy! Braumbauer is sure to be a lot of fun!
One of my favorite PCs I have ever played was an "Emo bard." RPed it so that I was bumming out my opponents and weakening them rather than bolstering my allies.
As the parties Bard I post stories and songs after most of our sessions in our forums. Other member add to them and we clear up a lot of micro management out of game so that we don't have to waste in game time. Since I tend to embellish the stories the songs and the GM enjoys players input I've shifted the in game narrative several time. The fact that the GM declared that Bards do not lie makes altering the true events even more fun.
I'm leeading a Shadowrun Party with someone very similar to a (Ambassador) Bard. He plays an actor and charms his way into situations where the others van't infiltrate and is very happy with it. One time they played a mission very save (over a long time). While everyone else was preparing climbing gear, hacking Matrix-Nodes etc., he was EMPLOYED by the Mega-Con they wanted to rob. While the others where preparing, he had only to talk, which was for all of us the most exciting part of the Run. It actualy got a bit boring, when they startet the heist and got into action, because he was talking himself from the fryingpan into the Vice-Junior-Executive-Position into the fire and back. Hilariouse! Best of all was the name he introduced himself with: Max Power!!!!
That sounds a lot like the bard I'm currently playing in DnD. One who would rather infiltrate and manipulate than tell stories, and takes over the establishment from the inside.
I am playing a Bard for the first time tonight. I've watched about a half dozen "How to play a Bard" videos prior to watching this one. All of them were really just Class Feature run-downs and offered no real insights into how to actually RP the Bard.
Thank you for your video. The insights you provided were much needed. I had intended on making my character something in between Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, and Bob Dylan, because I'm a 50 y/o dude and that's about where my voice lands. I was thinking about chronicling our adventures, which you mentioned and now I'm excited.
Stay well
One of my favorite characters actually touches on this and your video of evil characters. I treated him like a struggling merchant and fell into the ambassador type of bard you described. He focused only on supporting and augmenting his players. He had minimal damaging spells, but rather concentrated on making sure his caravan guards (the other PCs) were extremely effective in every aspect of their adventures. The good intentions that they had, always allowed my character the opportunity to fill the void that their actions created. Like Lord Vetinari's (of Discworld) philosophy on the necessity of evil being the only way to plan for the long term. He wouldn't betray his own group, just as you wouldn't betray your own sword arm, or wouldn't betray the armor you wear. That is just hurting yourself and your investments. But by establishing the next thieves guild in the town after they destroyed the previous one, allowed the adventure to continue and created a library of downtime interaction.
Might I suggest another kind of Bard? I've been working on an idea for a sort of drill instructor or skald bard. Using 5e with the Valor Bard, this is the character keeping everyone calm in combat and buffing their teammates. They focus more on seeing the party through thick and thin. Their shouts causing friends to regain health or inspiration. Outside of battle, maybe they know old stories of chivalry. Perhaps they can recall poems of battle. Or could they use their booming voice to give a rallying speech.
I thought there have been bards since 2e
does "have been around for quite a long time" mean first ed only?
Bard was a class in 1e except that you had to earn your Bard title and there were restrictions. Needed to be something like level 4 and have four stats 15+, could only be a human or half-elf, etc.
They were a class in 1e, not sure what he meant by it.
In 1st and 2nd ed, you have to Juno through a million hoops to qualify. It is often said that bards were the first prestige class.
First ed yes, 2nd no the only prerequisites were Dex 12, Int 13 and Cha 15 becoming a Paladin was harder with Cha 17
1e, Unearthed Arcana. Had to be a Fighter 3/Thief 3. I was aiming to, but only made it to 3/1 when our group folded, so was delighted to revive him straight into class for 5e.
He started out a good hearted scoundrel, but after the deaths of several friends, the fate of his home town and a spot of time travelling, he’s now the heart/moral compass of his party and the Indiana Jones description is actually pretty close.
Bards can be very powerful, even when they seem like a simple comic relief. Take Scanlan Shorthalt for example. But I would consider them full magic users if they take the college of lore.
Like how he assaulted a manor home, defeated a dozen guards, escaped to the roof just to set the house on fire, and then single-handedly defeated the commander by throwing him off the side of the house!
Snuck up to a god and counterspelled his attempt to run away.
I know not this Scanlon of whom you speak. But I agree that bards can be both formidable warriors and full casters. Perhaps I mis-played by valor bard egregiously by not sticking strictly to a support role, but even as he doled out inspirations he managed to achieve major battlefield control with spells like Tasha's laughter, Suggestion, Dispel Magic and Hypnotic Pattern. He also managed to deal damage reasonably well, with Heat Metal or Animate Objects, combined with decent-high Dex sharpshooter attacks(2).
