Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Neveroth 02-13-08, 08:20 AM	Well, not really. I always found the whole concept of singing in combat to grant bonuses a little too sketchy, stretched thin and not very logical. The bard wouldn't have the same flavour without having songs to sing and tales to tell, naturally, but I see that as more of a by-the-campfire thing, better saved for inns and theatres than repeated in every single encounter. It gets very old and very stupid, very fast. Some of you would argue that bardic music can be described in interesting and non-comedic ways, that actually add to the game's style, and that it's a solely individual, player-based thing. And I would agree, to an extent. However, while usable, the whole setup is far from ideal. Therefore, I'm interested to hear about alternative ideas. How would you approach changing the bardic music feature? What would you add in its place if it was removed? By this point, I'm sure you're already typing responses like 'just play a gish character and leave the bard be.' Well, the thing is, apart from the music feature, the class definitely has potential. It has just the right balance of skills and spells, and the whole jacks-of-all-trades feel that is somewhat hard to replicate. I just started thinking about this minutes ago, and the first two things that came to mind were: 1. Remove the silly in-combat singing, and make the inspiration provided by the bard's performance last a whole day. That way, you could put on a performance for your weary companions in the evening, or while visiting the local town, and it would last through all the encounters for that day. Makes the character behave a lot more reasonably, and doesn't really disrupt balance in any way (the bard will have those bonuses up in every battle anyway, and removing the standard-action activation thing doesn't make him overpowered in the slightest). Needs work, but that's the basic idea. 2. Remove bardic music entirely (leaving it as just a fluff option, using perform as usual), and add X. What is X? I don't know. Some enchantment-theme special abilities? Full BAB? Better HD? Trapfinding? A pet of some sort? Bonus feats? Tell me what you think.
gullas 02-13-08, 08:34 AM	Auras , simular to the ones that the dragon shaman has?
rjsilverthorn 02-13-08, 08:39 AM	I was thinking about a knowledge based bard, similar to the Archivist's Dark Knowledge ability or the Knowledge Devotion feat. So instead of providing bonuses from music, they'd provide bonuses based on their accumulated knowledge from stories and histories they've read. I'll fully admit that I actually thought I'd seen a bard like this somewhere, so if someone comes along and says this is an existing variant, I won't be surprised. I just couldn't find it when I was looking for it.
Neveroth 02-13-08, 09:13 AM	Auras , simular to the ones that the dragon shaman has? That would be an interesting angle to explore... Though difficult to explain. Why are the characters receiving these bonuses? Because they're fighting side by side with a rockstar? Curious thought, but shaky. Perhaps in combination with 1. of the original post - as long as they heard the bard perform within the last 24 hours, they get the aura buffs? But then it's not much different from music, except style-wise. Alternatively, we could say that some sort of music weave after-effect clings to the bard and touches his allies with its power (raw, words of creation type of thing). Possibly a blessing of the bard's otherworldly patrons (as mentioned in Races and Classes)? I was thinking about a knowledge based bard, similar to the Archivist's Dark Knowledge ability or the Knowledge Devotion feat. So instead of providing bonuses from music, they'd provide bonuses based on their accumulated knowledge from stories and histories they've read. I'll fully admit that I actually thought I'd seen a bard like this somewhere, so if someone comes along and says this is an existing variant, I won't be surprised. I just couldn't find it when I was looking for it. It's entirely possible that someone tackled the idea before, but I wasn't able to find anything substantial either, so I thought I'd start a discussion and see what comes up. Now, regarding the Dark Knowledge suggestion. Thematically, i love it. It makes sense. Mechanically, it seems pretty weak compared to everything you can do with bardic music, especially if you had to invest ranks in numerous knowledge skills to get the bonuses (and let us consider for a moment that bard is not exactly on the top of the berg of power, even as is). It's something we can work with though.
