Mine is an 80 year old woman called Asharin (or Old Granny Fanny by some villagers) with a charisma of 8 and thinks she's Druid, She's also an NPC in my campaign so makes for some great little role play when the party need some "Druidic" help from the local "wise woman". She's a little Homage to Critical role with a Fey Brown bear called Twinkle and a Raven familiar called Xav (Find Steed and Find Familiar spells respectively).
The official bio for her is:
Asharin, aka Old Granny Fanny, was once a prolific bard and performer but became a hermit of sorts following the deaths of the adventuring company she was part of, they went to fight a Green Dragon and it turned out to be a Red Dragon so they were woefully under prepared.. She suffered from so much grief at the loss of her friends and companions that over the 40+ years of her "hermitage" she has lost herself and become an amalgamation of characters from the stories she used to tell and the personalities of her former companions. She roams the wilds and small villages as a "wise woman" tending to the sick and needy. Although a slightly odd individual she is welcomed at most settlements for the aid she gives and has been nicknamed "Old Granny Fanny" by most of the children and the name has started to stick with the adults. She has a familiar (Xav the Raven) which she believes is the reincarnation of her brother.
In truth Asharin is the reincarnation of a green dragon (called Raishan) who was killed by a group of adventurers (Vox Machina) and her memory has become addled by the experience (mainly due to the effects of certain spells she was affected by at the time of death), the past companions are actually the adventuring party that killed her..
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* Need a character idea? Search for "Rob76's Unused" in the Story and Lore section.
an pretend druid is the most obious concept for an bard tho, you have all these druid spells like awaken and plant growth and animal messenger and of course find steed is great with magical secrets
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
i have mad many a bard build, but the most creative might be the ones that summon things, i think i made one who was like a rock star or whatever who played music that local fey creatures fancy, and another who just summons devils and seduces them with his incredibly glib tounge
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Creativity comes in many forms and flavours, for me creating a bard who was an 80 year old woman with a low charisma and mild dementia was a more interesting creation process than creating the "face" of the party or general skill monkey as you have to look at spells that don't require attack rolls or saving throws and tying that in with mimicking her past adventuring companions/enemies abilities.
For Instance, she remembers having a friend who was a barbarian so has Blade Ward as a cantrip which is played as a one turn Barbarian-esque rage, she recalls fighting a gunslinger who shot bolts of fire and ice from his gun; so she has fire bolt and ray of frost through magic initiate.
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* Need a character idea? Search for "Rob76's Unused" in the Story and Lore section.
My 3rd level bard is establishing an import-export company, which is really a front organization for his spy network. His spy network though is not the typical sort of spies. He uses the profits from his I-E company to buy spices, which he trades at a discount for information. His spice customers are always on the lookout for information that he will pay for in spices, which goes a long way to alleviating the drudgery of their largely agrarian lives. He earns plenty of coin for himself between dungeon crawls by playing at the tavern of course. The information comes to him by way of his caravans that are constantly bringing trade goods back from other places. He usually knows trouble is brewing before the local authorities.
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
I play a bard who tells wild stories. He is a devout follower of Tymora. The build is halfling race, 2 levels divination wizard/x levels of lore bard, and takining bountiful luck and lucky feats. The idea is that portent, cutting words, luck points, and the racial feats are all flavored as Tymora's blessing. That my character's presence makes everyone luckier in and out of combat. It's been a big support type build, but its fun being the beloved friend who aids the party in their chaotic pursuits.
A bard, who is an artist. If you've seen one piece, Jojo's bizarre adventure part 4, naruto shippuden, etc. The bard would work somewhat like that. Conjuring their spells through paintings, drawing.
Idk if adventurer's league guild has something like that available or not.
did also have an idea for an really really high level bard who cast true polymorph on their familliar before doing some, less than honorable things to it..........
also i found out you can make an pretty rad counterspell build, and i know it can be used to great effect to play an truename caster since you get like vicious mockery, cutting words, bardic inspiration, polymorph, power word kill, divine word, dispel magic, planar binding etc and all of them can be reflavoured as you using creatures true name to ether gain controll over the creature, bring harm to it or to use the creatures true name to "remind" the universe of what that creature was and is supposed to be. Had an idea for an wizard/bard multiclass whose spellbook was actually an big book of music sheets that they are simply following, but in hindsight ritual caster (bard) and many spell scrolls could probably get the job done
but if i had to say one bard idea i have had has been better than any others of mine it has got to be the following: an magical rapper or similar street person with absolutely zero levels in bard and many levels in artificer (specifically artillerist), his eldritch cannon is an boombox/ speaker system he can carry or put on the ground, his arcane firearm is an microphone, he has an bunch of thunder damage spells and of course at 6th level he gains proficency in all tools, including all musical instruments he is proficient in, witch is just such an flex to bards that this dumbass knows more about using your instrument than you do
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
The ironic part of the bards is, they can use instruments to buff/debuff, they can use magic scroll, magic spells but...... I've yet not seen the probability to kill enemies by using his/her own voice as a skill.
