The Bard

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The 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 the bard. When chance or opportunity draws them into a conflict, bards serve as diplomats, negotiators, messangers, scouts, and spies.
A bards 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 tothwart the schemes of evildoers. If the nobles of the land are corrupt, the good bard is an enemy of the state, cunningly evading capture from an evil heart as well. Evil bards eschew blatent violence in favor of manipulation, holding sway over the hearts and minds of others and taking what enraptured audiences "willingly" give.

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.

Alignment:
Bards are wanderers, guided by whim and intuition rather than by tradition and 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 wayward shrines, hoping to earn some coin from the travelers who stop to leave offerings for the god.

Races:
Bards are commonly human, elven, or half-elven. Humans tae 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 bards wandering ways suit many half-elves, who often feel like strangers when even at home. Bards are exceedingly rare among the savage humanoids, except among Centaurs. Centaur bards sometimes train the children of humans or other humanoids.

Special Abilities:
(All spells done as a normal attacking roll)

Inspire Courage- At level 4 a bard gains the ability to make his allies gain +5% to their attack and evade for 1d6 rounds.

Countersong- At level 6 a bard gains the ability to cancel out any magic that uses sound, provided that the spellcaster is at least the same level or lower than the bard.

Fascinate- At level 10 a bard learns how to play a song that makes a single creature unable to focus on anything and lose its attack and evade % for 1d6 rounds. Targeted creature must succeed a constitution roll at -5 to remain unaffected.

Suggestion- At level 15 a bard may play a tune that will allow him/her to suggest something to a creature he/she has already fascinated.

Inspire Greatness- At level 17 a bard gains the ability to make his allies gain +15% to their attack and evade for 1d10 rounds.

Bard Starting Package:
Leather armor
Longsword (1d8, crit x2, 28 hp)
Light Crossbow (1d8, crit x2)
Backpack with waterskin
One days trail rations
Bedroll
Sack
Flint and steel
3 Torches
Lute (common)
Spell component pouch
Quiver with 20 arrows
4 gp

Bard Starting Hit Points:
16

Bard Attack and Evade Bonus as per Level:

Level	Attack Percent	Evade Percent	Damage Bonus
1	20%	15%	+0
2	20%	15%	+0
3	25%	20%	+0
4	25%	20%	+0
5	30%	25%	+1
6	30%/20%	25%	+2
7	35%/20%	30%	+3
8	35%/25%	30%	+4
9	40%/25%	35%	+5
10	40%/30%	35%	+6
11	50%/30%	45%	+7
12	50%/35%	45%	+8
13	60%/35%	55%	+9
14	65%/40%	60%	+10
15	70%/60%	55%	+11
16	75%/50%	70%	+12
17	80%/60%	75%	+13
18	85%/65%	80%	+14
19	90%/70%	85%	+15
20	90%/80%	85%	+16