In a -style fantasy world full of monsters and magic, the Bard has surprisingly risen from a weak character class into one largely considered overpowered.In the third edition of D&D, the Bard had a reputation for being underpowered. However, Bards in D&D 5th Edition are notoriously versatile "jack of all trades" classes with useful abilities for dungeon exploration, combat, and narrative role-play.
In theBasic D&Dbeginner play-kits of the 1980s and manymodern Old School Revival RPGs, players can generally choose between just four main character classes- Fighter, Wizard/Magic-User, Cleric, and Thief/Rogue. Each of these were designed to fulfill certain roles in a classic fantasy adventuring party; Fighter player characters weredamage-absorbing "tanks" who could wield any weapon and wear any armor, Wizards were fragile "glass cannons" who could unleash destructive or environment-manipulating magic, Clerics were "healer" holy warriors who couldmend and bolster their allies, and Rogueswere "skill-monkeys" adept at stealth, lock-picking, and trap detection. From a certain perspective, all the other character classes introduced in later versions of D&Dwere mechanical hybrids of these fourcore classes and their gameplay roles...particularly in the case of the Bard.
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The Bard ,first described byDoug Schwegman in a 1976 issue of the Strategic Review, drew heavy thematic inspiration from the supernatural bards of ancient mythology and medieval romance, capable of charming the fiercest beasts with their beautiful music and learning powerful secrets. Mechanically, Douggave his early D&D Bard a mix of abilities from the Fighter, Thief, and Magic Classes, along with the attack bonuses of a Cleric, skills for recounting lore about the game world, andthe ability to potentially charm creatures with musical performances.Thisconcept of "magical musician with many useful tricks"remained a core part of the Bard class, even as the game mechanics for Bardschanged dramatically with every new released.
Bards In The First and Second Editions of Dungeons & Dragons
According to this D&D history article onTribality,becoming a Bard was anepic and arduous quest in the 1st edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons; to acquire the Bard prestige class, players had to acquire multiple levels in both the Fighter and Thief first, eventually gaining access to new skills, language fluencies, and Celtic mythology-style druidic spell-casting. When Bards were made a core character class in 2nd Edition D&D,they were designed to be hybrids of Rogues and Wizards who could counter certain hostile magical attacks with a "counter-song" and could level up surprisingly quickly thanks to a quirk in their XP rules.
Bards In The Third And Fourth Editions of Dungeons & Dragons
The 3rd Edition of Dungeons & Dragons (the basis for the Pathfinder spin-off TTRPG)seems to be where Bards got their reputation for being underpowered (or at least unoptimized). The switch from 2nd to 3rd editiongave the Bard classa new selection of healing and charm spells along with song-based support abilities such as "Inspire Courage" or "Song of Freedom." Since most of these abilities were augmented by the Charisma score and the Perform skill, a decently leveled 3rd edition Bard was a force of nature in scenarios of diplomacy or socialization, butnot as adept in combat as it was in previous editions such as 2nd Edition.
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The Bard's functionality was greatly improved in the . Its abilities and core skills were designed to let it fulfill the role of an "Arcane Leader" in a classic adventuring party during a given session. The selection of spellscould heal wounds, bolster allies, and harm foes with elemental damage. Ritual spell-casting and powers like "Song of Rest", meanwhile, gave the 4e Dungeons & DragonsBard excellent utility between combat encounters.
Bards As Of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition
The modern Bard ofDungeons & Dragons5th Editionarguably brings together the best concepts from previous editions of the game. From the original version ofDungeons & Dragons, it took the "jack of all trades" and "magical musician" design premise, while like the "College of Lore" or "College of Valor"owe much to the "Kits" ofD&D2nd edition. The 3rd Edition Bard's emphasis on the Charisma attribute informed many of the 5e Bard’s core features,anditscurrent arsenal of enchantment, healing, and damage spells owes a lot to the powers of the 4e Bard. The Inspiration Dice of D&D5e Bards acts as a mechanical template for many of the "bolstering song" abilities of Bards in previous editions, while thehigh-level "Magical Secrets" Feature lets Bardsacquire spells from other character classes in potentially game-breaking ways.
The Platonic Ideal Of A Dungeons & Dragons Bard
Future roleplaying game will likely continue toupdate and refineits game mechanics in order to create an ideal set of rules to represent the iconic fantasy Bard. But what, exactly, is the ideal Bard in a fantasy RPG like D&D?Narratively, Dungeon & Dragonsplayers should have the freedom to create Bards who don't quite fit into the Minstrel or Troubadour archetype – i.e. poets, orators, dancers, and other performing artists. At the same time, players should still be able to use the Bardclass to embody the silver-tongued musical heroes of both ancient fairy tales and modern fantasy fiction- Orpheus from Greek Mythology, the mythological bard Väinämöinen from the Finnish Kalevala, Dandelion from the Witcher books and video games, etc.
Mechanically, Bards shouldalso continue to be "Jack Of All Trades" characters – able to fulfill a wide range of roles within a D&D adventuring party without outshining more specialized character classes. They should be able to cast arcane spells nearly as powerful as a Wizard's, heal not quite as well as a Cleric, and perform feats of skill and precision that almost match the grace of a Rogue. For all the flashiness and self-aggrandizement associated with the stereotypical Dungeons & DragonsBard, players who choose the Bard character class should both mechanically and narratively be encouraged to inspire, promote, and support theother PCs in their adventuring party. The traditional duty of the historic Bard, after all, was to sing about and spread legends of worthy heroes and the feats they performed.
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Source: Tribality
