DragonSlayer - Bard Class - Work In Progress

Artwork © 2015 Dean Spencer, used with permission. All rights reserved.

I've been wanting a Bard Class for DragonSlayer since Greg first passed me a Beta Copy of DragonSlayer in late 2023.

Note, the Song/Spell list is NOT complete and needs third through fifth level Songs to be added.

Bard

Ability Requirement: Int 12, Dex 13, Cha 15 

Race & Level Limit: Human U, Elf 7, Halfling 6, Half-Elf 8

Prime Requisite: Dex and Cha

Hit Dice: d6

Starting Gold Pieces: 2-120 (2d6x10)

Bards, often also known as Skalds, are the storytellers and lyrists of the world. They are well-traveled, as you never want to perform at the same establishment two nights in a row. 

Role: Bards are secondary fighters and competent spell casters.

Expo Chart: As Per Assassin

Attack Bonus: As Per Thief

Languages: All Bards speak a language which is known as Bardic Cant, a form of poetry and rhyme their songs are cast/performed with. Bards gain a new language at every odd level, starting at 3rd level. The language chosen must be one that the Bard has encountered during their travels.

Weapons and Armor: A Bard may not use two-handed melee weapons. Bards may wear chain mail, leather, or studded leather armor. They may not use shields.

Thief Abilities: A Bard may Pick Pockets and Hear Noise as a Thief of the same level. A Bard may only Pick Pockets when wearing leather armor or no armor. Bards may also use the PickPockets skill for sleight of hand, such as magic tricks on stage.

Font of (Useless) Knowledge - Bards learn things during their travels. This knowledge may or may not be useful, and is often esoteric in nature. The chance for the bard to have relevant knowledge is equal to a Thief's Appraise Skill for that level. So, at 1st Level the chance is 2 in 6, at 3rd Level it is 3 in 6, at 6th level it's 4 in 6, and at 10th level, it's 5 in 6.

Read Languages - Bards have an innate skill with the written word, and pick up bits and pieces of various languages and common phrases during their travels. This skill is similar to the Font of (Useless) Knowledge ability and progresses in skill in the same manner. It can be used to comprehend street signs, store signage, dungeon graffiti, and most warning language, but would likely not reveal much more than the title of a book without hours if not days, of study (DM fiat for the win).

Charm: A Bard may attempt to charm a person, like the Magic-User spell, once per week at 1st level. At 6th level Bards gain a second attempt per week.

Inspiring Performance: Once per day, the Bard can perform a song, poem, or dance that grants a +1 bonus to attack rolls and saving throws to all allies within earshot for 10 minutes. While performing, the Bard can fight, but not cast any songs/spells without prematurely losing the bonus for their allies.

Bards Songs (Spells), Scrolls, and Memorization Limit: Bards can cast songs or chants from the Bard Song List starting at 3rd level, and follow the Spell Progression Chart of the Monk Class. 

Bards can cast Cleric or Magic-User Scrolls of spells on their song list, with a 20% chance (+5% per spell level) of a miscast or lost casting, due to incomplete knowledge of the source material.

Bards start with two known songs or chants of first level upon attaining their level as a Bard. Bards gain one additional song for their repertoire with each additional level, and may learn additional songs from other Bards (for a fee) or songbooks they may find during their career.

Bards do not memorize their songs or prepare them ahead of time. Instead, they perform songs from their known repertoire at will, up to their limit for that day, without repeating any song during that day.

Bards do not get Bonus Songs for high ability scores

Traveler: May only keep what they can carry.

Bard Song List:

Level 1

Audible Glammer

Charm Person

Comprehend Languages

Command

Dancing Lights

Faerie Fire

Message

Remove Fear 

Sleep

Ventriloquism

Level 2

Darkness (15')

Deafness

Detect Charm

Forget

Magic Mouth

Pyrotechnics

Scare

Silence (15')

Level 3

xxxxx

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Bard – Swords & Wizardry – A Work in Progress

I’ve been a longtime fan of Bards. No, not the Bard from the AD&D 1e Player’s Handbook, but starting with the Bard Class presented in issue #56 of The Dragon. Heck, 10 years ago, I wrote a Swords & Wizardry Bard Class for issue #6 of Knockspell. It wasn’t a bad attempt, but I think I’ve learned a bit more over the years when it comes to game design – and class design. I think its time to refresh the design. ;)

So, what defines a bard in my mind? A bit of a jack-of-all-trades, a bard is a class that is useful, but not meant to replace any other particular core class. It’s the type of class that comes into play when you are playing solo, or in a group that has already covered the four core class types of fighter, cleric, thief and wizard. The bard does a little bit of each class, but certainly not as competently as any of the core does theirs.