Of course, they're also awesome at support roles! Making other characters invisible, polymorphing them into giant beasts (better than healing the near-dead or depleted, just make them into a whole new ally!), or tiny hut-ing them up for the night while healing them with a song of rest, they've got the utility spells of a full caster as well.
Plus, they're better than anyone else except rogues at the skill-monkey thing, and they're high-Cha faces to boot (Friends and Charm Person for the auto-persuade).
Seriously, what's not to like? They're decent in melee, powerful casters (except for non-concentration blasting, but nobody's perfect. Oh wait...magical secrets at 10th level...yeah, they can blast eventually too, if that's what you want), support-flexible skill monkey faces. They rock!
I currently have a Lvl 18 college of whispers bard, and I chose my spells to fit thematically instead of being good in combat. All my spells are saving throws and I don't have any spell attacks other than booming blade. But shillelagh, booming blade, and psychic blades can all be used to do some very powerful melee hits, and the amount of crowd control I have can be very useful.
Hold Person into Psychic Blades if the HP lasts long enough can be nuts damage for a bard.
Honestly, in 5e a bard really can be a full/true healer. I had a bard that was the only healer for a group of 7, and that went fine.
Your voice and infliction are incredible! It reminds me of the guy who read the Harry Potter series
As a lvl 1 bard Im having fun, much different than my typical warriors. this was great insight.
I consider my bard (ranger/bard) Solitaire as a collector of emotions. A perpetually masked fallen aasimar, who delights in traveling the land in search of the extremities of mortal emotion. Solitaire spends much of his spare time privately repainting his otherwise expressionless masks into visages of emotions he has collected from his subjects abroad. Solitaire never stays anywhere long and never leaves anything behind, save memories in the minds of those whom he has affected. Solitaire has found that the extremes of despair, fear, and remorse tend to please his palette more than the extremes of joy, love, and honor and as such I roleplay him more on the evil side. This is not to say that he does not relish in captivating a tavern full of patrons with his words and music, for these are the situations that Solitaire most often finds himself. The more maliciously acquired flavors of emotion are not quite so easy to come by...
P.s to Guy: I just discovered your channel yesterday and I will summarize my admiration by simply saying: you, sir, inspire me. In writing the above, your voice and manner of speaking were at the forefront of my mind. Excellent content and keep up the good work!
A while back I played a pirate Bard who actually filled the role of both singer and ambassador in the party. She was a half elf/half orc that resembles the former more strongly (until she flashed a grin with those pearly white tusks) that had been raised by her elf noble father (who was very drunkenly traveling the land so his family didn't have to deal with him or publicly disown) to learn the ways of nobility and social prowess as well as a bit of bar hopping. Eventually, she was swept off with her mother's pirate crew when she was old enough to serve as a member of it.
In the party she was the most eloquent and knowledgeable about the higher class and managed to win quite a few second looks from benefactors for the party just by knowing her shit and had an automatic +7 to intimidate should things go south! She was loads of fun to play because she had an odd balance between two very different worlds and no one was sure how to approach her because she dressed so common but held herself so well in the fancy pants clubhouse. The campaign didn't last as long as I would have hoped but I really loved playing her as this intelligent and witty person who could also get down to business. She pretty much became the singing rouge in a way 😂
Sounds really fun! Pity that the adventure didn’t last that long. Singing ambassador bards are the best. Even if my bard probably couldn’t intimidate anyone if her life depended on it.
MysticaFaery Honestly Dolma (my Bard) was something of an unusual take on the class with having the back ground that she did haha 😂 she learned how to play, flirt, and socialize from her father and then how to fight, command, and inspire fear from her mother and that made for great tension from what people expected versus what they actually got in the end.
If I could find another campaign to play her in it would be loads of fun because I miss player her!!
"...I want to sing and dance!
I want to sing and dance!
I want to be a pirate in the Pirates of Penzanse...
Wear me silver buckled slippers and me' tight shiny pants...
I want to sing and dance!"
;o)
I just started playing D&D a few months ago on roll20 (where have you been all my life??) and the second character I made is a half-elf Chaotic Neutral bard. I had an EPIC RP moment in my last game:
Two guards were standing outside a cave and my teammate decided to approach and attack. I stepped in to help, cast Charm Person (it was my first time using it!) and proceeded to convince the guard that he had taken me out on a date once, ghosted me and felt REALLY bad about it since. He then got into an argument with the other guard, giving my teammate a chance to knock him unconscious. I then asked for rope, asked the charmed guard to lie face down, tied him up, and looted him while my teammates questioned him. After they were done, I knocked him unconscious, shot an arrow in his knee (matching the injury of the other guard), disrobed both guards and finally made my way into the cave. 😂
My DM and party were laughing and said they enjoyed it 🥲 I'd had a shit week and that 5ish minutes of RP made the stress all melt away.
