Aedel is a Wood Elf bard from the College of Lore. He spends a lot of time in libraries finding out the Lore of the Universe and then rights his own songs out of them. He loves to perform and share stories through song, and he wants the world to know the best stories. He loves performing an making people happy. He came from a small town where not much happens, and he wants to make a difference in the world.
Made him a couple weeks ago. Played a few one shots with him but I hope I can use him for bigger campaigns.
Azastel, Dragonborn, Level 3.
He was born into a dragonborn clan, but he was banished for being a magic user by his own father. He wandered the wilderness until he met a bard named Belmont. Belmont taught him everything he knows about music, magic and trickery. Eventually Belmont swindled the wrong person. The son of a Half-Orc crime boss called The Green Terror. Before the Terror caught him, he gave Azastel his trusted lute and told him to run. Azastel changed his name and traveled to a new land to live the good life Belmont told him about.
A first level bard who is willing to go on any adventure if he can find his dream lute. His name is Zarali Taznar the Aasimar Bard. should he leave his out of control area of habitation to quest , the object of his affection is either his missing daughter Raven, or a fabled wonderful Unicorn Hair String Lute..
i'm new to the game and hope i get to make my character worthy of the awesome elemental excitement that our three-man party can create with our awesome DM's.
hopefully i'll be college of spirits bard and take a chance on going thru a serious adventure ..that's all folks......oof
Yarrick Sengir, Creation Bard / Warlock dip Currently level 7 but build "comes online" at level 12
Hails from the darker parts of the Fey Wild and has a dark sense about him (think German Fairy Tale-esque). He casts his spells via death metal variation of well known songs.
Build consists of 10 Levels of Creation Bard and 2 levels of Any Warlock (I went with Hexblade for Medium armor and shield prof.)
From the Creation Bard: Level 2 Feature - Bardic Inspiration (trigger for Dancing Item to attack) Level 6 Feature - Animating Performance to create a Dancing Item Level 10 Feature - Magical Secrets: select (Spirit Guardians and Find Greater Steed) *update: sage advice specifically mentions this combo doesn't work :(. select another spell that works well with Find Greater steeed
From Warlock: Level 2 Feature - Eldritch Invocation: select Grasp of Hadar + either Agonizing blast/Armor of Shadows/Repelling Blast (repelling blast recommended if upcasting spirit guardians often or using griffon as a controlled mount)
Pre-Battle: Cast Find Greater Steed: Griffon as an independent mount - lasts until dispelled Use Animating Performance to create a Dancing Item (last for 1 hour)
During Battle: Round 1: Action: Cast Spirit Guardians on both Mount and caster owing to Find Greater Steed's spell description. Bonus: Bardic Inspiration and/or command Dancing Item to attack Mount action: Multi-attack
Round x: Bonus: Bardic Inspiration and/or command Dancing Item to attack Action: Eldritch blast to pull enemy into Spirit Guardian's AOE x2 since both caster and mount has Spirit guardians cast on it Mount Action: Multi-attack/Disengage Target's turn: takes damage x2 from Spirit Guardians
Out of combat: When escaping: Yarrick rides his mount and can carry 1 more, uses the "Performance of Creation" feature to create a large size carpet/wagon/other item and activates Animating Performance to carry some party members, Polymorph can be used on any remaining team member to transform them to a Giant Eagle/Owl this should be enough to get the entire party out of dodge When needing to resurrect a party member: Use Performance of Creation to create as many diamonds as possible to help pay for spell's material component cost Making an impression: Performance of Creation a large or bigger statue (depending on bard class level) made of rock/dirt/stone and animate using Animating Performance and waltz into town in style
My bard Draken Vae is a drow 19th lore bard with a level of Druid as well. He started off as your typical drow looking to grab power and use adventure to get out from under his matron mother (He is a 2nd son).
This adventure took him along the path of the ancients which is a series of portals throughout Oerth. During the course of the adventures Draken and his allies made a deal with Asmodeus who wants to convert the portals to link to his level of hell (its involved but he has a plan to use the portals to convert Oerth to a plane of hell). Having met druids who are trying to close the portals as they are worried about the drow or Githyanki using the portals to move armies - both are trying to.
in the course of the adventures Draken learned how to use the portals, ended up releasing a time elemental captured by a Suel lich. In return the time elemental altered time so that Draken had never made the deal with Asmodeus. After run ins with illithids, yuan-ti, duergar and lots of undead. Draken ended up posing as King Ivid I of the Great Kingdom to realise an army of revenents from their oath after 500 years.
Recently he has managed to convince the other pcs to move away from Asmodeus - breaking their deals and in the case of the warlock switching his deal to one with a Solar. Currently we are nearing the end of the line to try and make sure Asmodeus doesn’t use the portals to turn the world to hell.
While this all sounds great Draken is superb when you need a face and but is very squishy when caught in battles and our party. Our party has started as allies became enemies and are now friends. We have had great fun and the adventures have went in directions none of us ever thought it would - DM included.
Sir Oswaldo Soaringsong 1st level Owlin Bard. The campaign we start Saturday is a post war contenent that is on the verge of war again. I intend to go College of Glamour and use charm abilities to change the course of history and prevent future wars or maybe just charm my way to Emperor of the world.?
