Bard

Bard

Hit Die: d6

Base Attack Bonus: +3/4 levels

Proficiencies: Light Armor Medium Armor Shields Simple Weapons

Skill Points: 4 + INT modifier

Class Skills: Appraise Bluff Concentration Craft Armour Craft Trap Craft Weapon Discipline Heal Hide Listen Lore Move Silently Parry Perform Persuade Pick pocket Spellcraft Taunt Tumble Use Magic Device

Primary Saving Throw(s): Reflex Will

Alignment Restriction: Any non-Lawful

Description: Bards often serve as negotiators, messengers, scouts, and spies. They love to accompany heroes (and villains) to witness heroic (or villainous) deeds firsthand, since a bard who can tell a story from personal experience earns renown among his fellows. A bard casts arcane spells without any advance preparation, much like a sorcerer. His magic emphasizes charms and illusions, and the bard can also play an inspiring song that strengthens him and his allies. Bards also share some specialized skills with rogues, and their knowledge of item lore is nearly unmatched.

Note: on Avlis, the bardic music system provides bards up to nine more songs they can perform if their songbooks are discovered.

Level Progression

Spellcasting: Arcane (Charisma-based, no spell preparation, spell failure from armor is a factor). Bards begin the game knowing four cantrips. Must have a Charisma score of 10 + the spell’s level to cast a spell.

Lvl	BAB	Saves			Feats		Base spells per day								Known spells
		Fort	Ref	Will			0	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th		0	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
1st	+0	+0	+2	+2	Bardic Knowledge, Bard Song		2	-	-	-	-	-	-		4	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	+1	+0	+3	+3			3	0	-	-	-	-	-		5	2	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	+2	+1	+3	+3			3	1	-	-	-	-	-		5	3	-	-	-	-	-
4th	+3	+1	+4	+4			3	2	0	-	-	-	-		5	3	2	-	-	-	-
5th	+3	+1	+4	+4			3	3	1	-	-	-	-		5	4	3	-	-	-	-
6th	+4	+2	+5	+5			3	3	2	-	-	-	-		5	4	3	-	-	-	-
7th	+5	+2	+5	+5			3	3	2	0	-	-	-		5	4	4	2	-	-	-
8th	+6/+1	+2	+6	+6			3	3	3	1	-	-	-		5	4	4	3	-	-	-
9th	+6/+1	+3	+6	+6			3	3	3	2	-	-	-		5	4	4	3	-	-	-
10th	+7/+2	+3	+7	+7			3	3	3	2	0	-	-		5	4	4	4	2	-	-
11th	+8/+3	+3	+7	+7			3	3	3	3	1	-	-		5	4	4	4	3	-	-
12th	+9/+4	+4	+8	+8			3	3	3	3	2	-	-		5	4	4	4	3	-	-
13th	+9/+4	+4	+8	+8			3	3	3	3	2	0	-		5	4	4	4	4	2	-
14th	+10/+5	+4	+9	+9			4	3	3	3	3	1	-		5	4	4	4	4	3	-
15th	+11/+6/+1	+5	+9	+9			4	4	3	3	3	2	-		5	4	4	4	4	3	-
16th	+12/+7/+2	+5	+10	+10			4	4	4	3	3	2	0		5	5	4	4	4	4	2
17th	+12/+7/+2	+5	+10	+10			4	4	4	4	3	3	1		5	5	5	4	4	4	3
18th	+13/+8/+3	+6	+11	+11			4	4	4	4	4	3	2		5	5	5	5	4	4	3
19th	+14/+9/+4	+6	+11	+11			4	4	4	4	4	4	3		5	5	5	5	5	4	4
20th	+15/+10/+5	+6	+12	+12			4	4	4	4	4	4	4		5	5	5	5	5	5	4

Being able to cast 0 spells of a certain level per day means the bard cannot cast spells of that level unless bonus spell slots of the appropriate level are granted by a high charisma.

