Bards. What are they even good for?

Absolutely nothing. (Uh-huh)

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Inspiring

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>>49417870
Comic relief

>>49417870
Getting paladin and ranger endgame spells faster, than paladins and ranger themselves.

>>49417870
They're like rogues but they have access to magic, and therefore are better.

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How did the notion of "bards are useless" ever come about? This has never been true in any edition.

>1e
The original prestige class. Very strong.

>2e
Better wizards than actual wizards at several levels.

>3.X
Dragonfire Inspiration, Words of Creation, Song of the Heart, Sublime Chord. Take your pick, or mix and match. Bards are only underwhelming in core-only 3.X... where everyone but full casters are underwhelming.

>Pathfinder
A rock-solid tier 3 class out of the box. Versatile Performance is difficult to build for, but transforms the bard into an excellent skill monkey.

>4e
Very solid leader class, with the Virtue of Cunning far and away in the lead and the Virtue of Prescience quite underpowered in comparison. Heroes of the Feywild's bard options greatly improved the class, even the Signs of Influence "ribbon" class feature.

>13th Age
Starts off quite competent, and then has the best level-scaling of any class in the entire system. Arguably the most powerful and flexible class by level 10. Dexterity/Constitution, Charisma-dumping bards are possible, and make good front-liners.

>5e
College of Valor bards are easily the most flexible characters in the entire system and competent at just about everything. The College of Lore is somewhat behind, as its benefits simply are not as good, what with Jack of All Trades existing. All bards can use and abuse Magical Secrets to poach good spells from other lists, such as paladin spells.

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Everybody step back the best bard has arrived

>has a gun
>is a wizard
>also has a combi-lute-machine gun-rocket launcher
>does fucking everything
>is actually a prince
>personal battleship on call

Where the hell did bards even come from?
It feels like someone turned a profession into a semi-standard fantasy class.
Why the fuck isn't lumberjack a class then? Or mason? Or jester? These are usually just made mundane professions, but bard is gifted with magic powers.
Seriously, where did this start?

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>>49417870

Inspiration.

>>49418129
A bunch of mythologies attribute magical properties and power to song and music (as does Tolkein). Hence Bard. Unless you have a creation myth involving lumberjacks somewhere, I don't think they are on the same level.

>>49418068
Think core only, that alone makes the 3rd ed bard significantly worse.

Also, they were pretty terrible in some JRPGs.

Also, at face value, it's just some guy with a lute and a fancy dress.

>>49418218
>yes dm i'd like to play paul bunyan

>>49418129
see: orpheus, taliesin, amergin, etc.

>>49417898
Say it again y'all

>>49418129
>not actually knowing shit about myths or the history of fantasy

Why is scum like this allowed to be a part of the hobby?

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>>49418129

>>49418251
Bards!

>>49418129
Celtic mythology, for the most part. Even the Orpheus tale is stolen from them.

>>49418255
Because the hobby went mainstream

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Cross-breeding

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>>49418218

>Think core only, that alone makes the 3rd ed bard significantly worse.

Everyone in core-only D&D 3.X is underwhelming, save for full spellcasters.

>>49418277
Huh!

>>49418180
>"You took HOW MANY negative modifiers?"

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>>49417900
Holy shit this must be like the first time I've seen a cello in this sort of fantasy art.

Granted, the girl's hair is clipping through the neck of the instrument and the endpin looks a little odd, but the instrument is otherwise well-drawn. The tiny cellos they make for kids are sometimes shaped like that. I would rag on her position, but she's like 6, so that's probably intentional.

>>49419566
what are they good for?!?

>>49419727
>what are they good for?!?

ABSOLUTELY

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>>49419712

http://danbooru.donmai.us/posts?utf8=&tags=cello+order%3AScore

>A group of four bards form a fantasy string quartet

I WANT.

>>49418129
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skald

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bard

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>>49419758

>>49419773
>During their travels they befriend a barbarian, which uses the performance cumulative bonus for maximum overdamage

>>49417870
For trying to use Inspire Courage, but accidentally always using Dirge of Doom

>>49417956
You know, I've wondered what's the source of this image for some time, and is it any good?

>>49419738
NOTHING

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>>49419941
>say it again y'all

>>49419857
Looks like Needless

>>49418068

They make the rogue obsolete.

>>49419773
>the entire campaign is a succession of increasingly more obvious Beatles references

>>49420047
3.x Rogues have been obsolete forever.

Unchained Rogues are only slightly better.

Bards make great sneaky caster types because literally everybody forgets that all bard spells have verbal components that cannot be suppressed by silent spell.