A bard is lightly armored. Nothing heavier than chainmail. They can’t wield a shield either.

Weapons are limited to the type that can be wielded in a single hand. Any weapon that would be stored across their back is avoided, so no bows or crossbows. Missile weapons would be limited to slings and thrown weapons.

Hit Dice would be as a thief, as would the Bard’s combat matrix and saving throws.

Bard’s have a song list, much of which would draw from the established cleric and magic-user spell lists. Bard songs are different from the spells they replicate, and bards can not use magic-user or cleric scrolls, even if the spells are on the bard song list. They would also progress slower as casters, with new spell levels at 4th, 7th, and 10th levels

Of course, bards would need the ability to inspire their compatriots as well as distract their foes. Obscure knowledge would also be their forte.

Alright, not quite a complete checklist. Work commences later today. I’ll show peeks at the progress as it happens, and the final design will likely appear in Torchlight #2.

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The Tavern Chat Podcast - Episode #34 - AD&D 1e Bard - Broken & Overpowered

I figured I needed a little grounding and therefore reached for my AD&D 1e Player's Handbook this morning.

Tim Shorts leaves a voicemail. A look at the AD&D 1e Bard as presented in the Player's Handbook.

I even drop an f-bomb or two ;)

Link to Episode #34: https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/Episode-34---ADD-1e-Bard---Broken--Overpowered-e1m3ok

After Looking at the Classes, I May Need to Revisit the Bard

A few years back, in what is now the last published issue of Knockspell, I wrote up a bard class. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't all of that good either. Three years later I think I have a better concept of how to bring the package together, so it may be time to start doing so.

I've always had an attachment to the bard class. No, not the unworkable one in the back of the Player's Handbook, but what came later, in issue 56 of The Dragon. Now, that class might have been a bit overpowered still, what with a Fighters attack matrix, access to all weapon proficiencies and a powerful spell list, but it was the first time I remember seeing a character class in Dragon and thinking "it would be fun to play that."

So yeah, I want to make a Bard class that is fun, not over powerful and yet useful in the average party. This may be part of my month long "gaming content on the blog" project.

Building a Better Bard - A Re-Imagining IV - We Can Make You Better

The AD&D 1e version of the bard needs 2 rounds to warm up with his poetry before it takes effect, and it gives a 10% moral bonus and + 1 to the to hit roll of friendly characters.

I like that built in 2 round delay, and I would rule that those two rounds must be combat rounds, not waiting for 2 rounds as the fighter gets ready to burst through the door to the next room.

The bard can fight, but can't use any of his songs or spells while inspiring courage and ferocity for those 2 rounds, and then it lasts for one round per level (AD&D 1e calls for a full turn, but that's for a character that already has at least 10 prior levels of fighter and thief behind him - one round per level should work fine).

I would give the bonus to saves too I think.

I'm getting closer to fleshing all of this out, and I really like the idea of using the Cleric's Turning Tables for the other abilities, but we'll see how everything fits together as I start to finalize things. I don't think the finalized class write up will be done by the end of the month but it is getting closer ;)

Building a Better Bard - A Re-Imagining III- "What a Fascinating Turn of Events" (Swords & Wizardry)

Alright, lets see what other uses we can get from the Cleric's Turning Chart (reproduced here for your ease of reference and mine).

So, how different is a Bards "Fascinate" ability from a "Turn Undead" ability? Not much really.

Here's how it works in 3e:

Fascinate (Sp)

A bard with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his music or poetics to cause one or more creatures to become fascinated with him. Each creature to be fascinated must be within 90 feet, able to see and hear the bard, and able to pay attention to him. The bard must also be able to see the creature. The distraction of a nearby combat or other dangers prevents the ability from working. For every three levels a bard attains beyond 1st, he can target one additional creature with a single use of this ability.