Selectable Class Feats: Ambidexterity, Arcane Defense, Brew Potion, Craft Wand, Curse Song, Deflect Arrows, Extra Music, Greater Spell Penetration], Lingering Song, Quicken Spell, Scribe Scroll, Skill Focus, Spell Focus, Two Weapon Fighting, Weapon Proficiency Exotic, Weapon Proficiency Martial

Spells

Bards draw their power from an invisible vortex of energy that permeates the entire world, called the Vortex of Mortal Magic. By channeling small amounts of energy from this vortex into their own bodies and shaping it, they are able to cast spells.

Cantrips	1st Level	2nd Level	3rd Level
Cure Minor Wounds Daze Flare Light Resistance	Amplify Balagarn's Iron Horn Charm Person Cure Light Wounds Expeditious Retreat Grease Identify Lesser Dispel Mage Armor Magic Weapon Protection from Alignment Scare Sleep Summon Creature I	Blindness/Deafness Blur Bull's Strength Cat's Grace Clarity Cloud of Bewilderment Cure Moderate Wounds Curse of Impending Blades Darkness Eagle's Splendor Fox's Cunning Ghostly Visage Glitterdust Heroism Hold Person Invisibility Owl's Wisdom See Invisibility Silence Sound Burst Summon Creature II Tasha's Hideous Laughter Ultravision Undetectable Alignment	Bestow Curse Charm Monster Clairaudience/Clairvoyance Confusion Cure Serious Wounds Dispel Magic Displacement Fear Find Traps Greater Magic Weapon Gust of Wind Haste Invisibility Sphere Keen Edge Legion's Curse of Impending Blades Magic Circle Against Alignment Remove Curse Remove Disease Slow Summon Creature III Wounding Whispers

4th Level	5th Level	6th Level
Cure Critical Wounds Dimension Door Dismissal Dominate Person Hold Monster Improved Invisibility Legend Lore Mass Ultravision Neutralize Poison Summon Creature IV War Cry	Ethereal Visage Greater Dispelling Greater Heroism Healing Circle Mind Fog Summon Creature V Wall of Greater Dispel Magic	Dirge Energy Buffer Ice Storm Mass Haste Summon Creature VI

Bardic Music

The Bardic Music system provides bards with a variety of songs in addition to the two currently available to the class (the standard bard song, and curse song, if the feat was taken). There are nine songs in total, each with its own level and perform requirements. The lyrics to the songs can be found in Legendary Songbooks: rare and valuable tomes that, once obtained, provide the means to unleashing powerful inspirational magic.

• Each use of a legendary songbook counts as a single use of the bard song class feat.
• Bard songs typically affect all allies within hearing distance, and many of them become more powerful as the bard gains experience and masters performance.
• Bard songs are affected by the lingering song and lasting inspiration feats. Lasting Inspiration increases the duration of a bard song by 50%, while Lingering Song adds an additional round to it.
• Some songs are so taxing on a bard that they cannot be sung again until the bard has had a chance to recover energy for another performance. This period of time is known as a cooldown.

The nine songbooks are:

• Cacophony
• Countersong
• Fascinate
• Haven Song
• Ironskin Chant
• Legionnaire's March
• Longstride
• Song of Freedom
• Song of Valor

Epic Bard

Bonus Feats: 23, 26, 29, 32, 35, 38

Epic Bonus Feats: Arcane Defense, Curse Song, Epic Skill Focus (all but Animal Empathy), Epic Spell Focus, Epic Will, Extra Music, Great Charisma, Great Dexterity, Greater Spell Focus, Improved Combat Casting, Lasting Inspiration, Lingering Song

Epic Selectable Class Feats: Automatic Quicken Spell I - III, Automatic Silent Spell I - III, Automatic Still Spell I - III, Blinding Speed, Epic Spell Penetration

Notes

• Avlis UMD gives a bonus to NON-ARTIFICED casting items. These include amulets, unique items, rings, etc. Bonus is +1 to caster level/Spell DC per 5 base ranks (not including modifiers, skill focuses, etc.) in the Use Magic Device Skill.

See also

Avlis Private Discussion: Bards, a private class discussion forum.

On Avlis

An IC description of Avlissian Bards was written by Kered Rose: