It hasn't happened yet but I keep threatening to craft a Gong bard. I just so badly want a Dwarven Bard who carries a full size gong on his back. Just salty, hateful and thwacking a Gong angrily. Its such a beautiful idea. Haven't had the chance since I came up with it. I usually Dm so it will have to wait.
Not that exotic, but I tried to stick to PHB instruments to keep the cost fair at level 1...but with a bit of a twist. Mandolin (instead of lute), recorder (instead of flute), cowbell (bell from the equipment list), and wooden xylophone (basically a pan flute played on its side as percussion). In real life I bought a recorder, xylophone, and cowbell on Amazon all for less than $30 and I've been torturing my group with horrible music and parodies for months now (I'm not much of a musician).
In game, If I get a chance, I want to mount a hand crossbow under the mandolin...the DnD equivalent of Antonio Banderas's Desperado.
Strength was my dump stat, but we found some gauntlets of ogre power. Somehow I ended up with them which sparked a debate about whether they counted as heavy armor and whether they would affect my ability to play the instruments. My solution was to stick with the cowbell, which I can now simply tap with my gauntlet-covered finger. My GM allowed it.
My Lore Bard, Honest Bill uses a conductors wand as his spellcasting focus. He conducts battle with humming or by telling 'epic tales of heroes'. (Often narrating the actions of the party)
I'd prefer to keep things simple. 1 string instrument. 1 wind instrument. 1 percussion instrument. The more portable the better.
Apply prestigination (sp?) to tune the instrument to sound exactly as you want it to. That lute can sound like a banjo or an electric guitar. A halfling with a harmonica belting out a classic bagpipe song...why not. There really is no reason why that little Fisher-Price looking xylophone can't sound like a massive drum kit.
I made a custom background for my bard, and chose the inheritor feature. Took the Quirk "Loud" - now I have legit electric guitar. Also he is a tiefling, so with Thaumaturgy he doesn't need a mic.
I made a strong, rather dumb (human) bard (13 strength and 9 intelligence) and gave her: a lyre, a (Djembe) drum, and bagpipes. since she's not so bright, I thought she could use one of her instruments as a weapon And I showed her off to my friend and told them that. And they said, AND I QUOTE: 'Her music inspires bravery in her allies and her brutal bagpipe attack inspires fear in her enemies'
I have a flute, just because technically he's a bard. However, I roleplay him to be a combat tactician that exposes flaws in the enemies' defenses etc. He shouts commands and infos. He's a very brainy bard, knows a lot of monster lore and also can exploit weaknesses himself by using his bardic inspiration as attack (he's a Whisper Bard). He uses material components for spells instead of his flute, and for song of rest he basically makes a debriefing of previous encounters and what to do best next time.
That said, he's a 2ft small furball that's super cute and people have a hard time taking him seriously, because he looks so adorable. I use bard because I like the mechanics for the inspiration and song of rest in the context of his liberal interpretation of performance. He's a bit like a teacher/coach.
It hasn't happened yet but I keep threatening to craft a Gong bard. I just so badly want a Dwarven Bard who carries a full size gong on his back. Just salty, hateful and thwacking a Gong angrily. Its such a beautiful idea. Haven't had the chance since I came up with it. I usually Dm so it will have to wait.
Holophonor. From Futurama. Just a wind instrument with minor illusion.
Monk/Bard whose instrument is just slapping themselves in the face with the alacrity of a black metal drummer.
I have made an Aasimar bard with a kazoo. I just made one in homebrew content and called it wand.
I just want to see my friends faces when I suddenly say i am going to play the Kazoo and surprise them by using a real one all game.
What, no steam calliope?
Futuaris nisi irrisius ridebus.
I like the mention of jaw harp. I own a kanjira (actual lizardskin drum) which is fun. I would really like to get a gems horn.
Not that exotic, but I tried to stick to PHB instruments to keep the cost fair at level 1...but with a bit of a twist. Mandolin (instead of lute), recorder (instead of flute), cowbell (bell from the equipment list), and wooden xylophone (basically a pan flute played on its side as percussion). In real life I bought a recorder, xylophone, and cowbell on Amazon all for less than $30 and I've been torturing my group with horrible music and parodies for months now (I'm not much of a musician).
In game, If I get a chance, I want to mount a hand crossbow under the mandolin...the DnD equivalent of Antonio Banderas's Desperado.
Strength was my dump stat, but we found some gauntlets of ogre power. Somehow I ended up with them which sparked a debate about whether they counted as heavy armor and whether they would affect my ability to play the instruments. My solution was to stick with the cowbell, which I can now simply tap with my gauntlet-covered finger. My GM allowed it.
In our previous campaign I was a gnome bard that played the accordion and named Weird Al.
I once had a bard who had a horn suit. DM said I had disadvantage on Stealth checks, but it was worth it.
I was trying to workshop a good instrument for my bard a while back and came up with a few Very Good ones:
I want my Bard/Warlock to play the Waterphone. My dm said I can't have one yet, but I might find one later as loot
Bard in my last game used a Lyre that doubled as a Shortbow, as well as a Bagpipe that doubled as a thing to shoot blowdarts
My Lore Bard, Honest Bill uses a conductors wand as his spellcasting focus. He conducts battle with humming or by telling 'epic tales of heroes'. (Often narrating the actions of the party)
I'd prefer to keep things simple. 1 string instrument. 1 wind instrument. 1 percussion instrument. The more portable the better.
Apply prestigination (sp?) to tune the instrument to sound exactly as you want it to. That lute can sound like a banjo or an electric guitar. A halfling with a harmonica belting out a classic bagpipe song...why not. There really is no reason why that little Fisher-Price looking xylophone can't sound like a massive drum kit.
I made a custom background for my bard, and chose the inheritor feature. Took the Quirk "Loud" - now I have legit electric guitar. Also he is a tiefling, so with Thaumaturgy he doesn't need a mic.
I made a strong, rather dumb (human) bard (13 strength and 9 intelligence) and gave her: a lyre, a (Djembe) drum, and bagpipes.
since she's not so bright, I thought she could use one of her instruments as a weapon
And I showed her off to my friend and told them that.
And they said, AND I QUOTE: 'Her music inspires bravery in her allies and her brutal bagpipe attack inspires fear in her enemies'
Mine plays the nose pipe! Haha!
My Bard is running a Concertina (pirates accordion)
it's been hilarious, kinda want to integrate something into it though, thoughts?
I have a flute, just because technically he's a bard. However, I roleplay him to be a combat tactician that exposes flaws in the enemies' defenses etc. He shouts commands and infos. He's a very brainy bard, knows a lot of monster lore and also can exploit weaknesses himself by using his bardic inspiration as attack (he's a Whisper Bard). He uses material components for spells instead of his flute, and for song of rest he basically makes a debriefing of previous encounters and what to do best next time.
That said, he's a 2ft small furball that's super cute and people have a hard time taking him seriously, because he looks so adorable. I use bard because I like the mechanics for the inspiration and song of rest in the context of his liberal interpretation of performance. He's a bit like a teacher/coach.
Zev Georg Mir, creator of Michtim: Fluffy Adventures
Game Designer, Storyteller, UX Gamedev, Homebrewer, Michtim
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