| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I found a Pathfinder conversion of the old AD&D rogue modron that I really liked, and I suddenly had the idea to try to build a modron bard. Because I am easily amused, and the thought of a modron monotonously claiming his intention to "utilize a sequence of pleasant sonic tones to improve morale and promote frivolity" amused me.
But then... well, I realized that, RAW, that was completely impossible. Modrons, even rogues, must be Lawful, and bards can never be, plus they take a penalty to their primary stat. Yet... well, from there, I tried to think of ways to turn this thing around.
I'm doing this as I go along, and I'm still not sure if this should be modron-restricted or not. I'm also worried about possible impact from replacing the bard's spontaneous casting with cleric-style "prepared casting from a larger list," so I dropped it despite the thematic use one might get out of it.
I also feel like I outta cook something up to replace Jack of All Trades, but I admit that I'm blanking.
Gotta start somewhere though. So, well, here... we... go.
Progressive Musician:
Some musicians prefer to rely on meticulous composition and preparation rather than spontaneous musical talent. They quickly create a musical style at once similar to and completely distinct from normal bardic practice.
Alignment Restriction: A progressive musician must be of Lawful alignment. This replaces the normal bardic alignment restrictions.
Intelligence Dependent: A progressive musician creates music through rigorous intellectual craftsmanship rather than sudden creative bursts. She uses Intelligence instead of Charisma when determining the highest level of spells she can cast, her spell save DCs, the number of spells known at 1st level, and any effects of her performances normally determined by her Charisma.
Additionally, the progressive musician who has at least one skill point in a Perform (instrument) skill may use Intelligence rather than Charisma on the the Perform skill checks she makes to use the instrument.
This ability replaces the bardic knowledge (Ex) power.
Forceful Artist (Ex): A progressive musician's rigorous, logical approach to his art begins to reflect itself in his spells and music. Once per round, a progressive musician may sacrifice his move action to increase the effective CL of the next spell he casts before the end of his next turn by 1, or to increase the bonuses or save DCs of his next bardic performance before the end of his next turn by the same amount.
This ability replaces the Well-Versed (Ex) ability.
Bards no longer have alignment restrictions in Pathfinder.
In once ran a one-shot for a hellknight party and one of the pregens was an arbiter bard (detective/soundstriker). Fits the theme quite well.
I am imagining the drum machine from metalocalypse.
See, the problem there is that prepared casters generally get fewer spells per day than their spontaneous kin, and I don't quite know how the formula to balance it out works.
Plus, bards generally only know a very small number of spells, and I'm not sure what kind of "ripple effect" giving them access to all of them at once might cause. But, at the same time, not giving them access to more spells than the spontaneous caster is more of a straight nerf than a twist on the playstyle.
Hmmmm... maybe take the magus route and let them carry around a spell book, but still forcing them to only take spells off the bard spell list?