Habard Ashery is more of a con-man than a musician, so while he has a flute it's for distraction or light entertainment only.
Chortle, the Tortle plays more like a barbarian in combat (very little casting except maybe enlarge and/or mirror image in advance) and out of combat his only instrument is bagpipes for maximum distraction (though from his rolling he's apparently amazing at it, as out of four Performance checks in the last one shot he rolled four natural 20's).
I know one of the great polarizing topics in D&D these last few years has been the "Critical Role Effect" and how too many new players are trying to emulate Matt Mercer and the others. My group, while we enjoy CR, are very much aware of how poisonous attempting to live up those kinds of expectations can be, and just being aware of it has done wonders for respecting CR without trying to be CR.
With all of that being said... Sam singing his bardic inspirations was a stroke of genius, and it frankly makes too much sense to not attempt some kind of musical accompaniment as my bard. But again, being aware of that dangerous road, I'm looking at the confidence he portrays without outright copying him. So... I've been rhyming my dialogue. Not all of the time, but enough that it is becoming something my character is known for. And you know what? Rhyming on demand is ****ing hard. But it's a fun kind of hard.
Who else has tried some kind of interesting musical hook with their bard?
Eh, bit of disclaimer there eh? Don't worry about it. People have been performing their Bards for over 30 years now. Matt Mercer didn't invent the idea of a player performing their bard. That being said, because I don't actually sing well either, I do have a playlist on youtube I made so when I need to sing, I just click a song on my playlist and have it play and mime along as though I am actually singing. Also as mentioned above, singing isn't actually my bards big thing, normal storytelling is. Though a bit of musical accompanyment is nice.
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Thank you for your time and please have a very pleasant day.
My Friday game group switches games to keep things fresh and we’re about to return to our D&D campaign in a couple weeks starting at 9th level. I am switching out my kick-ass ranger (she has a personal journey to undertake) for a half-orc bard singer/songwriter from the College of Valor. (Built mostly as a comedic character but she has the potential to be pretty useful.) I already have a spell and songbook ready and I fully intend to sing when appropriate since I’ve been singing for years in RL. Most of the stuff I wrote myself, but I’m throwing in several modern day favorites with a bardic twist and even a children’s song with some hey-nonny-nonny-no’s.
However I have no intention of singing every time I cast a spell… it will only be when it’s my first time casting with the party because that’s when it will get the group reaction (hopefully a laugh). Despite being a ham on occasion I do feel that singing it every time would get annoying and old.
No, bards don’t have to be singers. There’s all kinds of bards. But that’s what I’m playing and I’m excited to introduce her. Ootana Greenglade
I think it's cringe as shit unless you are a superstar. I dont wanna have to deal with listening to horrible singers hoping to get praise for it lol. Now if they don't get mad at other folks making fun of their singing then i guess i wouldn't mind.
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I very specifically make my Bards non-singers.
Characters: Bullette, Chortle, Dracarys Noir, Edward Merryspell, Habard Ashery, Legion, Peregrine
My Homebrew: Feats | Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Races
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WIP (feedback needed): Blood Mage, Chromatic Sorcerers, Summoner, Trickster Domain, Unlucky, Way of the Daoist (Drunken Master), Weapon Smith
Please don't reply to my posts unless you've read what they actually say.
Eh, bit of disclaimer there eh? Don't worry about it. People have been performing their Bards for over 30 years now. Matt Mercer didn't invent the idea of a player performing their bard. That being said, because I don't actually sing well either, I do have a playlist on youtube I made so when I need to sing, I just click a song on my playlist and have it play and mime along as though I am actually singing. Also as mentioned above, singing isn't actually my bards big thing, normal storytelling is. Though a bit of musical accompanyment is nice.
Thank you for your time and please have a very pleasant day.
My Friday game group switches games to keep things fresh and we’re about to return to our D&D campaign in a couple weeks starting at 9th level. I am switching out my kick-ass ranger (she has a personal journey to undertake) for a half-orc bard singer/songwriter from the College of Valor. (Built mostly as a comedic character but she has the potential to be pretty useful.) I already have a spell and songbook ready and I fully intend to sing when appropriate since I’ve been singing for years in RL. Most of the stuff I wrote myself, but I’m throwing in several modern day favorites with a bardic twist and even a children’s song with some hey-nonny-nonny-no’s.
However I have no intention of singing every time I cast a spell… it will only be when it’s my first time casting with the party because that’s when it will get the group reaction (hopefully a laugh). Despite being a ham on occasion I do feel that singing it every time would get annoying and old.
No, bards don’t have to be singers. There’s all kinds of bards. But that’s what I’m playing and I’m excited to introduce her. Ootana Greenglade
I think it's cringe as shit unless you are a superstar. I dont wanna have to deal with listening to horrible singers hoping to get praise for it lol. Now if they don't get mad at other folks making fun of their singing then i guess i wouldn't mind.