>>49419857
It's a damn good 'un. The artist has god-tier taste.

>>49419773

The 'cello bard a friendly, calm soul that prefers to stay in the background, but who also is multiclass fighter, and in case of necessity can break someone's head open with a swing.

(seriously, if you've ever handled a cello, those bastards are HEAVY. You could kill a man with that shit if you could ever achieve the ridiculous levels of strength that would require)

>>49419773
You know, I've always wanted to try a full-bard party someday. With maybe variants and multiclassing so not everyone's the same, but a travelling band of musicians is a nice start for a group of adventurers.
They might know nobility, they're good at getting in places *and* in trouble which ensures their life is never dull.

>>49420567
>if you've ever handled a cello, those bastards are HEAVY. You could kill a man with that shit if you could ever achieve the ridiculous levels of strength that would require

Cellist here.

The adult ones are about as big as a small child, but they're hollow, made of thin wood, and can be easily carried in one hand or on the player's back. The instrument would break before the victim does. Also, they are not weighted as weapons; trying to hold it like a club would probably make the body break off the neck before you even swung it.

If I wanted to hurt someone with my instrument, I'd just remove the endpin and stick someone with it. Either that, or take one of my spare strings and use it as a garrote wire (perhaps an A-string because they're thinner and might cut in addition to strangling). Among many other advantages, it wouldn't ruin a $1,500 piece of artisanal craftsmanship.

>>49420906
>The adult ones are about as big as a small child, but they're hollow, made of thin wood, and can be easily carried in one hand or on the player's back.

Oh, shit, I'm an idiot. I was thinking of the big one, a friend of mine plays it. Give me a second to check how it's called in English... google gives me "double bass". You know, that huge thing you have to play sitting down, weighs like 30 kg when packed in its protective travel case and has once caused us problems to get a plane. The words are pretty similar in my language and I had a brain fart. My bad.

>Also, they are not weighted as weapons; trying to hold it like a club would probably make the body break off the neck before you even swung it.

Nahhhh. Not generally being properly weighted as weapons or being far too delicate to be reasonably used as weapons is not going to be an impediment to beating people with a thing in a game system where the double flail is considered a valid weapon. I'm pretty sure no gamemaster I've ever had would ever balk at "I want a weaponized huge string instrument for my bard".

>>49418267
This!

>>49421043
>double bass
It's a common mistake even among native English speakers. Sometimes people call my cello a violin.

Basses are pretty freaking big. You don't necessarily have to be sitting to play them- in most performance settings (especially jazz groups) you find people playing them standing up, although solo bassists will sometimes play sitting down when they need to use their bows.

>caused us problems to get on a plane.
Reminds me of my old teacher, he has to get an extra ticket to take his instrument on board with him. He can't put it in normal luggage because that risks some underpaid airport worker accidentally breaking or losing it. And the temperature, humidity, and pressure conditions fuck with the wood and strings too.

>I'm pretty sure no gamemaster I've ever had would ever balk at "I want a weaponized huge string instrument for my bard".
This is true. Perhaps you could indulge in every string player's fantasy: using their bows for fencing.

>>49418267
That's not exactly fair, that is a demi god wizard who used sang his magic around.

Can your average bard sing someone into a swamp or make an entire town fall to sleep?

>>49418129
Bards were essentially traveling wizards and priests that sang in ancient Ireland

>>49421294
>Used sang his magic around

This is why you shouldn't write, have a brain fart and then carry on without reading it again.

>>49417870
The Stick and Bucket Dance.

>>49417870
>Be 6th level bard
>Song of heart+Inspirational boost+Words of creation
>+6 to inspire courage
>Snowflake Wardance (+Cha to attack and damage with melee weapons as long as I'm not using shield or medium/heavy armors)
>+11 to hit and damage
I dunno, I had fun with it and was able to enter melee easily. I was a party buffer plus tied with the secondary meleer in combat

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>49417870
That does it!
>Lobs sledgehammer.

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>>49422393
You forgot your pic, let me help.

>>49417870
Rocking, hard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGNHjgWsA04

>>49420309
This so hard. Having magic to fall back on when you miss your sneak check isn't super effective when everybody can still hear you singing your song of invisibility.

>>49417870
Well this one singlehandledly pushed back a Viking invasion if I remember properly, and performed psychological warfare on roman legions on more than one occasion, so not exactly useless

>>49423764
and had maximised lightning bolt and weather control as cantrips

>>49423764
>psychological warfare
He did quite a bit of friendly fire with that tho