I was looking for some advice regarding a potential Pathfinder Society character. I was planning a bard, Taldan by birth, who has become disillusioned/disgusted with Taldor and joins up with the Osirion faction. With the APG out, I see two archetypes that may fit the concept:
Court Bard: the motivation would be one from the inside who has seen the excesses of the Taldan nobility and the exploitation of Osirion. He has studied the culture and history of Osirion courtesy of the artifacts of the nobles he serves. Main gripe is with the Taldan rulership. He would probably be from Oppara. I like the satire feature of the court bard, but not too thrilled with the Charisma-check debuff.
Street Performer: this would be a have-not (unbearded) from the outside looking in. He struggles to make a living. He is fed tales of the splendor of Osirion by his father, an ex-sailor who voyaged to Osirion in his youth. The father is now out of work, alcoholic and in poor health. Leaves for Osirion and better opportunity after the death of his father. He would probably be from Ridonport. I like the madcap prank feature of the street performer, but are the other performance changes worth it?
How do you more experienced and/or opininated folks think either of these two achetypes stack up against a standard bard?
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I love the idea of a Taldan Court Entertainer who spies for Amenopheus, The Sapphire Sage. In Society play, you may not get ample opportunity to develop the background of you character.
Suggestion: Go the route of an individual who has strong Taldan physical traits or appearance and then adorn him/her is pure Osiri styles and clothing. It may be a fun seed for you to play around with...
Good Luck with the build!
You know, I hadn't thought of him being a spy in the Taldan court. I like that idea. I had planned on using a scorpion whip and possibly wearing Osirion parade armor.
So, do others think the class feature tradeoffs for Court Bard are worth it? I sense that Majuba thinks they're overpowered...
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Court Bard = In shrot there ok. I found them lacking compared to a normal bard. You lose Inspire Courage yes you get a ability to reduce the damage taken. Over all the debuff is not as good as the buff. you lose Bardic knowlage this was the big NO. After playing a bard the ability to pick out the weakness of the enemy almost at will is very important. Bardic knowlage + 2nd level Spell verstal weapon = by passing almost any DR.
For flavor its ok. It is not going to be as good for the party.
Street Performar = Some of the worst preform abilitys you can have as a bard. You get a improved fasanate ability that will not be use full 75% of the time. It just gose down hill from there.
For flavor I guess. For abilitys NO.