I love my bard 🥰
I'm playing the last "Indianna Jones" type currently. Well, it bit more Nathan Drake, but in kobold form. He's less than a decade old and escaped his warren, and is out exploring the world, learning myths and aiming to explore them. He's not the most Wise or Intelligent, but he's charming and plucky and is always the first to dive in to an adventure and poke at the curious thingamy. He's happy to play a song or two, but his ultimate aim to to explore the world, have many an adventure and make all sorts of friends along the way.
My Bard is aspirational, she wants to be a great pirate because of all the stories and songs she's heard about great pirates of the past.
My current bard is a historian/romance novelist. I guess you could say he's a hybrid of both the final two types. He's a blast.
Currently playing a half-orc bard, who's mostly a story teller, but also composes limericks (usually regarding the local pantheon). He joined the party after leaving a traveling group of mummers, as being the only guy among a group of master thespians, was getting... quite awkward.
I have played a xenopologist Bard, a propagandist Bard, Cantor Bard, Scourge Bard, Dread Bard, and a Spy Bard.
It's the most versatile class around.
My Xenopologist is new. He studies the culture and society of the lesser intelligent creatures (currently working on learning Goblin culture).
My propagandist destabilized an entire kingdom by spreading hatred against the crown.
My cantor, Cleric Bard multiclass, summoned angels and then boosted them with songs and spells.
My scourge came out before the Marshal class came out in 3.5, and functioned very similarly.
And my Spy Bard, functioned at a much higher level than the actual spy class in 3.5
You enter the local inn, then the owner says "you're a bard"...Bah Dum Tiiiisssshhh.
Found your channel after I was invited to a D&D game and wanted to say thank you for all of the information! I'm actually playing a bard myself, and I think it would fall under that 'scoundrel' classification; He's a storyteller, technically... but more of a liar, embellishing his own feats and convincing people that he's more famous and more skilled than he actually is. (I came up with the idea when I thought about a character who has the REPUTATION of being the world's greatest knife fighter, but no actual skill in it.) He travels a lot and has a lot of local knowledge, but mostly he tries to talk his way out of situations he got himself into.
My favorite kind of bard is the demagogue. They don't sing, they don't tell stories, but they excel at motivational speaking and can psych the party up or demoralize the enemy simply by delivering powerful and evocative speeches on the spot.
My bard is actually the Indiana Jones -type!
(I am an archaeologist myself, so that explains some of it.)
On top of this she is also the diplomat type - well at least one of her split personalities is!
Yes. I play a half-orc bard, who thus far has two split personalities. And it is a blast! :D
I love playing my bard. Always have a blast with him, by far my favourite class
One of my favorite PCs I have ever played was an "Emo bard." RPed it so that I was bumming out my opponents and weakening them rather than bolstering my allies.
I've been playing a bard in my current campaign. A glamour bard who can be a tad manipulative and possibly narcissistic who is largely interested in attaining power, but political / socioeconomic power rather than magic or strength, though magical power can be used as a means to the primary objective. She is slowly coming to better play the support role and actually put trust in her teammates and I've been having a blast playing as her. From the descriptions you gave, I'd probably pin her as somewhere between an Ambassador-type and Scoundrel-type bard.
The most recent session was a single boss floor of a tower dungeon against 2 hydras who kept not-quite-one-shotting one of our party members who was only able to survive from chugging from a giant keg filled with healing potion along with a Beacon of Hope I set up. A little later and a demon lord we summoned was one-shot by a hasted 22-headed hydra leaving a circle of hell with no king. Our summoner happened to be the right race to have a chance at claiming the throne, but we found my deception and persuasion were high enough that I could conceivable convince him into giving me the throne.
TLDR: How a glamour bard managed to bullshit her way into potentially becoming a princess of hell.
Before that she just messed with another party member who turned invisible to avoid being caught be the authorities, and I just turned and stared at him while smiling thanks to See Invisibility. Didn't say or do anything, just smiled at him while he was invisible.
I've never played before but am really interested in doing so. I've been building a charater and backstory that follows the living style of my favorite tv character Raymond Reddington from the tv show Blacklist. He is a criminal mastermind and fence. It seems like the coolest to play in persuading people to get your way and fencing stolen gems and artifacts to people in power and wealth to sway power in a world and the bard makes a perfect fit. A smooth talking overconfident "concierge of crime"
My bard actually is just there for comedic effect, but I still save my party's asses anyway
i'm playing a bard right now in a campaign and i actually play him as an instigator/wild-card xD with so much versatility i can come upon a multitude of situations where i can go, "Oh if i do this thing i bet something interesting will happen" For example, my party and i were at a town and one of the players got some drugs and Over-dosed someone who was rude to them by slipping said drugs in their drink, this caused the fellow to go on a rampage. I on the other hand had talked an Alchemist into giving me some oil (and some other things) as down payment for a quest earlier on. The inn (which is where we were at when the guy got drugged) had a sign out front that said no Dark elves allowed (i'm playing a half-elf drow bard, and i and my character didn't take kindly to this.) so as i and a few other took cover in a room i messaged the DM and said i dump out the oil i got from the alchemist in the room and proceeded to push everyone out with some sort of excuse and then lit it on fire. The rampaging guy had broken through one of the walls of the inn as he was fighting a few of our party members and the brawl had spilled out into the street. Remembering that there was a bank in town i went over there as my party kept fighting the Rampaging guy and told the guards about how the inn was on fire and that there was some guy rampaging in the street. They rushed out of the bank and left me alone with just one teller. i killed the teller and robbed the bank blind (i had a bag of holding) while the guards i had sent helped the party take down the rampaging idiot. and that's the story of how i set an inn AND a bank on fire all the while "helping" my party fight some guy AND robbing a bank. Bards are great :D
I crossed into bard for the first time three weeks ago and have had a blast!!
