Delvin Darkwood
2011-12-29, 05:42 PM
I love bards. I love the concept of them, the music playing tool box who can do a bit of everything. I only have one major problem with them in 1st edition: Actually being one. The requirements are nigh impossible to achieve, and incredibly ambiguous is many cases. While a bard is listed as needing 15 dexterity, in reality the character would need 17 or 18 dexterity to dual class into thief from fighter in the first place. Theres also the terrible problem of actually reaching 5th level in both fighter and thief. The campaign i play has a (sometimes painfully) slow rate of level up, and to aspire to be a bard would be a ludicrious notion. The campaign would be over before you hit the 3rd level of thief.
The homebrew im about to present is my way of remedying this problem, while still retaining the intended flavor of the bard class. In the players handbook, it draws from the norse skald (fighter), the english troubadour (thief), and the celtic bard (druid). The problem of course, is that it accomplishes it incredibly ineloquently, putting far too much emphasis on the druidic aspect. The build i present is one more along the lines of that presented in second edition, but still drawing from 1st edition
{table=head]Level | XP| HD(d6) | Charm | Lore | Title
1 | 0 | 1 | 15% | 5% | Rhymer
2 | 2,000| 2 | 20% | 10%| Lyrisist
3 | 4,000 | 3 | 25% | 15% | Sonnateer
4 | 8,000 | 4 | 30% | 20% | Skald
5 | 16,000 | 5 | 35% | 25% | Racaraide
6 | 25,000 | 6 | 40% | 30% | Joungleur
7 | 40,000 | 7 | 45% | 35% | Troubadour
8 | 60,000 | 8 | 50% | 40% | Minstrel
9 | 85,000 | 9 | 55% | 45% | Muse
10 | 110,000 | 10 | 60% | 50% | Lorist
11 | 150,000 | 10+2 | 65% | 55% | Bard
12 | 200,000 | 10+4 | 70% | 60% | Master Bard[/table]
To Become a bard, one needs a minimum strength and dexterity of 12, a constitution and wisdom of 10, an intelligence of 13, and a charisma of 14. A bard gets no xp bonuses for having high stats. A bard fights as a fighter, and saves as a thief. A bard also has the same number of weapon and non weapon proficiencies as a thief, and gains them as so. A bard incures a -3 penalty to attack with a weapon he is not proficient with. A bard can be proficient with axes, clubs, darts, crossbows, slings, spears, staffs, and long and short swords.
A bard can move silently, pick pockets, detect nose, and read languages at 5%, 10%, 20% and 5% respectivly. These skills increase by 5% with each level. A bard also can rally his allies, giving them a +1 to hit and damage as long as hes playing. A bard also has the power of countersong, which can break any attempt at charm involving word or song.
A Bard also casts spells per day on the following table
Bard Level | 1st| 2nd | 3rd | 4th
1 | - | - | - | -
2 | 1 | - | - | -
3 | 2 | - | - | -
4 | 2 | 1 | - | -
5 | 3 | 1 | - | -
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | -
7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | -
8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1
9 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2
10 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2
11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3
12 | 4 | 4 | 4| 3
A bard knows no spells when starting. Upon reaching second level, hell automatically learn 1-4 spells chosen by the dm or by random. All other spells must be learned from other bards. The bardic spell list draws from the druid, magic user, and illusionist spell lists.
Level 1: Animal Friendship, Audible Glamer, Comprehend Languages, Dancing Lights, Darkness, Entangle, Friends, Hold Portal, Light, Protection from Evil, Shield, Sleep
Level 2: Continual Light, Deafness, Invisibility, Knock, Levitate, Obscurement, Scare, Shatter, Strength, Ventriloquism, Warp Wood, Wizard Lock
Level 3: Call lightning, Continual darkness, Fly, Gust of wind, Hold animal, Hold person, Protection from Evil 10', Protection from Normal Missles, Tongues
Level 4: Animal Summoning I, Call Woodland Beings, Dispel Exhaustion, Dispel Magic, Emotion, Fear, Fire Charm, Fire shield, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Repel Insects
In some aspects this isnt so much a homebrew as it is a merging of many other already presented takes on bard. Many a few hours i spent pondering the interwebs doing reasearch to try and get a good idea of what i wanted to do with the class. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, as i do plan on making this a class in one of my campaigns soon and want to make sure its good from the get go.
