A Bard's College

[atemu1234]

A campaign I'm DMing occurs in a world strongly inspired by Skyrim, Game of Thrones, and a variety of other shows. One place that a PC wants to visit is a Bard's College in a nation called Brelond, an area actually with more feudal japan flavor than european. I'm trying to allow Oriental Adventures classes in normal D&D and vice versa, but I need help on balancing them out. So far I've got the following


The Bard's College isn't just bards. It's also got Experts, Aristocrats, even some Sorcerers.
The Oriental Adventures classes exist in this world, but they are less prominent than the "vanilla" D&D classes
The Bard's College is run by a half-elf Bard.
The college is open to any and all beings, regardless of alignment, but the majority are Chaotic Good.
It exists on a "cotangent" plane. This plane intersects with the Prime Material Plane, but most of the college's grounds are on a private demiplane.


Any tips?

[Xerlith]

Yes. Don't marry the crunch to fluff too much. Let the Bard college be just guys with affinity to performing and social skills - including Factotums, Rogues, etc, as long as they can roll well on Perform and maybe Diplomacy.

Second thing is if you want to include OA classes, just do it while erasing all above the "game informations". It's simpler that way.
A Samurai may be as well a Warblade or Crusader. Nobody would notice.
Correspondingly, my most "oriental" character was a bard/paladin, played as a cloistered monk type character.

/rant.

[atemu1234]

Yes. Don't marry the crunch to fluff too much. Let the Bard college be just guys with affinity to performing and social skills - including Factotums, Rogues, etc, as long as they can roll well on Perform and maybe Diplomacy.

Second thing is if you want to include OA classes, just do it while erasing all above the "game informations". It's simpler that way.
A Samurai may be as well a Warblade or Crusader. Nobody would notice.
Correspondingly, my most "oriental" character was a bard/paladin, played as a cloistered monk type character.

/rant.

We don't use the Samurai class. I replaced them with Knights from PHII. It's a better alternative that makes more sense.

[Gildedragon]

You might wan to include association ranks and rules (DMG2 iirc) for fellas that wanna join

[Talionis]

Fochlucan Lyrist explicitly have a college in Complete Adventurer. It even got a Wizards write up: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20050107a&page=2

Classes like Barbarian probably don't have a "college", but most classes might have a college where there skills can be taught and where "teachers" might also do research. The researching element could be a great plot twist and source of storylines.

I'm a big fan of Factotums in a collegiate setting. Maybe they are the Van Wilder type that are smart, but never leave? Even a high level Factotum might be a student who isn't focused enough to graduate. Maybe he's the equivalent of a Grad Student.

My play group uses Oriental Adventures all the time. We tend to play them as wonderers from another land and have it be a totally other continent that we can get to, but don't often travel to. But you could make them less distant and simply just a neighboring country easily enough. Unless you are in an Eborron Setting, its really hard for people to travel so small distances really can make for very different ways of life and thus classes and prestige classes.

I find that more material is usually better and I fluff things the way I want to make the Universe make sense for me and my playgroup.

[Spore]

Also fluff wise, the (TERRIBLE) bard archetype - that should never be allowed anywhere for players - Geisha from Pathfinder would fit the main motif of Japan, social skills etc.: http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateMagic/spellcastingClassOptions/bard.html#_geisha-%28archetype%29

Actually not THAT terrible but you wouldn't want to have them have "breakfast" 10 minutes before battle, do you?

[Gildedragon]

Also fluff wise, the (TERRIBLE) bard archetype - that should never be allowed anywhere for players - Geisha from Pathfinder would fit the main motif of Japan, social skills etc.: http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateMagic/spellcastingClassOptions/bard.html#_geisha-%28archetype%29

Actually not THAT terrible but you wouldn't want to have them have "breakfast" 10 minutes before battle, do you?

It could be a really nice breakfast. Besides, growing adventurers can't be skipping meals, and breakfast IS the most important meal of the day

[Spore]

It could be a really nice breakfast. Besides, growing adventurers can't be skipping meals, and breakfast IS the most important meal of the day

You project a disturbing image of a male Hobbit Geisha into my head.

[JellyPooga]

You should totally have an NPC member that is a horribly stereotyped "Viking Skald"...except he's obviously of whatever "eastern" equivalent race your setting is using. If any of the PCs are from whatever "western" equivalent races you're using, them make him fan-boy all over them; constantly badgering them about how "awesome" their culture is, etc. Perhaps even beg to come on adventures with them and once doing so, become a total liability, singing bawdy drinking songs all the time and such like.

[Flickerdart]

Remember that in OA (and generally in medieval cultures, to some extent) all noblemen are required to have reasonable proficiency in the various arts. A bard college would be a great place for knights and courtiers to learn poetry, dance, oration, and similar skills, as well as a healthy bit of magic of the sort that is fit for a gentleman's use. This also makes the college a great place to hobnob with the children of the movers and shakers of various realms (or possibly lesser/newly minted nobility who didn't get a chance to polish these skills at the Baron of Nowhere's castle in the swamp), but also that there will be some tension between the "true artists" and "obnoxious dilettantes".

[rg9000]

Make it bigger on the inside than the outside (demiplane)

[ArqArturo]

You project a disturbing image of a male Hobbit Geisha into my head.

I have the image of breakfast. I haven't had any and I'm already at the office :/.

[Gildedragon]

I have the image of breakfast. I haven't had any and I'm already at the office :/.

Gramma Hobbit Geisha is dissappointed in you

[ArqArturo]

Gramma Hobbit Geisha is dissappointed in you

I can't coffee without think.