My favorite class of all times.
So weak but so, so funny and creative..
Brilliant opening.
The best bard I ever played to date was a valor bard in a d and d 5e campaign. he was an orc (thankyou skyrim)and his background was barbarian tribe member. He would wade into combat swinging a twohanded greataxe while shouting encouragement to his allies and insults at his foes. casting faerie fire on enemies allowed the rest of the party to hang back and use ranged attacks with advantage. being an orc, he was rather tankish with maxed out strength and constitution. being a bard, he had a high charisma (for an orc) which lead to lots of fun npc interactions.
I am playing an ambassador bard right now in Kingmaker (pathfinder) and I am surprised to hear that it’s not more popular.
Her skills as a diplomat (and lots of really cheesy pick up lines between myself and the man playing the King, haha) has lead to the point to her becoming Queen. 👑
On the ambassador front I try to keep the peace in the party (a right nightmare at times!), talking to a lot of our citizens peasants, soldier and noble alike. And I have rarely felt useless in a fight - high level bardic preformances are amazing.
I actually (both in and out of character) helped two of the players to mend their IRL friendship after lots of game related drama.
And also wrote two (hopefully) funny little plays about the groups victories. 😊
I know all about bards, but like hearing you say things
My DM wants to do an all Bard group at some point and while i have my.... reservations about it, you've definitely given me a lot to think about should this ever come to pass.
I'm taking a Bard in a different direction. My character is a half-elven female, and she was raised as a foundling in a lawful good temple. This lawful side wars with her natural chaotic elven side. She also struggles with the patience of an elf vs the live-for-today attitude of her human side. She "split" her personality as a result, so when her lawful side is in control, she is a lore bard, gathering information and acting as an ambassador. When her chaotic side is in control, she is dramatic, fiery and ready to defend her party at great risk to herself. This also prevents the "Doctor Jekyll & Mrs. Hyde" trope, since she can be an asset to the party either way; she just shows it differently. She even takes it upon herself to change her appearance to match the side that is in control.
I play a bard who is a conartist who is always using his wit and charm to trick others out of information, money,, and etc. I also on purpose made him very weak in combat so he needs others to lean on when things go south. He is a lot like rouge who never fights
I play the ambassador(sp?) bard. So far he's turned into the leader/father-figure/mediator/guide in the party. As far as our story my bard is the one that set up our group's path as heroes out of a selfish need to learn about the kingdom he is in so as to better do his future task as ambassador from another kingdom.... His spells are all instrumental no singing, though I did talk with my DM and some not all spells have both a melody and lyrics that determine spell level. Strange thing is I made him a Valor Bard thus he was going to be a mysterious musician who could defend himself and others before the story made him the ambassador type.
I guess you could call my last bard an ambassador, but I classed her more as a spy than as an ambassador. It was a character who used a combination of stealth, deception, charm and magic to acquire information, undermine the enemy, and to get out of trouble. It probably blurred the line between bard and rogue, but that's what I was going for, it was a bit of a Dragon Age: Origins approach to a bard with D&D mechanics.
I played a Bard who was a trader. He would travel from town to town buying up items cheaply that he knew he could sell elsewhere. 80% of the campaign was shopping, it was glorious.
I'm a bard-chef. I changed all the "songs" to tasty food with status effects that I throw at people.
In my games, Bards are essentially sorcerers and wizards who’s magic is so powerful that the only way to express their magic into the world is by music, words and beauty
I play a half-ling light-footed Bard Named Banjo Jack that's a clown... My main character goal/backstory is to find great heroes to join/follow so I can tell their stories of adventure. and escape legal troubles at home.
I am mostly a spell caster as I have far more spell slots than most others in my party. Plus with college of Lore knowing 6 spells of ANY class is huge. It is quite beneficial to the party with the extra healing, bardic inspirations and now at 16 gained the feat inspiring leader which grants +21 hp to the entire party of 8 hours.