As a young child, I was put up for sale many times by Three Claws, a slave trade. My sector consisted of me and many other children of many races in an old repurposed army barracks. We were all made to be blank slates: shorn hair, the same clothes, brands of your number, and three claws, so it never mattered which one you bought. The buyers only cared about size, species, and maybe gender. There was a running list of maybe 15 kids, the ones they would display, and they’d replace the sold ones. If you were returned, you would oust your replacement and go back on the list. I was on the list most of the time I was there. I was also returned 99 times from the age of 6 to 13. It was always the same story: Sold, Worked, returned for one reason or another, beaten, shorn again, and put back on the list. 99 TIMES. However, sale 100 was different. A woman passed by the night sale and took pity on me, Probably because I had lost the hopeful spark the others still had. Hope that you might get sold out to kind people and given a life. She bought me, number 2471. I fiddled with the necklace I had made with a needle, tunic string, and various things I found while I was sold. I reminded myself to add a 100th bead when I returned. She took me to a modest home halfway up a hill and surprised me right off the bat. She told me to make myself at home. Cautiously I went to the corner and fell asleep, not too deep in case any demands were made in the night. I woke with a blanket on top of me, late into the morning. I quickly arose and folded the blanket, hoping that if I clean the house, when she returns she wouldn’t be mad at me for sleeping late. When she came back in the late afternoon, I was not yet finished, and I apologized profusely for not being done. She gave me a puzzled look and said “You didn’t…” And trailed off, going upstairs. It was her disposition that confused me the most. She treated me as one would treat a rescued, distrusting animal: with patience. She gave me a bed, a new tunic, and a name, something I had never known. She would never introduce me as a slave or servant, only by Carinia. She taught me how to make instruments and play them, to forage, fish, attract and pet wild rabbits, and many more things.
As time went on we got closer but I always feared I would mess up and be whisked away to how things used to be. One afternoon, I was up the hill picking lavender when Miss Eliza came up to join me. We talked about the clouds and the city below. I bent down to pick up another stem and was caught off balance by the wind. I fell into Miss Eliza, sending us both tumbling down the hill. When we stopped, a very dirty miss Eliza clutched her now-swollen wrist. I ran inside, flooded with guilt, shame, and the reality that all of this ended here. I went to the bathroom, found the scissors, and cut off what little hair had grown in our 6-month company. Afterward, I cleaned the bathroom and sat outside in the grass, mentally bracing myself for the old life to return. At night she came back from town, wrist splinted. When she saw me she ran to my side and sat next to me. She said “You didn’t have to do any of this. I’m never returning you, no matter what you do” That is when I knew I could trust her. Now, four months later, I’ve joined her trade and I’m still learning things. But now I’m proud to have her call me “daughter” The final bead, a tiny brass violin, marks that the string, all my returns and failures is done.
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I'm fry, and I make doodles. That's why they call me FRY DOODLES. Also no pressure but check out my YouTube channel (Fry Doodles) I'm a disabled, neurodivergent, artsy dumpster fire who's always open to chat or share a fun fact or two. Yeah, i'm ace
Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want Or I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do... -Dead by They Might be Giants
I have two, I'll put each in their own post.Haila, short for Hyena Laugh (for the noise they make when they're amused) is a peacock Kenku Glamour Bard.
They started life as an outcast in Waterdeep and would enjoy seeing the traveling circuses and plays from the different theatre troupes that would come into town. One night, the leader of one of these troupes named Othello saw Haila on the empty stage, perfectly mimicking the lines from the earlier performance and decided to take them in.
Through some magical study (the Eldritch Invocation feat for Mask of Many Faces) they ended up becoming the ultimate understudy for the troupe, able to disguise themselves and perfectly mimic any of the actors in the group. When they weren't onstage, they would be using their illusion magic to help craft props, sounds, smells, etc. They would speak using snippets of lines and voices from the plays they would perform.
Their favorite thing to do was to stage entire one man(bird?) shows outside of taverns, crafting all the music and scenery themselves with magic, and then using their charm abilities to convince the richest looking people in the crowd to donate generously to the arts - their own purse, of course.
That character ended up breaking my DM as a walking war crime. Their highlights include:
Shutting down entire encounters before they started with charm magic
Being a doppleganger for a few nobles
Being multiple singers in a band called Rage Against The Mage with their musical halfling friend
Charming a purple wyrm to turn on and eat it's own Mindflayer master
Turning into a T-Rex, but with the same peacock feather coloring, and charging into the City of the Dead with the rest of the party on their back
Honestly, that character was a lot of fun to play but taught me a lot about being a better player. Just because your character can do something, doesn't mean you as a player should. They were an absolute spotlight hog and I went a bit overboard in how I played them that way, at times overshadowing other players and characters in the campaign.
We're all good now, and all of us still play together on the regular.
My second bard that I love is Gilna Criswynn, a half-drow College of Spirits Bard 7/Hexblade Warlock 1/Silver Draconic Sorcerer 1.
500 years ago, a plague called the Phlogiston spread through the realm, destroying everything in its path as it rolled across the world. In a final, last ditch attempt to protect what they could, the greatest archmages created a sealed off pocket realm preserving about a tenth of the world's population and resources, which became known as Taokan. A great city was constructed of stacking four great plates on top of each other, with a facsimile of the Underdark beneath it. While the city was only supposed to last about a dozen years while waiting for the Phlogiston to dissipate, it lasted for five hundred.
Over time, the politics of a microstate became apparent as the population gradually segregated between them; the more prestigious and wealthy filtering to the top plates, with each plate below it becoming poorer and more crowded.
Gilna was born on the 4th plate, the lowest and the most destitute. As she grew up, her mother introduced her to the underworld society that was commonplace with that way of life. She learned a small amount of magic to get by. When she was eight years old, a fire broke out in her district, burning most of it to the ground with its intensity. Her and her mother escaped with their lives, but it planted the seeds of a deep distrust for authority in general and Taokan specifically.
When Gilna hit puberty, silver scales started to appear on her face and shoulders, sparking rumors about her parentage - no dragons were supposed to have been let into Taokan when the realm was sealed five centuries ago. Gilna and her mother moved to the Underdark to escape prying eyes, and years later when Gilna's mother passed, she learned to use her exotic looks to become a dealer at one of the Underdark's gambling dens. Over the years, she was able to become employed by the Third Don - the largest crime lord on the Third Plate and owner of the largest casino in Taokan. She became part of a menagerie. The Don had exotic tastes, and liked to employ races that were relatively rare in Taokan as a collection of sorts. Gilna worked for him as a type of femme fatale, becoming a courtesan and enjoying a relatively comfortable life.
