|
|
|
Sample Bard: Goblin Warchanter from Pathfinder #1 |
|
Bards make their way via their social skills
and well rounded capabilities. Part rogue,
part armsman, part spellcaster, part scholar,
part entertainer, and all adventurer the
Bard is a jack of all trades. Often underestimated,
and frequently innovative the Bard is a
fantastic profession for those seeking high
adventure. Ideal for the player that can't
quite make up their mind what they want
to play, or the player that like to have
a trick for every occasion, few parties
would turn away a Bard seeking to join their
company. |
|
In the HERO System, a Bard would be well
advised to put almost all of his points
into increasing their skills and maintaining
a well balanced array of capabilities. While
raising their ability to cast ever higher
level Spells a Bard should also spend a
few Points to keep their competitiveness
with a weapon or their usefulness as a Rogue
in trim. |
|
Bard Class Ability Considerations |
|
BARDIC KNOWLEDGE |
|
Bards are storehouses of trivia, repositories
of minutia. During the course of their training,
studies, and travels they collect vast amount
of random information which may one day
prove to be of interest. This is a very
open ended ability with some far reaching
ramifications.
|
|
Skills And Enhancers |
|
The obvious approach to handling this is
for a Bard Character to have a lot of applicable
Knowledge, Area Knowledge, City Knowledge,
and Cultural Knowledge Skills. However even
using the Scholar and Traveler Skill Enhancers
to reduce costs this can be quite expensive,
and there is no guarantee that a particular
Bard will have exactly the Skill they need
in any particular situation. |
|
3 |
Scholar Skill Enhancer |
|
3 |
Traveler Skill Enhancer |
|
24 |
24 Points worth of KS, CuK, AK, and / or
CK Skills in any combination |
|
|
Total Real Cost: 30 Points |
|
Retrocognitive Clairsentience |
|
A more extreme method of modeling this ability
is using Retrocognitive Clairsentience tied
to a Power Skill (INT): Bardic Knowledge. |
|
With this Power construct, the Bard gets
one check per topic to see if he has read,
heard tale of, or otherwise collected a
tidbit relative to the topic at hand, suffering
penalties relative to how long ago the topic
would have been of note, and also at the
GM's discretion for the obscurity of the
data. |
|
If the Bard makes the check he does know
about the topic in question; however the
Bard can never know anything about the topic
which was not at some point promulgated
in either writing or rumor. Thus the Bard
can never "happen to know" facts
which were never recorded or told, secrets
known only to a few, or the outcome of things
with no survivors to tell the tale. |
|
Know It All: Retrocognitive Clairsentience
(Mental Group), Reduced Endurance (0 END;
+1/2) (60 Active Points); Retrocognition
Only (-1), Only What May Theoretically Be
Publicly Known (-1/2), One try per topic
(-1/2), Instant (-1/2), Requires A Skill
Roll (Active Point penalty to Skill Roll
is -1 per 20 Active Points -1/4), Concentration
(1/2 DCV; -1/4) |
|
Power Skill (INT): Bardic Knowledge +2 |
|
Total Real Cost: 27 Points |
|
EXAMPLE: Orelius the Bard has the
Know It All ability and PowS (INT): Bardic
Knowledge 17-. The proper line of succession
of the Grand Duchy of Tarkhov has become
a point of concern after Orelius and his
companions stumble across what may be clues
indicating that the current Grand Duke is
actually a usurper who stole his throne
30 years past. All eyes turn to the enigmatic
Orelius, trusting his oft-proved habit of
knowing the inside scoop no matter how erudite
the concern. |
|
The GM rules that this information is about
30 years out of date, and though the information
was once publicly known, the Grand Duke
has taken steps to suppress the information,
produced documents forwarding his own claim,
and so forth. The GM adjudicates a stiff
-2 for the 30 year gap and -4 for the obscurity
of the facts for a total of a -6 penalty.
On an 11 or less Orelius will dredge up
some relevant information on the topic;
on a 12 or more he's never heard anything
of note regarding the matter. |
|
BARDIC PERFORMANCE |
|
Bards have a number of Arcane and unusual
abilities expressed via their music, poetry,
and oratory. Some of the most common include
the ability to inspire others to bravery
and greatness, to fascinate, to counter
Magic based on sound, and even to get others
to do as they wish. |
|
Performance |
|
Many of the recommended abilities presented
by this conversion resource assume that
a Bard Character has a "Performance"
Power Skill that represents their general
ability to use their Bardic Abilities.