I've been thinking about the bard-barian. Someone who comes from the tribal traditions of the barbarians but passes down the stories of their culture. A vikingesque bardbarian who uses the studies of the runes as a focus of magic and his voice to channel that power. A warcry demoralizes his enemy ir inspires his friends. He travels with a fellow barbarian as his announcer and chronicler. I like the idea of being the guy in the bar telling a rousing story but when the chips are down he can get into a rage and step into a fight.
I have played the ambassador Bard to great effect. My party consists of a cleric, a paladin and myself (a bard). As per the suggestion in the players handbook my paladin friend took the Noble background. Within the campaign Manticore were posing a problem due to the Griffon riders (called winged Hassars) were letting their Griffons free range hunt in Manticore lands. I talked to some manticore to gain this information and then the party went to the captain of the force to tell him about the problem. Upon meeting he was in front of a crystal ball where he said he saw his home city burning. I convinced him to take all his fastest men (the Griffon riders) and check on his city but he had to leave the army in someones charge to which I convinced him to leave in the capable hands of the Noble Paladin (the party had won a tournament in town and had met him in the winning circle earlier that month so he knew of us and our prowess) the DM stopped the session early so he could figure out what to do with us now that we had an army. The day of his departure the Paladin takes the Captain aside and asks what a reward would be if we were able to convince the King and Queen to join the Polish empire and not the Roman(they had different names but this was essentially the conflict) I then convinced the paladin to make me his actual Ambassador so i could gain entrance to the castle and retrieve schedules of the king and Queen and to come to a better understanding as to where they were in the negotiations with "Rome"
Session zero is important for bard players, if your dm is anti-bard all your work with these ideas will be wasted. Spent a lot of time putting words to a popular song that told the tale of our encounter did a dance step and was awarded 100 Xp. Never did that again, even tho he tried to encourage me, I told him it wasn't worth the time, all he said was "you got 100 xp, what more do you want. I told him next time we go into town, I want the town bard to sing a song, and wouldn't you know it, towns never had a bard after that.
I’d say the chief reason poetry is so bad these days is because of technology.
Normally you’d throw a dead poets trash out, but now it is archived forever.
Sturgeon's Law applies to Poetry as well. More bad poetry means more good poetry.
Okay, sure... but WHERE?!? o.O
The Internet is a series of tubes.
One of my favorite experiences in a D&D game involved all the casters having to come up with the verbal components of their various spells. And during game play, the caster had to use the words to cast the spell. If you didn't, then the spell failed.
Hey man love your vids; i use alot of the tips you give to try and make my character more real keep up ^_^
PS: i think that this vid is a little to bright
One great possibility for the "Ambassador" is the Noble (background) Bard.
In Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series, the Assassin's guild became the de facto choice of school for nobles due to the skillset that assassin training provided (to the point where there were probably more non-practicing graduates than active assassins). I could see a bardic college (or just hiring a Bard as a private tutor) occupying a similar niche in a D&D world. Students learn swordplay, history, rhetoric, a smattering of magic and master several musical instruments. For a noble couple looking for a place where little Cedric can reach his full potential, what's not to love about Bardic training? He'll learn a variety of interesting and valuable skills that will leave him well suited to a life at court and well prepared to defend the family's interests.
They're going to be _so_ disappointed when Cedric runs off with a group of low-born ne'er-do-wells shortly after graduation.
The biggest obstacle for me and bards is that (In 3.5E at least) so much of the class is tied up in the bardic performance. I have a hard time justifying in any intelligent manner the bard just bursting into song and dance (And I know it can be something else) in the middle of a potentially deadly combat situation, and sadly most of the class's features beyond the first few levels are centered on making that particular skill better.
My ambassador character was a shapeshifter who specialized in political schemes and playing behind the scenes. She was gestalt bard/dualist
I have played the Ambassador Bard. I loved the character, but I found the GM neglected the narrative for combat and their story to longer the game endured, until I ended up quitting.
I have found over a couple characters that this type of Bard is extremely useful for the party, though the GM must be able to keep up socially or at least improvise on a similar level. Being the normal group GM with about 10 years experience on them, I kinda just roled their NPCs in all social situations and they hated giving me plot early, so they just removed more and more narrative, or stone walled my character from having conversations. Also the GM resorted to very meta-game tactics, including NPCs knowing spells I had even when I never even had a chance to cast them since the level up the session prior.
It ended with a combative GM scenario, so I exited after not making progress over a month or two. It was a great learning opportunity for me. Thanks for the great video content btw.
Staying Alive by the BeeGees comes to mind.
Bards! Boldly bringing you half-whatevers since 2nd edition!