I mean, the bards can sing songs, right ? so why cannot they apply the Warcry feature as a skill to blow AoE magic just to expel the undead, or applying charms, or even better....... insta-kill with the spell Power Word: KILL ????
A orc bard, who is strong enough to carry his own harpsichord with him during his adventures.
Coupled with tavern brawler and expertise in athletics, it makes for great role playing moments when he smashes the harpsichord into the enemies in combat.
About 20 years ago my orc clan pillaged a temple of Torm. Among the goods plundered, there were a clavicembalo and other musical instruments. In addition my grandmother captured a gnome bard and kept it as a slave.
The gnome bard lived a few years before getting eaten alive. During that time, he taught some of the orcs how to play the instruments, as well as some simple cantrips to keep them in good shape.
I'm one of these orcs. In particular, I like playing the clavicembalo (harpsichord).
There are times when the other orcs do not appreciate the beauty of music. In these cases, I tend to get a bit upset... But that is what great artists do.
Regarding my physical appearance, people who look at me see a orc taller than the average, with a nicer face than most orcs. At least, my face doesn't scream "I want to murder you" like the face of a typical orc.
In any case, people who look at me tends to be distracted by the huge thing I carry around on my shoulder. Most people don't even understand what it is. The thing is, I prefer to carry the clavicembalo with me at all times. I wouldn't want it to get lost of damaged by other orcs. Moreover, great artists can get good inspiration in any place, and the greatest artists are those who can carry the biggest musical instruments.
Growing up in a city ruled by his parents, combined with his naive nature and friendly spirit resulted in a peaceful loving bard who willed to adventure and experience journeys like the ones he had so diligently read about in the evenings, this in combination with his raising.
His mother had previously been a cruel and wicked adventurer before having events make her question her lifestyle if she were to ever have her own family, or even be loved for once. Due to this she raised her children hoping to stop them from making her mistakes, encouraging good to grow in their hearts. This made the young half-elf afraid to take a life from another for truly any reason.
Upon adventuring Fardley had excitement in his heart, a space shared only with innocence and love. He focused on support spells, to instead aid his newfound friends and perhaps encourage crueler people to leave so he did not have to see them slain by his allies. His hands remained clean for a long time, but as all adventurers learn, sometimes you must take a life to save your ally, and Fardley, being loyal, had been forced to kill. This had a large impression on him.
Fardley began learning necromancy to fix his mistakes. He held denial anything was wrong with those whom he brought back after being forced to kill them. He refers to it as "Bring back a buddy" and he treats the corpses with respect and tries to protect them. He knows on the inside what he's done though, so he often has them bury themselves and will say prayers for them.
He's one of the most entertaining bards I've ever played, and a support bard who attempts pacifism makes it all the more intense in moments where there is no other option than to break your morality or let your ally you've grown a familial conection with die.
One bard I really enjoyed creating was an NPC, Malloth. Elven bard who had spent his whole life being very sheltered, going from his family's secluded home to the ivory towers of his college, and being out in the real world for the first time, he was just INTENSELY interested in everyone and everything. Very keen, very fluttery, had the brain-works-faster-than-speech-can-be-processed problem that led to a lot of excitable stammering whenever someone in the party actually spoke to him. Sadly, they never learned about his piano-in-a-pocket-dimension...
The piano-as-instrument was vital because the god he worshiped had been an ordinary human pianist who ascended to godhood upon composing a song which covered every royal, noble, battle, great bard, tournament, and trade war of his lifetime.
A Changeling Bard who used a series of fake names comprised of anagrams (one of which was, unsurprisingly, Ana Graham). It was fun having all these different personas, be it a jovial dwarf or a bold human fighter.
