Bard
A wandering singer and teller of tales who gets by on charm, quick fingers, and a quicker tongue.
| Role | Difficulty | Key stats | Hit points | Mana | Spells given |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support, all-rounder | Hard | Intelligence, Presence | 2 | 5 | 5, from level 1 |
Plays like: A little of everything: songs, many skills, and any weapon, but frail. Stops at level 30.
Starts with: one of a short sword or a scimitar (wielded); a travelling cloak (being worn); a doublet (being worn); a dagger; a lute; a loaf of bread; 30 gold coins; 1d4 random spell scrolls (each the scroll of one of the 45 spells of spell level 9 or below, as likely as any other) (see Starting kit).
See also: Inspiration and Songs.
How to play
You can do a little of everything, and nothing best. You start with a blade, a lute, the spell Mend, and four skill rolls a level. Your hit points are few, so pick your fights. Travelled hands at level 3 makes you a beginner with every weapon, and your songs come at 9 and 20. Your levels stop at 30, so plan on a prestige class beyond it.
Levels
A bonus talent at levels 5, 10, 15, 23, 28, from any tree.
| Level | Ability | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mend | the spell Mend (level 1, a cast, 3 mana): 1d3 hit points back |
| 3 | Travelled hands | every weapon skill and fighting style (not a hidden style) below rank 1 rises to rank 1, once, as it is given |
| 6 | Fast healer | healing pace while resting +50 % |
| 8 | Mesmerise | the spell Mesmerise (level 5, a cast, 5 mana): a hostile you see suffers Transfixed (2) |
| 9 | Inspire | you hold Inspiration from now on; active, a song (the time of a song, heard as a voice of loudness 80; not on the overworld or while silenced), 3 inspiration: you suffer Inspired (to hit +1, Dodge +1, 5 min a degree) at 1 degree, plus your Music’s song degrees |
| 12 | Thunderclap | the spell Thunderclap (level 7, a cast, 13 mana): 2d6 force damage; everyone it harms suffers Stunned (1); you are in it |
| 12 | Jack of all trades | every skill you are not trained in, whatever skills there are, trained at 1d4+1 (rolled once, as it is given), but Sneak attack |
| 16 | Throw your voice | the Throw your voice ability |
| 16 | Bind | the spell Bind (level 9, a cast, 9 mana): a hostile you see suffers Pinned (2) |
| 20 | Sense the quick | the spell Sense the quick (level 5, a cast, 5 mana): you are Quick-sensed (1) |
| 20 | Lullaby | active, a song (the time of a song, heard as a voice of loudness 80; not on the overworld or while silenced), 6 mana: each hostile creature that hears it checks Willpower against 13 plus your Music’s song difficulty; failed, it suffers Drowsy (12 s a degree) at 1 degree, plus your Music’s song degrees |
| 25 | Master of none | every trained skill counts +5 |
| 30 | Virtuoso | every song costs nothing and gives a degree more; a song on yourself gives Inspired (to hit +2, Dodge +2, 10 min a degree) instead |
Abilities
The bard’s inspire spends inspiration.
The bard knows a little of everything and masters nothing. They are a wandering singer who has handled every weapon once and picked up every trade a little. Their table is shorter than the others’: it gives its last ability at level 30 and stops there. A bard learns nothing new past 30. Experience earned after that still counts, but buys no level, and what comes after is found, not given (see Prestige classes).
The bard has two songs:
- Inspire (level 9) lifts you. It is paid in inspiration.
- The lullaby (level 20) makes hostile hearers drowsy. It is paid in mana.
Songs tells them in full: what they cost, how far they are heard, how Music lengthens them, and the odds of shaking the lullaby off. A virtuoso (level 30) sings for nothing, a degree longer.
Travelled hands (level 3) raises, once, every weapon skill and fighting style the bard has at rank 0 to rank 1. It never raises a hidden style. The bard is a point surer with whatever comes to hand.
Jack of all trades (level 12) trains every skill the bard lacks at 1d4+1, except Sneak attack, the thief’s. From then on they are skills like any other: used, marked, and raised at a level.
Master of none (level 25) makes every skill the bard is trained in count 5 higher.