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2018-09-22T15:54:57Z

Created page with "Bard Bards wander the length and breadth of Norrath collecting lore and knowledge and chronicling the deeds of heroes and villains, while perhaps giving rise to new legends ..."

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Bard

Bards wander the length and breadth of Norrath collecting lore and knowledge and chronicling
the deeds of heroes and villains, while perhaps giving rise to new legends based on their
own exploits, Bards' guilds pride themselves on their roles as lore masters and historians in
their own communities and as agents who often hear urgent news to other communities. The opinions of folk in isolated
communities are often based on news that traveling bards have brought from afar — or upon the version of events that a local hard
composes at the local tavern, Indeed, bards feel obliged to seek out the meeting places of
their fellow men in order to pass on knowledge and information. Not surprisingly, this practice often results in bards entertaining
the populace at local taverns, While the bard‘s stories and epic songs inspire the community, the hard is inspired by the local ale,
or perhaps by the locals themselves.

The magical songs performed by bards have a long and proud tradition on Norrath. Some claim that these works represent the earliest kind of magic harnessed by mortals in the world, but most who make such claims are themselves bards, Nonetheless, it is an indisputable fact that the majority of bards‘ magical songs have their origin in the distant, hazy past of ages long gone. This is a source of pride to the bards of the world, many of whom are motivated to search for clues about the origins of their magical art.

Attributes: Bards are more than simple spinners of tales; they
can he valuable additions to any adventuring party, even to
armies. These adventuring minstrels are the jacks of all-trades of
Norrath. While not as capable in combat as warriors, as skilled in
outdoor survival as rangers, or as adept at thieving as rogues
(perhaps), bards are nonetheless capable in all of these areas.

The bard's unique talent, however, his stock‘in—trade, is the
ancient legacy of musical magic he wields. While the might of
bards' songs is perhaps not as profound as that of more specialized
dedicated spellcasters, bards may master a range of mystical songs
and chants that have saved many adventuring parties when the
resources of other spellcasters are entirely spent or useless. There
is almost no magical effect a hard cannot duplicate with the proper
song, albeit not always as effectively as another caster's version of
the same effect might be.

Bards are also itinerant repositories of knowledge, full of hits of
trivia and folklore that contain clues to the last resting place of a
great iksar king or the one weakness of a supernatural beast
terrorizing a community, and if they don't have the information
personally, they often know where to find it.

Questing: Bards rarely settle into a home; their only real home
is the road, A bard may be serving his king or guild by couriering
important documents or working for a merchant to deliver trade
agreements or explore new trade routes, but more often than not
she is simply wandering in search of something new and intriguing,
something perhaps just over the next rise. Occasionally a hard
will pursue quests of personal interest, be that delving into the
mysterious origins of their musical magic, discovering the true
history behind some epic event or location, or questing for a relic
of bardic magic, but they are generally content simply to find out
how good the wine is at the next tavern.

Bards are intensely social by nature, For them, the only thing
better than traveling is traveling with friends. Adventuring parties
who welcome a hard into their midst often find themselves
with a companion who helps not only to lift their spirits and
compose legends from their exploits, but who also is able to hold
her own in a fight and provide a variety of talents should the group
be lacking an important skill set.

Religion: The gods honored by bards, as one might expect,
tend to reﬂect the bards' own personalities or alignments.
Discordant bards who are fond of trickery (and perhaps even thievery)
tend to worship Bristlehane Fizzlethorp, while more serious-
minded bards interested in using their talents to tell of epic deeds
or to help spread joy and hope and protect the innocent most
often revere Erolissi Mart or Mithaniel Marr. Some few bards pay
tribute to Veeshan, the Wurm queen, perhaps believing the god‘
dess of the dragons to hold some answer to the origins of bardic
magic. The only gods rarely if ever worshipped by bards are the
malevolent gods such as Bertoxxulous, CazinThule, and '''Innoruuk''',

Culture and Training: Bards apprentice with a master until
early adulthood, The happy’go-lucky exterior a bard usually
shows the world belies the countless hours of practice she has
spent honing her craft. To be a master musician is accomplishment enough,
but to weave the art of magic into song is a greater
accomplishment yet and one attained only through long and
arduous practice.

After finishing their apprenticeship, bards venture forth into
the world in search of adventure and experiences about which
they to spin epic tales. Once they are on their own, most bards
desire to establish their own reputations apart from those of their
instructors, although they may also sometimes return to a master
to acquire rare songs at a reasonable rate, or perhaps for advice or
just good company. Even those bards who manage to surpass their
masters in skill and renown tend to remain on good terms with
their mentors.