The homebrew im about to present is my way of remedying this problem, while still retaining the intended flavor of the bard class. In the players handbook, it draws from the norse skald (fighter), the english troubadour (thief), and the celtic bard (druid). The problem of course, is that it accomplishes it incredibly ineloquently, putting far too much emphasis on the druidic aspect. The build i present is one more along the lines of that presented in second edition, but still drawing from 1st edition
{table=head]Level | XP| HD(d6) | Charm | Lore | Title
1 | 0 | 1 | 15% | 5% | Rhymer
2 | 2,000| 2 | 20% | 10%| Lyrisist
3 | 4,000 | 3 | 25% | 15% | Sonnateer
4 | 8,000 | 4 | 30% | 20% | Skald
5 | 16,000 | 5 | 35% | 25% | Racaraide
6 | 25,000 | 6 | 40% | 30% | Joungleur
7 | 40,000 | 7 | 45% | 35% | Troubadour
8 | 60,000 | 8 | 50% | 40% | Minstrel
9 | 85,000 | 9 | 55% | 45% | Muse
10 | 110,000 | 10 | 60% | 50% | Lorist
11 | 150,000 | 10+2 | 65% | 55% | Bard
12 | 200,000 | 10+4 | 70% | 60% | Master Bard[/table]
To Become a bard, one needs a minimum strength and dexterity of 12, a constitution and wisdom of 10, an intelligence of 13, and a charisma of 14. A bard gets no xp bonuses for having high stats. A bard fights as a fighter, and saves as a thief. A bard also has the same number of weapon and non weapon proficiencies as a thief, and gains them as so. A bard incures a -3 penalty to attack with a weapon he is not proficient with. A bard can be proficient with axes, clubs, darts, crossbows, slings, spears, staffs, and long and short swords.
A bard can move silently, pick pockets, detect nose, and read languages at 5%, 10%, 20% and 5% respectivly. These skills increase by 5% with each level. A bard also can rally his allies, giving them a +1 to hit and damage as long as hes playing. A bard also has the power of countersong, which can break any attempt at charm involving word or song.
A Bard also casts spells per day on the following table
Bard Level | 1st| 2nd | 3rd | 4th
1 | - | - | - | -
2 | 1 | - | - | -
3 | 2 | - | - | -
4 | 2 | 1 | - | -
5 | 3 | 1 | - | -
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | -
7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | -
8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1
9 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2
10 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2
11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3
12 | 4 | 4 | 4| 3
A bard knows no spells when starting. Upon reaching second level, hell automatically learn 1-4 spells chosen by the dm or by random. All other spells must be learned from other bards. The bardic spell list draws from the druid, magic user, and illusionist spell lists.
Level 1: Animal Friendship, Audible Glamer, Comprehend Languages, Dancing Lights, Darkness, Entangle, Friends, Hold Portal, Light, Protection from Evil, Shield, Sleep
Level 2: Continual Light, Deafness, Invisibility, Knock, Levitate, Obscurement, Scare, Shatter, Strength, Ventriloquism, Warp Wood, Wizard Lock
Level 3: Call lightning, Continual darkness, Fly, Gust of wind, Hold animal, Hold person, Protection from Evil 10', Protection from Normal Missles, Tongues
Level 4: Animal Summoning I, Call Woodland Beings, Dispel Exhaustion, Dispel Magic, Emotion, Fear, Fire Charm, Fire shield, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Repel Insects
In some aspects this isnt so much a homebrew as it is a merging of many other already presented takes on bard. Many a few hours i spent pondering the interwebs doing reasearch to try and get a good idea of what i wanted to do with the class. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, as i do plan on making this a class in one of my campaigns soon and want to make sure its good from the get go.