...due to a current fascination with Tal Dorei, I'm working on a Sword Bard who is a devout follower of The Changebringer...essentially a mercenary adventurer, always cracking a smile and moving from one town to another looking for something "interesting".
He is also something of a madman or a lunatic...being a follower of a luck deity, he is brimming with confidence, completely certain that everything is uncertain. As such, he recklessly dives into dangerous situations, convinced that luck is on his side.
This also makes him a fervant gambler, often risking large sums simply for the thrill of it, and occasionally everything he has on him. He loves festivals.
He's somewhere between Geoffrey Chaucer from "A Knights Tale" and Whirrun of Bligh from Joe Abercrombies "The Heroes" and "Sharp Ends".
Currently about to start a game as a Half-Elf Paladin 2/Bard 1. Basic concept is that they were a Paladin who skipped town the night before they took their oaths so they weren't bound by them. Now they travel across the land searching for adventure and anyone who will listen to their tales of heroism and bravery.
Plan is to use a Glaive, and go Sword Bard in a couple levels.
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One bard I really enjoyed creating was an NPC, Malloth. Elven bard who had spent his whole life being very sheltered, going from his family's secluded home to the ivory towers of his college, and being out in the real world for the first time, he was just INTENSELY interested in everyone and everything. Very keen, very fluttery, had the brain-works-faster-than-speech-can-be-processed problem that led to a lot of excitable stammering whenever someone in the party actually spoke to him. Sadly, they never learned about his piano-in-a-pocket-dimension...
The piano-as-instrument was vital because the god he worshiped had been an ordinary human pianist who ascended to godhood upon composing a song which covered every royal, noble, battle, great bard, tournament, and trade war of his lifetime.
how does that work exactly? did the universe just realize "hey, an mortal is not supposed to do that" and compensated by turning him into a god, or did this mighty act of creation prove to the gods that he was worthy of being among them?
also what about the pocket dimension piano, what is that all about?
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
My current bard is tone deaf. He can’t sing so he has to do play recitals instead of songs. He is known for playing villains. He recently cast Enthrall to distract a group of orcs while his companions stealth killed them.
He cast it by doing a 1-minute synopsis of a play he was once in about a group of Artificers who go around in a white undertaker’s carriage and capture ghosts. The story started with the Artificers attempting to capture a specter in a library using their devices to shoot lightning and fire (my character used Prestidigitation and Thaumaturgy for special effects) They were nearly thwarted by an evil duke (the character that my bard once played) who tried to discredit them with the king by releasing all the captured ghosts. Eventually an evil demigod showed up and asked them if they were gods. The Lawful/stupid one answered “no” and the demigod summoned an aberration composed entirely of a human confection made from a mallow plant found in marshes (the actual origins of the marshmallow). The 1-minute duration ended before the story did, and Bassil (my bard) heard one of the orcs behind him slump down dead, the orc’s last words being “How does the story end…?”
Mine is a war-forged who had speakers built into him.
Mine is an 80 year old woman called Asharin (or Old Granny Fanny by some villagers) with a charisma of 8 and thinks she's Druid, She's also an NPC in my campaign so makes for some great little role play when the party need some "Druidic" help from the local "wise woman". She's a little Homage to Critical role with a Fey Brown bear called Twinkle and a Raven familiar called Xav (Find Steed and Find Familiar spells respectively).
The official bio for her is:
Asharin, aka Old Granny Fanny, was once a prolific bard and performer but became a hermit of sorts following the deaths of the adventuring company she was part of, they went to fight a Green Dragon and it turned out to be a Red Dragon so they were woefully under prepared..
She suffered from so much grief at the loss of her friends and companions that over the 40+ years of her "hermitage" she has lost herself and become an amalgamation of characters from the stories she used to tell and the personalities of her former companions. She roams the wilds and small villages as a "wise woman" tending to the sick and needy. Although a slightly odd individual she is welcomed at most settlements for the aid she gives and has been nicknamed "Old Granny Fanny" by most of the children and the name has started to stick with the adults.
She has a familiar (Xav the Raven) which she believes is the reincarnation of her brother.