Table 3—4: Barb Level Progression

Attack Fort Raf
Bonu Save Save
+0 90 92
+l '0 #3
+2 +l +3
,3 +1 «4
93 +l +4
+4 +2 +5
+5 +2 #5
#6 +2 #6
+6 +3 46
+7 #3 #7
+8 +3 97
+9 +4 +8
+7 +4 +8

*4 +7

+5 #7

,5

+5

+6

+6

+6

4-7

+7

+7

+8

98

08 +l5

+9 45

+7 +16

#7 +l6

+17

Starting proficiencies, bard songs, bardic knowledge
Sonic resistance

Duel Wield

Discipline: Resistant
Discipline: Fearless
Discipline: Daft Dance
Riposte
Discipline: Puretone

Interaction: People across Norrath love bards, Even trolls have
been known to invite bards into their home to play a “perrdy song"
before they try to eat them. Bards work well with companions of
most other classes, although they often have personality clashes
with more severe individuals like paladins and shadow knights.
Even in tense situations, bards maintain a certain flamboyance
and casual demeanor that can mask their own concern or worry,
but can also grate on the sense of pride and purpose others might
tend to show under duress. A bard's love of an audience and thirst
for trivia often irritates grave individuals such as necromancers,
shadow knights, or clerics of dark gods, who care more about
spreading terror than about helping people laugh off the hardships
of frontier life, A bard's charismatic nature makes her a perfect
spokesperson for adventuring parties, and her mix of skills and
abilities allows her to pick up the slack when another more
specialized party member is injured or exhausted.

Alignment: A bard can be of any alignment, though most tend
to be discordant and very few are evil.

'''Class Rules:'''

The game rules for playing a bard are listed below,

Abilities: Charisma and Dexterity are the most important
abilities for bards, most of their class skills being based on these
attributes. However, the skill to play brass instruments is based on
Constitution, so a high Constitution score can be important as
well, An Intelligence of at least 10 is also advisable, to ensure that
bards get at least the minimum allotted skill points per level; there
are many skills of great importance for a bard who is to be
successful in her career. Strength can sometimes be important for
bards, who may need to defend themselves against assaults by
enemies who wish to silence their magical songs, or against
audiences that really didn't like a particular performance.

Race: Half elves, Humans, Kerran, and Wood Elves can be
bards.

Hit Dice: A 1st-level bard starts play with hit points equal to
8 plus his Constitution modifier, Thereafter, he receives ld8 +
Con modifier hit points at each bard level,

Skills: The Bard's class skills (and the key ability for each skill)
are Alcohol Tolerance (Con), Appraise (Int), Balance (Int),
Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha),
Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex),
Knowledge (any) (Int), Language (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform
(Cha), Pick Lock (Dex), Play Brass Instruments (Con), Play
Percussion Instruments (Dex), Play String Instruments (Dex),
Play Wind Instruments (Dex), Profession (Wis), Sense Heading
(Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sneak (Dex), Swim (Str), Trade
Skill (lnt or Wis), Tumble (Dex), and Wilderness Lore (Wis),
Bards may buy ranks of the exclusive Disable Device (Int) and
Safe Fall (Dex) skills as cross-class skills,

At 1st level a bard receives a number of skill points equal to (8
+ Int modiﬁer) x 4, She gets an additional 8 + Int modifier skill
points at each bard level after lst.

Starting proficiencies: Bards begin play proficient with all simple and
martial weapons in the one-hand blunt, one-hand slashing, throwing,
and piercing, weapon categories. They also begin play with the Armor
proficiency (heavy, light, and medium) and Shield Proficiency feats.

Bard Songs: Bards can use magical songs of the levels shown on
Table 3—3, Bards prepare their songs any other dedicated
spellcaster (see “Dedicated Spelleasters, above). The bard's list
of songs and the rules for using them are detailed in
Using Magic LINK TBD and Songs LINK TBD.

Mana: Bards have a mana pool as do any other spellcasters.
However, bards can only recover mana through rest and meditation.
No other magical means used to replenish mana for other
casters, such as the enchanter spell clarity, work on bards. There
are tales of artifacts and magic brews that can speed the rate at
which bards regain their mana, but few bards are ever fortunate
enough to gain possession oi'such items.

This restriction is not as crippling as it might sound, ,
however, The performance of bards' songs expends iar less 1' |
mana than the casting,, oi arcane or divine spells does, , 0

Generally, a hard need spend only I mana per round to
perform a song or even, iftwisting (see “Song Twisting"
in Chapter 9: Songs), to perform multiple songs, There
are a few songs that tax the bard's inana pool more
heavily, and these are noted in those songs' descripi ions
(see Chapter 9: Songs),

Gaining Songs: A hard begins play with 2 songs of lst
level known to him and recorded in his songbook,

Bardic Knowledge: Due to their early education, [liL‘Ir
witle travels, and their innate curiosity, bartls have a chance to
know relevant information about important people and places,
legendary artifacts and magic items, or just about anythim,y
else, for that matter, While this check cannot reveal the
specific powers ofa itiagic item, for instance, it may give a
him as to the item's general function,