Wizu 02-13-08, 09:43 AM	Remove bardic music, grant dark knowledge and truespeak as class skill. Trust me, thats more than enough to make a bard broken. Jack of all trades, collector of stories, bardic knack... If you use every alternate substitution, feat and skill trick out there to jack your knowledge checks sky high even a max int mage cannot match you. And know what that means? I win button. You gotta have mighty sturdy bbeg to survive against a round of being dazed, considering it works against all whom dont have mark of thunder dragonmark or certain cleric (which is exclusive to one god)/paladin spells. Truespeak is there to just pat the poor bugger on the back and tell him its all right to be emotional! Might also consider upping skills to 8+int per level and/or granting bard turn undead. Or domains. Either one is just fine!
rjsilverthorn 02-13-08, 09:55 AM	Well as with most things, the challenge is finding that fine line between good and gouda.
Jaxgaret 02-13-08, 12:57 PM	Replace Bardic Music with Marshal aura progression. Bam, done.
InkBlot 02-13-08, 02:02 PM	2. Remove bardic music entirely (leaving it as just a fluff option, using perform as usual), and add X. What is X? I don't know. Some enchantment-theme special abilities? Full BAB? Better HD? Trapfinding? A pet of some sort? Bonus feats? Tell me what you think. I've often thought about doing this. In brief, I would replace Bardic Music with either Sneak Attack (+1d6 per three levels), Fighter/Metamagic bonus feats (same rate as the psywar (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/psionicPsychicWarrior.html)), or the Ranger's class features. With a little push in the right direction, the Bard class can become the Ninja, the Arcane Warrior, or just an all-around-average Adventurer. The following is the ranger-bard-thing written up as a whole new class. I took it straight from my notes, so it might not actually be complete (especially the spell list). Field Wizard HD: d6 Class skills The field wizard’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana/dungeoneering/geography/nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spellcraft (Int) Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), and Use Rope (Dex). Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier. Table: The Field Wizard Base Attack Fort Ref Will Spells Per Day Level Bonus Save Save Save Special 0th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th ———————————————————————————————————————— ———————————————————————————————————————— —————————————————————————————— 1st +0 +0 +2 +2 1st Favored Enemy, Track 2 -- -- -- -- -- -- 2nd +1 +0 +3 +3 Bonus Feat 3 0 -- -- -- -- -- 3rd +2 +1 +3 +3 Endurance 3 1 -- -- -- -- -- 4th +3 +1 +4 +4 Summon Familiar 3 2 0 -- -- -- -- 5th +3 +1 +4 +4 2nd Favored Enemy 3 3 1 -- -- -- -- 6th +4 +2 +5 +5 Bonus Feat 3 3 2 -- -- -- -- 7th +5 +2 +5 +5 3 3 2 0 -- -- -- 8th +6/+1 +2 +6 +6 Swift Tracker 3 3 3 1 -- -- -- 9th +6/+1 +3 +6 +6 Evasion 3 3 3 2 -- -- -- 10th +7/+2 +3 +7 +7 3rd Favored Enemy 3 3 3 2 0 -- -- 11th +8/+3 +3 +7 +7 Bonus Feat 3 3 3 3 1 -- -- 12th +9/+4 +4 +8 +8 3 3 3 3 2 -- -- 13th +9/+4 +4 +8 +8 3 3 3 3 2 0 -- 14th +10/+5 +4 +9 +9 4 3 3 3 3 1 -- 15th +11/+6/+1 +5 +9 +9 4th Favored Enemy 4 4 3 3 3 2 -- 16th +12/+7/+2 +5 +10 +10 4 4 4 3 3 2 0 17th +12/+7/+2 +5 +10 +10 4 4 4 4 3 3 1 18th +13/+8/+3 +6 +11 +11 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 19th +14/+9/+4 +6 +11 +11 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 20th +15/+10/+5 +6 +12 +12 5th Favored Enemy 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ———————————————————————————————————————— ———————————————————————————————————————— —————————————————————————————— Class Features All of the following are class features of the field wizard. Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: A field wizard is proficient with all simnple weapons, plus the longsword, rapier, sap, shortsword, shortbow, and whip. Field wizards are proficient with light armor and shields (except tower shields). Because the somatic components required for field wizard spells are relatively simple, field wizards can cast field wizard spells while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. However, like any other arcane spllcaster, a field wizard wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure if the spell in question has somatic components (most do). A multiclass field wizard still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes. Spells: A field wizard casts arcane spells which are drawn from the bard spell list. A field wizard must choose and prepare her spells ahead of time (see below). To learn, prepare, or cast a spell, the field wizard must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a field wizard’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the field wizard’s Intelligence modifier. Like other spellcasters, a field wizard can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Field Wizard. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Intelligence score. Unlike a bard or sorcerer, a field wizard may know any number of spells. She must choose and prepare her spells ahead of time by getting a good night’s sleep and spending 1 hour studying her spellbook. While studying, the field wizard decides which spells to prepare. Spellbooks: A field wizard must study her spellbook each day to prepare her spells. She cannot prepare any spell not recorded in her spellbook, except for read magic, which all field wizards can prepare from memory. A field wizard begins play with a spellbook containing all 0-level bard spells. At each new field wizard level, she gains two new spells of any spell level or levels that she can cast (based on her new field wizard level) for her spellbook. At any time, a field wizard can also add spells found in other field wizards’ spellbooks to her own. Favored Enemy (Ex): At 1st level, a field wizard may select a type of creature from among those given on Table: Field Wizard Favored Enemies. The field wizard gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against creatures of this type. Likewise, she gets a +2 bonus on weapon damage rolls against such creatures. At 5th level and every five levels thereafter (10th, 15th, and 20th level), the field wizard may select an additional favored enemy from those given on the table. In addition, at each such interval, the bonus against any one favored enemy (including the one just selected, if so desired) increases by 2. If the field wizard chooses humanoids or outsiders as a favored enemy, she must also choose an associated subtype, as indicated on the table. If a specific creature falls into more than one category of favored enemy, the field wizard’s bonuses do not stack; she simply uses whichever bonus is higher. Table: Field Wizard Favored Enemies Type (Subtype) Type (Subtype) Type (Subtype) Type (Subtype) ———————————————————————————————————————— ———————————————————————————————————————— ——————————— Aberration Humanoid (dwarf) Humanoid (reptilian) Outsider (fire) Animal Humanoid (elf) Magical beast Outsider (good) Construct Humanoid (goblinoid) Monstrous humanoid Outsider (lawful) Dragon Humanoid (gnoll) Ooze Outsider (native) Elemental Humanoid (gnome) Outsider (air) Outsider (water) Fey Humanoid (halfling) Outsider (chaotic) Plant Giant Humanoid (human) Outsider (earth) Undead Humanoid (aquatic) Humanoid (orc) Outsider (evil) Vermin ———————————————————————————————————————— ———————————————————————————————————————— ——————————— Track: A field wizard gains Track as a bonus feat. Bonus Feats: At 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level, a field wizard gains a bonus feat. At each such opportunity, she can choose a fighter feat, a metamagic feat, an item creation feat, or Spell Mastery. The field wizard must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level and base attack bonus minimums. These bonus feats are in addition to the feat that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. The field wizard is not limited to the categories of fighter feats, item creation feats, metamagic feats, or Spell Mastery when choosing these feats. Endurance: A field wizard gains Endurance as a bonus feat at 3rd level. Summon Familiar: At 4th level, a field wizard can obtain a familiar in exactly the same manner as a sorcerer can. See the sorcerer description for details. Swift Tracker (Ex): Beginning at 8th level, a field can move at her normal speed while following tracks without taking the normal –5 penalty. She takes only a –10 penalty (instead of the normal –20) when moving at up to twice normal speed while tracking. Evasion (Ex): At 9th level, a field wizard can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If she makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, she instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if the field wizard is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless field wizard does not gain the benefit of evasion. Field Wizard Spell List Field wizards choose their spells from the following list: 0th Level: Acid splash, arcane mark, dancing lights, daze, detect magic, detect poison, disrupt undead, flare, ghost sounds, know direction, light, mage hand, mending, message, open/close, prestidigitation, touch of fatigue, ray of frost, read magic, resistance, arcane mark, acid splash, detect poison, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue. 1st Level: Alarm, animate rope, cause fear, charm person, comprehend languages, cure light wounds, detect secret doors, disguise self, erase, expeditious retreat, feather fall, grease hypnotism, identify, lesser confusion, magic mouth, nystul's magic aura, obscure object, remove fear, silent image, sleep, summon monster i, tasha's hideous laughter, undetectable alignment, unseen servant, ventriloquism. 