Bard
It is said that music has a special magic, and the bard proves that saying true. Wandering across the land, gathering lore, telling stories, working magic with his music, and living on the gratitude of his audience: such is the life of a bard. When chance or opportunity draws them into a conflict, bards serve as diplomats, negotiators, messengers, scouts, and spies.
A bard's magic comes from the heart. If his heart is good, a bard brings hope and courage to the downtrodden and uses his tricks, music, and magic to thwart the schemes of evildoers. If the nobles of the land are corrupt, the good bard is an enemy of the state, cunningly evading capture and raising the spirits of the oppressed. But music can spring from an evil heart as well. Evil bards eschew blatant violence in favor of manipulation, holding sway over the hearts and minds of others and taking what enraptured audiences "willingly" give.
Adventures: Bards see adventures as opportunities to learn. They practice their many skills and abilities, and they especially relish the opportunity to enter a long-forgotten ancient tomb, to discover ancient works of magic, to decipher old tomes, to travel to strange places, to encounter exotic creatures, and to learn new songs and stories. Bards love to accompany heroes (and villains), joining their entourage to witness their deeds firsthand - a bard who can tell a marvelous story from personal experience earns renown among his fellows. Indeed, after telling so many stories about heroes doing mighty deeds, many bards take these themes to heart and assume the role of hero themselves.
Characteristics: A bard brings forth magic from his soul, not from a book. He can cast only a small number of spells, but he can cast them without selecting or preparing them in advance, His magic emphasizes charms and illusions over the more dramatic evocation spells that wizards and sorcerers often use.
In addition to spells, a bard works magic with his music and poetry. He can encourage allies, hold his audiences rapt, and counter magical effects that rely on speech or sound.
Bards have some of the skills that rogues have, although they are not as focused on skill mastery as rogues are. Bards listen to stories as well as tell them, of course, so they have a vast knowledge of local events and noteworthy items.
Alignment: Bards are wanderers, guided by whim and intuition rather than by tradition or law. The spontaneous talent, magic, and lifestyle of the bard are incompatible with a lawful alignment.
Religion: Bards revere Fharlanghn, god of roads. They sometimes camp near his wayside shrines, hoping to earn some coin from the travelers who stop to leave offerings for the god. Many bards, even those who are not elven, worship Corellon Larethian, god of elves and patron of poetry and music. Good bards are also partial to Pelor, the sun god, believing that he watches over them in their travels. Bards given to chaos and occasional larceny favor Olidammara, god of thieves. Those who have turned to evil ways are known to worship Erythnul, the god of slaughter, though few will admit to it. In any event, bards spend so much time on the road that, while they may be devoted to a deity, they are rarely devoted to any particular temple.
Background: An apprentice bard learns his skills from a single experienced bard, whom he follows and serves until he is ready to strike out on his own. Many bards were once young runaways or orphans, befriended by wandering bards who became their mentors. Since bards occasionally congregate in informal "colleges," the apprentice bard may meet many of the more prominent bards in the area. Still, the bard has no strong allegiance to bards as a whole. In fact, some bards are highly competitive with other bards, jealous of their reputations and defensive of their territory
Races: Bards are commonly human, elven, or half-elven. Humans take well to the wandering life and adapt easily to new lands and customs. Elves are talented in music and magic, so the career of the bard comes naturally to them. A bard's wandering ways suit many half-elves, who often feel like strangers even when at home. Half-orcs, even those raised among humans, find themselves ill suited to the demands of a bard's career. There are no bardic traditions among dwarves, gnomes, or halflings, though occasional individuals of these races find teachers to train them in the ways of the bard.
Bards are exceedingly rare among the savage humanoids, except among centaurs. Centaur bards sometimes train the children of humans or other humanoids.