The bard is so versatile, that you can make all kinds of other types. I wanted to make a bard who uses a non-musical medium to inspire and beguile others. Painter, dancer, acrobat, whatever. A bard is a kind of artist, and their charisma is a bit like their "creativity." I'm sure that with the right DM and party, you could have ton's of strange bard varieties, and just make sure to keep the gameplay consistent and logical. Imagine a talented painter/illusionist type bard with a magic paintbrush...He would be epic as hell to fill the bard role. :)
I actually had a spy bard one time when I was in a campaign as there were no rogues, but I didn't want to be one. However, if he bit it in the campaign, I had an idea for another bard who was essentially a historian type. Sadly, the campaign fell through and the scraps of that idea went into a Halfling Knowledge Cleric. I still would like to make such a character again.
Palpatine and wormtounge is also bards in a way. the more whisper lies and suggestion style of evil bards. And also the satirical joker at the court fit the bard as well.
My bard is a 28 year old loli, with 18 cha. 14 wis. 11 int. 14 cons. 11 dex. And 16 strength, and she carries around a huge great club she uses when she runs out of spells, or gets close to the opponent somehow. She can play you a lullaby on her ukelele then bash your head in while you’re asleep
Bard of Valor is probably my favorite, battle bard is just MMMM! Got me my bard of Valor/ancestral guardian dwarf.
wow im surprised by this video. I've tried to diversify my playstyle with different mixes, so I'm utterly perplexed as to how you draw such positive light on the bard yet brush away the monk. I Would argue that with the level of imagination you applied to a bard you would have just as great effect on a stories narrative and combat with any class including the monk.
What about the jester bard? They use comedy to lighten the mood and cutting words to combat the enemy.
Any chance you have a brawler type video kicking around?
My favorite bard I played was a valor/sword bard (i can never remember which is which) and I learned a bunch of shanties to sing while we traveled.....yes i play lots of pirates and sailors leave me alone.
Playing a bard in my new campaign.. My tiefling bard has already charmed an entire tavern into free drink and lodging through an amazing charisma and performance check. And then charming a dragon kin into sparing my party, and casting an amazing thunderwave through his tambourine to knock off three halflings charmed by said dragon kin. Being a musician and a first time magic caster I'm having so much fun playing a bard
Me: *sets speed to 2x
*wonders why he is blinking so much
*realizes that I'm an idiot
I am also playing a Dragonborn Experiment (Purple dragon; psionic) Bard who is quite bitter about the wizard that stole her from her progenitor and performed experiments to create a performer for the Court of Cormyr. She got a little angry and busted out of the joint and stole her captor's ritual book and trying to find her way to the Underdark and find home. Using a lot of disguising to mask the purple scales to black...luckily the area my party is exploring have not seen many Dragonborn and have not questioned the slit-like eyes and tail she has. She has a sensitivity to light and has shares in Murosa balm to stay non-crispy when travelling during the day. I'm looking at trying to understand how faerzress has affected my mutation and how this may have resulted in the wizard's experiment being a "success". Seems like I might only get answers down below?
I'd be very interested in your grade on the Unearthed Arcana classes: the Artificer and the- well, I'm not sure what the other is called. It's like a super powered magic overcharged monk maybe? Perhaps someone in the comments could help me out here
I've been playing a Bard with a custom race I made up (Aarakockrans breeding with Elves create half-elves with bird-like wings), the culture of said race being that they're a democratic, peaceful civilization of mountain hermits that keep to themselves. My character had evil intentions and used his magically bonded lute (everyone in his race had a magically attuned item) for chaos, and wanted to convince his people to go out and conquer the world with their superior intellect. The chief refused and was murdered in cold blood. So now he has set out to amass allies so he can secretly begin conquering the world, using his party as the hammer on the anvil.
Though his intentions are secret, for now. He plays a Chaotic Good Bard in the College of Glamour, and he plays as two examples that you've mentioned. He plays as both the Diplomat, negotiating terms with a variety of people, and also as a performer to tame beasts and impress important people.
I disagree harshly with anyone that says Bards are useless. You haven't seen someone that focused on roleplay. Combat wise yes, bards are sub-par. But they're supposed to be. The bard's primary role is the negotiating table, the stage, the tavern, so on and so forth. You NEED to take charge and be active in your roleplay to be successful, be useful and enjoy yourself.
Great video!!!! I know the Mystic is not an official class but I was wondering if you could make a video about them similar to this one. Thank you for all the great content!!!
Honestly, I love bards. Some of my favorite characters have been bards in the past. Like the healer in a previous party was a bard who used to be a preacher. In a vikings game, I had a skald who played a guitar that was also an axe. In an Asian-themed game, I had a bard who came from a monastery of monks who was looking for enlightenment and gave inspiration by firing chinese bottle rockets at people in the party for them to use. In the future, I plan on playing a bard who is a chef traveling the world looking to literally cut through crime while searching for the perfect ingredient for a souffle. I love them. They are so versatile.
I think you forgot a couple very interesting bard archetypes, and I played one of them.
