Of Bards and Music

[Grimthing]

Hey all,

New to BFRPG, and have spent the last couple of weeks pouring over the documents and files, and have ordered a few copies of the book from Amazon for my table.

Looking forward to running my cross Roll20 / Real Life campaign soon.

I'm including Bards (as Magic User subclass - Bardic Characters r2) - I really like the vibe of the class.

I wanted to ask if anyone has used them much in their campaigns, and anyone has any new Bard Songs they are happy to share? The ones in the supplement cover most bases, so maybe there isn't a need to write any more.

I was thinking of adding an additional layer to songs, by including something akin to the Everquest (old school MMO game) bard instruments, and have each song tied to either Brass, Wind, Strings etc and if the Bard uses the right instrument, they get an extra effective proficiency level to the song, or something similar. Any thoughts? Or does this strip away the simplicity in peoples opinion?

Edit: oh another question, if using the optional rules of allowing bonus spells based on prime ability, would you use Charisma or Intelligence for a Bardic magic-user?

Thanks,
Grim

[Snarkythekobold]

I would use Charisma as a bonus. I mean, the bard songs are all about inspiring folks to do better and be better . . . and that would seem to be a little bit more towards Charisma than Intelligence (although I can see a case for INT as well).

I have had a character in my group be a bard and it was a hoot. He came up with his own songs and would actually sing at the table (crazy friend of teenage son). It will be the person who plays the Bard that makes it fun or not.

Personally, I am a "yes . . . but" GM who lets most of anything go except there has to be some sort of penalty or potential harm/ disadvantage that balances things out. I would keep it simple since it sometimes very hard as a GM to keep up with all of the special abilities of the different classes at the table. I actually run a class-less hack of BFRPG now to keep everything simple.

[SmootRK]

For your specific choice of the MU Subclass Bard, I agree it could go either way INT or CHA. I might be inclined to allow the character to use whichever is more beneficial for him.

Likewise, if I were looking at the other variants, like Cleric/Druid ones, WIS or CHA. The purely Bard core class option, I would probably just say CHA.

[Seven]

We tinker we a Clerical Bard, mainly because I have a god of music, art, and the like whose holy symbol is an instrument.

Proficiency rules and instrument sub-class is too complicated for me, but don't let that deter you.

I find that Bards scale to the size of the party. That's why military regiments employ them, mostly to boost morale, increase movement speed, hasten recovery, etc...

If I had to do a Magic User Bard, I'd be probably focus on charm, sleep, fear and illusions.

[Grimthing]

Thanks for feedback guys, appreciated and taken on board

Grim