>The most powerful military on the planet is a marching band

Who are they buffing exactly?
Bards don't have that much of an attack power.
I don't say they can't seize your average medfan village, but how would they stand against a professionnal army?

>>48040455
>Bards don't have that much of an attack power.
Says who exactly? Besides, class mixing.

>>48040372
Advantage: Unrelenting battlefield control. Most armies can't maintain their formation against such a foe, and their clean-up is impeccable, since they remain in perfect harmony throughout it without devolving into a melee.

Disadvantage: Bards lack Evasion, so one good creeping barrage could wipe them all out.

>>48040455

Well, when you have a bunch of buffs stacking on each other, you've suddenly got an army of supermen that can dig through castle walls with their bare hands and synchronize better than a Thriller.

I imagine the best way to fight them would be through lots and lots of soundproofing and fighting them from a distance with indirect weapons, but that only protects you from their magical abilities, and not the fact that they can squish you like a bug if they manage to close the distance.

>>48040595
All this plus:
Disadvantage: the baton man is ALWAYS front and center.
Take out their baton man and they lose all cohesion as an organised force.

Same with any marching band, really.
Next thing you know their all attempting to play the same song over and over with every instrument off tempo and they're going in circles until they starve. Standard musical band of any type saboteuring in general really.

>>48040853
I know exactly what it sounds like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7Rvzj4zJ6w

>>48040455
The flag bearer

File: b92.png (913KB, 1280x720px) Image search: [Google]

913KB, 1280x720px

Pic related comes to mind.

This thread is useless without a system specification.

>>48041167
Explain.

>>48041218

"Bardic mage" doesn't tell us much because we don't know what setting/system we're talking about. 5e? 3.PF? AD&D? DW? BESM? L5R? 40k? Everyone is John?

Each one of those games, joke entries included, has a different idea of what it means to be a bard and what bards can do. A system in which bards were backline buffers/debuffers would have a different answer than a system where bards were single weapon duelists who specialized in self-heals. A system where bards were enchantresses would have a different answer than a system where "bards" were actually traveling warrior-monks.

In short, "don't know, what do you mean by bardic mage?"

>>48041386
Suppose it means music that turns into supportive magic spells that can increase in potency the more instruments added.

>>48040893
There's just some metal as fuck bard screaming at the top of his lungs while beating the shit out of people with a flag with an entire army playing backup. I'd watch that fight.

Lets say for example the system is 5e a travelling number of bards is unstoppable.
Hear me out for one second if the travelling number of bards is odd such as 7 or 13 the bards could potentially use a hive mind set through melody and beat casting a spell of invisibility on each member leaving no bard visible. Having advantage on each attack plus using their bardic inspiration on lowest rolls and using cutting words on any roll against any roll against them . You're fucked

>>48041386
>>48041669
>I'm so uncreative I need to listen to preset examples of bards from other settings.

>>48041916
How am I uncreative?

>>48041954
If the OP doesn't say anything about a setting then you can typically assume he just wants to spitball shit. If he was serious about building one for a specific setting and system he would have posted it.

>>48040372
>Advantages: Bagpipes cause non-Scots exposed to them to bleed from ears, eyes, and nose, and then attack the nearest living thing in an attempt to make the noise stop. This can devastate entire nations.
>Disadvantage: Affects non-Scot friendlies, army must constantly march forward in a futile attempt to escape their own sound.