2nd Level: Alter self, animal messenger, blindness/deafness, blur, calm emotions, cat's grace, cure moderate wounds, darkness, daze monster, delay poison, detect thoughts, eagle's splendor, enthrall, fox's cunning, glitterdust, heroism, hold person, hypnotic pattern, invisibility, locate object, minor image, mirror image, misdirection, pyrotechnics, rage, scare, shatter, silence, sound burst, suggestion, summon monster ii, summon swarm, tongues, whispering wind. 3rd Level: Blink, charm monster, clairaudience/clairvoyance, confusion, crushing despair, cure serious wounds, daylight, deep slumber, dispel magic, displacement, fear, gaseous form, geas lesser, glibness, good hope, haste, illusory scrip, invisibility sphere, leomund's tiny hut, major image, phantom steed, remove curse, scrying, sculpt sound, secret page, see invisibility, sepia snake sigil, slow, speak with animals, summon monster iii. 4th Level: Break enchantment, cure critical wounds, detect scrying, dimension door, dominate person, freedom of movement, hallucinatory terrain, hold monster, invisibilty greater, legend lore, leomund's secure shelter, locate creature, modify memory, neutralize poison, rainbow pattern, repel vermin, shadow conjuration, shout, speak with plants, summon monster iv, zone of silence. 5th Level: Cure light wounds mass, dispel magic greater, dream, false vision, heroism greater, mind fog, mirage arcana, mislead, nightmare, persistent image, seeming, shadow evocation, shadow walk, song of discord, suggestion, mass, summon monster v. 6th Level: Analyze dweomer, animate objects, cat's grace mass, charm monster mass, cure moderate wounds mass, eagle's splendor mass, eyebite, find the path, fox's cunning mass, geas/quest, heroes' feast, otto's irresistible dance, permanent image, programmed image, project image, scrying greater, shout greater, summon monster vi, sympathetic vibration, veil.
Alxdude 02-13-08, 03:16 PM	I'm not sure if this will change your mind, but bardic music can be used to "produce magical effects," which means that it's basically as logical as spellcasting. :)
Neveroth 02-13-08, 06:32 PM	Thanks for the replies everyone, plenty of interesting suggestions there. I'm not sure if this will change your mind, but bardic music can be used to "produce magical effects," which means that it's basically as logical as spellcasting. :) Seems we have a tiny misunderstanding here. I never meant to question the bard's ability to weave magic into his music; that in itself is fine. What I have a problem with is the image of a guy who hops around singing and dancing while facing very serious and often life-threatening situations, and doing it in every single fight. Several times a day, week after week, for levels and levels. Now, I'm not saying it has to look stupid, I'm saying stupid is the default. If it was described as an aura of inspiration that a bard creates by his very presence and force of personality, it would be a lot less style-impaired and annoying. If the effects lasted for hours, it would be a lot less style-impaired and annoying. I mean, honestly, holding a Braveheart-like speech with Perform (oratory), or singing about epic struggles of the heroes of old is a lot cooler if you don't do it 5 times every day. That is my biggest problem with the bard -- the class is written poorly. And that is the main reason why I considered dropping bardic music as a combat tool entirely. Bard is a great character concept, in theory. I'd just like to see its practical application match that. :)
Jaxgaret 02-13-08, 08:22 PM	Don't like the Bard's performance-based nature? Like I said, drop Bardic Music, add Marshal Aura progression, and you've got what you want. The flavor of the Marshal is that they are constantly haranguing, encouraging, teaching etc. their party mates, and that translates to the bonuses they get.
rone_leah 02-14-08, 01:04 AM	Well there is the Subsonics feat in Complete Adventurer. You can basicly say there getting better because you're THAT good. Happy holidays:D
Character 02-14-08, 01:34 AM	A bard's music is inspiration which results in statistical boons. Magic may or may not be involved, but isn't really the point in this topic. My current bard uses oratory as his performance. Shouting inspirational snips about historical or fictional figures during battle. Does this make him "stupid by default"? All I used is the PHB1 and a little imagination. The image that the "default" bard is the jester with a song in their heart is a short sight of your making.
