Loopy's NPC Series:
The Bard
There certainly have been quite a few threads about how and why one should (or should not) play a Bard. There's been little to no discussion about the Bard as an NPC. As a DM you should add the Bard to your ranks of NPCs for a variety of reasons. A Bard can even make an excellent main antagonist if you do it right.
The One True Rule of Bards:
What was merely a suggestion for other classes in my previous articles is a near necessity when it comes to a Bard. Never allow any of your Bard NPCs to get caught alone. The Bard's not a solo character and will get absolutely trounced in most situations. He should be the part of a three- or four-person party. This usually works out best with mid- to high-level campaigns. For instance, a good EL10 encounter might be a level 7 Bard with a level 7 healer and two level 7 beat-sticks.
Break the rules: In some instances it might be a good idea to make the Bard a level or two above her comrades to suit spell selection and ability choice. If all you need to get your Bard that Inspire Courage +2 is one level, then by all means give it to him. Using our example above, you'd want to make the Bard in the party level 8 instead of 7. His usefulness in the encounter will far outweigh the extra XP he'll be worth to your PCs.
Bardic Pals: There are some classes that mesh with the Bard's abilities than others. The multiple attacks of a character with Two-Weapon Fighting, Rapid Shot and Flurry of Blows really makes extra use of Inspire Courage. Thugs like the Barbarian and the strength-based Fighter and Paladin can pretty much use Power attack for free due to Inspire Courage. The extra damage the Bard causes can really start to add up in nickel-and-dime portions and all he has to do is take one round (that first, crappy flat-footed round at that) singing.
Other casters benefit from the Bard much less than the beat-sticks do. There are a few buff spells the Bard may know that will assist them, but they really aren't much worth the trouble. When creating Bardic parties, include a Cleric at most, but don't even feel compelled to do that. NPC parties with more than one caster tend to get logistically difficult. If you really need another caster in the party and you have Inspire Greatness, then you may want to use it on that character, especially if it's an Arcane caster.
Speaking of buff spells, I probably don't need to tell you that Bards have some great ones. Heroism is almost necessary as more Power Attack food, especially since Bull's Strength has been stricken from the list
. Displacement and the invisibility series are rather obvious. See invisibility should be cast on your friendly Fighter or Barbarian. You don't need to see your enemy to buff your friends. I really won't go too deeply into the important Bard spells, as you are likely aware of their usefulness, however there are a few points I feel the need to discuss.Preparedness: Bards tend to know a great deal of languages and you should build your NPCs the same way. All lower-level NPCs are likely guards of some kind. In one way or another, your BBEG keeps them around as buffers for major threats so that she doesn't have to waste her time with it. Hence, all of your NPCs should have the Listen skill. Do you see where I'm going with this? Listen + Languages + a Bard's decent Sense Motive = a very prepared character. Allow the NPC party's Bard listen checks as PCs approach the area/room/whatever. After that a mid-to-high Sense Motive check should confirm that the approcahing PCs are hostile.
In a dungeon or stronghold environment, lower the Sense Motive DC due to the fact that the Bard is used to the sounds around him. At this point, he should start casting spells. Rot to the fact that the PCs will likely hear the casting, at least the Bard's Thugs will be ready for the PCs. And what if the PCs cast their own buff spells? Hey, at least you made them use some of their resources, right? If the PCs decide to go back the way they came instead of advancing on your Bard's party, that’s what your other NPCs are for. A party with a Bard should almost always include a Two-Weapon Fighting Ranger. He can track the PCs if they run away and he receives that greater-than-full benefit from the Bard's Inspire Courage I talked about before. One Bard with three Rangers is kind of mean, but feel free to use it if your Players are getting overconfident.
Bards as the Main Antagonist:
A Bard has the brains and social graces to really pull off a huge operation. The rogue's guild in my own campaign is run by a high-level Bard and I would certainly say that at least half the guilds in any given campaign world should be run by Bards. There are several things you should keep in mind when you have a Bard as your main antagonist or as a short-term (as in just one session) antagonist.
The people love her: Whether evil, good or neutral it's a damn good bet most of the people in the area love your Bard antagonist. Given enough time, their love for this Bard may reach levels of manic hero-worship. This could work either for or against you. On one hand, townsfolk will probably defend the Bard to the limits of their abilities or at least create a confusion as the Bard beats a haste-y
retreat. On the other hand the Bard might have a stalker, a fan so engorged in the Bard's charisma that the PCs can use him as a weapon. Smart PCs will seek out a character like this or you may subtly plant one as a way of furthering the game to the next level.The Bard is an Enchanter: The Bard might as well be an Enchanter. A high-level one who concentrates on spellcasting should have general spellcasting feats such as Spell Focus and Spell Penetration. With all those buff spells (and a decent screen of low-level lackeys) he should be able to get off some rather impressive domination-style spells at the PC party's dumber members. Remember, although the Bard never sees a spell level past 6th, his caster level is still equal to his Bard level. (As a side note, if you manage to dominate one of the PCs Fighters be sure to begin to Inspire Courage again in the next round so that he can get the bonus too.)
An additional note: hold person is a straight-up KILLER. Use it. If you've been having a hard time challenging the PCs, abuse it. Don't give into the temptation to overuse this spell if your players have built character-driven PCs who "act their character level"... they don't deserve the aggravation.