|
|
If your Bard does not use this Skill then
you will need to refactor the costs of abilities
that rely on it. |
|
Power Skill (PRE): Performance + 1 |
|
Real Cost: 5 Points |
|
Inspire Courage, Fascinate, Suggestion,
and Inspire Competence |
|
In the HERO System, almost all of these
things can actually be handled simply with
the Presence Attack Rules. I recommend the
following Power construct to handle Inspire
Courage, Fascinate, Suggestion, and Inspire
Competence. As the Bard grows in Power,
increase the amount of extra PRE. |
|
Bardic Performance: +15 PRE (15 Active
Points); Requires A Skill Roll (Active Point
penalty to Skill Roll is -1 per 20 Active
Points Power Skill (PRE): Performance; -1/4) |
|
Real Cost: 12 Points |
|
Countersong |
|
Bards have the ability to nullify effects
based on sound. To model this Countersong
ability, a Suppress is recommended. |
|
Countersong: Suppress 1d6, any SONIC
power one at a time (+1/4), Personal Immunity
(+1/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2),
AOE (4" Radius; +1) (15 Active Points);
Requires A Skill Roll (Power Skill (PRE):
Performance; -1/2), No Range (-1/2), Concentration,
throughout (1/2 DCV; -1/2), Incantations
(throughout; -1/2) |
|
Total Real Cost: 5 Points per 1d6 |
|
Inspire Greatness |
|
A Bard has the ability to rally their allies
to great feats and accomplishments. To model
Inspire Greatness an AoE Succor is recommended. |
|
Inspire Greatness: Succor 1d6, Reduced
Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Area Of Effect
(2" Radius; +1), Selective (+1/4),
all Primary Characteristics simultaneously
(+2) (24 Active Points); Concentration,
Must Concentrate throughout use of Constant
Power (1/2 DCV; -1/2), Incantations (Requires
Incantations throughout; -1/2), Requires
A Power Skill (PRE): Performance Roll (-1/2) |
|
Total Real Cost: 10 Points per 1d6 |
|
BARDIC PERFORMANCE MULTIPOWER |
|
A player may consider starting their Character
off with a Multipower of Bardic Performance
abilities, and then increase the effects
in potency over time as they advance and
gain experience. |
|
Starting Bardic Performance MPP:
MP, 30-point reserve, (30 Active Points) |
|
All slots Requires A Skill Roll (Active
Point penalty to Skill Roll is -1 per 20
Active Points Power Skill (PRE): Performance;
-1/4) |
|
Real Cost: 24 Points |
|
Bardic Presence Ultraslot: +30 PRE;
Requires A Skill Roll (Power Skill (PRE):
Performance; -1/2) |
|
Real Cost: +2 Points |
|
Countersong Ultraslot: Suppress 2d6,
any Sonic power one at a time (+1/4), Personal
Immunity (+1/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END;
+1/2), Area Of Effect (2" Radius; +1)
(30 Active Points); Requires A Skill Roll
(Power Skill (PRE): Performance; -1/2),
No Range (-1/2), Concentration, throughout
(1/2 DCV; -1/2), Incantations (throughout;
-1/2) |
|
Real Cost: +1 Points |
|
Inspire Greatness Ultraslot: Succor
1d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), all
Primary Characteristics simultaneously (+2),
Area Of Effect (64" Radius; +2 1/4),
Selective (+1/4) (30 Active Points); Concentration,
Must Concentrate throughout use of Constant
Power (1/2 DCV; -1/2), Incantations (Requires
Incantations throughout; -1/2), Requires
A Power Skill (PRE): Performance Roll (-1/2) |
|
Real Cost: +1 Points |
|
SPELLCASTING |
|
Sample Bardic Spells may be found
here. |
|
The ability to cast Spells is one of a Bard's
primary Class Abilities. Several means for
modeling this are available in the HERO
System. In general just about any Magic
System can be used as the basis for Bardic
spell casting.
|
|
The provided Package Deals for bards showcase
several variant ways to do Bardic Spellcasters.
If you are aiming for a close conversion
from D&D 3e, you probably want to use
one of the "Spontaneous Spellcaster"
Composite Packages. The three "Prepared
Spellcaster" Composite Packages provide
the means to make a Bard that casts Spells
more like a D&D Wizard or even a Druid
(the Animi option).
|
|
The Stregari and Sortilege Packages diverge
more strongly away from a D&D style
Bard. Stregari is more like witchcraft,
while Sortilege is a Magic System based
entirely around Magic associated with Interaction
Skills and is much more extreme in its "bardic"
approach. |
|
A link is also provided to the
Troubadour Magic System which is
based around Magical Effects tied to specific
instruments rather than the casting of Spells.
This is an extremely "bardic"
approach to Magic, but as it diverges heavily
from D&D norms your GM may not be willing
to entertain the notion as part of their
conversion effort. |
|
The
Sorcerer Magic System is useful for making a D&D 3e style Bard.
|
|
The
Sortilege and
Stregari Magic Systems provide interesting options for Bardic characters.
|
|
|
Presented below are an assortment of Basic Packages, Extension Packages, and Composite
Packages for your use.
|
|
|
|
The
Troubadour Magic System provides an interesting variant approach to Magic
based on musical instruments.
|
|