When the Archmages announced, finally, that it appeared the Phlogiston was rolling back after five hundred years, a call was put out for warriors, scholars, and clergy willing to explore the changed world - the Conquistadores initiative. She used all the resources she had available to her to fake her credentials, leaving the Don and joining the initiative, beginning training to become colonizers of this new frontier.
During her training, she was allowed access to rare magical items that were saved when the Phlogiston destroyed the world - one of which being a deck of Tarokka cards. They were rumored to have been created by a silver dragon, and under her touch, they activated. She ended up stealing them and replacing them with a perfect, non-magical duplicate. She was sent with other party members through a rift in Taokan, arriving in the world that was supposedly erased generations ago - but was surprised to find it alive and flourishing. The party is trying to investigate what happened to cause such a disparity.
In truth, she doesn't care about the Conquistadores initiative, or what happened. All she wanted to do was escape the prison that took her mother and so many of her friends, and if she can find a way to stick it to Taokan by leaving the initiative and finding a new way of life, she'll gladly take it.
Mechanically, her Tales from Beyond feature involves her pulling a card at random from her Tarokka deck and activating it, and when she enters combat, all the cards in the deck fly out of their case and surround her in a cloud. She activates spells by snatching the appropriate card out of the air and pushing magical energy into it.
She's learned so far that the deck of cards were actually made by her draconic ancestor, and that he may still be alive in the world - but she has no idea how or if they would have been changed or corrupted by the Phlogiston.
Her endgame goal is to find a way through magic (either Wish or Polymorph) to become a true Silver Dragon, using their ability to control weather around their lair to create the finest orchards that the realm has ever seen.
I've made a few renders of her in a program called Koikatsu!
Gavid was ready to make his Paladin oath. After years as an initiate protecting his order's grounds, everything was ready. No more guarding storehouses or entertaining orphans with his meager guitar playing. He would be a full Paladin!
But as the ceremony began, all Hell was loosed. Fiends flooded the hall, easily killing the order's members in their ceremonial clothes. Gavid gave up any thoughts of fighting and fled, only to be cornered by a group of fiends. They mocked him, telling him to dance and sing. And in his desperation, his performance was actually quite good. A previously unknown appreciation for music and its power filled Gavid. Sated by his humiliation, the fiends left the young initiate a broken wreck amongst the dead.
Gavid would go on to wear his order's garb as a costume as he traveled around, fighting off illusory enemies with a broom for the entertainment of children and earning coin at every pub he passed with his songs.
She plays opposite her twin, a Soulknife/Path of the Giants/Psi Warrior. Reshene grew up in service to a Divine (basically a polytheistic pope) after being abandoned on the steps of the temple shortly after birth. She is a hidden assassin for the Hands of the Divine, sent to clean up messes that arise now and again as a result of heresy.
Reshene and her brother were both born with soulforged weapons designating them as graced. He uses his blades to move, strike, and defend; she uses her bow to punish and control. Neither of them fully understand the other, as their abilities developed from their differences in rearing: his became malleable and multipurpose, hers inflexible and focused.
As one of the graced, she has a remarkable penchant for one knack over all others: arrows twist to her whim. Using a culmination of several techniques, she employs arrows to channel her power that afford her a measure of restraint and focus for her trade. Some of these channels make her shots more deadly, while others merely disable from a distance. Her most potent expressions of latent ability are also the most explosive of her tricks.
With time and practice, she unlocks more devastating combinations of channels and employs several into one shot, and learns more about her Divine, her brother, and herself in the passing.
Her day job, and so cover, is as an acolyte of the cloth, a touch unsettling by virtue of oddity but otherwise harmless to the average citizen. She attends the usual festivities, she evangelizes to those willing to listen, she rears a stubby sand drake as a combination pack mule and racing mount, she performs minor blessings on behalf of the Divine of curative and bolstering natures. All the while, she scopes out for heretics, waits for reports from her handlers, and prepares to unleash the full fury of her Divine on those who may have chosen their allegiances poorly.
Her bow cannot be used by anyone except herself. It caused a mighty vexation in her instructors, who couldn’t judge the weight of her draw properly any more than someone could judge the density of Mjolnir.
EDIT: The sources for all of her channels include Squire of Solamnia (background), two from homebrew fighter, Knight of the Swords (background), Eldritch Smite, Psychic Blades, and the UA feat Agent of Order. She can frighten, restrain, or blind with every shot, and makes liberal use of Catnap each day to replenish her own abilities and her brother’s.
Birthname - Xeronia. Means "golden light of the morning" Xeronia had only experienced the "drawing of the veil" marking her as an adult very recently, and somewhat earlier than some of her other cousins. As part of House Ustina, she and her parents were based in Silverymoon, far from the center of the house in the Misty Forest. Her parents are teachers and sages in the city, and have been doing that for the last 450 years. Xeronia is their only child.
Xeronia had taken the time to study music and lore, and wants to travel and adventure to learn how the real world works. She was educated at the Ultrumm’s Music Conservatory, but left there after encountering philosophical issues on their teaching methods and content. She left the conservatory, and spent more time playing gnome, hin, and dwarven songs rather than traditional elven ones. Her mother is a noted harpist of the Conservatory today, but was not educated there. She knows that the perspective she has from the city has left practical gaps in her experience, and she is eager to correct that. She found herself attending functions in Silverymoon, less of a noble of the House, and more of a gadfly of the various social circles in the city.
In the last 3 years, has been one of turmoil for House Ustina. Arnara suddenly returned after saving the world (or so Xeronia was told.) With her she brought a new "twin" created because of a chance encounter with a coven of night hags. Arnara was now heir to the house, and her "twin" Apolyta now was 2nd Daughter. Xeronia travelled to the Misty Forest to meet with the rest of the family and perform the ancient naming ceremony of House Ustina. As part of this, she felt compelled to choose **Lyanna** as her adult name. The choice was a surprise, as the name was seen as cursed in the house, ever since a prior Lyanna's (daughter of Orais, last bound wielder of the moonblade of the house,) perceived poor judgement led to the death of the elf Coronal of Phalorm in 557 DR. Arnara, while uncomfortable with it, gave her blessing with the hope that the name could be redeemed with Lyanna's actions.
Lyanna has travelled first to Neverwinter, then to Waterdeep to seek adventure, tell stories, and redeem her name with actions. She dreams to become a hero, just like her older cousin Arnara turned out to be. She originally had not told her parents on her plans, but has since written a letter announcing her ownership of a bar to both Arnara, and her parents. Since then, she found herself embroiled in the goings on of Waterdeep. She first acquired a one third ownership of Troll Skull House, in the North ward, and rebuilt its tavern, now called "The Drunken Tube Cat". After dealing with wererat gangs, Zhents, and dharrow forces, they were able to retrieve and return the embezzled gold of Dagult "The Dagger" Neverember the former Open Lord of Waterdeep.
Afterwards she travelled to Nightstone to assist with a band of orcs plaquing the town, meeting Sunzi's brother. Mara took particular joy in wiping out the tribe. On return they were approached by two parties to decend into the Undermountain. One to find her missing brother, the other a payment owed by the harpers to a bartender in Skullport.
Steamboat Willie becoming public domain got me thinking...
What if someone played a bard based on those wacky old cartoons from the twenties. While you are proficient in several instruments you prefer to make use of whatever objects happen to be around. You bang on buckets and basins, rattle washboards, and squeeze farm animals in time to the beat. Choose a race that has a long thin tail and use it as a violin string, banjira, or diddley bow. You could also be an elephant and play your trunk like a trumpet. One of their favorite moves is to pull out their xylophone sticks and play a solo on whatever is available, including the teeth of their enemy. That could even be a form of vicious mockery. The dragon would probably be pretty embarrassed to have its toothy maw yanked open and its teeth rattled like a xylophone or piano.
I'm normally a forever DM, so was nice to get to play the dragonheist module and chose a bard.
I picked bard as the last time I got to play in a one shot, I went for bard as everyone else was new players and being a bard let me be the support class and help them be the best in individual areas and get a great first experience of the game. After one session I enjoyed it so wanted to play a bard properly. Also I read a lot of forgotten realms books back in the 90s and never played a harper, so it was a no brainer for to be a harper with the faction agent background.
I hate massive background stories at first level in the games (epic history doesn't make sense at first level) I run so kept it simple. He graduated the bardic college in Waterdeep, more serious than a lot of bards and asexual so far less likely to get distracted as other bards. He was recruited into the harpers. He travelled up north on his first mission, the group was betrayed by a noble they were traveling with and he was left bleeding in the snow. Only just surviving and escaping back to waterdeep. He started the game risk adverse and not sure about his future in the harpers. I'd cover his changes in game but it would be spoiler heavy for anyone who hasnt played dragonheist, but was great to play lots of character growth.
my bard is a level 5 lizard folk and he is just the best. he sings all of the time and half of it is in draconic. he is constantly swearing through song at the other players (in draconic of course.)
Gralok was born the third son of the third son of the chief of the Athunakume tribe. He was not as strong as his brothers or uncles so early on it was assumed that he would one day be a shaman for tribe.
When Gralok was 9, he fell very ill. He was bedridden for many days. During one of his many days of delirium, he had a vision from the All-father. His vision foretold the destruction of his tribe at the hands of one of their own. The vision was that of a their chief leading them to ruin. When Gralok had recovered enough to share his story, he told his father, who in turn told his father of this vision. The chief, his grandfather Lazarok Strongcaller, laughed at Gralok and insulted him, naming him Rootclimber to convey just how low his grandfather thought of him.
Life continued for the tribe. Gralok, now known by his tribe as Rootclimber, or just Root, still loved his tribe and was determined to show them that he was committed, even if they no longer saw him in the same way. Six years later when Root was 15, The oldest son of the chief, Thadak Stormstalker, a bitter and spiteful man, challenged Lazarok for the leadership of the tribe. As is the way with many Goliath tribes, the challenge was to be determined by single combat. Thadak mercilessly defeated his father in 12 rounds of hand to hand combat. Lazarok was so severely beaten that he did not survive the night. His body was burned on the sunset of the third day as is the custom of his tribe.
During the funeral rite, Root saw an image in the fire. It was a repeat of his fevered dream granted to him by the All-father during his illness three years ago. This time, whether due to the lack of illness, or Root's increased maturity, the vision was clearer. It was the exact same vision but this time Root could see that the chief responsible for the ruin of the tribe was Thadak, not Lazarok. Root was crushed by this vision. How could he have missed this detail originally? He felt responsible. He also worried about the future of his tribe under Thadak's leadership. Root knew that there was nothing he could do now. He would have to bide his time.
That night, Root had another dream. This one was of himself. He was in one of the human cities to the south. Having never been there, he had no means of knowing which one. He saw himself with new friends and wielding new powers. He could see that the All-father had a different task for him and that if he wanted to save his tribe, he would have to leave it. Root was gone before sun broke the horizon the next morning. On his way out of the village, he paid his last respects to Lazarok. When a body burns, often all that remains are the largest bones. Root, wanting to have something of his grandfather, gingerly gathered up his femur and wrapped it in his bedroll. It would become his Arcane Focus. Root will eventually return but not until he has the gathered sufficient power to face Thadak and stop whatever ruin he will bring; and Root will do anything to save his tribe.
Aedel Arianan
Aedel is a Wood Elf bard from the College of Lore. He spends a lot of time in libraries finding out the Lore of the Universe and then rights his own songs out of them. He loves to perform and share stories through song, and he wants the world to know the best stories. He loves performing an making people happy. He came from a small town where not much happens, and he wants to make a difference in the world.
