Steven Barlam's page

Allow me to elaborate a bit on my idea (back on page 2) in its defense (I would have done so long before but my computor has had a hard time reaching this website for some reason).

First of all, I will make the concession that yes, having a tone of skills with huge bonuses may not be the best idea. In that case, at each of those levels, add the +1 bonus to only a single previous choice. This seems somewhat logical and allows the bard to become a master scout, great performer, or even a skilled diplomat, should they choose to become such. If possible, I'll edit my previous post to fit this description.

Secondly, I see nothing wrong with granting access to the sorcerer/wizard list. First of all, we'd be keeping the 6th level spell cap, spells per day, and spells known of the normal bard, which handicaps the bard enough as it is (they only gain 35 spells known [unless we increase the number of cantrips known], period,). Secondly, if we are really so against the idea of bards launching magic missiles or animating the dead, we could, for instance, take away their access to the necromancy and evocation schools (in fact, this would give a great opportunity to later make bard PrCs restoring access to these schools. Yes, I think that far ahead). To top it off, we give the bard access to spells of the healing subschool from the cleric list. Once again, their precious few spells known and delayed access to spell levels would even it out. For example, although the bard would finally gain access to the heal spell, they would be doing so at 16th level, as opposed to 11th level like a normal cleric. If we really want a final nail on the head, something to insure that the bard doesn't gain access to anything too extreme (as some would say raise dead would be), there could always be a clause stating that a bard's imperfect training in the art of magic prevents them from casting spells with costly material components (or foci, if we are really jerks).

The thread, as a total, has described the bard in a way that three blind men may describe an elephant. The first man sees the music, wanting more options. The second man sees might, wanting a more tactical outlook and buffs. The third man sees skills and a massive skill list, wanting a jack of all trades.
Ironically, the fourth, sighted man, who sees the bard as what it is and nothing more, is equally blind in this issue.

In my attempt, I tried to respect the wishes of the wishes of the first three men by making stress possible in whatever direction they do so choose.
However, it is to the fourth man to which I must appeal. I understand that you see, understand, and like your bard just the way that it is. However, if we change nothing, we deny the bard of all futures it may have possessed (at least for the immediate future) and doom it to a life of further obscurity in a time where every other class receives aid. If, on the other hand, you are asking for changes but simply ones that put further emphasis on the bard as it is, it only becomes more difficult for those who revered the bard's potential in other areas to grasp it.
For example, if the only changes that we made was a specific upgrade of bardic knowledge at a later level and a few new performances, those who respected it for its ability to adapt will find themselves doing far more singing than adapting.
On the other hand, I have made a solution with the potential to appeal to you. If the abilities granted by my suggested skill specializations included such things as bardic knowledge for knowledge or bardic music for perform (gaining access to a new ability every time that perform is selected beyond the first), it will be possible for you to play the bard more or less as it currently is while, at the same time, those who respect other aspects of the same class can instead choose to play out those roles (for example, a diplomacy special ability may be a sanctuary effect for those who respect their non-combat abilities while a search special ability may be a slightly weakened trapfinding ability for those that liked its rogueish nature.)

What about just standardizing the old PHBII variant?
Doesn't that kind of solve everything?

The only thing that I want to see beyond that is every class (except the commoner and monk, perhaps) gaining proficiency with all simple weapons.

My Thesis:

In the case of the the Bard, I think that a combination of the changes to the fighter and those to the rogue might work in tandem.

1. As there have been some people who have expressed frustration with the concept of keeping the bard focused on singing and music, let's generalize a bit. For spellcasting, I suggest more cantrips than other classes are getting (as that plays to traditional bard utility), keeping the spontaneous casting, and simply allowing the bard access to the wizard/sorcerer spell list (though still restricting them to 6th level spells). In this way, all arcane casters (or all core arcane casters, in any case) will be sharing the same spell list, reducing all of the space that was used before to create multiple spell lists. If we feel that strongly about the bard gaining access to certain schools of magic (such as necromancer or evocation), the bard can have a couple of prohibited schools built into its design.

2. Over the levels (perhaps every 2-4), in the same way that the revised fighter gains benefits with groups of armor or armor, let's grant the bard benefits with certain skills. My idea, to be slightly more specific, is to grant a +2 bonus to that skill and a special ability using that skill. Every additional time that we gain the ability, all previous bonuses go up by +1 and we either select a new skill or gain a further benefit with a previously chosen skill.

3. In the same way that rogues have been given special abilities over the levels, let's give the bard some abilities as well. If planned out well, the abilities can either be used to help them stand out in certain situations (as bards would now be using the sorcerer/wizard spell list, they'd gain their limited access to healing through these abilities, for example) or to help them adapt to their environment (taking the more factotum-like approach that others suggest).

I don't want to blow the credibility of my previous ideas through this suggestion so please appraise this next suggestion separately.

4(?). To help elaborate upon the stores of knowledge and skill that a bard acquires through their many travels (and add to their general skill-monkeyness), I suggest the following ability.

Improvisation/Inspiration (don't know which) (Ex): starting at 1st level, you gain the ability to attempt almost any task, whether or not you have gained competence in it or not. You gain a number of improvisation/inspiration points equal to your class level, which replenish each day. Whenever you make a skill check using a skill with which you possess no ranks, you may spend a number of improvisation/inspiration points up to 1/2 your class level (minimum 1) to gain a bonus of equal size to your skill check. This ability does not let you make skill checks untrained.

In addition, if we make some of the abilities (suggestion #3) factotum-like, we can make them run off of improvisation/inspiration points points. We could also use these points to use or empower more specialized abilities.

In short, my fix may look something like

1 Bardic Knowledge ([Improvisation/Inspiration] or skill specialization)
2 Bardic Ability
3 Skill Specialization
4 Bardic Ability
5 Skill Specialization
6 Bardic Ability
7 Skill Specialization
8 Bardic Ability
9 Skill Specialization
10 Bardic Ability
11 Skill Specialization
12 Bardic Ability
13 Skill Specialization
14 Bardic Ability
15 Skill Specialization
16 Bardic Ability
17 Skill Specialization
18 Bardic Ability
19 (Skill Specializaton or related capstone ability)
20 (Bardic Ability or related capstone ability)

I believe my approach satisfies everyone's requirements, allowing them to specialize if they want or become a jack of all trades; allowing them to become an expert performor or gain benefits with other skills (perhaps deception, stealth, craft, perception, etc.) As a plus, it has been done in a way very much similar to how other classes are being redone.