Other Classes: A bard works well with companions of other classes. He often serves as the spokesman of the party, using his social skills for the party's benefit. In a party without a wizard or sorcerer, the bard relies on his magic. In a party without a rogue, he uses his skills. A bard is curious about the ways of more focused or dedicated adventurers, often trying to pick up pointers from fighters, sorcerers, and rogues.
Role: The bard is perhaps the ultimate generalist. In most adventuring groups, he works best in a supporting role. He can't usually match the stealth of the ranger or the rogue, the spellcasting power of the cleric or the wizard, or the combat prowess of the barbarian or the fighter. However, he makes all the other characters better at what they do, and he can often fill in for another character when needed. For a typical group of four characters, the bard is perhaps the most useful fifth character to consider adding, and he can make a great team leader.
Game Rule Information
Bards have the following game statistics.
Abilities: Charisma determines how powerful a spell a bard can cast, how many spells the bard can cast per day, and how hard those spells are to resist. To cast a spell, a bard must have a Charisma score of 10 + the spell's level. A bard gets bonus spells based on Charisma. The Difficulty Class of a saving throw against a bard's spell is 10 + the spell's level plus the bard's Charisma modifier. Charisma, Dexterity, and Intelligence are important for many of the bard's class skills (see below).
Alignment: Any nonlawful.
Class Skills
The bard's class skills are Appraise, Balance, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Diplomacy, Disguise, Escape Artist, Gather Information, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (all skills taken individually), Listen, Move Silently, Perform, Profession, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Speak Language, Spellcraft, Swim, Tumble, and Use Magic Device.
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at each additional level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the bard:
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A bard is proficient with all simple weapons, plus the longsword, rapier, sap, short sword, shortbow, and whip. Bards are proficient with light armor and shields (except tower shields).
Because the somatic components required for bard spells are relatively simple, a bard can cast bard spells while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. However, like any other arcane spellcaster, a bard wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure if the spell in question has a somatic component (most do). A multiclass bard still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes.
Spells: A bard casts arcane spells (the same type of spells available to sorcerers and wizards), which are drawn from the bard spell list. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time, the way a wizard or cleric must. Every bard spell has a verbal component (singing, reciting, or music).
To learn or cast a spell, a bard must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level (Cha 10 for 0-level spells, Cha 11 for 1st-level spells, and so forth). The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a bard's spell is 10 + the spell level + the bard's Charisma modifier.
Like other spellcasters, a bard can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is in the table below. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Charisma score (see Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells. When the table below indicates that the bard gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level (for instance, 1st-level spells for a 2nd-level bard), he gains only the bonus spells he would be entitled to based on his Charisma score for that spell level.
The bard's selection of spells is extremely limited. A bard begins play knowing four 0-level spells (also called cantrips) of your choice. At most new bard levels, he gains one or more new spells as indicated on Bard Spells Known. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a bard knows is not affected by his Charisma score; the numbers on below are fixed.)
Upon reaching 5th level, and at every third bard level after that (8th, 11th, and so on), a bard can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows. In effect, the bard "loses" the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell's level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least two levels lower than the highest-level bard spell the bard can cast. For instance, upon reaching 5th level, a bard could trade in a single 0-level spell (two spell levels below the highest-level bard spell he can cast, which is 2nd) for a different 0-level spell. At 8th level, he could trade in a single 0-level or 1st-level spell (since he now can cast 3rd-level bard spells) for a different spell of the same level. A bard may swap only a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that he gains new spells known for the level.
As noted above, a bard need not prepare his spells in advance. He can cast any spell he knows at any time, assuming he has not yet used up his allotment of spells per day for the spell's level. For example, at 1st level, Gimble the bard can cast two 0-level spells per day for being 1st level (see below). However, he knows four 0-level spells: detect magic, ghost sound, light, and read magic (see Bard Spells Known). Thus, on any given day, he can cast some combination of those four spells a total of two times. He does not have to decide ahead of time which spells he'll cast.