Upvote Ichulla the Unfathomed
"Be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
Made him a couple weeks ago. Played a few one shots with him but I hope I can use him for bigger campaigns.
Azastel, Dragonborn, Level 3.
He was born into a dragonborn clan, but he was banished for being a magic user by his own father. He wandered the wilderness until he met a bard named Belmont. Belmont taught him everything he knows about music, magic and trickery. Eventually Belmont swindled the wrong person. The son of a Half-Orc crime boss called The Green Terror. Before the Terror caught him, he gave Azastel his trusted lute and told him to run. Azastel changed his name and traveled to a new land to live the good life Belmont told him about.
A first level bard who is willing to go on any adventure if he can find his dream lute. His name is Zarali Taznar the Aasimar Bard. should he leave his out of control area of habitation to quest , the object of his affection is either his missing daughter Raven, or a fabled wonderful Unicorn Hair String Lute..
i'm new to the game and hope i get to make my character worthy of the awesome elemental excitement that our three-man party can create with our awesome DM's.
hopefully i'll be college of spirits bard and take a chance on going thru a serious adventure ..that's all folks......oof
Yarrick Sengir, Creation Bard / Warlock dip
Currently level 7 but build "comes online" at level 12
Hails from the darker parts of the Fey Wild and has a dark sense about him (think German Fairy Tale-esque). He casts his spells via death metal variation of well known songs.
Build consists of 10 Levels of Creation Bard and 2 levels of Any Warlock (I went with Hexblade for Medium armor and shield prof.)
From the Creation Bard:
Level 2 Feature - Bardic Inspiration (trigger for Dancing Item to attack)
Level 6 Feature - Animating Performance to create a Dancing Item
Level 10 Feature - Magical Secrets: select (Spirit Guardians and Find Greater Steed) *update: sage advice specifically mentions this combo doesn't work :(. select another spell that works well with Find Greater steeed
From Warlock:
Level 2 Feature - Eldritch Invocation: select Grasp of Hadar + either Agonizing blast/Armor of Shadows/Repelling Blast (repelling blast recommended if upcasting spirit guardians often or using griffon as a controlled mount)
Pre-Battle:
Cast Find Greater Steed: Griffon as an independent mount - lasts until dispelled
Use Animating Performance to create a Dancing Item (last for 1 hour)
During Battle:
Round 1:
Action:
Cast Spirit Guardians on both Mount and caster owing to Find Greater Steed's spell description.Bonus: Bardic Inspiration and/or command Dancing Item to attack
Mount action: Multi-attack
Round x:
Bonus: Bardic Inspiration and/or command Dancing Item to attack
Action: Eldritch blast to pull enemy into Spirit Guardian's AOE x2 since both caster and mount has Spirit guardians cast on it
Mount Action: Multi-attack/Disengage
Target's turn: takes damage x2 from Spirit Guardians
Out of combat:
When escaping:
Yarrick rides his mount and can carry 1 more, uses the "Performance of Creation" feature to create a large size carpet/wagon/other item and activates Animating Performance to carry some party members, Polymorph can be used on any remaining team member to transform them to a Giant Eagle/Owl this should be enough to get the entire party out of dodge
When needing to resurrect a party member:
Use Performance of Creation to create as many diamonds as possible to help pay for spell's material component cost
Making an impression:
Performance of Creation a large or bigger statue (depending on bard class level) made of rock/dirt/stone and animate using Animating Performance and waltz into town in style
My bard Draken Vae is a drow 19th lore bard with a level of Druid as well. He started off as your typical drow looking to grab power and use adventure to get out from under his matron mother (He is a 2nd son).
This adventure took him along the path of the ancients which is a series of portals throughout Oerth. During the course of the adventures Draken and his allies made a deal with Asmodeus who wants to convert the portals to link to his level of hell (its involved but he has a plan to use the portals to convert Oerth to a plane of hell). Having met druids who are trying to close the portals as they are worried about the drow or Githyanki using the portals to move armies - both are trying to.
in the course of the adventures Draken learned how to use the portals, ended up releasing a time elemental captured by a Suel lich. In return the time elemental altered time so that Draken had never made the deal with Asmodeus. After run ins with illithids, yuan-ti, duergar and lots of undead. Draken ended up posing as King Ivid I of the Great Kingdom to realise an army of revenents from their oath after 500 years.
Recently he has managed to convince the other pcs to move away from Asmodeus - breaking their deals and in the case of the warlock switching his deal to one with a Solar. Currently we are nearing the end of the line to try and make sure Asmodeus doesn’t use the portals to turn the world to hell.
While this all sounds great Draken is superb when you need a face and but is very squishy when caught in battles and our party. Our party has started as allies became enemies and are now friends. We have had great fun and the adventures have went in directions none of us ever thought it would - DM included.
Sir Oswaldo Soaringsong 1st level Owlin Bard. The campaign we start Saturday is a post war contenent that is on the verge of war again. I intend to go College of Glamour and use charm abilities to change the course of history and prevent future wars or maybe just charm my way to Emperor of the world.?