‘7',"
t

(

Whenever a hard and her companions are confronted
with a mystery or an unknown situation or person, the hard
can roll a battlic knowledge check with a bonus equal to
hard level + lnt Inokllllt’l' to see whether she knows any
details about the situation, place, or person in question,
The hard may not take 10 or take 20 on this check, as
this sort of knowledge is essentially random, The GM
determines the Difficulty Class of the check by referring
to Table 3—5,

Table 3-5: Barbic Knowlebge OCs
DC Type ofKnawledge

l0 C ommnn, known by most members of the local
population,

20 Uncommon but available,known by onlyafew people
in the area,

25 Obscure, known by few, hard to come by,

30 Extremely obscure, known by very Few, possibly
known only by those who don‘t understand the
significance of the knowledge,

Sonic Resistance: At 2nd level a hard gains an inherent honus
of sonic resistance (5),

Dual Wield: At 1 lth level a hard qualifies to take the Dual
Wield feat (she does not gain Dual Wield automatically, hut may
now purchase it normally),

Disciplines: Beginning at let level, a hard begins to gain
access to disciplines, special comhat ahilities that allow the hard
to display amazing battle prowess, Each discipline is taxing and
requires great concentration, making it impossible for a hard to
use more than one discipline at any given time,

Additionally, after a hard stops using a discipline she may not
resume its use or begin using another discipline until a period of
time has passed, allowing her to recharge her body and refocus her
thoughts, The amount of time she must wait after using a given
discipline is listed in each discipline's description, The hard is free
to fight and engage in other strenuous activity during this period
hetween discipline uses, but cannot shorten the period even with
devoted rest,

Resistant: At let level a hard gains the Resistant discipline,
This discipline allows the hard to inure himself to the ravages of
acid, cold, disease, electricity, fire, magic poison and sonic at-
tacks, The hard may activate the Resistant discipline as a free
action, gaining a bonus of resistance (10) to all of the aforemen-
tioned attack types (see "Spell Special Effects" in Chapter 8:
Using Magic for more information on resistance), This discipline
lasts for 1 hour once activated, though the bard may end it early
if he wishes, The hard may not activate another discipline for 12
hours after the Resistant disctpline ends,

Fearless: At 24th level a hard gains the Fearless discipline, This
discipline allows the hard to ignore the effects ofshakenjrightened,
or panicked conditions, as well as anything defined as a fear effect
(certain spells or abilities with the [fear] descriptor have effects
other than fear that may still affect the hard, but the fear effects
ofthespellwill not), Activating thisdiscipline isafree action that
may he taken at any time (even when it is not the hard‘s action),
This discipline lasts for 1 hour once activated, though the bard
may end it early ifshe wishes, The hard may not activate another
discipline for 12 hours after the Fearless discipline ends,

Def: Dance: At 27th level the hard gains the Deft Dance disci-
pline, This discipline grants the hard two benefits, First, he receives
a + 10 dodge bonus to Annor Class, Second, he receives the benefits
of both the Dual Wield and Improved Two—Weapun Fighting feats,
allowing him to make two extra attacks with a secondary weapon,
but he does not suffer any penalties to attack for either secondary
attack — both use the hard’s full attack bonus, This discipline lasts
for l round per level once activated, and the hard may not activate
anotherdiscipline for 12 hours after the Deft Dancediscipline ends,

Purettme: At 30th level the hard gains the Puretone discipline,
This discipline allows the hard to attempt to receive instrument
bonuses to her magical songs even when she is not actually playing
an instrument (see Chapter 9: Songs for more information on
instrument bonuses), Thus, while using Puretone, the hard may
make the appropriate Play Instruments checks for any songs she
is twisting in order to receive instrument honuses for those songs,
even if the songs require different instruments, For example, a
hard using Puretone who is twisting one hrass instrument and two
wind instrument songs makes one Play Wind Instruments check
and one Play Brass Instruments check to determine whether she
receives the instrument bonuses for all three songs (see “Song
Twisting" in Chapter 9: Songs), Further, the Puretone discipline

grants a +5 competence honus on all Play Instruments and
Perfomi checks This discipline lasts 1 round per level once
activated, and the hard may not activate anotherdiscipline for 24
hours after the Puretone discipline ends,

Riposte: At 29th level the hard qualifies to take the Riposte
feat (she does not gain Riposte automatically, hut may now
purchase it normally),

Starting Package: Leather armor, short sword, travelcrclothes,
entertainer clothes, backpack, hedroll, ﬂint and steel, hullseye
lantern, oil (I pint), helt pouch, drum, lute, songbook, 2 days'
rations, sewing needle, soap (1 pound), waterskin, 5 gold pieces:

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imported>Kingfisher SA: Created page with "Bard Bards wander the length and breadth of Norrath collecting lore and knowledge and chronicling the deeds of heroes and villains, while perhaps giving rise to new legends ..."