The original bard from Appendix II required high attributes and a delayed start—players had to work through 10+ levels of other classes, making it rare. This rewrite eases requirements, lets you start as a bard, opens the class to elves, and caps halflings and dwarves(?!) at level 5. But is it any good?
What does a Bard get?
- Decent saves. Cleric saves, but weaker against poison and similar effects.
- Spells. Gains druid spells at level 2 and illusionist spells at level 4. Restricted spell lists but nothing too limiting. Spell acquisition is slower than the Appendix II class making the spells they do get feel like flavour, not focus.
- Charm. A 40-foot radius charm person effect with a low success rate. Unreliable and negated by loud noise, making combat use unlikely. If successful, it allows for a suggestion follow-up.
- Inspiration. +1 to hit for your friends in combat after the first round. Handy.
The Downside
- A worse fighter. Hit as a fighter but lacks multiple attacks, is restricted to leather armor, starts with one weapon proficiency, and has d6 hp. Poor AC encourages sticking to missile weapons.
- Unreliable Charm. The chance of success doesn’t exceed 50% until level 11 (750,000 XP). For a signature ability, that’s bad.
- Lore is Pointless. Identifies only intelligent or legendary items.
- Read Languages. Rarely impacts gameplay.
Why add the class?
The bard already exists in AD&D as envisioned by Gygax, and this revision makes it playable from level 1. This rewrite is underpowered. For reliable charm effects, play a magic-user. If you want to add decent combat ability, multi-class or dual-class into a fighter. This bard is a jack of all trades but bad at all of them. I’d rather play the Appendix II version.
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