Use Magic Device: Scrolls, scrolls, scrolls. With Use Magic Device and a cloak of charisma comparable to the Bard's equipment allowance, the Bard might as well be a Wizard or a Cleric. High-level Bard BBEGs should carry around a single mass heal scroll (DC 37) and a few more heal scrolls(DC 31). If the BBEG is of a high enough level, make the heal scrolls a staff of healing, which is much easier to use (DC 20). Take Skill Focus and Magical Aptitude over combat feats any day. {Example: a level 10 Bard with both of those feats should probably have around a +24 to her Use Magic Device check.}
Hit Points: Secondary attribute = constitution. Trust me. With a poor Fort save and a D6 for hit points, this stat is too important for Bards to ignore. It doesn't hurt to have a good bonus added to her concentration check, either. As your tertiary attribute, decide whether or not you want the Bard to be melee-based (str), ranged-based (dex) or spell-based (dex or int).
Improved Initiatice: Be there or be square. Start singing as soon as possible so your beat-sticks get their bonuses.
Surprise Them: This is another rule that applies to all PCs and I touched on it in a big way in the Barbarian article. Do what you can to surprise them. Make your bard a big orc or ogre with a greataxe and a huge trumpet which he blows in the first round of combat only, and then shouts profanities at his comrades to whip them into a frenzy that takes a Sense Motive DC 25 to recognize as Inspire Courage. A dark knight in heavy, black-stained mithril armor brandishing a broadsword and a heavy shield could still be a Bard. The possibilities are endless. Don't be afraid to give your Bard flavor... or more importantly don't be afraid to give your NPC flavor by making it a Bard.
In conclusion:
Once again, if anyone has anything to add or refute, please do so. This repository is a place where we can discuss things like adults. Thanks!
Firstly, I'll link my views on the Bard in the The Lore of the Bard thread here to save time.
On specifics, if any character should be caught alone, let it be the Bard. He can outrun and outhide the cleric or druid and anyone else is going to be sushi (or worse yet, charmed) anyway. In a combat situation, he's mobile and can get away and in a non-combat situation, there's no one better to tie the party in knots or to lead it a merry dance by playing hide and seek. Just don't put him on an open battlefield.
The best pal for a single bard IMO is a rogue as an infiltration/assassination team. Being nimble, the bard will make a superb flanking partner for the rogue, with both tumbling into place and the rogue doing massive damage before they both tumble away again. The bard's music and buffs help overcome the rogue's disadvantage of having problems hitting and they are both extremely good at stealth with the Rogue able to deal with traps, locks and spotting things and the bard able to deal with the magic, healing and influencing people.
Finally, Bards no longer get Bull's Strength in 3.5.
Just one question: You say that intelligence is a good tertiary score for a spellcasting type bard (as opposed to melee or ranged combat). What benefit does intelligence give to the bard's casting? I agree that intelligence is important to bards, but I'd characterize one with high intelligence as "skill based" rather than spellcasting, since that's based on charisma which all bards should have high scores in.
Originally posted by Ranthanas
Bards no longer get Bull's Strength in 3.5.
:OMG!
Uhm.... thanks for pointing that out.
I also completely agree with you on the Assassin/Rogue thing. Actually, an Assassin's best friend could be a Bard. The murderous thug can concentrate completely on the stakeout and the kill without having to concentrate on gathering facts. The Bard can also serve as excellent bait, or better yet as a diversion.Hengwrt: You notice that I mentioned Dex before Intelligence. This is not on accident. Intelligence is good for the Spellcraft skill, which is pretty important when counterspelling (depending on your DM, of course) and when dealing with certain magic spells and scrolls.
When we did get that, he managed to escape (dimension door). We chased him for days, but every village we came too had been persuaded to delay us in some way - the first wanted to arrest us for murdering a child, the next believed us to be a notorious gang, the next believed we were coming from a plague zone and barred the gates. Eventually we lost him entirely.
Since then each party member has been the target of an assassination attempt. I do not think we have seen the last of him.
One of the worst foes the party ever faced was a fighter 5/bard 5 Hobgoblin. He was the leader of his tribe, and he continually forced the party back by helping out his lackey's abilities and by going after specific party members. I found that the bard is a good concentrator. If he focuses on one area of the party (say, the rogue) then the party is out a scout, thief, and infiltrator when the time comes. If worse comes to it, then he can direct party members to attack each other, and nothing stings worse than the sneak attack of your little buddy rogue.
After reading this article Loopy, I'm going to make a black knight bard. Confusing the masses and a strong leader of his evil minions.
It’s not Muhahahahaha, its Mudoremifasolatido!
Originally posted by crazymonkdude
Resting on your laurels, loopy? Where are the NPC Series: Cleric, Druid, etc. I waited FOREVER for the Bard. Love the series, keep it up...etc.
Once again, thanks to everyone for your encouragement. I'm very glad to be helping new (and experienced) Dungeon Masters. I apologize for the slowness of the Cleric article. It' coming very hard. There are so many points to bring up, that I think that if printed out it would be several pages. I'm editing it and it should be up soon.
I wanted to take this moment to re-verbalize that I really want you all to expand on the points I am making. Don't worry about me looking foolish. There are thousands of DMs out there, each with his or her own personal experiences. Please! Share!
Okay. Thanks again! Have a good one.