Bardic Knowledge: A bard picks up a lot of stray knowledge while wandering the land and learning stories from other bards. He may make a special bardic knowledge check with a bonus equal to his bard level + his Intelligence modifier to see whether he knows some relevant information about local notable people, legendary items, or noteworthy places. (If the bard has 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (history), he gains a +2 bonus on this check.)
A successful bardic knowledge check will not reveal the powers of a magic item but may give a hint as to its general function. A bard may not take 10 or take 20 on this check; this sort of knowledge is essentially random. The DM can determine the Difficulty Class of the check by referring to the table here.
| DC | Type of Knowledge | Examples |
| 10 | Common, known by at least a substantial minority of the local population. | A local mayor's reputation for drinking; common legends about a powerful place of mystery. |
| 20 | Uncommon but available, known by only a few people in the area. | A local priest's shady past; legends about a powerful magic item. |
| 25 | Obscure, known by few, hard to come by. | A knight's family history; legends about a minor place of mystery or magic item. |
| 30 | Extremely obscure, known by very few, possibly forgotten by most who once knew it, possibly known only by those who don't understand the significance of the knowledge. | A mighty wizard's childhood nickname; the history of a petty magic item. |
Bardic Music: Once per day per bard level, a bard can use his song or poetics to produce magical effects on those around him (usually including himself, if desired). While these abilities fall under the category of bardic music and the descriptions discuss singing or playing instruments, they can all be activated by reciting poetry, chanting, singing lyrical songs, singing melodies (fa-la-la, and so forth), whistling, playing an instrument, or playing an instrument in combination with some spoken performance. Each ability requires both a minimum bard level and a minimum number of ranks in the Perform skill to qualify; if a bard does not have the required number of ranks in at least one Perform skill, he does not gain the bardic music ability until he acquires the needed ranks.
Starting a bardic music effect is a standard action. Some bardic music abilities require concentration, which means the bard must take a standard action each round to maintain the ability. Even while using bardic music that doesn't require concentration, a bard cannot cast spells, activate magic items by spell completion (such as scrolls), or activate magic items by magic word (such as wands). Just as for casting a spell with a verbal component (see Components), a deaf bard has a 20% chance to fail when attempting to use bardic music. If he fails, the attempt still counts against his daily limit.
Countersong (Su): A bard with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his music or poetics to counter magical effects that depend on sound (but not spells that simply have verbal components). Each round of the countersong, he makes a Perform check. Any creature within 30 feet of the bard (including the bard himself) that is affected by a sonic or language-dependent magical attack (such as a sound burst or command spell) may use the bard's Perform check result in place of its saving throw if, after the saving throw is rolled, the Perform check result proves to be higher. If a creature within range of the countersong is already under the effect of a non-instantaneous sonic or language-dependent magical attack, it gains another saving throw against the effect each round it hears the countersong, but it must use the bard's Perform check result for the save. Countersong has no effect against effects that don't allow saves. The bard may keep up the countersong for 10 rounds.
Fascinate (Sp): A bard with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his music or poetics to cause one or more creatures to become fascinated with him. Each creature to be fascinated must be within 90 feet, able to see and hear the bard, and able to pay attention to him. The bard must also be able to see the creature. The distraction of a nearby combat or other dangers prevents the ability from working. For every three levels a bard attains beyond 1st, he can target one additional creature with a single use of this ability (two at 4th level, three at 7th level, and so on).
To use the ability, a bard makes a Perform check. His check result is the DC for each affected creature's Will save against the effect. If a creature's saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot attempt to fascinate that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature sits quietly and listens to the song, taking no other actions, for as long as the bard continues to play and concentrate (up to a maximum of 1 round per bard level). While fascinated, a target takes a -4 penalty on skill checks made as reactions, such as Listen and Spot checks. Any potential threat, such as an ally of the bard approaching the fascinated creature, requires the bard make another Perform check and allows the creature a new saving throw against a DC equal to the new Perform check result. Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell, or aiming a ranged weapon at the target, automatically breaks the effect. Fascinate is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting ability.
