Unoriginal
2017-03-21, 09:06 AM
Hello people!
In 5e, words, music and other performances are described as having a power of their own, magical in nature, if different from the arcane or divine methods, and Bards are trained to harness said power to fuel their spells or some of their class features.
Yet, despite how most sapient species in the game have a concept of art or artistic performance (even if it's only of the level of "oh, shinny" for the most dim-witted ones), there is barely any mention I could find of any of them being able of harnessing this power.
Some develop their innate magic, others turn to supernatural entities to be granted power, and others study the arcane arts. But it seems that few ever bother to learn how to boost their allies with a song, or to focus magic through instruments, or any of the other things that this source of power allow.
Some of those species have low Charisma, true, but ultimately one could still be of the Bard class even with an abysmal CHA and still use the power of words and music, albeit mediocrily.
And considering how many different cultures and mindsets there is among those species, not to mention the different environment, they could give birth to quite unique performance styles and powers. Giants, Goblinoids, Fey, Outsiders, Dragons, all the underwater beings, all the beings who have shapes way different from the humanoids, and way more... the possibilities of how they use and what is their artistic expressions are enormous.
And that's not even going into all the weird magic events, items or beings that such a power source could create.
So, my questions to you are:
- What do you think of NPCs having access to Bard-like powers?
- Do you think that non-human(oid) species should use the power of words and music differently from the typical Bard class?
- How do you imagine the artistic traditions of the different DnD species?
- Do you think it'd be worth it to create some kind of "Bardic Bestiary", regrouping different homebrewed entries for NPCs from the species of the MM and the Volo's using this source of power?
In 5e, words, music and other performances are described as having a power of their own, magical in nature, if different from the arcane or divine methods, and Bards are trained to harness said power to fuel their spells or some of their class features.
Yet, despite how most sapient species in the game have a concept of art or artistic performance (even if it's only of the level of "oh, shinny" for the most dim-witted ones), there is barely any mention I could find of any of them being able of harnessing this power.
Some develop their innate magic, others turn to supernatural entities to be granted power, and others study the arcane arts. But it seems that few ever bother to learn how to boost their allies with a song, or to focus magic through instruments, or any of the other things that this source of power allow.
Some of those species have low Charisma, true, but ultimately one could still be of the Bard class even with an abysmal CHA and still use the power of words and music, albeit mediocrily.
And considering how many different cultures and mindsets there is among those species, not to mention the different environment, they could give birth to quite unique performance styles and powers. Giants, Goblinoids, Fey, Outsiders, Dragons, all the underwater beings, all the beings who have shapes way different from the humanoids, and way more... the possibilities of how they use and what is their artistic expressions are enormous.
And that's not even going into all the weird magic events, items or beings that such a power source could create.
So, my questions to you are:
- What do you think of NPCs having access to Bard-like powers?
- Do you think that non-human(oid) species should use the power of words and music differently from the typical Bard class?
- How do you imagine the artistic traditions of the different DnD species?
- Do you think it'd be worth it to create some kind of "Bardic Bestiary", regrouping different homebrewed entries for NPCs from the species of the MM and the Volo's using this source of power?