In truth Asharin is the reincarnation of a green dragon (called Raishan) who was killed by a group of adventurers (Vox Machina) and her memory has become addled by the experience (mainly due to the effects of certain spells she was affected by at the time of death), the past companions are actually the adventuring party that killed her..
an pretend druid is the most obious concept for an bard tho, you have all these druid spells like awaken and plant growth and animal messenger and of course find steed is great with magical secrets
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
i have mad many a bard build, but the most creative might be the ones that summon things, i think i made one who was like a rock star or whatever who played music that local fey creatures fancy, and another who just summons devils and seduces them with his incredibly glib tounge
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Creativity comes in many forms and flavours, for me creating a bard who was an 80 year old woman with a low charisma and mild dementia was a more interesting creation process than creating the "face" of the party or general skill monkey as you have to look at spells that don't require attack rolls or saving throws and tying that in with mimicking her past adventuring companions/enemies abilities.
For Instance, she remembers having a friend who was a barbarian so has Blade Ward as a cantrip which is played as a one turn Barbarian-esque rage, she recalls fighting a gunslinger who shot bolts of fire and ice from his gun; so she has fire bolt and ray of frost through magic initiate.
My 3rd level bard is establishing an import-export company, which is really a front organization for his spy network. His spy network though is not the typical sort of spies. He uses the profits from his I-E company to buy spices, which he trades at a discount for information. His spice customers are always on the lookout for information that he will pay for in spices, which goes a long way to alleviating the drudgery of their largely agrarian lives. He earns plenty of coin for himself between dungeon crawls by playing at the tavern of course. The information comes to him by way of his caravans that are constantly bringing trade goods back from other places. He usually knows trouble is brewing before the local authorities.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
I play a bard who tells wild stories. He is a devout follower of Tymora. The build is halfling race, 2 levels divination wizard/x levels of lore bard, and takining bountiful luck and lucky feats. The idea is that portent, cutting words, luck points, and the racial feats are all flavored as Tymora's blessing. That my character's presence makes everyone luckier in and out of combat. It's been a big support type build, but its fun being the beloved friend who aids the party in their chaotic pursuits.
Your secret is safe with my indifference - Percy
A bard, who is an artist. If you've seen one piece, Jojo's bizarre adventure part 4, naruto shippuden, etc. The bard would work somewhat like that. Conjuring their spells through paintings, drawing.
Idk if adventurer's league guild has something like that available or not.
did also have an idea for an really really high level bard who cast true polymorph on their familliar before doing some, less than honorable things to it..........
also i found out you can make an pretty rad counterspell build, and i know it can be used to great effect to play an truename caster since you get like vicious mockery, cutting words, bardic inspiration, polymorph, power word kill, divine word, dispel magic, planar binding etc and all of them can be reflavoured as you using creatures true name to ether gain controll over the creature, bring harm to it or to use the creatures true name to "remind" the universe of what that creature was and is supposed to be. Had an idea for an wizard/bard multiclass whose spellbook was actually an big book of music sheets that they are simply following, but in hindsight ritual caster (bard) and many spell scrolls could probably get the job done
but if i had to say one bard idea i have had has been better than any others of mine it has got to be the following: an magical rapper or similar street person with absolutely zero levels in bard and many levels in artificer (specifically artillerist), his eldritch cannon is an boombox/ speaker system he can carry or put on the ground, his arcane firearm is an microphone, he has an bunch of thunder damage spells and of course at 6th level he gains proficency in all tools, including all musical instruments he is proficient in, witch is just such an flex to bards that this dumbass knows more about using your instrument than you do
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
The ironic part of the bards is, they can use instruments to buff/debuff, they can use magic scroll, magic spells but...... I've yet not seen the probability to kill enemies by using his/her own voice as a skill.
I mean, the bards can sing songs, right ? so why cannot they apply the Warcry feature as a skill to blow AoE magic just to expel the undead, or applying charms, or even better....... insta-kill with the spell Power Word: KILL ????
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
A orc bard, who is strong enough to carry his own harpsichord with him during his adventures.
Coupled with tavern brawler and expertise in athletics, it makes for great role playing moments when he smashes the harpsichord into the enemies in combat.
Here is the background:
mountain dwarf who has very bad B.O. and pimples all over them and voice cracks all the time. they have no idea why everyone runs away from them.
A silver spooned Half-elf Lore Bard aka Fardley Fumperdinkle Parry Esquire Footherloo
Growing up in a city ruled by his parents, combined with his naive nature and friendly spirit resulted in a peaceful loving bard who willed to adventure and experience journeys like the ones he had so diligently read about in the evenings, this in combination with his raising.