Inspire Courage (Su): A bard with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use song or poetics to inspire courage in his allies (including himself), bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities. To be affected, an ally must be able to hear the bard sing. The effect lasts for as long as the ally hears the bard sing and for 5 rounds thereafter. An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls. Ar 8th level, and every six bard levels thereafter, this bonus increases by 1 (+2 at 8th, +3 at 14th, and +4 at 20th). Inspire courage is a mind-affecting ability.
Inspire Competence (Su): A bard of 3rd level or higher with 6 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his music or poetics to help an ally succeed at a task. The ally must be within 30 feet and able to see and hear the bard. The bard must also be able to see the ally. Depending on the task that the ally has at hand, the bard may use his bardic music to lift the ally's spirits, to help him or her focus mentally, or in some other way. The ally gets a +2 competence bonus on skill checks with a particular skill as long as he or she continues to hear the bard's music. The DM may rule that certain uses of this ability are infeasible - chanting to make a rogue move more quietly, for example, is self-defeating. The effect lasts as long as the bard concentrates, up to a maximum of 2 minutes. A bard can't inspire competence in himself. Inspire competence is a mind-affecting ability
Suggestion (Sp): A bard of 6th level or higher with 9 or more ranks in a Perform skill can make a suggestion (as the spell) to a creature that he has already fascinated (see above). Using this ability does not break the bard's concentration on the fascinate effect, nor does it allow a second saving throw against the fascinate effect. Making a suggestion doesn't count against a bard's daily limit on bardic music performances. A Will saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 bard's level + bard's Cha modifier) negates the effect. This ability affects only a single creature (but see mass suggestion, below). Suggestion is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting, language-dependent ability
Inspire Greatness (Su): A bard of 9th level or higher with 12 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use music or poetics to inspire greatness in himself or a single willing ally within 30 feet, granting him or her extra fighting capability. For every three levels a bard attains beyond 9th, he can target one additional ally with a single use of this ability (two at 12th level, three at 15th, four at 18th). To inspire greatness, a bard must sing and an ally must hear him sing. The effect lasts for as long as the ally hears the bard sing and for 5 rounds thereafter. A creature inspired with greatness gains 2 bonus Hit Dice (d10s), the commensurate number of temporary hit points (apply the target's Constitution modifier, if any, to these bonus Hit Dice), a +2 competence bonus on attack rolls, and a +1 competence bonus on Fortitude saves. The bonus Hit Dice count as regular Hit Dice for determining the effect of spells such as sleep. Inspire greatness is a mind-affecting ability.
Song of Freedom (Sp): A bard of 12th level or higher with 15 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use music or poetics to create an effect equivalent to the break enchantment spell (caster level equals the character's bard level). Using this ability requires 1 minute of uninterrupted concentration and music, and it functions on a single target within 30 feet. A bard can't use song of freedom on himself.
Inspire Heroics (Su): A bard of 15th level or higher with 18 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use music or poetics to inspire tremendous heroism in himself or a single willing ally within 30 feet, allowing that creature to fight bravely even against overwhelming odds. For every three bard levels the character attains beyond 15th, he can inspire heroics in one additional creature. To inspire heroics, a bard must sing and an ally must hear the bard sing for a full round. A creature so inspired gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws and a +4 dodge bonus to AC. The effect lasts for as long as the ally hears the bard sing and for up to 5 rounds thereafter. Inspire heroics is a mind-affecting ability
Mass Suggestion (Sp): This ability functions like suggestion, above, except that a bard of 18th level or higher with 21 or more ranks in a Perform skill can make the suggestion simultaneously to any number of creatures that he has already fascinated (see above). Mass suggestion is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting, language-dependent ability.
