I'm going to be DMing STAP; my last D&D experience was with 2nd edition rules. I've read the overview in issue 138. I can see how almost every class has a role to play, except for the bard. After #1 and #2, the only real place I can see for them is #8 (Scuttlecove).
Actually, I think my problem may be that I don't see bards excelling in general. Educate me: Are bards useful with v3.5 rules? If you have an anecdote, give me one! I'd love to be wrong, or missing some key aspect of the class!
For gathering information, infiltrating the pirates, and turning factions against each other?
Pacifying & negotiating with various neanderthal, aboriginal etc humanoid/almost humanoid tribes around, getting the right to enter their dwellings, seek cover... and perhaps build a Grand Federation of Goodness? ;)
Should be worth gold as the tide of savageness is closing in, being able to pull all the creatures together and singing "come by here my lord, come by here..", ultimately frustrating demogorgons ambitions.
Nor to forget, a bard should be really excellent at gathering allies.. perhaps in a upcoming battle they might need a tribal leader -neanderthal barbarian16 to help slay some demons?
Or more likely getting information, all the lore should be out there amongs the rakhasta, araneans, lizardmen etc.. they just arent talking to eachother, gather the lore and be able to draw conclusions noone else could. All have their small share of the puzzle.. and the bardic lore ability to make sense of all that information, what is true and what isnt.
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umm, there is also the "draconic knowledge"(Dra) feat, just be a dragonwrought kobold with the feat, make your "lair" there on the island, and soon you will know all the ancient secrets..
Here's the perks for bards: 1) Access to spells usually reserved for clerics such as cure light wounds; 2) Bardic Knowledge [this allows a bard to pretty much have a chance at any Knowledge check]; 3) Bluff and Diplomacy are a bard's forte; 4) The Inspire Courage/Competence/etc ability is always helpful and has a lot of utility.
As far as its usefulness in the STAP, I recommended my own gaming group have a bard. A bard's abilities will definitely find a lot of uses in this campaign for all of the above reasons I listed.
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In my current AOW group, I am playing a Ranger and a friend is playing a bard (with 2 levels of Sorceror). We have just completed the Champion's Games and I have found that his bard has become a very useful member of the group.
I don't think he would argue the point that his bard is not combat oriented ... we joke that the bard's rapier has become a can opener ... but the ability to inspire us during combat more that makes up for not swinging away.
The character has become the face of our group and is best able to handle diplomacy and negotiations.
Overall, the bard is a great 5th character to enhance a party.
Thanks for the responses -- I'm sold.
In the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil group a fellow player has a bard/fighter who is an archer, and he is just a damage machine. He easily does as much as damage as the dwarven fighter or the smiting cleric.
I'm DMing STAP, and we're using gestalt characters and one player has made a paladin/bard who is going into legendary captain. I think his bard abilities will be quite useful.
The bard's most basic ability--their inspire courage, is probably their best. Those extra points of damage that everyone gets because of bard-y goodness really adds up.
Creative Director
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Bards are currently my favorite class (closely followed by clerics and druids). But playing a bard takes a very different mindset than most other classes; you shine the most in roleplaying adventures and in larger groups. Each additional ally you have makes your basic ability of inspire courage more powerful. There's also going to be a few specific encounters or even adventues where a bard's social skills and abilities will be extremely helpful. And given the flamboyant swasbuckling feel of the campaing, they should be able to fit right in with ease.
I'm thinking about playing a Drow bard once we get started. Still debating a couple other classes as options though.
Just steer clear of naming the character Downer unless you want to win the Mayor McCheese prize for cheesiness ;)
Hmmm. On second thought, Mayor McCheese may be unavailable to hand out that cheesy award. --> http://dennisyork.blogspot.com/2005/11/crg-announces-recall-against-mayor.h tml
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bards are my all-time favorite class to play
of course, i am drawn to the more social end of the game, so pure combatability is not the be-all-end-all for me. even my current knight/cleric has decent charisma and max ranks in intimidation (and a few in diplo)
one of my favorite short-term characters was a full bard (lvl 15). he was the party's ONLY spellcaster, if i recall correctly...(save the dragon sorc/barb..but he was only lvl 1 in each), so was responsible for healing, buffing, detection, and support magic. with good feat choices (mostly heroic spirit and action surge), he was able to carry the party through when they really should have failed.
and the best part: his perform was poetry (haiku)...gotta love it!
as for a bard's effectiveness in the STAP...inspire competence makes all your sailors better at sailing, for as long as he sings/chants...inspire courage is just good, period...bardic knowledge, speak language, and diplomacy when you have to deal with the natives on the isle of dread are all key.
plus, they can heal, cast support magic, and handle their own in a (short) tussle.