Baddum12 02-14-08, 02:16 AM	Shouldn't every adventurer get some sort of competence bonus when around a bard purely out of hopes that their great deeds will be known throughout the lands via this bard's story-telling and song singing about them? That's kind of an rp reasoning for the auras idea I guess. The greater the renown of the bard, the more likely his tales of you will be heard. And the more likely his tales of you will be heard, the better you want to perform in battle when said bard is present. Perhaps adding the idea of ACTUAL performances within towns or campsites, etc. Much like the use of the profession skill. But rather than receiving money for the week's skill check, you recieve points that do toward a separate level of "fame"? A little confusing I guess... first we have Class Level and Character Level, and now Fame Level? I don't know... I'm just throwing an idea out there. Anyways, the point was that based on the bard's fame, combatants around the bard would perform better. Maybe make a catch in there? I don't know... like intelligent enemies can recognize the bard? Now I'm going way to into it... Sorry guys. I'm stopping now.
InkBlot 02-14-08, 02:28 AM	1. Remove the silly in-combat singing, and make the inspiration provided by the bard's performance last a whole day. That way, you could put on a performance for your weary companions in the evening, or while visiting the local town, and it would last through all the encounters for that day. Makes the character behave a lot more reasonably, and doesn't really disrupt balance in any way (the bard will have those bonuses up in every battle anyway, and removing the standard-action activation thing doesn't make him overpowered in the slightest). Needs work, but that's the basic idea. The more I think about it, the more I like this idea. I'll think about it some more tomorrow, and maybe by then I'll like it enough to take a stab at writing up rules for it.
Bloodsoul 02-14-08, 02:34 AM	Suddenly I'm picturing bardic music like those songs that play during rounds of a fighting game. Sir Robin's minstrels come to mind, as well. Of course with a fair number of vocal Perform skills, replacing bardic music with something else isn't a bad idea at all. (silly or not, I still like the idea of my vampire belting out a cabaret tune during battle XD)
sigma999 02-14-08, 02:55 AM	I'd just make bard music a series of spells, and give them to Bards as Supernatural abilities dependent upon the performance of music (no checks required)
Divisionbyzer0 02-14-08, 03:28 AM	Rally allies from 2nd edition was much more realistic than the music is now. Perform for 3 rounds taking no other action, and then the bonuses last for rounds based on the bards level. Maybe just change it to be more similar to that.
Divisionbyzer0 02-14-08, 03:31 AM	A bard's music is inspiration which results in statistical boons. Magic may or may not be involved, but isn't really the point in this topic. My current bard uses oratory as his performance. Shouting inspirational snips about historical or fictional figures during battle. Does this make him "stupid by default"? All I used is the PHB1 and a little imagination. The image that the "default" bard is the jester with a song in their heart is a short sight of your making. Jester was a neat kit from The Complete Bard's Handbook. Might as well check out that book for some ideas. I recall a few of the kits there were interesting even though most are likely already duplicated by PrCs at this point.
Neveroth 02-14-08, 10:05 AM	The jester, as in kit jester, was very appealing to me actually. Taunting foes into making mistakes instead of buffing allies... It adds a whole new sphere of character concepts to work with. Anyone made a 3.5 conversion of it yet? As for Character's statement, please read my third post more carefully. I did mention motivational speeches as an option for using bardic music effects. I also only said it becomes stupid after you do it a dozen times in two days of adventuring. And if your career lasts for, say, 15 whole levels, that's... (correct me if I'm wrong here) 13 encounters per level on average, 14 level ups, making a whopping total of 182 rousing speeches. Don't you think your character's lines would start getting repetitive after a while? Don't you think you, personally, if traveling with such a character, would get bored of listening to his rants after a while? You see, that is what I'm aiming at. Nothing else.
