Bane raised an arm, wiping the sweat from his brow, then lifted it further, acknowledging the cheering crowd. He felt tiredness and elation combine within him, as they always did at the conclusion of a show. He swung his magically amplified lute around in front of him and flicked his sweat-soaked hair back out of his eyes. Bane raised his right hand to the crowd once more, the tooth of a Tiagarathian Inquisitor that he used as a plectrum glinting in the light of the moon. The tall, thickset man ran it down the neck of his lute, and then picked a slow series of calm notes, slowly ascending in both volume and pitch. Suddenly, he launched into a wild and chaotic run of distorted hammers. The crowd erupted – they loved seeing their hero, the man who had brought such hope to their race, and he loved seeing them. The crowd was large and diverse tonight, in addition to the usual crowd of mutants, there were many humans and even a few vampyres nodding in appreciation to the music, and he hoped, the message.
He dropped his head for a final time, strands of hair covering his eyes, and shouted to his audience: ‘I’m glad to see you all here tonight.’ He didn’t think it was possible for the audience to get louder, but they managed. He smiled to see them happy, and opened his mouth to shout once more. Suddenly, a short-sword lay across his throat. Bane stood motionless. A pock-marked human face lurched in front of him.
‘Still stirring up rebellions, eh, Bane?’ The man slurred. Bane said nothing, simply gritting his teeth. He drove his head up, felling the swordsman behind him then pounded a heavy fist into the disfigured face.
‘Go home, my friends,’ he shouted, and the men and women who had come to watch began to dissipate. Bane reached down to his belt, withdrawing a dagger and ran backstage, leaping onto a horse with just the lute on his back and the dagger in his hand.

There are those whose true strength lies not in strength of arms, nor in arcane power. There are those whose strength is in what they can inspire others to do. Bards wander the land, gathering lore and using the magic and skills they have to survive. If driven into combat, however, bards are useful allies, supporting their group with song and sword, though his skills are perhaps even more powerful – a bard may serve as a diplomat, a scout, or even a spy, as well as many other professions.

Adventures:

Bards see adventures as a chance to learn more about the world, about themselves and about others. They are allowed to practice their abilities and they are allowed to discover new creatures, places, histories and, of course, songs and stories. They enjoy accompanying famed adventurers, so as to witness great (and terrible) deeds firsthand, allowing them to repeat the stories or write sagas and songs to earn greater renown. In addition, many bard’s non-lawful natures drive them into adventures to free the people from oppression.

Characteristics:

With no notable strength in arms or offensive magic, the bard really comes to the fore as a support for others. They have little armour or resistance to damage, and thus must rely on others to stay alive in a cut-throat world, or rely on their plethora of skills to prevent them from getting into situations where they might need armour. They can hold their own in a battle, but a bard’s real talents lie in helping others and using his skills and a smooth tongue to achieve his goals.

Alignment:

Bards are bound to none but themselves, and this characteristic is in their very blood. They have no respect for tradition or law unless it agrees with their personal philosophies. Without control over his destiny, a bard may not live or use his talents as he does.

Religion:

Bards see the full range of spirituality – some are atheist, others worship a god or pantheon very strongly. Usually, those who worship tend away from lawful gods like Tiagarath, putting them at odds with the government – if they weren’t already at odds with the government. Lifeld, Nathaniel, Konrad and Sum are well-represented among Good bards, while Evil tends towards Karhn and, rarely, Xin.

Background:

Bards can come from a myriad of backgrounds. Many are adopted and raised by famous bards as a successor to their legacy, others can come across the following simply through natural talent; others are raised in subtle schools for the bard’s arts and still others are young aristocrats who have found a calling in song and sorcery.

Races:

All the races except that of the Labori are well-represented in the bard’s calling. Bards rarely make up an enormous percentage of a race’s population. Mutants tend towards more simple arts, and many of them embrace the opportunity to make a difference to their world. Humans and vampyre bards largely do what they will, though often they act as troubadours to the old world. Kartik bards focus on the history of their world, and many of them are important figures in their community, as they often are in communities with an oral tradition.