To use the ability, a bard makes a Perform check. His check result is the DC for each affected creature’s Will save against the effect. If a creature’s saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot attempt to fascinate that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature sits quietly and listens to the song, taking no other actions, for as long as the bard continues to play and concentrate (up to a maximum of 1 round per bard level). While fascinated, a target takes a -4 penalty on skill checks made as reactions, such as Listen and Spot checks. Any potential threat requires the bard to make another Perform check and allows the creature a new saving throw against a DC equal to the new Perform check result.

Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell, or aiming a ranged weapon at the target, automatically breaks the effect. Fascinate is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting ability.

So, how would that convert to Swords & Wizardry?

The check would be made against the Turn Undead Table as indicated above. Success would prevent the affected creature from taking any other action. Can not be used in combat, so your party would have to have no weapons drawn when you encounter the individuals your want to fascinate. Works well on town guards, less so on dungeon guards.

A "T" on the chart or a roll 10 better than needed for success on the Fascinate roll allows the bard to attempt to implant a suggestion (normal save). A "D" result imparts a further -2 penalty on the target's save.

One attempt per day per at level 1, increasing by one more use per day per 2 levels, so two uses at level 3, three uses at level 5, etc. Maximum number of targets per attempt follows the same formula, but each would get their own D20 roll on the chart.

Hmm, that covers Fascinate and Suggestion.

(nice - 12 S&W Content Posts in 11 days - building myself a cushion if I miss a day later ;)

Building a Better Bard - A Re-Imagining - "Turning is Learning" (Swords & Wizardry)

I've been giving some thought to using the Cleric's "Turning Undead" Table with some of the Bard's special abilities. It's remarkably flexible.

Let's look at it in depth:

It gives a "challenge level" vs "character level" chart.

Let's look at this chart as a way to resolve the "Lore Ability" checks historically associated with D&D Bards.

Say the Bard is looking for general lore about the City of GreenDuck. It's a large, ancient and continually inhabited city. Basic info / legends would probably be a CL 1, while having knowledge of the sewers beneath the city may be a CL 3 and knowing useful secrets of the Mad Mage's Crypt may be 5 or higher.

Command words could be given a set difficulty based upon the rarity of the item, or the DM could roll a D12 to set it.

A "T" result automatically returns some useful information while a "D" result reveals something specific - like: "The Green Demon of Nstytul's Never Completed Dungeon has a weakness for Dwarven Ale and will never turn down a drink". Even with a "T" or "D" result on the chart the player must still roll a D20, with a roll of a "1" indicating failure. No one ever has complete knowledge.

I'm thinking on how to use the chart with "Charm" / "Fascinate" abilities.

Building a Better Bard - A Re-Imagining (Swords & Wizardry)

In May of 2011 I designed a Bard Class for S&W that made it into Knockspell #6 (one of two versions within that issue). It's "okay". By that, I mean it was pretty good in my eyes back then, but I believe I can do it a bit better this time around. Well, that and I can design it with Swords & Wizardry Complete in mind (first time around I'm fairly sure I was working off of Core)

Yes +matt jackson , I'm going to re-imagine the bard, flavored from the celtic tradition just a wee bit.

This time around I have some good thoughts on using the Cleric's Turning Undead Table in relation to his Charm / Fascination abilities such as they are.

Already have the 1st level spell list (I think):

Charm Person
Detect Magic
Faerie Fire
Light
Read Languages
Read Magic

I'd work on it tonight, but I have some playtesting to do tonight for Domains of War ;)

Building a Better Bard - LotFP Weird Fantasy Style - Part 3 - Hardly Anything to Wear

Just like Specialists in the Weird Fantasy Grindhouse Edition, Bards must be unencumbered to use many of their class skills.  The skills that fall under the encumbrance restriction are Inspire, Performance and Fascinate.  Oh, and Spell Casting, as that will generally require the use of an instrument.  I just thought of that.

So, less is more as far as what they carry.  The instrument will add to that encumbrance (or maybe that could be excluded as a class feature... hmm).

In general, Bards tend to be lightly armored and gravitate towards smaller, lighter weaponry.

They favor brightly colored clothing when in urban areas, but have been known to "tone it down" while adventuring.

I'd be open to letting Bards be of any race with no racial benefits given.

Next part - putting it all together.

