Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sorath 11-17-06, 07:44 PM	Ok, this is probably a really easy answer, but I am going to ask it anyway. Am I the only one who thinks that it doesn't make sense that a Bard cannot use his bardic music ability and in following rounds not be able to cast spells or use magic items like scrolls and wands? Is the only way that a bard can do this via the Bard spell Harmonize and Greater Harmonize? I would just think that a Bard would be the one character class who could figure out how to merge his bardic music ability with the use of his spell casting and use of magic devices. Interested in hearing other peoples opinions on this. Thanks in advance.
Lael 11-19-06, 11:48 PM	Well most bard abilities are either supernatural or spell like abilties, so makes sense not to have more than one going at one any time to me because you need to maintain the effect. However some masterwork musical instruments I believe let you to have mutiple bardic music abilities going at one time, so you might want to check that out. In many cases though the abilities you might want to keep going for a while such as the inspires, last 5 rounds after you stop playing. Now if you're like my group and have a combat that lasts more than 5 rounds then you're in trouble. So you can do the bardic music for a round and then free to do whatever you want.
Jaxgaret 11-20-06, 01:02 AM	There is a feat in the Complete Mage that allows Bards to cast spells during usage of Bardic Music. It's like Natural Spell for Bards (i.e. why wouldn't you take it ASAP as a Bard?). Also taking levels in the Seeker of the Song PrC allows the Bard to use two simultaneous Bardic Music effects.
zae 11-20-06, 01:22 AM	If you are at liberty to introduce new rules (by which I mean "If you are the DM or your DM is always open to new stuff"), I believe a third-party supplement takes care of this. Bardic spells are no longer Cantrips, 1st, 2nd etc. They have "Notes", "Chords" and the like. I don't know much about music, but essentially, it divided the spell-list into musical noises of different lengths, allowing you to have several going at any one time. I believe a high level Bard could even string a whole heap together in the space of a few rounds, becoming the King of party-buffs. Unfortunately, I do not have this book, one of my friends does and was telling me about it. So I doubt "This guy on the Internet said a friend told him about a book that lets bards keep multiple spells going at once." will really help you.
Sorath 11-20-06, 08:00 AM	My main reason for asking this question is that it didn't make sense to me that a bard could not be singing and then be able to activate a wand without stopping his bard song, but they can participate in melee combat with 2 weapons (if they had the feat and desire to) and it doesnt affect their bard song at all. For my bard, he is basically like a Rockstar, and adventuring provides him with his inspiration for new songs and lyrics. As such, he doesn't fight in melee (unless absolutely necessary) and he doesn't use a ranged weapon. He plays his lute and sings his music during combat, and he will occassionally use a wand or two. Problem is that his song effects end when he uses that wand. He lets his Bodyguard (cohort via the Leadership feat) do all the messy combat stuff, so he can get a good view of what is going on for songwriting purposes, :)
Qube 11-20-06, 09:35 AM	i is kind of logical - your bardic long needs a vocal component - your spells need an other vocal component so unless you can sing 2 songs at once. about the feat: why not take it at once? simple: if you start saying that each bard that takes it is a better bard, then WotC might think the feat overpowered and change it. that's is why you should not take the feat. <wink> <wink>