His mother had previously been a cruel and wicked adventurer before having events make her question her lifestyle if she were to ever have her own family, or even be loved for once. Due to this she raised her children hoping to stop them from making her mistakes, encouraging good to grow in their hearts. This made the young half-elf afraid to take a life from another for truly any reason.
Upon adventuring Fardley had excitement in his heart, a space shared only with innocence and love. He focused on support spells, to instead aid his newfound friends and perhaps encourage crueler people to leave so he did not have to see them slain by his allies. His hands remained clean for a long time, but as all adventurers learn, sometimes you must take a life to save your ally, and Fardley, being loyal, had been forced to kill. This had a large impression on him.
Fardley began learning necromancy to fix his mistakes. He held denial anything was wrong with those whom he brought back after being forced to kill them. He refers to it as "Bring back a buddy" and he treats the corpses with respect and tries to protect them. He knows on the inside what he's done though, so he often has them bury themselves and will say prayers for them.
He's one of the most entertaining bards I've ever played, and a support bard who attempts pacifism makes it all the more intense in moments where there is no other option than to break your morality or let your ally you've grown a familial conection with die.
One bard I really enjoyed creating was an NPC, Malloth. Elven bard who had spent his whole life being very sheltered, going from his family's secluded home to the ivory towers of his college, and being out in the real world for the first time, he was just INTENSELY interested in everyone and everything. Very keen, very fluttery, had the brain-works-faster-than-speech-can-be-processed problem that led to a lot of excitable stammering whenever someone in the party actually spoke to him. Sadly, they never learned about his piano-in-a-pocket-dimension...
The piano-as-instrument was vital because the god he worshiped had been an ordinary human pianist who ascended to godhood upon composing a song which covered every royal, noble, battle, great bard, tournament, and trade war of his lifetime.
A Changeling Bard who used a series of fake names comprised of anagrams (one of which was, unsurprisingly, Ana Graham). It was fun having all these different personas, be it a jovial dwarf or a bold human fighter.
...due to a current fascination with Tal Dorei, I'm working on a Sword Bard who is a devout follower of The Changebringer...essentially a mercenary adventurer, always cracking a smile and moving from one town to another looking for something "interesting".
He is also something of a madman or a lunatic...being a follower of a luck deity, he is brimming with confidence, completely certain that everything is uncertain. As such, he recklessly dives into dangerous situations, convinced that luck is on his side.
This also makes him a fervant gambler, often risking large sums simply for the thrill of it, and occasionally everything he has on him. He loves festivals.
He's somewhere between Geoffrey Chaucer from "A Knights Tale" and Whirrun of Bligh from Joe Abercrombies "The Heroes" and "Sharp Ends".
Currently about to start a game as a Half-Elf Paladin 2/Bard 1. Basic concept is that they were a Paladin who skipped town the night before they took their oaths so they weren't bound by them. Now they travel across the land searching for adventure and anyone who will listen to their tales of heroism and bravery.
Plan is to use a Glaive, and go Sword Bard in a couple levels.
Check out my latest homebrew: Mystic Knight (Fighter) v1.31
Lizardfolk Creation bard that creates all their instruments out of monster bones and sinews.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
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how does that work exactly? did the universe just realize "hey, an mortal is not supposed to do that" and compensated by turning him into a god, or did this mighty act of creation prove to the gods that he was worthy of being among them?
also what about the pocket dimension piano, what is that all about?
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
My current bard is tone deaf. He can’t sing so he has to do play recitals instead of songs. He is known for playing villains. He recently cast Enthrall to distract a group of orcs while his companions stealth killed them.
He cast it by doing a 1-minute synopsis of a play he was once in about a group of Artificers who go around in a white undertaker’s carriage and capture ghosts. The story started with the Artificers attempting to capture a specter in a library using their devices to shoot lightning and fire (my character used Prestidigitation and Thaumaturgy for special effects) They were nearly thwarted by an evil duke (the character that my bard once played) who tried to discredit them with the king by releasing all the captured ghosts. Eventually an evil demigod showed up and asked them if they were gods. The Lawful/stupid one answered “no” and the demigod summoned an aberration composed entirely of a human confection made from a mallow plant found in marshes (the actual origins of the marshmallow). The 1-minute duration ended before the story did, and Bassil (my bard) heard one of the orcs behind him slump down dead, the orc’s last words being “How does the story end…?”
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I support your creativity but Id call it a pseudo-paladin considering they are not actually a paladin as theyve made no oaths