Carinia Daratto, Hill dwarf bard level 2
14y
Backstory:(whoo boy it's long but really good)
As a young child, I was put up for sale many times by Three Claws, a slave trade. My sector consisted of me and many other children of many races in an old repurposed army barracks. We were all made to be blank slates: shorn hair, the same clothes, brands of your number, and three claws, so it never mattered which one you bought. The buyers only cared about size, species, and maybe gender. There was a running list of maybe 15 kids, the ones they would display, and they’d replace the sold ones. If you were returned, you would oust your replacement and go back on the list. I was on the list most of the time I was there. I was also returned 99 times from the age of 6 to 13. It was always the same story: Sold, Worked, returned for one reason or another, beaten, shorn again, and put back on the list. 99 TIMES. However, sale 100 was different. A woman passed by the night sale and took pity on me, Probably because I had lost the hopeful spark the others still had. Hope that you might get sold out to kind people and given a life. She bought me, number 2471. I fiddled with the necklace I had made with a needle, tunic string, and various things I found while I was sold. I reminded myself to add a 100th bead when I returned. She took me to a modest home halfway up a hill and surprised me right off the bat. She told me to make myself at home. Cautiously I went to the corner and fell asleep, not too deep in case any demands were made in the night. I woke with a blanket on top of me, late into the morning. I quickly arose and folded the blanket, hoping that if I clean the house, when she returns she wouldn’t be mad at me for sleeping late. When she came back in the late afternoon, I was not yet finished, and I apologized profusely for not being done. She gave me a puzzled look and said “You didn’t…” And trailed off, going upstairs. It was her disposition that confused me the most. She treated me as one would treat a rescued, distrusting animal: with patience. She gave me a bed, a new tunic, and a name, something I had never known. She would never introduce me as a slave or servant, only by Carinia. She taught me how to make instruments and play them, to forage, fish, attract and pet wild rabbits, and many more things.
As time went on we got closer but I always feared I would mess up and be whisked away to how things used to be. One afternoon, I was up the hill picking lavender when Miss Eliza came up to join me. We talked about the clouds and the city below. I bent down to pick up another stem and was caught off balance by the wind. I fell into Miss Eliza, sending us both tumbling down the hill. When we stopped, a very dirty miss Eliza clutched her now-swollen wrist. I ran inside, flooded with guilt, shame, and the reality that all of this ended here. I went to the bathroom, found the scissors, and cut off what little hair had grown in our 6-month company. Afterward, I cleaned the bathroom and sat outside in the grass, mentally bracing myself for the old life to return. At night she came back from town, wrist splinted. When she saw me she ran to my side and sat next to me. She said “You didn’t have to do any of this. I’m never returning you, no matter what you do” That is when I knew I could trust her. Now, four months later, I’ve joined her trade and I’m still learning things. But now I’m proud to have her call me “daughter” The final bead, a tiny brass violin, marks that the string, all my returns and failures is done.
I'm fry, and I make doodles. That's why they call me FRY DOODLES. Also no pressure but check out my YouTube channel (Fry Doodles)
I'm a disabled, neurodivergent, artsy dumpster fire who's always open to chat or share a fun fact or two. Yeah, i'm ace
Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want
Or I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do...
-Dead by They Might be Giants
Drummer has dubbed me Crafter of Constellations.
Great back story
I have two, I'll put each in their own post.Haila, short for Hyena Laugh (for the noise they make when they're amused) is a peacock Kenku Glamour Bard.
They started life as an outcast in Waterdeep and would enjoy seeing the traveling circuses and plays from the different theatre troupes that would come into town. One night, the leader of one of these troupes named Othello saw Haila on the empty stage, perfectly mimicking the lines from the earlier performance and decided to take them in.
Through some magical study (the Eldritch Invocation feat for Mask of Many Faces) they ended up becoming the ultimate understudy for the troupe, able to disguise themselves and perfectly mimic any of the actors in the group. When they weren't onstage, they would be using their illusion magic to help craft props, sounds, smells, etc. They would speak using snippets of lines and voices from the plays they would perform.
Their favorite thing to do was to stage entire one man(bird?) shows outside of taverns, crafting all the music and scenery themselves with magic, and then using their charm abilities to convince the richest looking people in the crowd to donate generously to the arts - their own purse, of course.
That character ended up breaking my DM as a walking war crime. Their highlights include:
Honestly, that character was a lot of fun to play but taught me a lot about being a better player. Just because your character can do something, doesn't mean you as a player should. They were an absolute spotlight hog and I went a bit overboard in how I played them that way, at times overshadowing other players and characters in the campaign.
We're all good now, and all of us still play together on the regular.
My second bard that I love is Gilna Criswynn, a half-drow College of Spirits Bard 7/Hexblade Warlock 1/Silver Draconic Sorcerer 1.
500 years ago, a plague called the Phlogiston spread through the realm, destroying everything in its path as it rolled across the world. In a final, last ditch attempt to protect what they could, the greatest archmages created a sealed off pocket realm preserving about a tenth of the world's population and resources, which became known as Taokan. A great city was constructed of stacking four great plates on top of each other, with a facsimile of the Underdark beneath it. While the city was only supposed to last about a dozen years while waiting for the Phlogiston to dissipate, it lasted for five hundred.
Over time, the politics of a microstate became apparent as the population gradually segregated between them; the more prestigious and wealthy filtering to the top plates, with each plate below it becoming poorer and more crowded.
Gilna was born on the 4th plate, the lowest and the most destitute. As she grew up, her mother introduced her to the underworld society that was commonplace with that way of life. She learned a small amount of magic to get by. When she was eight years old, a fire broke out in her district, burning most of it to the ground with its intensity. Her and her mother escaped with their lives, but it planted the seeds of a deep distrust for authority in general and Taokan specifically.
When Gilna hit puberty, silver scales started to appear on her face and shoulders, sparking rumors about her parentage - no dragons were supposed to have been let into Taokan when the realm was sealed five centuries ago. Gilna and her mother moved to the Underdark to escape prying eyes, and years later when Gilna's mother passed, she learned to use her exotic looks to become a dealer at one of the Underdark's gambling dens. Over the years, she was able to become employed by the Third Don - the largest crime lord on the Third Plate and owner of the largest casino in Taokan. She became part of a menagerie. The Don had exotic tastes, and liked to employ races that were relatively rare in Taokan as a collection of sorts. Gilna worked for him as a type of femme fatale, becoming a courtesan and enjoying a relatively comfortable life.
