Bard Variant? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Bard Variant? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Lomiir
11-29-04, 03:27 PM I was wondering if there have been any alternate bards? The idea of a jack of all trades is cool but I never liked the whole singing thing.

Of course the singing is a staple of the class and a large part of the fluff of it, but it can't hurt to ask :P
Felagund
11-29-04, 03:41 PM There was an alternate bard in Unearthed Arcana. He was more of the warrior-poet type bard. He still had the music. I think the changes were only a few to the skill list and to the spell list.

For a real jack-of-all trades, without the music, you'd probably just want to go with the rogue. But that adds the whole sneak attack aspect, which you might not want. It would almost be interesting to see a class with the rogue's skills that just got bonus feats every so often. Sort of like the fighter, but with fewer feats and a broader selection. There were actually rules for doing that in Unearthed Arcana as well. It was an option in which the classes were warrior, skill user, and spellcaster (or something like that.) Each one had a set bab, hd, skill points, number of class skills, and number of good saves. They could pick their class skills and good save (or saves). They got feats every so many levels, based on their class. In addition to normal feats, class abilities like sneak attack, rage, and wild shape were also feats.

This probably wasn't what you had in mind, but it might be worth taking a look at Unearthed Arcana if you get a chance.
Kaalan
11-29-04, 03:49 PM Yea there is the rogue variant that gets the fighter feat progression but they dont get spells.

Bard - music + a lil extra something to replace the music. A bonus feat at levels 5, 10, 15, and 20 might work.
caeruleus
11-29-04, 04:34 PM The thing about the jack of all trades is that s/he would also be a master of none. So why not multiclass? A cleric/fighter/rogue/wizard is most certainly a jack of all trades but master of none.

Although I just remembered... Sword & Sorcery has a book called Advanced Player's Guide that has a prestige class for just that thing. You need to have some arcane magic, divine magic, and ranks in a number of skills (but no more than a certain number of ranks per skill). I don't remember much else about it.
Wil Harvey
11-29-04, 05:35 PM The thing about the jack of all trades is that s/he would also be a master of none. So why not multiclass? A cleric/fighter/rogue/wizard is most certainly a jack of all trades but master of none.

Because you still need a playable character.

Getting a few levels in most classes would not only kill you BAB, it would also keep you from reaching higher-level abilities that keep characters competitive at higher levels.
Thelon Fairblade
11-30-04, 12:53 PM Kalaan's suggestion is probably fine. a few bonus feats, or even specifially "Extra Spell Known" or "Extra Spell Slot".

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lomiir 11-29-04, 03:27 PM	I was wondering if there have been any alternate bards? The idea of a jack of all trades is cool but I never liked the whole singing thing. Of course the singing is a staple of the class and a large part of the fluff of it, but it can't hurt to ask :P
Felagund 11-29-04, 03:41 PM	There was an alternate bard in Unearthed Arcana. He was more of the warrior-poet type bard. He still had the music. I think the changes were only a few to the skill list and to the spell list. For a real jack-of-all trades, without the music, you'd probably just want to go with the rogue. But that adds the whole sneak attack aspect, which you might not want. It would almost be interesting to see a class with the rogue's skills that just got bonus feats every so often. Sort of like the fighter, but with fewer feats and a broader selection. There were actually rules for doing that in Unearthed Arcana as well. It was an option in which the classes were warrior, skill user, and spellcaster (or something like that.) Each one had a set bab, hd, skill points, number of class skills, and number of good saves. They could pick their class skills and good save (or saves). They got feats every so many levels, based on their class. In addition to normal feats, class abilities like sneak attack, rage, and wild shape were also feats. This probably wasn't what you had in mind, but it might be worth taking a look at Unearthed Arcana if you get a chance.
Kaalan 11-29-04, 03:49 PM	Yea there is the rogue variant that gets the fighter feat progression but they dont get spells. Bard - music + a lil extra something to replace the music. A bonus feat at levels 5, 10, 15, and 20 might work.
caeruleus 11-29-04, 04:34 PM	The thing about the jack of all trades is that s/he would also be a master of none. So why not multiclass? A cleric/fighter/rogue/wizard is most certainly a jack of all trades but master of none. Although I just remembered... Sword & Sorcery has a book called Advanced Player's Guide that has a prestige class for just that thing. You need to have some arcane magic, divine magic, and ranks in a number of skills (but no more than a certain number of ranks per skill). I don't remember much else about it.
Wil Harvey 11-29-04, 05:35 PM	The thing about the jack of all trades is that s/he would also be a master of none. So why not multiclass? A cleric/fighter/rogue/wizard is most certainly a jack of all trades but master of none. Because you still need a playable character. Getting a few levels in most classes would not only kill you BAB, it would also keep you from reaching higher-level abilities that keep characters competitive at higher levels.
Thelon Fairblade 11-30-04, 12:53 PM	Kalaan's suggestion is probably fine. a few bonus feats, or even specifially "Extra Spell Known" or "Extra Spell Slot".