The Remarkable Bard
There’s a stigma about bards. People seem to picture them as buffoons with funny hats, high-pitched singing voices, and lutes. Only one of those is really true in my view of them; the lute. I get made fun of a lot for enjoying bards more than any other class, and I suppose it’s worth articulating why that is the case, so perhaps a few people will see why they’re so awesome.
Do your best to dismiss the image I drew for you before. Now, think of someone with an encyclopedic knowledge of the world around them. Someone who knows the past and present as well as you know the back of your own hand. Someone who knows the tales and stories of generations.
Now imagine that person can use his knowledge to manipulate the fabric of reality like a powerful sorcerer might, except he uses stories and songs to do so. He’s capable of inspiring his brothers in battle with a bellow, of striking fear into the hearts of his enemies with but a whisper. He can stun the mightiest beast to silence or ensnare a beautiful girl to his whims.
During battle he tells tales of heroics, composing new stories and songs of those who, alongside, he fights. After a triumphant battle he regales his brethren at the tavern with local lore and uplifting music. After a blinding defeat he says somber words about the fallen and strums a doleful dirge.
He is a manipulator of emotions, capable of great deeds both good and evil. The pluck of a string may to you be a simple sound, a tone, a pitch, a key. To a bard, the pluck of a string can conjure chaos or enforce order. It can bring an enemy that would cause a warrior to wet himself under the complete control of the lore singer or release that very same warrior from his worries.
And, besides, bards have always been a highly versatile class that has a completely unique gameplay style. He is not melee or ranged or magical. His abilities are subject only to the limitations of a designer’s creativity, class balance and consistency, and the game’s functional constraints. And, not a whole lot of people play them, which makes me feel a little more unique. But, those who do tend to form into an incredibly strong micro-community.
Am I alone in my love for bards, or there others lurking in the shadows? If there are many, perhaps I’ll finally found the League of Bards for which I’ve had a domain registered for some time. Many of those strong micro-communities I mentioned have, unfortunately, disappeared. Maybe I should change my name to Blackbard…
Hrm…do I smell a bard or bard-like class in Copernicus?
I love the idea of bards… the implementation of bards in many games is usually lacking. EQ is my best example of what goes wrong… whoever thought it would be a good idea to have a class twist songs like that was insane. They did improve it later, and newer games have allowed the construction of melodies and whatnot, but often bards feel like they are included because they felt like they needed the class, and not like they wanted the class.
Bad Shwayder. BAD.
I’ve played a Bard in every game that’s had them, including my current Minstrel in LOTRO. It started with PnP. I’m still disgruntled that Bard didn’t make the initial release for 4th Edition D&D.
Make no assumptions about Copernicus based on what I talk about here. If you pay too much attention to my blog, you’ll think Copernicus is a bard-only free-for-all PvP-centric skill-based non-item-centric science-fantasy worldbuilding Shwayderfest.
What you described sounds like the bard class from D&D 3.5, one of my favorites.
Bards are indeed awesome. I enjoyed playing one in FFXI, especially, where I felt like an irreplaceable asset to my party. They were always great to have around in EQ as well.
Here’s hoping that, despite Ryan’s earlier comment, Copernicus has a place for the talespinners among us.
Dark Age of Camelot had skalds; can’t beat playing as a viking poet in the middle of a pitched battle. They had bards and minstrels on the other realms too, but I was always a diehard Midgard player, so viking poets it was. Giant, rock, troll, viking, poet. Ah, I loved the races and classes in that game.
And let’s not forget the most famous of MMO bards Fansy.
So yes, indeed, you’re not alone.
Fansy ruled. http://www.notacult.com/fansythefamous.htm
I love bards too dude. There’s just something about them that really makes them a cool class to play in any game.
If I remember correctly Bards were one of the most powerful classes in Baldur’s Gate 2. No party was complete without one. They seemed to disappear as a class for a while (until LOTRO with the Minstrel). I think it would be cool to have a Bard class in WoW. I remember seeing a video of a high powered Bard in NWN using his Curse Song against a group of low level goblins. They all instantly exploded. Awesome!
Bring back the Bard!
I love the bard class when properly played in RPG’s. Though I see them less as the musician (Which alas, too many feel the need to over-emphasize.) and more the story teller and keeper of lore/news.
“…a bard-only free-for-all PvP-centric skill-based non-item-centric science-fantasy worldbuilding Shwayderfest.”
It isn’t? Dang. Well, I’m sure it will be fun, just the same.
Poody
My love of bards began with Bard’s Tale… f’ing Fire Horn! Yeah!
Dark Age of Camelot skalds were badass.
Because they ran around with a huge maul or two handed axe, though, not because they sang.
Let’s also not forget that bards played an important role in RL history, too. As they travelled along from place to place, the local nobility would often trip over themselves to accomodate them, knowing full well that a bard who was unhappy with the way they were treated could easily pen a song that would decimate the the noble’s reputation in the surrounding areas. So yes, the bard actually did have the ability to strike fear in the hearts of the mighty. And of course music really does have the power to sway emotion, so powerfully that bards were probably the closest of any class to actually wield magi-like powers in RL. LotRO does the best job of music generally. I’ve watched some wonderful concerts put on by people who’ve taken the time to master the music aspect of that game. It adds a whole new layer to the experience & community.
I loved LotRO’s music system at first. Now I don’t really like it. At first, it was all people freestyling and trying to make up a song then play it real time. Now it’s mostly people with macros or G15s playing real life songs automatically. That people can play real life songs in a fantasy world annoys me a bit, but that they took all the skill out of it bugs me even more.
My favorite music implementation was another Turbine game: Asheron’s Call 2. There were a dozen or so different instruments, each of which had a few musical sequences they could play. They were timed so they’d play together accurately, so you could have as many players as you wanted playing their own instrument and it sounded decent together. The people who practiced together could time their transitions to the other musical sequences and it sounded awesome.
The AC2 system was brilliant because every single person could use it, and as a result, most people did. In LotRO, only a few people were ever good at freestyling (I like to count myself as one of those), so it went from the rare good musician but a lot of terribly annoying noise (some people would grief by just smashing their keys in crowded places) to the rare good musician with other people automatically playing the greatest hits of the 70s, 80s, 90s, and today.
You can thank Jason Booth for the AC2 music system!
Bard Buffs ftw! I loved playing a Skald in DAoC - especially once they opened up FFA PvP.
I’m fondly remembering Sir Robin’s Tale theme music while playing the Bard’s Tale (on my C64, sigh).
I played a bard in FFXI. Bards were like rock stars in that game–worshiped and highly sought after–because they were the only class that made that horrible level grind semi-tolerable. At least that is how I remember it.
“…a bard-only free-for-all PvP-centric skill-based non-item-centric science-fantasy worldbuilding Shwayderfest.”
Hot damn! That would be nice.
[...] can be found at http://www.nerfbat.com/donate/. - More about why Ryan loves Bards can be found here. This entry was posted on Sunday, July 27th, 2008 at 23:06 in Podcast. You can [...]