style="color: rgb(154, 185, 124);">Bard
by Zed and Ralsu
|
|
It's said that music has a special magic, and the bard brings this
expression to life. The bard can be found wandering the lands telling
tales, gathering lore, and earning her keep through her stories and
songs of distant lands.
Adventuring parties appreciate the bard for the versatility he brings,
as well as the moments of laughter, tale and song. And of course,
adventuring parties love to have their deeds immortalized into song and
verse.
Motivation
Bards are seekers of lost knowledge and
see adventuring as
a way to increase their repertoire of knowledge and songs, as well as
to discover lost tombs and ancient tomes.
Class features
Bardic Music:
At Level 1, a bard gains the ability to
use songs to soothe the wild beast (Fascinate) or motivate her party to
greater deeds in combat (Inspire Courage; +1 vs. charm and fear effects
and +1 on attack and weapon damage; this benefit increases to +2 at
Level 8). At Level 3, she can sing to provide a party member with
greater success in using skills (Inspire Competence; +2 to all skill
checks). At Level 6, she can even use song to turn a foe into an ally
(Suggestion). At Level 9, the bard can Inspire Greatness (+2 attack
bonus, +1 Fortitude save bonus, and temporary hit points) with her
song. The bard's ability to sing is based on her Perform skill and, if
planned incorrectly, she could find herself unable to sing that new
song.
Weapon and
Armor Proficiency:
Bards are proficient
with all simple weapons: the long sword, rapier, short bow and short
sword. They can wear light armor with no fear of arcane spell failu
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=Site-Graphics&id=bard_portal_icon&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php">
alt="Bard"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/Site-Graphics/bard_portal_icon.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 152px; height: 200px;" align="right">re
and can use any shield other than a tower shield.
Spells
At Level 1 bards gain the ability to cast a
number of arcane and divine spells drawn directly from their spell
list. They can heal or hurt or influence an enemy using these spells.
The effectiveness of a bard's spells is based on his
charisma.
Suggested races
-
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=265">Drow
(with bonuses to DEX, INT, and CHA, drow bards are able to have higher
natural armor class while getting more skills per level and casting
spells more expertly)
-
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=53">Elf
(with a DEX bonus, elven bards are better at avoiding damage) -
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=55">Human
(extra Skill points and an extra Feat make human bards more powerful)
Key Abilities
Bards rely on CHA to determine the
number of spell points gained and the difficulty check of spells they
cast. A high STR score makes the bard better at combat. Raising INT
will allow the bard to choose more skills.
Class skills
Bard class skills are Balance, Bluff,
Concentration, Diplomacy, Haggle, Hide, Jump, Listen, Move Silently,
Perform, Swim, Tumble, and Use Magic Device. Bards get enough skill
points to allow players to diversify. Concentration is great for
casting spells in the heat of combat. Diplomacy can turn away
aggressive monsters. Perform is essential to bardic music. Use Magic
Device enables a bard to use wands to cast spells.
Suggested Feats
Solid Feat choices include Combat
Casting, Dodge, Improved Mental Toughness, Mental Toughness, and
Mobility. Metamagic Feats can also be useful depending on the
bard's spell list.
border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
More on Bards
-
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=226">DDO
Top 10: Reasons to Play a Bard -
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=218">A
Guide to Alignments -
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=124">Bard
Tactics Guide -
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=236">Siren
Songs: A Guide to Bardic Music -
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=342">A
Guide to Bard Enhancements
-
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=185">Untrained
Melody I: Level 1 Bard Spells -
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=211">Untrained
Melody II: Level 2 Bard Spells -
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=237">Untrained
Melody III: Level 3 Bard Spells -
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=330">Untrained
Melody IV: Level 4 Bard Spells
-
class="pn-content-page-body">
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=264">Casting
on the Fly: Guide to Metamagic Feats
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=266">Cookie
Cutter Bard
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=112">Crowd
Control Captain
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=172">Deadly
Troubadour
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=399">Lovable
Scoundrel
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=190">Singing
Sawbones
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=335">The
Jack of All Trades
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited Game Page.
