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View Full Version : NWN2's Bardic Inspirations/Songs in 3.5 Play?



RukiTanuki
2009-02-27, 12:56 PM
One thing I immediately noticed when I got Neverwinter Nights 2 was that many of the Bard Song abilities were transformed into passive abilities called Inspirations. These Inspirations are effectively 30-foot auras that remain active unless disabled; any Inspiration known can be activated, but only one Inspiration can be active at a time.



Inspire Courage (level 1): This gives a bonus to hit and damage. It starts at +1, and becomes +2 at 8th level, +3 at 14th level, and +4 at 20th level.

Inspire Competence (level 2): This gives a skill bonus to all allies. It starts at +2 and becomes +4 at 11th level and +6 at 19th level.

Inspire Defense (level 5): This gives a dodge AC bonus to all allies. It starts at +2 and becomes +3 at 10th level, +4 at 15th level, and +5 at 20th level.

Inspire Regeneration (level 7): This heals all party members a certain number of hit points every two rounds. This starts at 1 hit point and becomes 2 at 12th level, and 3 at 17th level.

Inspire Toughness (level 8): This gives a bonus to saving throws for all allies. It starts at +1, then +2 at 13th level, and then +3 at 18th level.

Inspire Slowing (level 11): All enemies that come within 20 feet of the bard have to make a Will save (DC 13 + (1/2 Bard level) + CHA modifier) otherwise they will be slowed down. Initially they are slowed down 5ft/round but at 16th level they are slowed by 10ft/round. There are no further penalties besides movement, unlike the slow spell.

Inspire Jarring (level 14): All enemies within 20’ of the bard suffer a -4 penalty to all Concentration checks and -2 to all Will saves.


The other Bardic song abilities (Countersong, Fascinate, Suggestion, etc.) are activated as normal, though notably, in NWN2 you can't concentrate on singing, thus all these songs last their minimum duration. I won't get into specifics on the full songs, though.

I'm curious: has anyone used the Inspirations in Pen and Paper play? What did you think? Does this alter the bard's power (or, more notably, the group's) such as to be a cause for concern?

(As a side note: who would be the greater contributor to a no-more-than-level-15, 4-man party which includes a paladin/cleric, a rogue/wizard/arcane trickster, and a warlock: a bard using these rules, or a druid? Assume Core, warlock nonwithstanding.)

LibraryOgre
2009-02-27, 02:02 PM
I very much liked those abilities, and would love for them to be in the game. It puts the bard as an arcane-focused Marshall, instead of an occasional source of bonuses.