Other Classes:

While they are considered unrefined and primitive by some classes, particularly scientists and battle-mages, they are generally easy to get along with and thus find friends in most areas. They appreciate the dramatic styles of gunslingers, necromancers and battle-mages, and warriors and rogues often make for good characters in their compositions, so these classes are favoured as friends by bard characters.

Role:

A bard’s role in the party is to act as something of a jack-of-all-trades – he is part battle-mage, part warrior and part rogue. His major role, however, is as a supporter for the other characters, using his songs to ‘buff’ other members of the party. He also often acts as a party spokesman, as his high charisma and many vocal class skills allow him to be very proficient in this area.

Bard Game Rule Information:

Bards have the following game-statistics.
Abilities: Charisma is by far the most important ability for any bard. It governs the power of his spell-work and greatly benefits his role as a spokesman. Wisdom comes in handy for most bards as well. Of the other abilities, none really takes precedence. Intelligence gives him useful bonus spells and skill points, Dexterity gives him useful bonuses to his more rogue-ish aspect and makes him or her more difficult to hit, Constitution allows the bard to last longer in battles and Strength allows him to hit harder and perform a greater function as a secondary warrior.
Alignment: Any non-lawful.
Hit die: d6

Class Skills: The bard’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Drive (Dex), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Int), Perform (Cha), Profession (Int), Read/Write Language, Sleight of Hand (Dex), Speak Language, Tumble (Dex).
Skill points at 1st level: (6 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill points at each additional level: 6 + Int modifier

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort. Save	Ref. Save	Will Save	Special	Spells / day
						0	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
1st	+0	+0	+2	+0		2	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	+1	+0	+3	+0	Combat School I	3	0	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	+1	+1	+3	+1		3	1	-	-	-	-	-
4th	+2	+1	+4	+1		3	2	0	-	-	-	-
5th	+2	+1	+4	+1		3	3	1	-	-	-	-
6th	+3	+2	+5	+2	Combat School II	3	3	2	-	-	-	-
7th	+3	+2	+5	+2		3	3	2	0	-	-	-
8th	+4	+2	+6	+2		3	3	3	1	-	-	-
9th	+4	+3	+6	+3		3	3	3	2	-	-	-
10th	+5	+3	+7	+3		3	3	3	2	0	-	-
11th	+5	+3	+7	+3		3	3	3	3	1	-	-
12th	+6/+1	+4	+8	+4		3	3	3	3	2	-	-
13th	+6/+1	+4	+8	+4	Combat School III	3	3	3	3	2	0	-
14th	+7/+2	+4	+9	+4		4	3	3	3	3	1	-
15th	+7/+2	+5	+9	+5		4	4	3	3	3	2	-
16th	+8/+3	+5	+10	+5		4	4	4	3	3	2	0
17th	+8/+3	+5	+10	+5		4	4	4	4	3	3	1
18th	+9/+4	+6	+11	+6	Combat School IV	4	4	4	4	4	3	2
19th	+9/+4	+6	+11	+6		4	4	4	4	4	4	3
20th	+10/+5	+6	+12	+6		4	4	4	4	4	4	4

Class Features:
All of the following are class features of the bard
Armour and Weapon Proficiency: A bard is proficient with all light non-exotic gunpowder weapons, light and medium non-exotic melee weapons, thrown weapons and light modern armour and shields.
Combat Schools: At 2nd, 6th, 13th and 18th level, a bard chooses a school of combat in which to specialise, giving him or her bonuses as follows:

• Aardwolf

• Moose

	-------------------Spells known-------------------
Level	0	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
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

Spells: Bards cast arcane spells like battle-mages, but, while they share some spells, many others are very different. Bards focus more on helping others and entertainment, rather than flashy damage spells and curses. All bard spells work verbally, i.e. through singing or chanting. To learn and cast a spell, the bard must have a Charisma equal to or greater that 10 + the spells level. The Difficulty Class (D.C.) for a saving throw against a bard’s spell is 10 + the spell’s level + the bard’s Charisma modifier.