The skills

Building a Better Bard - LotFP Weird Fantasy Style - Part 2 - The Skills

Because We All Know This is What The Bard
Will Look Like After a Few Failed Castings

You can't have a proper Bard without proper bard skills.  Here's the list I'm looking at (more or less) for Lamentations of the Flame Princess's Weird Fantasy RPG (now I know why I always abbreviate that).

Lore - The chance to know some of the history of important / magical items.  This isn't the same as the Identify spell we all know and love / loath.  As magic items are relatively rare in the default assumed Weird Fantasy setting, all will probably have a fairly unique history.  While knowing the history may certainly hint at the items powers, it shouldn't spell them out.

Inspire - This is a powerful ability, especially in a system that only allows fighters to increase in combat ability.
I'd say:
 +1 hit / +1 saves (never increases)
 - 5 rounds per pip
- 10' radius per pip
max persons effected - 1 pip=1  2 pips=2  3 pips=4  4 pips=8  5 pips=16  6 pips=32  (yes, at high levels they can possibly turn the tide of a closely matched, fairly large scaled, battle).

Performance - Work crowds for pocket change / food / beer lodging - the greater the success, the better the results.  Would also be used for Sleight of Hand and Picking Pockets

Charm Fascinate - I'm thinking of a Sleep like effect, but the the targets are sleeping standing up.  Or I just steal the Fascinate spell from another ruleset.

Read Languages - They are Bards after all.

Anything I'm missing?

Building a Better Bard - Prelude

Part 1- Spell Casting

Part 2 - More on Spell Casting

Building a Better Bard - LotFP Weird Fantasy Style - Part 2 - More On Spellcasting

I've been having a small discussion of the Bardic Spellcasting on Google+ (small as in me +1 ;).

This is the alternate idea:

John Allder Stephens  -  As an alternative to using a control die, you could also have the Bard Save vs. Magic, with a mishap if d6 comes up 6 or if the Save fails. The Save vs. Magic would allow for the bard's magic getting more stable over time.

Yesterday 7:39 PM    

So, this would be harder on the caster initially but easier as they level.

Another possibility is just using the Pip to determine spell level / spells per day and requiring a save vs spells to have the spell go off unchanged.  A failed save can result in a minor change to the spell up to some fairly major issues for the caster.  The Pip could even be a saving throw bonus for this save only.

In either case there will a "Spell Mishap" table.  I like tables :)

I'll take any input you wish to offer, then I'll be putting the Bardic Spellcasting on the back burner and moving on to some of the bard's other abilities, such as Charm, Performance, Lore and such.

Building a Better Bard - LotFP Weird Fantasy Style - Part 1 - Spellcasting

For me, a Bard in a D&D styled game needs access to spells, or else he isn't a Bard.  That being said, LotFP's Weird Fantasy has pretty strict class roles with little if any overlap.  As Bards by many definitions (and most importantly mine) are Jacks-of-All-Trades, how do we rectify that with the Weird Fantasy Rules, let alone the implied setting?

For me, I'm going to link Bardic Spellcasting to the "Pip System" used for Specialists.  Yes, they'll have to roll to cast.  Additionally, the maximum spell level they can attempt to cast will correspond to the "Pips" they have in Bardic Spellcasting.  As their knowledge is imperfect, there will be a chance for some sort of spell fumble, and if they are attempting a spell that causes damage (HP loss), the price for failure, or even in some cases, success, may be high.

I'm figuring 2D6 when attempting to cast a Bardic Spell, the "Pip Die" and a control die.  If the control die comes up 6, there is an unwanted effect for a general spell.  If either die comes up 6 for a damaging spell, there is an unwanted effect.  Both dice come up 6's on a damaging spell, it's the nasty effect chart.

Obviously I'll need to work on some mishap charts.

New spells are learned through the gaining of a Pip (one spell learned when a Pip is gained) or while observing another casting a spell.  Spells may be mislearned (which won't be obvious until the first time casting) or impossible to learn (if a roll to learn is failed, it may not be rolled for again.  I think I'd still allow it to be gained from a Pip increase though.)

Figure a point may be spent on Bardic Spellcasting only at every odd level, keeping them from having access to spells before others.