| Bard | Hit Die: d6 | Spells per day | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lvl | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +2 | +2 | Bardic music, bardic knowledge, countersong, fascinate, inspire courage +1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +3 | +3 | - | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 3rd | +2 | +1 | +3 | +3 | Inspire competence | 3 | 1 | -0 | - | - | - | - |
| 4th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | - | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - |
| 5th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | - | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| 6th | +4 | +2 | +5 | +5 | Suggestion | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| 7th | +5 | +2 | +5 | +5 | - | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - |
| 8th | +6/+1 | +2 | +6 | +6 | Inspire courage +2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - |
| 9th | +6/+1 | +3 | +6 | +6 | Inspire greatness | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - |
| 10th | +7/+2 | +3 | +7 | +7 | - | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - |
| 11th | +8/+3 | +3 | +7 | +7 | - | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - |
| 12th | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +8 | Song of freedom | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - |
| 13th | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +8 | - | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - |
| 14th | +10/+5 | +4 | +9 | +9 | Inspire courage +3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - |
| 15th | +11/+6/+1 | +5 | +9 | +9 | Inspire heroics | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - |
| 16th | +12/+7/+2 | +5 | +10 | +10 | - | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 17th | +12/+7/+2 | +5 | +10 | +10 | - | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 18th | +13/+8/+3 | +6 | +11 | +11 | Mass suggestion | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 19th | +14/+9/+4 | +6 | +11 | +11 | - | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 20th | +15/+10/+5 | +6 | +12 | +12 | Inspire courage +4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Bard Spells Known | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 1st | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2nd | 5 | 2* | - | - | - | - | - |
| 3rd | 6 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 4th | 6 | 3 | 2* | - | - | - | - |
| 5th | 6 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| 6th | 6 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| 7th | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2* | - | - | - |
| 8th | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - |
| 9th | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - |
| 10th | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2* | - | - |
| 11th | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | - | - |
| 12th | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | - | - |
| 13th | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2* | - |
| 14th | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | - |
| 15th | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | - |
| 16th | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2* |
| 17th | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 18th | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 19th | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| 20th | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| *Provided the bard has sufficient Charisma to have a bonus spell of this level. | |||||||
Bard Spells
- Bard Spells - Cantrips
- Bard Spells - Level 1
- Bard Spells - Level 2
- Bard Spells - Level 3
- Bard Spells - Level 4
- Bard Spells - Level 5
- Bard Spells - Level 6
Ex-Bards
A bard who becomes lawful in alignment cannot progress in levels as a bard, though he retains all his bard abilities.
Aquatic Variation
Among seafaring societies, the opportunity for travel is ever-present, and the distances potentially great. Strange lore and tales of fabulous places are the currency of bards who take to the sea, who find ways to trade this knowledge for their own benefit.
Bardic Music: A bard performing underwater is restricted in what sorts of Perform checks she can make. Perform (sing) is impossible unless the bard can breathe water, whether naturally or by virtue of a spell. Oratory is similarly ineffective. Likewise, wind instruments, pipes, accordions, bagpipes, and similar instruments do not function underwater. Percussion instruments such as bells work well underwater, as do string instruments that use metal rather than gut strings.
In the Realms
Faerûnian bards are as likely to create their own heroic sagas as they are to sing of others' exploits.
In both the Dalelands and the wilderness of the North, a semisecret society known as the Harpers recruits courageous bards of good alignments to carry on a millennia-old fight against evil. While not all bards are Harpers, the noble deeds of this group have given bards something of a heroic glow that they might not have in other worlds. Good bards who are not Harpers often carry themselves as if they were, a type of self-fulfilling prophecy that frequently causes common folk to look to bards for more than a good song.
Preferred Character Regions: Bards are common in many lands, including Amn, Chessenta, Cormyr, the Dalelands, the Dragon Coast, Evermeet, Luiren, Impiltur, the Moonshaes, Silverymoon, Tethyr, Thesk, Unther, the Vast, Waterdeep, and the Western Heartlands. Gold dwarven, moon elven, sun elven, lightfoot halfling, and strongheart halfling bards are also common.