When the Archmages announced, finally, that it appeared the Phlogiston was rolling back after five hundred years, a call was put out for warriors, scholars, and clergy willing to explore the changed world - the Conquistadores initiative. She used all the resources she had available to her to fake her credentials, leaving the Don and joining the initiative, beginning training to become colonizers of this new frontier.
During her training, she was allowed access to rare magical items that were saved when the Phlogiston destroyed the world - one of which being a deck of Tarokka cards. They were rumored to have been created by a silver dragon, and under her touch, they activated. She ended up stealing them and replacing them with a perfect, non-magical duplicate. She was sent with other party members through a rift in Taokan, arriving in the world that was supposedly erased generations ago - but was surprised to find it alive and flourishing. The party is trying to investigate what happened to cause such a disparity.
In truth, she doesn't care about the Conquistadores initiative, or what happened. All she wanted to do was escape the prison that took her mother and so many of her friends, and if she can find a way to stick it to Taokan by leaving the initiative and finding a new way of life, she'll gladly take it.
Mechanically, her Tales from Beyond feature involves her pulling a card at random from her Tarokka deck and activating it, and when she enters combat, all the cards in the deck fly out of their case and surround her in a cloud. She activates spells by snatching the appropriate card out of the air and pushing magical energy into it.
She's learned so far that the deck of cards were actually made by her draconic ancestor, and that he may still be alive in the world - but she has no idea how or if they would have been changed or corrupted by the Phlogiston.
Her endgame goal is to find a way through magic (either Wish or Polymorph) to become a true Silver Dragon, using their ability to control weather around their lair to create the finest orchards that the realm has ever seen.
I've made a few renders of her in a program called Koikatsu!
Gavid was ready to make his Paladin oath. After years as an initiate protecting his order's grounds, everything was ready. No more guarding storehouses or entertaining orphans with his meager guitar playing. He would be a full Paladin!
But as the ceremony began, all Hell was loosed. Fiends flooded the hall, easily killing the order's members in their ceremonial clothes. Gavid gave up any thoughts of fighting and fled, only to be cornered by a group of fiends. They mocked him, telling him to dance and sing. And in his desperation, his performance was actually quite good. A previously unknown appreciation for music and its power filled Gavid. Sated by his humiliation, the fiends left the young initiate a broken wreck amongst the dead.
Gavid would go on to wear his order's garb as a costume as he traveled around, fighting off illusory enemies with a broom for the entertainment of children and earning coin at every pub he passed with his songs.
Does it count if the bard doesn’t use Bardic Inspiration traditionally? If so:
Fighter 3 / Warlock 5 / Bard 12 || Homebrew / Hexblade / Whispers
She plays opposite her twin, a Soulknife/Path of the Giants/Psi Warrior. Reshene grew up in service to a Divine (basically a polytheistic pope) after being abandoned on the steps of the temple shortly after birth. She is a hidden assassin for the Hands of the Divine, sent to clean up messes that arise now and again as a result of heresy.
Reshene and her brother were both born with soulforged weapons designating them as graced. He uses his blades to move, strike, and defend; she uses her bow to punish and control. Neither of them fully understand the other, as their abilities developed from their differences in rearing: his became malleable and multipurpose, hers inflexible and focused.
As one of the graced, she has a remarkable penchant for one knack over all others: arrows twist to her whim. Using a culmination of several techniques, she employs arrows to channel her power that afford her a measure of restraint and focus for her trade. Some of these channels make her shots more deadly, while others merely disable from a distance. Her most potent expressions of latent ability are also the most explosive of her tricks.
With time and practice, she unlocks more devastating combinations of channels and employs several into one shot, and learns more about her Divine, her brother, and herself in the passing.
Her day job, and so cover, is as an acolyte of the cloth, a touch unsettling by virtue of oddity but otherwise harmless to the average citizen. She attends the usual festivities, she evangelizes to those willing to listen, she rears a stubby sand drake as a combination pack mule and racing mount, she performs minor blessings on behalf of the Divine of curative and bolstering natures. All the while, she scopes out for heretics, waits for reports from her handlers, and prepares to unleash the full fury of her Divine on those who may have chosen their allegiances poorly.
Her bow cannot be used by anyone except herself. It caused a mighty vexation in her instructors, who couldn’t judge the weight of her draw properly any more than someone could judge the density of Mjolnir.
EDIT: The sources for all of her channels include Squire of Solamnia (background), two from homebrew fighter, Knight of the Swords (background), Eldritch Smite, Psychic Blades, and the UA feat Agent of Order. She can frighten, restrain, or blind with every shot, and makes liberal use of Catnap each day to replenish her own abilities and her brother’s.
Ok, here is my current bard.
Lyanna, 3rd Daughter of House Ustina. Currently 7th level Bard, of Creation.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/73626945/LGCusT
Backstory:
Birthname - Xeronia. Means "golden light of the morning" Xeronia had only experienced the "drawing of the veil" marking her as an adult very recently, and somewhat earlier than some of her other cousins. As part of House Ustina, she and her parents were based in Silverymoon, far from the center of the house in the Misty Forest. Her parents are teachers and sages in the city, and have been doing that for the last 450 years. Xeronia is their only child.
Xeronia had taken the time to study music and lore, and wants to travel and adventure to learn how the real world works. She was educated at the Ultrumm’s Music Conservatory, but left there after encountering philosophical issues on their teaching methods and content. She left the conservatory, and spent more time playing gnome, hin, and dwarven songs rather than traditional elven ones. Her mother is a noted harpist of the Conservatory today, but was not educated there. She knows that the perspective she has from the city has left practical gaps in her experience, and she is eager to correct that. She found herself attending functions in Silverymoon, less of a noble of the House, and more of a gadfly of the various social circles in the city.