I played a charlatan. My character was an actor, and I would roll for spells while performing or reciting. Another interesting kind of bard is the "jack-of-all-trades"; he's a charlatan in life that will attempt anything to the best of his ability, but never excelling in anything. Think of the con-man/street urchin/ and yes, it can also be played as a rogue, but as a bard the main focus being charisma instead of combat brings a new level of gameplay.
Bards can also be good for distracting large groups while the party sneaks, or the glamour bard I have tends to focus on manipulating people into doing what he wants. He was raised in a moon elf town split between the Feywild and the Prime Material. He keeps “faerie dust” (glitter) with him, to throw in people’s faces, cast minor illusion to give them wings, and convince them that they can fly. It’s really useful when you’re near the edge of a cliff or a high window and have already convinced this person to make you the heir of some item or title they have.
I can't wait for you to make a video on my favorite class the warlock!
My first real character was a human bard, she had abysmal stats in all areas except for a 20 in charisma, she was designated the "Ambassador" of the group. Every time we entered combat, she'd start playing her flutey flute, and then promptly be hit by an arrow and knocked down to 0, so her in-combat usages were limited. I was never super talented as a player when it came to negotiating with in-game diplomats and stuff, so even though I had an excellent Diplomacy skill, I 100% caused more problems than I solved in that campaign. Friendly reminder: If somebody asks you "Are you a god?", just roll with it and say yes.
The bard I am currently playing as in the curse of struad has been strucken with immense fear from being left in the death house(I wasn't at the last few sessions and my DM punished me for it) that I have no longer the flair or drive he once had. Now he is a shadow of his former self.
Starting one of our first campaigns with a DM that isn’t as new. It’s very political heavy so far and as the bard of the team I look forward to trying to be the ambassador story-telling bard. Unfortunately I’m a tiefling with a flaw of violence being my answer. So that’ll be interesting.
Currently playing a Tiefling rock star
I find bards to be by far the most useless class. They sell themselves to be the jack of all trades, and for me being ok at everything is the same as being able to do nothing. They aren't the first choice to use in any scenario so they would never be sent out for anything.
I love any excuse to sing anywhere. But is anyone able to give me a good reason to play a bard?
Probably depends a lot on the system you play in. For example in Pathfinder, from what I can gather, bards are heavily disregarded (unless they take some prestige class), but on the other hand in 5th edition they're actually damn good. To break it down into points for easier read:
- They're full casters, so get access to spells up to 9th level, and 3 times (or 4 if Lore bard) they get to pick 2 spells each time from any class they want.
- They have Jack of All Trades (which gives them bonus of half their proficiency to all skills), so they can still fill the gaps in any skill no other party member covers.
- But much more importantly: they also get Expertise, with doubles their proficiency with chosen skills (4 skills total), and keep in mind that Expertise is a powerful feature in 5th edition, that only Bards and Rogues get access to.
- If you're a Lore bard, skills get even more ridiculous with your archetype capstone ability: Peerless Skill. This allows you to use your Inspiration Die on yourself, whenever you do an ability check. So if you're lucky it's up to +12 to a ability check, which equals basically a better Expertise in every skill. That includes things like initiative rolls or even counterspell/dispel magic checks, so you're even better than an abjuration wizard in this regard.
- If you have access to Xanathar's Guide to Everything, I recommend to take a look at College of Swords bard. It's too much to quickly describe here, but in short, they can use their inspiration die to boost their damage, movement or even AC (yep, +12 AC for a round if you roll good) and generally kick ass. All that in addition to being a full caster.
So in general, being a bard in 5th edition D&D isn't being mediocre at everything. It's more along the lines of being just as good as the others in many things, then being absolutely amazing in a few things, overshadowing others, and then still being slightly better than anyone else in everything else.
KubinWielki I mostly do e5 and I've heard that bards become op above level 10. But as someone whos never been above level 8, they still seem to half do everything instead focusing on anything.
My bard is a cowardly comedian who fights by shouting puns at his foes. I have a "Ye Olde Tome o' Jokes" where I document every pun he comes up with, it's a pretty good time, especially when you kill stuff with a punny vicious mockery. My power GROWS every time I get the killing blow.
My bard joined his party for the chance to travel. He is part ambassador, part businessperson. He travels with his group acting away from town as an assistant, boosting the other PCs in battle, identifying items for magic and value, etc. But the fun part for me is when they return to town. He sings and tells the story of the most recent adventure to the town members in order to raise the party's popularity. But his main goal in town is to trade songs, stories and even languages. He teaches a song in exchange for learning a new song, etc. He also sells the items the party collects for the best price and buys new items. His real currency is what he knows which he trades for new knowledge.
"Good day all, my name is 'Half-note' Cunningham. I've come here to tell you of the defeat of an evil necromancer. My friends Dayton and Gormick and I... Now that you know our tale, have you any troubles you need solved?