Epic Bard
An epic bard's music can move even the cruelest, most soulless creature, or inspire his allies to the heights of power and bravery.
Hit Die: d6.
Skill Points at Each Additional level: 6 + Int modifier.
Spells: The bard's caster level is equal to his class level. The bard's number of spells per day does not increase after 20th level. The bard does not learn additional spells.
Bardic Music: The bard gains no new bardic music effects from his Perform ranks.
Bardic Knowledge: Add the bard's class level + Intelligence modifier to all bardic knowledge checks, as normal.
Bonus Feats: The epic bard gains a bonus feat every three levels higher than 20th (23rd, 26th, and so on).
Inspire Courage (Su): The epic bard's bonus when this ability is used increases by +1 every six levels higher than 20th (26th, 32nd, and so on).
Faerûnian Instruments
Some bards sing, others orate or dance, and some play familiar instruments such as the mandolin, lyre, dulcimer, and yes, the harp. Still other bards perform on less well-known instruments unique to Faerûn.
Birdpipes: Also known as the shalm, these, are pan pipes. They are sacred to Lliira and the satyrs, and popular with wood elven, and wild elven bards.
Glaur: A short, curved horn resembling a cornucopia. Fitted with valves, it sounds like a trumpet played in a high wind. Sun elves use them, halflings love them, humans either like them or hate them. Glaurs that lack valves are called gloons, and sound like melancholy horns echoing in fog.
Hand-Drum: A double-headed drum, often played at high speed by warriors who wish to demonstrate their prowess without having to beat someone up.
Longhorn: A Faerûnian flute, common only in civilized areas and among the elves.
Shaum: A double-reed instrument, a sort of primitive oboe or bassoon, most popular with gnomes.
Songhorn: A recorder, popular everywhere, unless someone has a hangover.
Tantan: The tambourine, popular with halflings and humans south of the Dalelands, disliked by dwarves, who prefer more honest percussion.
Thelarr: A simple reed instrument also called a whistlecane. An easy instrument to teach and so cheap that some bards give them away as gifts to children.
Tocken: A set of carved, oval, open-ended bells, played like glockenspiel, particularly in underground civilizations and others whose buildings can maximize the resonant tones.
Wargong: A gong constructed of one or many shields, frequently those of defeated enemies. It is played with mallets, or in extreme cases, with warhammers. The goblins and dwarves make much of alternately constructing huge wargongs or attempting to liberate such shields taken by their foe.
Yarting: A guitar, growing in popularity through Faerûn after coming out of Amn and Calimshan some time in the past forty or fifty years.
Zulkoon: A complex and semiportable pump organ, associated in many minds with the zulkirs of Thay whose slaves carry such organs in wagons in order to provide the proper music for their masters' spells.
Planar Substitution Levels
Some hold that if one had the eyes to see, the world would be revealed as a symphony of celestial music, each theme playing out its part on the stage of reality. For some bards, this intuition is true. When they let the scales slip from their eyes, hey see the underlying overture of music that connects all levels of reality. With this knowledge, they gain some ability to add refrains of their own choosing. This fine-tuning bypasses spellcasting and directly affects what others see as reality.
Requirements
To take a bard planar substitution level, a character must be about to take his 3rd, 6th, or 12th level of bard.
Class Skills
Bard planar substitution levels have the class skills of the standard bard class. Skill Points at Each level: 6 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are features of the bard's planar substitution levels. Each benefit takes the place of one of the standard bardic music abilities and costs one daily use of bardic music.
Planar Inspiration (Su): A bard of 3rd level or higher with 6 or more ranks in a Perform skill who selects this planar substitution benefit can use his music or poetics to protect his allies from the alignment traits of a plane. The bard must perform for a full minute, spending a standard action to concentrate on his performance each round. At the end of the performance, he makes a Perform check (DC 15 for mild alignment traits, or DC 25 for strong alignment traits). The bard can't take 10 on this check.
