Which bard Bards the hardest?

[The Shadowdove]

There are a lot of flavorful archetypes now. Surely there are plenty of fun builds and preferences due to stronger abilities in regards to combat.

However, which do you feel captures the traditional fantasy bard the most?

Favorite combat abilities or archetype flavor aside.

Which archetype is actually the most likely to embody the sly and musical Weaver of magic; who once inspired their adventurer ingredients companions, whilst enchanting or confusing their foes with mystical powers and cunning? And perhaps a bit of unorthodoxy.

As always. I look forward to seeing what the much more experienced and booksmart folks in out community have to share. You're all brilliant.

-Dove

[Spore]

It honestly depends on how you fluff it. An Ancients Paladin or Archfey Warlock can be "bards" if you wish it.

As for the class itself, I would say Glamour or Lore. Glamour focusses on influencing people while Lore does what I like about bards the most: Being jack of all trades. But I am not sure if the latter is not a thing that was added later and is a non-classical concept to you.

[MxKit]

Glamour and Lore would be my votes, too; they're about tied for me, both being very, very Bard in different ways. Lore leans more into spell poaching from other classes, being more-Skilled-than-thou, and confounding the enemy via their Cutting Words; Glamour is on the other hand very, very enchantment-based, and charming enemies for an hour if they listen to your music, freely using command that auto-succeeds if your music charmed them, and giving your companions temp HP and free movement just because you look so glamorous all feel very Bard to be.

Glamour might have a slight edge when it comes to fitting my idea of "classic Bard," but they're both very close.

[Cespenar]

Eh, the "classic bard" to me is a Swashbuckler Rogue with proficiency in some musical instruments. If I were to choose a Bard subclass specifically, though, I'd pick Valor, I guess.

The song magic thing, if you think about it, comes primarily from Tom Bombadil, who probably plays much more like a Druid than a Bard. A Bard is more Cutting Words than straight out magical casting, in my opinion.

[Waazraath]

... to embody the sly and musical Weaver of magic; who once inspired their adventurer ingredients companions, whilst enchanting or confusing their foes with mystical powers and cunning? And perhaps a bit of unorthodoxy. ...

Based on this? I'd say Glamour, definitely.

[Morphic tide]

The historic Bard is covered best by College of Lore, as they were keepers of history and rituals. Just like the Lore Bard. The "typical" fantasy interpretation, which isn't the D&D original for once, is the College of Glamour, with enchanting music and a strong connection to the Fey's own habits. If you want the best representation of Ye Olden Triclass, the Fighter-Mage-Thief, you're best off with College of Valor, as it has the martial capabilities the other two sorely lack. Also, skillmonkeys weren't properly part of the Thief at the time, so that's a thing...

[Schwann145]

The only "classic bard" I can think of are old warrior-poet legends such as the old Norse who passed along the Poetic Edda. Warriors who would sing songs and spread tales and poems as they traveled and plundered and conquered.

I think Valor Bard pretty well sums that up.

The other bards (traveling minstrels and such) are really summed up pretty well by anyone with a Perform and/or Musical Instrument proficiency.

[Caelic]

Well, the Norse didn't have the monopoly there. Väinämöinen springs to mind, and I'd lean towards the College of Lore for him.

[Mortis_Elrod]

College of Satire. Sadly it was dropped :(

[Citan]

There are a lot of flavorful archetypes now. Surely there are plenty of fun builds and preferences due to stronger abilities in regards to combat.

However, which do you feel captures the traditional fantasy bard the most?

Favorite combat abilities or archetype flavor aside.

Which archetype is actually the most likely to embody the sly and musical Weaver of magic; who once inspired their adventurer ingredients companions, whilst enchanting or confusing their foes with mystical powers and cunning? And perhaps a bit of unorthodoxy.

As always. I look forward to seeing what the much more experienced and booksmart folks in out community have to share. You're all brilliant.

-Dove
Hi!

With Xanathar's out my vote would definitely go to Glamour: from the name up to the abilities, it really feels the most "authentically close" to what Bards always have been about since old editions (well, from the few I know of them ^^): using suave words and sounds and very charismatic appearance to influence other's behaviour... :)

Second choice would be Lore, mainly because of the "I travel all around gathering and propagating old tales" feeling of the classic Bard that I feel somewhat conveyed by the fluff and abilities of this archetype.
But the UA with Tumbler's Fool (don't remember the name) would be a very strong competitor. ;)

[mephnick]

There isn't one because they're all full casters now. If I had to choose I guess a Valor Bard who ignores half his spells.

[Dr. Cliché]

I'm just going to repeat what I've said on this subject before:



I think the bard is a weird concept in general. By their very nature, I'd expect a bard to be someone who tells stories of adventurers, not someone who actually adventures themselves.

At the very least, I'm not sure it warrants its own class. Rather, it seems more like something that should be a subclass of Rogue and/or Barbarian (with the former being a traditional Jack-of-all-trades, perhaps similar to the Arcane Trickster, and the latter being a warrior who remembers and sings great sagas). I know this is probably an unpopular opinion, but the bard just seems a bit of a mess to me, as far as concepts go. You're a full caster, but a sort of mix of cleric and mage, and you're also a jack-of-all-trades, and an expert as well, and then you're a musician, but you're also kind of a warrior.

It's like your that one guy who thought it would be a good idea to take one level from every class. :smallwink:

[Toadkiller]

Basically I think the idea is that it gives someone who wants to be able to do a lot of things a class to start from. Not that there aren’t others.

[Specter]

In the Shakespearian way? Glamour.

In the Norse way? Valor.

[Blood of Gaea]

A Variant Human Valor Bard that picks up the Tavern Brawler feat at first level, and then uses a solid metal acoustic guitar as both their casting tool and an improvised great club.