Come now, good sir. I know the true value of this wand. I believe we can come to a better agreement. I know you need to make a fair profit as you know I do as well. So let's not bother haggling and you buy it for a price where it will sell less 15%.
I hear you speak Goblin... I have always hoped to learn that language. Mayhaps you are open to learning one of the many languages I know...
That's a banner I've never seen before. What does it stand for?... Ah, that reminds me of my homelands king's flag which looks like this..."
My main goal as a player is to build my PCs knowledge base. The more he knows, the more effective he is on adventures. He even knows a fair amount on barkeeping and brewing and distilling. He can party with the best of them.
"they're not front line [...] not as heavily armed [...] as [...] front-line individuals"
I respectfully, but highly, disagree.
TL;DR: Bards can tank if you set them up for it.
I play a bard and am the main tank for my 6-player party, with 20 AC at lvl 3 (splint mail, shield, +1 AC armor infusion). This is attainable thanks to being a College of Valor bard with the Heavily Armored feat (heavy armor proficiency, +1 STR) and the +1 AC infusion is courtesy of our new artificer party member. Combined with defensive spells like Heroism and Mirror Image for personal use and Dissonant Whispers for either getting your party members out of harm's way or for massed-attack-of-opportunity-dmg, I can tank pretty well. I've lived through tanking an Umber Hulk, a Hooked Horror, and even a Bulette (all powered down somewhat, ofc... we're only lvl 3 after all). Come lvl 4, I'm going to be taking a feat that will give me dmg resistance when I'm in heavy armor and a further +1 STR; I'll get a set of full plate as soon as gold allows (or, if the trend continues, when my in-party rogue love interest finds one and gifts it to me... like she's done with ALL my other armors xD ).
CHA (16) and STR (14 initially and 15 now) are my main stats - I'll probably favor STR going forward. My only instrument is a horn, but I speak 3 languages from the get-go (and have Comprehend Languages for when I run into something unfamiliar... plus I'm going to learn Abyssal from my love interest) and have both proficiency in blacksmithing and carpentry, along with proficiency in History, Arcana, Religion, Investigation, Insight, and Persuasion - basically I heavily lean into the 'jack of all trades' bardic angle as far as knowledge goes.
I actually act mostly like a paladin (no Vicious Mockery for me, thank you very much) and worship Helm - this may lead me to multiclass into paladin after 4th, 5th, or 8th lvl... or perhaps I might multiclass into a divine-blood sorcerer thanks to the other god my character worships - Sharess (due to backstory involving my dead kitty). I might multiclass into both, gods willing (my GM isn't yet convinced, as to him, gods are somewhat greedy things and don't like to share champions with other gods, but I'm hopeful I can make my case by continued service to both gods in the campaign). I may even go cleric or warlock instead of sorcerer (same patron god though - Sharess, but expressed differently).
With some RP and backstory choices you don't need to be limited to the classic tropes as far as D&D 5e classes go.
The Bard isn't new at all. The "original" AD&D (the brown book) had Bards, and they were super-powered. You started with 5 levels in Fighter, then about 3 levels of Thief, and THEN learned their true Bard skills. If anything, the class was considered too powerful and was often not permitted by DMs.
My favourite character to play was a Kobold ambassador bard.
His goal in life is to integrate kobolds into human society, in order to improve his species' quality of life. (and stop being hunted as monsters)
Playing a monster ambassador was very interesting. The DM did not make it easy at all, which was far more satisfying when my plans worked. I'd trade governers things like a method to determine longitude without a clock in exchange for permission to build a school, or a firestation, or an apothecary in their city. (the idea was for humans to be eventually raised by kobolds in schools, saved by kobolds in firestations, healed by kobold medicine and fed by kobolds in inns, farms, taverns etc.)
My kobold would never lie, or disguise himself or try to sneak into cities. Guards would always stop him at the gates and he'd have to bard his way in.
Stories, Songs, Deals, whatever it took.
He made a point of never looking different from a regular kobold too, so guards wouldn't recognize him as an ambassador with special treatment.
I have a character I'm working on who starts out as an emotionally repressed wizard and slowly breaks out of their shell, accepting that theyre actually ALLOWED to enjoy music and changing to (or multiclassing to somehow) a bard. I plan on having them take an ambassador bard-esque role earlier on- along with some weird workarounds to the issue of charisma in such an unconfident character like "kinda endearingly awkward" or "so verbose people just tune out and assume they're right" or "moderate doormattery translates to being very good at deescalating situations by making concessions one may or may not plan to stand by" (intelligence-based casting wouldn't work for them since they don't let themselves put in the work to bring together a system of magic like that when they could be cultivating their Acceptable Wizard Magic™).
Not to mention I'm a complete newbie at D&D at any rate and, having no in-game experience, have resorted to building characters for story with no thoughts about playability. What fun.