Success indicates that the bard and each ally within 30 feet who heard the bard perform for the full minute don't take the normal penalty on checks made on planes whose alignments differ from their own (see Planar Traits) for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting ability.
This benefit replaces the inspire competence bardic music ability gained by a standard bard at 3rd level.
Portal Dissonance (Su): A bard of 6th level or higher with 9 or more ranks in a Perform skill who selects this planar substitution benefit can use music or poetics to influence intraplanar and extraplanar portals, moderate or severe planar breaches, and other discrete passages between planes (complete planar breaches cannot be affected). The portal, breach, or other qualifying passage to be affected must be centered within 60 feet. The bard must know about the portal. Each round of the performance, he attempts a DC 20 Perform check. The bard can't take 10 on this check. Success indicates that the bard can redirect the portal destination to the mouth of any other active portal or breach he has personally traveled through in the past 30 days. Redirection automatically fails if the portal chosen as the temporary endpoint is no longer active. Only creatures and objects are affected by redirection, not traits (which leak through planar breaches). Creatures that enter the portal from the bard's side of the portal, or creatures that would otherwise arrive at the bard's location through the portal, instead arrive at the endpoint of another portal chosen by the bard this round. The portal to which the bard redirects travelers continues to connect to its original destination; if a redirected creature attempts to go back through the bard-influenced portal, it doesn't return to the bard's location, but instead to that portal's natural endpoint.
The bard may keep up the dissonance for 10 consecutive rounds (this counts as one of the bard's bardic music uses per day).
This benefit replaces the suggestion bardic music ability gained by a standard bard at 6th level. If the bard later qualifies for the mass suggestion bardic music ability, he gains the suggestion ability instead.
Planar Discordance (Su): A bard of 12th level or higher with 15 or more ranks in a Perform skill who selects this planar substitution benefit can attempt to create a minor planar breach (as the precipitate breach spell). The bard must perform for 1 full minute, spending a standard action each round to concentrate on the performance.
At the end of the performance, the minor breach comes into existence with an onset time of 1d4 rounds, as indicated by the precipitate breach spell description. If the bard has further uses of his bardic music ability for the day, he may attempt to exacerbate the breach further, as described in the spell description.
This benefit replaces the song of freed ons bardic music ability gained by a standard bard at 12th level.
| Bard Planar Substitution Levels | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lvl | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special |
| 3rd | +2 | +1 | +3 | +3 | Planar inspiration |
| 6th | +4 | +2 | +5 | +5 | Portal dissonance |
| 12th | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +8 | Planar discordance |
Source: Player's Handbook
Alternative Class Feature: Lore Song (Dungeonscape)
Bardic music serves many purposes, aiding your allies or manipulating your enemies. You have refined your performance of another group of bardic songs, full of lost knowledge, obscure lore, and relevant anecdotes. These lore songs inspire you to come up with new solutions to difficult problems.
Level: 1st.
Replaces: If you select this alternative class feature, you do not gain the bardic knowledge ability.
Benefit: Once per day, as an immediate action, you can gain a +4 insight bonus on a single attack, check, or save. You gain one additional daily use of this ability at every odd-numbered bard level (3rd, 5th, and so on).
Alternative Class Feature: Mimicking Song
You use your bardic music to create background noise consistent with your adventuring environment, shielding the sounds made by yourself and your adventuring party as you move through dangerous areas.
Level: 1st.
Replaces: If you select this alternative class feature, you do not gain the countersong bardic music ability.
Benefit: Mimicking song is a spell-like ability that requires you to have 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill. Using mimicking song counts as one of your daily uses of bardic music. You grant a +2 bonus on the Move Silently check of all allies within 30 feet (including yourself). This bonus increases by 2 for every five bard levels you have (to a maximum bonus of +10 at 20th level). This effect lasts as long as you continue performing.