Spellcasting in Weird Fantasy can be a dangerous proposition.  It shouldn't be something Bards (who really aren't properly trained) resort to all the time.  More likely they will cast when other options are gone.

All the above is subject to change ;)


Building a Better Bard - LotFP Weird Fantasy Style - Prelude

Building a Better Bard - LotFP Weird Fantasy Style - Prelude

I had a conversation with a fellow blogger last night via Google chat about LotFP Weird Fantasy RPG rules.  There was some clarification that was needed for one of the rules, which wasn't as clearly stated as it should have been, but we both pretty much knew where Raggi was going.  Bad math (either on our side or Raggi's, it was after midnite and I wasn't rechecking math) might have also played an issue.  Still, the conversation got me thinking about Weird Fantasy again.  Which inevitably led to thinking about Bards.

There are no Bards in Weird Fantasy (no Paladins, Rangers or Druids either, but I digress).  I happen to like bards.  I even wrote one for Swords & Wizardry that made the last issue of KnockSpell.  So, if I'm going to tinker with Weird Fantasy Cannon, I may as well start with a class I really enjoy.

One of the huge strengths of Weird Fantasy is the Specialist class.  The "pip" system is really neat, and I think it could be used fairly well with a Jack-of-All-Trades sort of class, like the Bard.  We just have to define his "pip" powered abilities.

He's a bard, so Charm is a must.   Some type of Lore ability.  Spellcasting, but using the "pip" system, so it is far from powerful but possibly useful (i've got an idea for this), Pick Pockets (expanded to include all types of "sleight of hand" activities) - an Inspire type of ability would be fairly powerful in the Weird Fantasy rules, as only Fighters advance in combat ability.  Or maybe not so powerful, as most classes should be avoiding toe to toe combat in any place.

Thoughts?  Ideas?  Suggestions?  Threats?  heh

Let me know what you think, I'm open for input.  It's in the brainstorming stage at the moment...

Mini Review - Knockspell Issue #6 (S&W / OSRIC) Part 2

Where were we in the review?  Oh, yeah, The Body in the Street.  It's a piece of fiction by Al Krombach. I was never one for short pieces of fiction, but then I started reading Solomon Kane and found I enjoy the medium.  I haven't read this piece yet, but it's on my list to read.

Ouch, My Brain Hurts! is a psionics article for S&W by Robert Lionheart.  I think Robert's first line sums my thoughts up pretty well: "Are psionics an unholy heresy or a valuable aspect of old School fantasy roleplaying?"  I'm on the fence on it myself, having experimented with it in AD&D 1E and I never found it very satisfying.  Robert's system requires PCs to sacrifice XP earned to acquire psychic powers.  It's a decent trade off for the additional power the PCs may attain.  Being that the powers are limited in the amount of uses per day, they may or not be worth the XP cost, but it may be a viable option depending on the type of campaign you plan on running.  It's a long article, and would have been a viable PDF in it's own right.

John M. Stater (best known for NOD magazine, and the man I borrowed some OGL content for my Bard class design) presents us with Catacombs of Ophir.  It's a nice little dungeon under the city-state of Ophir (itself detailed in part in NOD 2).  I don't recall a level range for it, but I'm going to guess 2-4.  Looks good, and it marks the second adventure for this issue of Knockspell.

Next up is A Duet if Bards.  The first part of this section is by Doyle Taverner.  Here he presents us with an adaptation of the original Bard class presented in The Best of the Dragon, Volume 1.  He cleans up the fuddilly bits, such as using thief abilities with heavier armor (aint happening) and spell casting in armor (also aint happening).  For me, the highlight is the page on magical instruments for bards.  Leaves me wishing I had included some, but I think Doyle gives a nice assortment to choose from.

The next part of A Duet of Bards is Tenkar's Bard.  It's short and sweet.  I like it, but then, I should ;)

Locks and Traps as a "Mini-Game" by Jim Pacek follows.  Not what I expected.  Holy Crap but I really like the system he uses.  Color me surprised, and I generally detest "mini-games in a game", but this isn't so much mini-game as a task resolution system.  It gets my "Kick Ass!" Award.  First time I've ever given one out.

Wow.  I need 3 parts for this review ;)

It's Time For a Contest - Tell Me About Your Favorite Bard

Woot!  150 fine patrons of this tavern!  So let me tell you what I'm a gonna do.

