From: petitc@nuge112.its.rpi.edu (Christopher Jon Petit)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Bard Class Revised
Date: 16 Oct 92 17:00:07 GMT
Article-I.D.: rpi.s#4zm5f
Reply-To: petitc@rpi.edu
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.


  Just consider me the mad scientist + experimenter of Moria :&) ;&)

  Bard class bas been toned down so he's reasonable, but I STILL left him with
a few powerful spells---Home (Word-of-Recall), Hunger (creates 5 food Rations).

  Home is justified since the Bard has an extra slot taken up by his Lyre.

  Hunger, I figured it would be pretty unfair to give such a high level bard
song just creating Fine Grade Mush.

   Now, a Bard looks like this:

		* Bard Class Info *

	A Bard is quite the charmer, wandering from town to town, playing his
songs to get a good hearty drink, and playing about days long gone by.
His family has happened upon a most curious lyre.  When he plays it, the
songs he knows so well begin to have peculiar effects.  These effects are the
heart and soul of a Bard's magical abilities.

	Somewhat roguelike, a Bard is quite stealthy, trying to avoid fights.
However, since he has been in a bar brawl or two, he is a decent fighter, and
is hardier than a mage or priest.  Unfortunately, he never did care how a
bow and arrow worked, so he can't use one.  Neither has he ever encountered
traps, so he can't disarm them well.  In addition, although a Bard is very
perceptive, he can't search explicitly for things.

	His major downside, though, is his acute senesitivity.  He is in tune
with his environment (pun intended), so he has the worst saving throw in
the game.  Also, he is somewhat bad with magical devices, but learns them
quickly, since he is also the specialist in ancient lore, and most magical
devices are ancient.

	The absolute WORST thing that can happen to a bard is that he loses
his instrument.  These special lyres are very expensive, and until he buys
another one, he can play no songs.

		Skills and Abilities

(Scaled from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best of any class)

Fighting: 5
Bows/Throwing: 1
Saving Throw: 1
Stealth: 8
Disarming: 3
Magic Device: 7
Searching: 1
Perception: 9

		Bard's Song List

Level	Mana	Title		Description

 1	 1	Bravery		Removes Fear
 1	 1	Peace		Heals 4d3 HP
 3	 2	Sight		Detects monsters, doors, traps, and stairs
 3	 2	Light		Lights an area
 5	 3	Strength	Slows poison
 5	 3	Confusion	Confuses a monster
 7	 4	Love		Cures 6d3 HP and poison
 7	 4	Shifting	Short range teleport
 9	 5	Despair		Does 5d4 damage in an area
 9	 5	Silence		Puts a monster to sleep
11	 6	Knowledge	Identifies an item
11	 6	Truth		Magic Maps an area
13	 7	Movement	Long range teleport
13	 7	Searching	Detects Treasure + Objects
15	 8	Sleep		Sleep III
15	 9	Home		Word of Recall in 30+1d20 rounds
17	10	War		Heroism, See Inv., + Infra for 20-40 rounds
17	11	Pain		Does 4d8 points lightning damage to a monster
19	12	Curing		Cures 12d8 HP and poison
21	14	Resistance	Resist Heat/Cold for 1d20+level rounds
23	15	Hunger		Creates Food Rations for the player
25	17	Disintegrate	Does 15+5d6 points Acid damage to a monster
27	19	Draining	Does 20+5d6 points damage to a monster
29	21	Sloth		Slows a monster
31	23	Doom		Does 15+5d8 points area damage
33	25	Major Cure	Cures 110 HP, Poison, Fear
35	27	Energy		Does 55 points lightning damage in an area
37	29	Thunder		Does 75 points damage in an area

  Is this more reasonable?  Notice his spells have been toned down and that he
only has Lightning and Acid attacks.  Why is the first Magic attack an area
effect?  Simple---he needs SOMETHING to fend off Lice (Mages get Stinking Cloud,
Priests get their Orb, so Bards get a no-special-attack area affect).

  I thank all of the people who are helping me make this a viable class.  Hey,
let's face it--there are TONS of Bards in Tolkien, so we should be able to play
one (pun intended).  :&)

-- 
Trust:  A very precious social commodity, due both to high value and terrible
scarcity.
MATWDTM:  Mothers Against Teenagers Who Drink Too Much (failed name for MADD)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria