Super Power Bard Band

[SangoProduction]

We were discussing which super powers made for great bandmates, and it was such an interesting discussion I thought I'd bring it to the interwebs.

There are sets of powers that are bad fits. For example illusions, sound / superspeed / vibration, and mental control all don't really need an entire band to work. Meanwhile "evocation" or "summoning" is much too broad. They can work in a band, but don't implicitly describe a role.

So, here are some of the ideas we came up with. Please feel free to submit your own. If I'm feeling like it, I might add your submission to the table.



Power
Role


Lightning
Strings / Guitar / Tesla Tunes


Explosion
Percussion


Body Control / Minor Shapeshift
Vocals


Toughness & Strength
Percussion


Light
Visual Effects


(Heat / Air Pressure) Control
Pitch Modulation


Telepathy
Coordinator


Telekinesis / Puppeteer
Manage choreography while the others focus on music


Speed & Strength
Roadie


Diplomancy / Mental Control
Manager


Artificery
Techie

[Telonius]

Roadies (strength and speed), managers (diplomancers), techies (Artificers).

[Malphegor]

Here’s my unfinished notes from a recent stab at making Tenacious D’s Jack Black, a singer with ludicrous abilities in his dream sequences in the movie about the band:

Frostblood Half-Orc: “Jak the Black”
(frostblood orcs get any feat they like if they’re granted endurance from a class, swap for a human if not, I was initially looking at what classes grant endurance for free to get a ton of bonus feats. Also I just like the idea of JB being a slightly meaty looking orc but with his friendly looking face on top. Maybe his dad (meatloaf) was a Sharakim (humans cursed to be orclike) who believes that his son is falling down the path into becoming more orclike with the more aggressive music)


Flaw: Feat: Steadfast Determination (Requires endurance): Can use constitution instead of wisdom on wisdom saves. He is mighty and seems to resist mental stuff quickly enough but he is not wise.


1: Feat:Great Diplomat: The OA update article lets one get a cohort when we hit level 6 (no followers) as if by the leadership feat and get an effective leadership score bonus of +2 to this. This works for getting a Kyle analogue who’d be focused on the perform (lute) checks to diplomance, but have to work for the followers and groupies. Open to anyone thanks to a sidebar in OA.


Feat: Windsinger: can spend a bardic music to control the wind to manipulate a ship’s path “My voice is… (censored here) POWERFUUUUUUL!”


Feat: Lingering song: Bardic music effects last 5 extra rounds “Sorry, he says, while the echoes of his singing still play”

Looking for musical spells or effects that allow one to blow up a brain. Maybe in psionics?

And finally of course he needs Cards Over Swords from the three dragon ante supplement to challenge even Beezlebub to a game of chance: a rock-off! (probably needs knowledge (planes) to understand demon law)

[Curbludgeon]

It seems a bit different than your approach, but I've long wanted to make a pregen party focused on mutual benefit in pathfinder, with just enough musical ability as fluff. They would incorporate teamwork feats and bardic stuff, but focus on the collective psionic class feature as seen in Vitalists, Tacticians, and Strategos.

[Telonius]

Here’s my unfinished notes from a recent stab at making Tenacious D’s Jack Black, a singer with ludicrous abilities in his dream sequences in the movie about the band:

Frostblood Half-Orc: “Jak the Black”
(frostblood orcs get any feat they like if they’re granted endurance from a class, swap for a human if not, I was initially looking at what classes grant endurance for free to get a ton of bonus feats. Also I just like the idea of JB being a slightly meaty looking orc but with his friendly looking face on top. Maybe his dad (meatloaf) was a Sharakim (humans cursed to be orclike) who believes that his son is falling down the path into becoming more orclike with the more aggressive music)


Flaw: Feat: Steadfast Determination (Requires endurance): Can use constitution instead of wisdom on wisdom saves. He is mighty and seems to resist mental stuff quickly enough but he is not wise.


1: Feat:Great Diplomat: The OA update article lets one get a cohort when we hit level 6 (no followers) as if by the leadership feat and get an effective leadership score bonus of +2 to this. This works for getting a Kyle analogue who’d be focused on the perform (lute) checks to diplomance, but have to work for the followers and groupies. Open to anyone thanks to a sidebar in OA.


Feat: Windsinger: can spend a bardic music to control the wind to manipulate a ship’s path “My voice is… (censored here) POWERFUUUUUUL!”


Feat: Lingering song: Bardic music effects last 5 extra rounds “Sorry, he says, while the echoes of his singing still play”

Looking for musical spells or effects that allow one to blow up a brain. Maybe in psionics?

And finally of course he needs Cards Over Swords from the three dragon ante supplement to challenge even Beezlebub to a game of chance: a rock-off! (probably needs knowledge (planes) to understand demon law)


I know of just the enemy (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?10380-Slayer-of-Bards-Creature-Mitp) to set him against.