LordGhee Posted June 6, 2004 Report Share Posted June 6, 2004 What does it take to be a Bard? Is it just an Oratory roll? Play an instrument and that is it. To get a Job at an Inn what would you need to see or a player have in skills to make a living entertaining people as a Bard. Some thoughts Please!! Lord Ghee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Cross Posted June 6, 2004 Report Share Posted June 6, 2004 Re: That is Entertainment …… At the very least,a prospective bard should have KS: Popular Songs,PS: Bard and the ability to play some musical instruments.I'd recommend The Lark and The Wren by Mercedes Lackey,as it's about a novice bard just starting out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevenall Posted June 7, 2004 Report Share Posted June 7, 2004 Re: That is Entertainment …… PS: Poetic Improvisation Edetic memory for memorizing all those epic tales. KS: Stories of specific culture. Like Greek Stories. You could break this one down into various story cycles like, KS: Troy Cycle, of which the illiad and odessy are just a part KS: Gods Cycle, The adventures of the gods from the creation of the universe to some point where the stories of mankind start to take presedence. I always think of Bards as the respository of the oral history of a culture rather then just entertainers. To be a Bard in ancient Ireland was no small thing. I don't know if I have all the details exactly right, but to pass your bardic test you had to compose a huge poem while lying in a stone coffin of water with a big rock on your chest. Something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 Re: That is Entertainment …… You could also have a true Bard be a special status, thus differentiating them from minstrels or troubadours. I remember reading a story (The Bard's Tale?) where a bard's apprentice is a nobody until he/she becomes a full bard. If memory serves me right, bards were part of the religious caste in Celtic lands. They were the lowest caste, but they were still honored by all. Above them were the filidh. The druids were the religious leaders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Democracy Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 Re: That is Entertainment …… Yeah - there is a lot made of bards being rogues with a lute but I think that the true focus of the bard is his cultural role as newsbringer - tale rememberer - and lore master (not the magicla kind of lore but everything else). I think bards are the people that are the ties that bind an ancient community. They are the ones that teach the histories of the nation and so are the ones that control the political feelings. I can see why they would be valued and distrusted by rulers. I think that the view of bards has been skewed by D&D despite their efforts to correct it. I love the idea of a bard but it is difficult to make it work in a D&D game unless the campaign is based around a bard and the other party members travelling with him adventuring as they go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevenall Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 Re: That is Entertainment …… Inventor (Songs) I like that better then a PS. Oh, you might want slight of hand for making props magically appear. This occurred to me reading Doc Democracy's post. Bards are pretty much the media of a fantasy world. They are the television, newspapers, radio, and movies all wrapped into one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest joen00b Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 Re: That is Entertainment …… I would say Billy Zane in Tombstone. He was a good orator, worked well under pressure of a rough crowd, was able to sieze the moment and work within their limits (a good bard is not going to sing songs countering the mood or ideals of a crowd), always be quick with a joke, and even quicker with an excuse, have a higher air about their personage, 'always onstage' mentality, things of that nature. Just imagine a drama major in high school or the such: intelligent, quirky, well versed, skilled in singing, acting, dance, perhaps an instrument or two (hopefully instruments that travel well), etc. They tend to be flashy and flamboyant, always trying to gain the crowds eye. They're also extroverts, basking in the attention of people, and sometimes grow to need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citizen Keen Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 Re: That is Entertainment …… Not to reference a most obvious source, but look to Robert Jordan's first Wheel of Time book, Eye of the World. The Gleemen do more than sing. They have language familiarities for the different Cants (telling stories in different levels of formality). They are also jugglers and stage performers. Lots o' slight o' hand, and acrobatics, and juggling, and probably some conversation and seduction. Throw ins some CSLs with daggers and throwing knives, and you've got yourself a bona fide ad-ven-tur-er. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest joen00b Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 Re: That is Entertainment …… For books, just read the book titled: Bard, or the sequel: Bard II... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black_Thaddeus Posted June 9, 2004 Report Share Posted June 9, 2004 Re: That is Entertainment …… I would also recommend Guy Gavriel Kay's "Tigana". One storyline centers on an 'adventuring' group that includes musicians, actors, and singers. Being Bards is their living and it allows them to travel around without arousing too much suspicion. Besides, it's an excellent read anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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