Battle of the Bards:
Having competed in many competitions as a metal guitarist in my youth I can tell you that the Gambling mechanic is spot on for modelling bards in competition - all that raising of stakes that’s involved - except you use the appropriate Performance as the proficiency.
I’m reading Steven Pressfield’s ‘Tides of War’ and just thinking about how Athenian hero Alcibiades uses oration - he works the crowd using what’s appropriate, but if he judges the situation wrong… Also the speeches after Caesar’s murder in Shakespeare’s play and how Mark Anthony turns the crowd.
Very nice, I like the improved version!
I don’t know if this fits here really, but I’ve been musing on this thread and having random thoughts. Some of those thoughts are about the Conqueror and King levels of play and what the possibilities are for the different classes as they rise through those tiers of play - I’ve been wondering how clear those directions are. Some of the thoughts are about these bard discussions, and how a bard character fits into the higher tier games. Take this all with a pinch of salt though, it’s partly musings and partly stream of consciousness as I was writing. I promise no level of quality…
As an Adventurer, the fighter is the master of all things martial and bloody. The cleric is the representative of the gods among men – paragon of the divine influence among the people. The mage is the peerless commander of the arcane whilst the thief is shadow in the night.
What about the Conqueror?
The fighter cuts a bloody swathe out of the wilderness, driving his foes before him until the land is clear to settle.
The cleric calls upon the power of his faith, and upon the sword arms of his faithful, to bring light to the darkness and clear the land to settle.
The mage may or may not care for the realm of man, for his eyes are turned toward the arcane. However, should he wish it, he can turn his matchless intellect towards scouring the land of dangers with powers beyond the ken of mortal minds – and clear the land to settle.
The thief does not clear the land, nor settle it. The thief establishes himself within others works, insinuating and hiding in the settlements of others, and builds himself a web of shadow.
And what of the King?
The fighter turns his eyes from his own lands to those of his rivals. He leads his troops to war until he has conquered so much land that all others kneel before him and a new royal bloodline is founded.
The cleric proclaims himself God-Emperor, the living embodiment of the divine upon the material plane. His worshippers spread His word across the land until his divine masters will is felt across the world.
The mage remains in his tower, eyes still peering into the realms of magic. Should he fall to corruption the mage unleashes armies of the dead, or of twisted monsters, upon the world and founds an empire of horror. Should he remain true, the King calls him councillor and his magics bring peace through protections and mighty rituals.
The thief grows his web until it is a empire of shadow to rival the empire of light. No secret can be told without it reaching his ears, and no man dies without his knowledge. All the worlds gold flows, and the emperor of thieves sees it all.
The assassin is as the thief in this, the bladedancer as the cleric, the explorer has an uncertain path, and the bard… I kind of feel that the Bard has the potential to be the greatest of leaders, once the swords are all reforged into ploughshares. Steel will clear a domain, diplomacy is one way to keep it.
Given the direction that the Bard thread has taken, I was musing last night on a variant class. Where the traditional or classic Bard is a musically focussed fighter/wizard/thief, this variant is pretty much the revised Bard that Alex has drafted. Call it the Champion, or the Captain, or something like that. Point is, the class is the ‘Leader of Men’ archetype. Where the Fighter leads through personal valour and being inspiring on a battlefield, the Champion leads through inspiring his men unto greater deeds, and through the love and respect that others pay him.
For those who have read it, I’m about 1/3 of the way through book 2 of Song of Ice and Fire (and apologies and warnings of minor spoilers ahead). I’m fully aware that there’s lots I don’t’ know yet, but from what I’ve seen of these characters so far – King Robert is a classic Fighter. He took the throne but wants to be out fighting because that’s what he loves. His brother Renly on the other hand isn’t so much the fighter (at least not that I’ve seen yet) but he’s a fantastic leader of his people. Everyone loves him and he’s fabulous at putting on a show for his subjects. The other brother, Stannis, is a Fighter too but he’s even more the warrior than King Robert. This might not be a great analogy, but if it makes sense, I could see Renly as a Champion whilst the other two are Fighters.
There’s no ‘magical music’, nor loremastery, but the class abilities are focussed on inspiration and leadership. More of a fighter than the current revised bard, but less of a wise man.
Then, the bard could be retooled as a wizardly variant on this class, where the Champion is the fighter variant, if that makes sense. Restore the spells, pare back the fighting, something more akin to the Elven Nightblade without going down that particular idiom.
James, that was some rousing text! “The cleric calls upon the power of his faith, and upon the sword arms of his faithful, to bring light to the darkness and clear the land to settle.” Hoo-rah.
I agree with you that the revised Bard would fit in well in Game of Thrones. Which is, of course, exactly what we’d hope!
Well… I was just trying to capture of bit of flavour as I see those classes. Thank you for the compliment 
On that thought… when you were developing ACKs, what were the historical (or fictional) analogues you had in mind at the different tiers of play, for the various classes?
For example, who is your exemplar of a King level Cleric, or a Conqueror level Mage?