Jaxgaret 02-14-08, 10:08 AM	And if your career lasts for, say, 15 whole levels, that's... (correct me if I'm wrong here) 13 encounters per level on average, 14 level ups, making a whopping total of 182 rousing speeches. Don't you think your character's lines would start getting repetitive after a while? Don't you think you, personally, if traveling with such a character, would get bored of listening to his rants after a while? You see, that is what I'm aiming at. Nothing else. It's magic. Grog the Barbarian isn't even listening to what the funny talky man is saying, but he still gets the bonuses.
M-bark 02-14-08, 10:20 AM	I would change it to something with banners, like they do in wars. At least in old times, there's always a guy with a flag holding it up high to inspire morale and courage into all allies who see it. Away with Bards, onwards with Bannerbearers! :D
Neveroth 02-14-08, 10:21 AM	Well there is the Subsonics feat in Complete Adventurer. You can basicly say there getting better because you're THAT good. Happy holidays:D Haha, excellent! Speaking of 'that good,' I would probably allow Perform (weapon drill) to be used for Inspire Courage. You make a flashy display of martial skill, which strengthens your allies' resolve and makes them push themselves to the limit in order to follow your lead. Seems very reasonable for more combat-minded bards.
Neveroth 02-14-08, 10:21 AM	The more I think about it, the more I like this idea. I'll think about it some more tomorrow, and maybe by then I'll like it enough to take a stab at writing up rules for it. If you find the time, please do. :)
Neveroth 02-14-08, 10:25 AM	It's magic. Grog the Barbarian isn't even listening to what the funny talky man is saying, but he still gets the bonuses. Grog may be happy, but I'm not. Maybe I give fluff too much importance, maybe I care about details a bit more than I should. But I'm sure I'm not alone in my assessments, and something tells me even the wizards are aware of how silly the class is.
Neveroth 02-14-08, 10:32 AM	I would change it to something with banners, like they do in wars. At least in old times, there's always a guy with a flag holding it up high to inspire morale and courage into all allies who see it. Away with Bards, onwards with Bannerbearers! :D For the run of the mill dungeoncrawl game, it doesn't really fit. For a military/warzone scenario, however, that is an awesome idea. The tattered flag reminds the characters of all their fallen friends, everything they're fighting for, and everything that will be lost should they fail.. Yes, I love it.
M-bark 02-14-08, 10:52 AM	For the run of the mill dungeoncrawl game, it doesn't really fit. But a jodeling Gnome with a lute does? For a military/warzone scenario, however, that is an awesome idea. The tattered flag reminds the characters of all their fallen friends, everything they're fighting for, and everything that will be lost should they fail.. Yes, I love it. Exactly why they (used to) do it in the military. When the flag went down, the morale usually would, too, and someone had to be there to pick the damn thing up again. In a run-of-the-mill dungeoncrawl game it might not fit, but I'd imagine a bard wouldn't fit too well, either. Then it would better be some kind of divine spellcaster (rather than arcane) who invokes the power of a god to grant courage to their allies. Kinda like how religion gives people hope in bad times.
Bloodsoul 02-14-08, 04:24 PM	Speaking of 'that good,' I would probably allow Perform (weapon drill) to be used for Inspire Courage. You make a flashy display of martial skill, which strengthens your allies' resolve and makes them push themselves to the limit in order to follow your lead. Seems very reasonable for more combat-minded bards. Very cool; I remember rulers doing the exact same thing when you start Empire Mode in Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires.
edventure 02-14-08, 04:36 PM	I picked up this little supplement (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=12513&it=1) and have been playing a Troubad’war. Very nice class. A Bard that can summon up a weapon and shield at a song and can choose spells from the Paladin list at the cost of Bardic Music.