BardDS

Human and half-elf characters can advance beyond 20th level as bards. Only human characters can advance that high as thieves. At these advanced levels, rogues do not become beings of another nature. They do, however, gain new abilities.
Rogues Beyond 20th Level
Level	Thief/Bard	Hit Dice (d6)
21 	2,500,000 	10+22
22 	2,800,000 	10+24
23 	3,150,000 	10+26
24 	3,500,000 	10+28
25 	3,900,000 	10+30
26 	4,300,000 	10+32
27 	4,750,000 	10+34
28 	5,200,000 	10+36
29 	5,700,000 	10+38
30 	6,200,000 	10+40
The rogue gains 2 hit points per level beyond 20. A rogue's THAC0 never improves beyond 11.
Rogue Illusionists: All rogues, both bards and thieves, gain the ability to cast spells from the illusionist school when they attain 21st level. They are essentially wizards, specifically preservers, with the usual restrictions for spell books and memorization. However, rogue illusionists have no weapon or armor restrictions. They are not specialist mages, so they do not gain the specialist advantages. Further, they are not subject to the 16 minimum Dexterity score for specialist illusionists.
All spellcasting rules that apply to wizards also apply to rogues. They use components, memorize new spells out of their own spell books, and so on.
Rogue illusionists are preservers. They do not cause defiling damage when they cast their spells.
Level	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
21 	2	1	—	—	—	—	—
22 	3	2	1	—	—	—	—
23 	4	3	2	1	—	—	—
24 	4	4	2	2	—	—	—
25 	5	4	3	2	1	—	—
26 	5	5	4	3	2	—	—
27 	5	5	5	4	3	1	—
28 	5	5	5	5	4	2	—
29 	6	6	5	5	5	3	1
30 	6	6	6	6	5	4	2
Here are the available illusionist spells.
1st-Level: audible glamer, cantrip, change self, Nystul's magical aura, phantasmal force, spook, ventriloquism.
2nd-Level: blindness, blur, foolss gold, hypnotic pattern, improved phantasmal force, invisibility, Leomund's trap, mirror image, misdirection, whispering wind.
3rd-Level: illusionary script, invisibility 10' radius, phantom steed, spectral force, wraithform.
4th-Level: fear, hallucinatory terrain, illusionary wall, improved invisibility, minor creation, phantasmal killer, rainbow pattern, shadow monsters, vacancy.
5th-Level: advanced illusion, demi-shadow monsters, dream, major creation, seeming, shadow door, shadow magic.
6th-Level: demi-shadow magic, eyebite, mirage arcana, mislead, permanent illusion, programmed illusion, project image, shades, veil.
7th-Level: mass invisibility, sequester, shadow walk, simulacrum.
In addition to learning illusionist spells, bards at high levels also learn how to use and create magical scrolls. They can also brew a limited number of potion fruits.
Bards do not add to their list of poisons beyond 20th level.
Scroll use: Beyond 20th level, a bard can read any wizard or priest scroll and cast the spells which are upon it. The bard can determine what spells are on the scroll just by looking at it.
Penning scrolls: A bard who reaches 23rd level can create scrolls, subject to all the restrictions for wizards. The bard must copy each spell from his own spell book or from another scroll he already owns. Unfortunately, bard created scrolls tend to be less reliable than those made by wizards: the bard can only add his level beyond 20th.
Brewing potions: At 21st level, bards learn to enchant magical potion fruits. But as their knowledge of the broadest spectrum of magical powers is Jimited, so too is the number of potions they learn to produce. At 21st level and every level beyond that, roll on Table 89: Potions and Oils (in the DM Q to see what type of potion fruit the bard learns to brew. The bard must wr ite the recipe into a spell book. If that book is ever lost, so too is the formula. If a duplicate is rolled, then the bard has learned a second method to create the same potion fruit. If DM's Choice" is rolled, let the player choose the potion.
The bard does not need a laboratory for potion brewing. As with potions for wizards, roll percentile dice secretly to determine if the potion fruit has "taken." The base chance is still 70%. Improve the chance 1% for every 100 cp worth of ingredients and every level of the bard above 20th.