In the last 3 years, has been one of turmoil for House Ustina. Arnara suddenly returned after saving the world (or so Xeronia was told.) With her she brought a new "twin" created because of a chance encounter with a coven of night hags. Arnara was now heir to the house, and her "twin" Apolyta now was 2nd Daughter. Xeronia travelled to the Misty Forest to meet with the rest of the family and perform the ancient naming ceremony of House Ustina. As part of this, she felt compelled to choose **Lyanna** as her adult name. The choice was a surprise, as the name was seen as cursed in the house, ever since a prior Lyanna's (daughter of Orais, last bound wielder of the moonblade of the house,) perceived poor judgement led to the death of the elf Coronal of Phalorm in 557 DR. Arnara, while uncomfortable with it, gave her blessing with the hope that the name could be redeemed with Lyanna's actions.
Lyanna has travelled first to Neverwinter, then to Waterdeep to seek adventure, tell stories, and redeem her name with actions. She dreams to become a hero, just like her older cousin Arnara turned out to be. She originally had not told her parents on her plans, but has since written a letter announcing her ownership of a bar to both Arnara, and her parents. Since then, she found herself embroiled in the goings on of Waterdeep. She first acquired a one third ownership of Troll Skull House, in the North ward, and rebuilt its tavern, now called "The Drunken Tube Cat". After dealing with wererat gangs, Zhents, and dharrow forces, they were able to retrieve and return the embezzled gold of Dagult "The Dagger" Neverember the former Open Lord of Waterdeep.
Afterwards she travelled to Nightstone to assist with a band of orcs plaquing the town, meeting Sunzi's brother. Mara took particular joy in wiping out the tribe. On return they were approached by two parties to decend into the Undermountain. One to find her missing brother, the other a payment owed by the harpers to a bartender in Skullport.
Steamboat Willie becoming public domain got me thinking...
What if someone played a bard based on those wacky old cartoons from the twenties. While you are proficient in several instruments you prefer to make use of whatever objects happen to be around. You bang on buckets and basins, rattle washboards, and squeeze farm animals in time to the beat. Choose a race that has a long thin tail and use it as a violin string, banjira, or diddley bow. You could also be an elephant and play your trunk like a trumpet. One of their favorite moves is to pull out their xylophone sticks and play a solo on whatever is available, including the teeth of their enemy. That could even be a form of vicious mockery. The dragon would probably be pretty embarrassed to have its toothy maw yanked open and its teeth rattled like a xylophone or piano.
Always two maybe three
I'm normally a forever DM, so was nice to get to play the dragonheist module and chose a bard.
I picked bard as the last time I got to play in a one shot, I went for bard as everyone else was new players and being a bard let me be the support class and help them be the best in individual areas and get a great first experience of the game. After one session I enjoyed it so wanted to play a bard properly. Also I read a lot of forgotten realms books back in the 90s and never played a harper, so it was a no brainer for to be a harper with the faction agent background.
I hate massive background stories at first level in the games (epic history doesn't make sense at first level) I run so kept it simple. He graduated the bardic college in Waterdeep, more serious than a lot of bards and asexual so far less likely to get distracted as other bards. He was recruited into the harpers. He travelled up north on his first mission, the group was betrayed by a noble they were traveling with and he was left bleeding in the snow. Only just surviving and escaping back to waterdeep. He started the game risk adverse and not sure about his future in the harpers. I'd cover his changes in game but it would be spoiler heavy for anyone who hasnt played dragonheist, but was great to play lots of character growth.
my bard is a level 5 lizard folk and he is just the best. he sings all of the time and half of it is in draconic. he is constantly swearing through song at the other players (in draconic of course.)
Gralok was born the third son of the third son of the chief of the Athunakume tribe. He was not as strong as his brothers or uncles so early on it was assumed that he would one day be a shaman for tribe.
When Gralok was 9, he fell very ill. He was bedridden for many days. During one of his many days of delirium, he had a vision from the All-father. His vision foretold the destruction of his tribe at the hands of one of their own. The vision was that of a their chief leading them to ruin. When Gralok had recovered enough to share his story, he told his father, who in turn told his father of this vision. The chief, his grandfather Lazarok Strongcaller, laughed at Gralok and insulted him, naming him Rootclimber to convey just how low his grandfather thought of him.
Life continued for the tribe. Gralok, now known by his tribe as Rootclimber, or just Root, still loved his tribe and was determined to show them that he was committed, even if they no longer saw him in the same way. Six years later when Root was 15, The oldest son of the chief, Thadak Stormstalker, a bitter and spiteful man, challenged Lazarok for the leadership of the tribe. As is the way with many Goliath tribes, the challenge was to be determined by single combat. Thadak mercilessly defeated his father in 12 rounds of hand to hand combat. Lazarok was so severely beaten that he did not survive the night. His body was burned on the sunset of the third day as is the custom of his tribe.
During the funeral rite, Root saw an image in the fire. It was a repeat of his fevered dream granted to him by the All-father during his illness three years ago. This time, whether due to the lack of illness, or Root's increased maturity, the vision was clearer. It was the exact same vision but this time Root could see that the chief responsible for the ruin of the tribe was Thadak, not Lazarok. Root was crushed by this vision. How could he have missed this detail originally? He felt responsible. He also worried about the future of his tribe under Thadak's leadership. Root knew that there was nothing he could do now. He would have to bide his time.
That night, Root had another dream. This one was of himself. He was in one of the human cities to the south. Having never been there, he had no means of knowing which one. He saw himself with new friends and wielding new powers. He could see that the All-father had a different task for him and that if he wanted to save his tribe, he would have to leave it. Root was gone before sun broke the horizon the next morning. On his way out of the village, he paid his last respects to Lazarok. When a body burns, often all that remains are the largest bones. Root, wanting to have something of his grandfather, gingerly gathered up his femur and wrapped it in his bedroll. It would become his Arcane Focus. Root will eventually return but not until he has the gathered sufficient power to face Thadak and stop whatever ruin he will bring; and Root will do anything to save his tribe.
Root