I want YOU to tell me about your favorite Bard.  Fiction, movie, tv, comic book, player character, NPC, homeless guy you see near work - whoever it is that you think makes for an awesome Bard, I want to hear about.  Just add your comment to this post and you'll be entered.

What do you get in return?  I'm giving away 2 PDF copies of Knockspell #6 - one to my favorite entry and one to a random entry.  Winners will need to supply me with the email address they use with RPGNow / DriveThruRPG as the PDFs will be gifted to their accounts.

Contest ends at 1159 PM NYC Time on Monday, September 19, 2011.

A Bit More About My Swords & Wizardry Bard

When I wrote my version of a Bard class for Swords & Wizardry (it's in Knockspell #6), I went with the "Tastes Great, Less Filling" method. By that, I mean I didn't want to try and reinvent the wheel. If there mechanics or charts I could use that already existed in an OGL source that fit what I needed, I used it.

Some of the Bardic abilities from the class write up in one of the issues of NOD were very useful as were the attack and saving throw charts in the S&W rulebook. Why reprint a chart if I can say "Save as X"? or "Fights as Y". Even the experience chart can usually fit that of a previous class when you decide where it falls in the power structure of the classes.

Spell progression was my own write up, as I saw the spells being limited to 4 levels and that had to be spread out a bit. The spells on the spell list were all from the S&W rules, taken from different classes (and with the spell level change in some circumstances).

I do have some ideas for additional spells and some bard specific items, but whether I'll submit them as an article to Knockspell or publish them on the blog is anyones guess. I sure don't know yet. Heh.

Knockspell Issue 6 is Out... and I'm in It :)

Well, not me literally, but my bard class made the cut.  It's actually one of two bard write ups in Knockspell #6.  Mine is the version that takes up less then 2 pages.  I'm not listed in the table of contents, but flip ahead to the article A Duet of Bards and my version is there: Tenkar's Bard.  Woot!

I really like the cover but haven't done more then look at my little piece and a bit of Tavener's version of the Bard (which stays much closer to the original then mine does).

I'll have more to write when I've read more of the issue but it looks good so far.

Bard Put to Bed - Next Project...

Well, I sent off my take on the Bard for Swords & Wizardry last night - we will see if Matt has a place for it in Knock Spell #6.  If he doesn't, I'll post it up here.

I had a blast working on it, even with all the things i wound up NOT using (like the turning table for Charm / Changing Crowd Reactions), additional languages spoken (I figured being given a chance to READ almost anything was better balanced), new spells / songs (would have added major length to the submission - they can always be added later), instruments (and a bonus to use them) - this stuff was cut not because it wasn't useful, but because it wasn't needed.  Short and sweet.

So, what next?

The TrollGod informed the members of Trollhalla that Fight On! #13 is going to be dedicated to Ken St. Andre, for all his work on RPGs (Go Tunnels & Trolls!).  Maybe I can work on a T&T submission to Fight On!

Hmmm... I probably need a deadline ;)

Building a Better Bard - Final Tuning - Part VI (Swords & Wizardry)

I'm trying to put the finishing touches on my S&W Bard - dropping some ideas for now (like using the Cleric Turning Table for charming) but I may add options later.  Simpler is better, and I need to get this done this weekend and get it sent off to Matt.

Wish me luck ;)

Building a Better Bard - A Bard Gotta Have Skills - Part V (Swords & Wizardry)

Yes, our bard needs some skills to go along with his non-offensive song list.  Originally, I wanted to use the Charisma Score's determination of the number of henchmen / followers to directly correspond to the number of uses of his various skills / powers, but that strays a bit far from S&W's way of doing things.

Lets see:  From the thief, we will give him Hear Noise, Read Languages and Delicate Tasks (Pick Pocket Only) as a thief of equal level.

From the Fighter: Bard Sub-Class in NOD Issue #1 (it's an awesome publication and the first issue is free, so grab a copy for yourself) we are going to borrow Inspiration, Legend Lore, Fascinate and Heroism.  Really, why reinvent the wheel when the wheel is pretty damn good?

Weapons:  All but two-handed melee
Armor:  Chain Mail, Ring Mail, Leather (no shield)
Attack: As Cleric
Save: As Thief

Next up - the experience table