-the hamster
As my icon probably reveals, I'm a bard fan.
The DMPC from which I take this online name once saved his party from a run-in with the city watch by using his fascinate and suggestion abilities. It's a long story, but they were carrying two unconscious criminals whose testimony was needed to establish the innocence of an ally of the PCs. They had been allowed to escape prison with the connivance of the watch, which was in league with a crime lord and some business rivals of the ally. The PCs tracked the criminals down to a brothel where they had been hidden away, managed to get the criminals out without killing anyone or alerting the watch, but ran into a patrol led by a hulking half-ogre. The half-ogre got suspicious of the party, which was hauling two unconscious men using cloaks as stretchers--the party leader's bluff that they were buddies who had passed out after drinking too much failed, and things were about to get ugly. A humorous song about an amorous barmaid, and a quick suggestion to the sargeant to let the party pass, and they were out of hot water.
Oh, and I won't tell you about the time he sailed up in an enchanted drow ship just in time to rescue the party from a horde of angry hobgoblins and a very mean troll.
Given the importance of gathering allies in the STAP plotline laid out in this month's Dungeon, I should think a bard's diplomatic skills would be essential. And anyhow, what will the Sea Wyvern be without a proper shanty-man?
A glass of whiskey all around,
And a bottle full for the shanty man!
For those who feel the bard is too weak in combat, try taking a few levels of swashbuckler, ranger, or rogue, or one of the several prestige classes in Complete Warrior designed for singing warriors. The bard's lightly armored fighting style fits well with shipboard adventures. (Seriously, do you want to be a fighter tricked out in full plate when you get knocked overboard?) And lots of skill points to invest in balance, tumble, and swim has to be a good thing. (Can't remember if it's a class skill, but as DM for this campaign I'd probably make swim open to everyone, or create a background feat that allows characters who want to invest in swim ranks to have it as a class skill.)
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The only base classes listed in the PHB without Swim as a class skill are the cleric, paladin, sorcerer and wizard, so I wouldn't worry too much about making Swim a class skill without a feat. "Oh no! Another skill to spend my 2 + Int modifier skill points on! Power level... increasing!"
Sigh... what will we do with all these characters capable of not drowning too easily? :)
I'd look up the rest, but I just put my books back on the shelf, and I don't really want to dig them all out, check which base classes can swim, and put them all right back. I mean, there's like forty base classes out there now.
On a related note (related to this thread, at least), I too am a bard fan. Alas, as our group's main DM, I find that my love of a charming bard with tons of ranks in the charismatic skills creates a lot of opportunities for me to talk to myself. And that's just no fun for anyone.
Sigh... what will we do with all these characters capable of not drowning too easily? :)
Give 'em help! Kraken's tentacles, paralysis attacks, and any number of other things can ruin a strong swimmer's day. Oh, and how about a nasty villain who has developed a variant of Evard's Black Tentacles that grow out of the water?
That, sir, is a nasty little idea. I think I'll use it ;)
Oh, and how about a nasty villain who has developed a variant of Evard's Black Tentacles that grow out of the water?
No need. The tentacles "seem to spring forth from the earth, floor, or whatever surface is underfoot—including water." I wonder whether a particularly high level wizard might use a Widened version to temporarily immobilize small ships. 40' Radius Spread would do it for at least the smaller ships, I imagine, and with the tentacles immune to damage, the only worry is that they might not be strong enough to grapple the thing.
Thanks Toymaker--didn't have the books handy. Bump it up a few levels, and you have Evard's Tentacles of the Kraken--big enough to crush a ship, no monster in the water to target. *Maniacal evil DM laughter* Now that might even be too nasty for Steve Greer! :)