Bard

The Bard is a Core class of DnD 5e. It is used to show the abilities of those charismatic storytellers who wield magic with their force of personality alone. Many Bards take up the blade in favour of magic, most notably the Skald variant of this class.

Bards describe any number of charismatic creatures. Many are storytellers, poets, or musicians who roll around Nexus like rockstars. Many stay at home, performing for their loved ones and inspiring them to greatness. Others sit to the sidelines of a battle, simply watching so as to recount the story later. Moreso than mages or seduction machines, Bards are makers of history. To have a Bard as witness is important, not for credibility, but for History. While some others can fill this roll, it is a Bard who most often takes time to commit the tales created to memory, so as to never lose them to time.

## Bard Mechanics

Most of all bard stats can be found on 5etools. Homebrew Subclasses:

### Heroic Bards

Bards gain the feature **Words of Power**. When you use a magical ability, you may spend and roll a bardic inspiration die. You may add or subtract it from any roll you make as part of the magical ability.

### Bard Variants

Poet- Bards who focus entirely on their writings and performance, rather than gathering entirely new tales to tell. This trades many abilities for more powerful magics and the ability to make special scrolls.

Skald- Storytellers who forsake spellcasting in favour of being Superior in combat.

## Bards and the ~~Monster Girl Encyclopedia~~ Monster Manual

There is a partially-deserved reputation for Bards seducing... Well, everything. And in Nexus, this isn't exactly inaccurate, especially with the monstrous variety of Bards common in the world. This leads to a certain... Divide, between Bards. Those who see books such as "The Monster Manual" or "Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes" as books of information on their foes... And those who see them as "Monster Dating Encyclopedias." The second group is significantly rarer than the first, but small doesn't mean quiet. Any barroom is likely filled with stories, some true, some not, of Bards who shared a night with... Well, take your pick of monstrous enemy. Dragons, Giants, even Demons, Devils, and Angels. This second group is VERY famous, moreso than the first group, and they cast a... Not negative, but very horny image of the class as a whole.

A Bard should determine their position in or between the groups early on, if only for convenience. Of course, switching is very possible... But your reputation will never be the same.

## Bards on Acheri

Acheri is home to three cultures, each of which appreciate their bards. Khenran society considers a Bard a historian, a poet, rather than warrior or magus. In the tribes of Chiron, the bard is seen as a sort of emotional leader, capable of making or breaking an entire clan with their stories. Meanwhile the Bards of the Cheric Legions are seen as a terror of the army, they serve as assassins and keepers more than simple magus.

## Bards on Aldrow

Aldrow is home to many a bard, and are celebrated in all four of the tower cities as both mages and lorekeepers, and sometimes warriors. In the Venomfang tribe, bards are further seen as special leaders for dragon history, serving as a bridge between the ancestors and the modern day.

## Bards on Amedala

Bards on Amedala are seen as people with a natural talent for Telepathy and emotional manipulation abilities. Beyond this, they are not particularly revered or dismissed beyond being magus.

## Bards on Anntarrem

Bards are interesting on Anntarrem, as they are treated as what they are, more than anything else; Bards are entertainers. They are Magus or Warriors or Nerds just the same, but they are entertainers in a way that no other class is. Performers, musicians, artists and the like. Much more likely to be underestimated by some, but others, who know that morale can make or break a fight, know much better to never underestimate the Bard.

## Bards on Anukavin

Anukavin is a place of roving tribes, and Bards keep the morale, the history of the tribe, the legends of the tribe, and further serve as the majority of arcane magic on the continent.

## Bards on Araminta

Bards speak to the people, but they also speak to the spirits. And when it comes to Aramin societies, this is a universally important endeavor. The northern tribes see the Bards in a nearly-equal roll to the Monk as a sort of spiritual leader, though of a less disciplined sort. They also have a tendency to be recordkeepers in the tribes, which is ALSO an important endeavor.

## Bards on Arclent

Arclent is a continent which loves it's war, so Clentian Bards are often recognized in this capacity. Bards are morale-keepers, living battle-standards, and messengers, in addition to powerful Magus. Particularly in Yhillin, where Arcane Magic is prized, bards occupy a special place in society, just below wizards and above warlocks.

## Bards on Azzeranni

Azzeranni is a continent of lycanthropy, Beastkin, and primal magic, and bards have very little place in the overall structure of the continent.

## Bards in Alloy

Bards are treated no different than the other arcanists of Alloy- That is, they are held in high regard overall, so long as they can pull their magical weight.