Bard - Minstrel/Gleeman
Prime Attribute: Charisma
Overview of Bards
Bards are the consummate 'people persons'. While other character classes, such as Paladins, may depend upon their charisma for an aspect of their character; the Bard's entire character revolves around her ability to relate to people. People trust Paladins and Knights and will follow them into battle; but they are still followers. A Bard will inspire a person from the 'inside-out'; convincing him he is heroic and that his deeds will matter to both him, his community, and his descendants. Also, a Bard will find out far more about a community and its inhabitants than any other character; he knows who to ask, how to ask, what to ask, and how to listen carefully. Taking all those pieces together, a Bard is able to tease out information unavailable to others and to use it. A Bard's stories or songs can sway communities or even nations.
Of course, it is a 2-way relationship. Bards became Bards because they love to entertain. They not only find it easy to entertain people; but it is a necessity as well. Bards enjoy being the center of attention. Bards are a group that genuinely enjoy their work. However, they expect to be paid and to enjoy the other fringe benefits that come from a certain style and a way with people.
Bards are attracted to adventuring parties. Such a group is not only a wonderful opportunity to travel and see new places, but also a rich source of stories and renown. While a Bard can attract more attention at times then an adventuring party may desire, the Bard's talents far outweigh any such minor inconveniences. Bards are able to inspire their companions. In addition, they are a wealth of knowledge and have the skills to find out additional information. Plus, as noted earlier, Bards are the uncontested master class at negotiations, assessing and altering social situations and NPCs, and negotiating favourable deals and rates for the Party. Finally, the Bard is a valuable addition in her own right. Minstrels or Gleemen have all the before mentioned Bard skills plus very respectable fighting skills and a few rogue skills thrown in as well. Troubadours or Jongleurs also have the same Bard skills as their Minstrel counterparts. However, these Bards have magical abilities and can cast literal spells with their performances. Such talents come at a cost of their weaker fighting skills than the Minstrels and a lack of rogue skills.
Overview of Minstrels/Gleemen: (note: the rest of the information on this page applies to Minstrels/Gleemen only - see the Troubadour page for specific information on that Bard class).
While Minstrels are sometimes referred to as "Low Bards", they are not better nor worse than troubadours, just different. Minstrels tend to be the entertainers of the common folk where they can be found entertaining audiences in bars, inns, camps, … anywhere where people gather. They enjoy interacting with their audiences - from taking requests, trading riddles, and using their knowledge about the audience to personalize the performance. Typically a minstrel will perform for 1 night to a couple of weeks before moving on - partly to have fresh audiences but also to satisfy the minstrel's urge to wander and find new adventure.
With such an independent and dangerous lifestyle, it is no surprise that minstrels are quite capable of looking after themselves. There are few situations that a minstrel cannot talk or charm her way out of; however, if talk fails, a minstrel is both an impressive fighter and also adept at quietly getting out of town. Minstrels often have a checkered past and boyhood friends who became rogues. Other minstrels have found the ability to climb out of windows or to move silently down hallways useful not only for romantic encounters but to also avoid any possible violent consequences of a rhyme the crowd found funny - but the local lord was decidedly not amused … A keen ear is a must for a musician gathering new material. Lastly, most minstrels can juggle and perform sleight of hand tricks to warm up an audience. While these talents could be put to more dishonest uses, minstrels tend to avoid troubles with the law or smears on the minstrel's reputation. After all, a minstrel prefers to be a very public figure. Minstrels not only like to talk and sing about heroes, each minstrel fancies himself as a key figure in the next heroic epic - composed and sung by the minstrel himself.
Adventuring parties find the minstrel a very useful person to have along on an adventure. The minstrel has the very useful people skills common to all Bards. In addition, the minstrel's performance can enhance the morale or even the skills of his companions. Finally, minstrels can hold their own in a fight and have some useful scouting skills.
ABILITIES
ASSESS PERSON/CROWD (WISDOM):
Using this ability, the bard can gather the information an astute 'people watcher' would be able to gain from an individual or group. The player must state what sort of information the bard is trying to gather and how she is gathering that information. The Castle Keeper will give the player an approximate idea of the length of time required to gather that information and how difficult it will be to collect the information. For instance, a roll will not be required nor more than a few seconds for the bard to judge an openly hostile mood in a bar and who is the subject of that hostility. On the other hand, a bard trying to pick up subtle clues for someone from a different culture or a person who is hard to see and hear will face a much higher difficulty challenge and would take substantially more time. Note: the more strategies and time the player has his bard utilize, the more likely the information being gathered is accurate or even possible to gain. But, the target of the bard's attention may get suspicious or worse… The player does not get to know if the roll succeeded or not. A successful check will result in information useful to assess the target. A narrow fail will result in inconclusive results while a significant fail will result in the bard making an incorrect assessment. A critical fail will result in the target knowing he/she/they are being studied by the bard - results will vary and depend on the Castle Keeper.
While this ability is unaffected by wearing armor, appearing ready to fight will have an effect on the reaction of people being studied by the bard…
The Castle Keeper may or may not allow a check on non-human creatures.
DECIPHER SCRIPT (INTELLIGENCE):
Bards often need to decipher and interpret legends and secret writings to acquire more knowledge. This ability allows the bard to decipher writing in an unfamiliar language, a message written in an incomplete or archaic form or a message written in code. If the check succeeds, the character understands the general content of a piece of writing. It takes ten minutes to decipher each page of a script. A decipher script check may be made only once per writing. A bard may use this ability to decipher arcane script if a successful check is made at a penalty of -10. If successful he can read the spell but not cast the spell. This ability may not be used to decipher divine scrolls
EXALT (CHARISMA):
This is the bard’s ability to inspire companions and listeners, allowing them to surpass their normal level of performance. Some bards invoke this ability through song and music, while others do so through oration, battle cries or sheer acting and demeanor. With a successful attribute check, a bard can help allies succeed at a task. The ally gets a +2 bonus on any action requiring an attribute check, including class ability checks, saving throws and standard attribute checks. This ability does not affect attack rolls. The allies must be able to see and hear the bard, and must be within 60 feet. The Castle Keeper may rule that certain uses of this ability are infeasible. The bard can use this ability once per day per level, and can maintain the effect for a number of rounds equal to the bard’s level. The bard can take other actions while using this ability, unless the Castle Keeper rules otherwise. As the bard rises in levels, the bonus imparted increases as well. It rises to +3 at 6th level, +4 at 12th level and +5 at 18th level.
LEGEND LORE (CHARISMA):
Bards are lore masters of myth and archaic knowledge. With a successful attribute check, a bard gains or remembers some relevant information about local notables, a legendary item, a noteworthy place or any other relevant bit of information. Gaining the information may entail speaking to local inhabitants and/ or doing research. The information might prove useful in diplomacy, entertaining, or otherwise influencing others. The ability also might impart a full or partial understanding of local or secret languages, including rogue’s cant, the secret druidic language or ranger signs.
The check will not reveal the powers of a magic item, but may give a hint to its history, general function or activation. The Castle Keeper gauges the challenge level of the check based on whether the knowledge is:
Common: This constitutes information known by at least a substantial minority of the local population.
Uncommon: The information is known by only a few people in the area, though easy to track down.
Obscure: The information is known by a few, but rather hard to come by.
Extremely Obscure: The information is known by very few scholars and sages, possibly forgotten by most who once knew it, or possibly known only by those who don’t understand the significance of the knowledge.
FASCINATE:
At 4th level, a bard gains the ability to place a single creature into a trance. The creature to be fascinated must be able to see and hear the bard, and the bard must also see the creature. The creature must be able to pay attention to the bard. The distraction of a nearby combat or other danger will prevent the ability from working. The Bard can use music, poetry, chanting, speech, whistling, playing an instrument or any combination of the above to produce the intended effect on the creature, as long as some verbal performance is included. Bards can use this ability three times per day, and can maintain the effect for a number of rounds equal to their level.
When a bard uses this ability, the target makes a charisma saving throw to resist the bard’s spellsong. If the saving throw fails, the creature sits quietly and listens to the bard for up to the full duration of the effect. While using this ability, a bard must concentrate, as if casting or maintaining a spell. While fascinated, the target is treated as if prone and also suffers a -4 penalty to all saving throws and a -5 to armor class. If the creature’s saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot attempt to fascinate that creature again for 24 hours. Any threat that is obvious to the fascinated creature, such as the casting of a spell, drawing of a sword or aiming of a weapon automatically breaks the effect.
As the bard rises in levels, the power of the fascination increases as well, allowing the bard to further influence the listener through suggestion. These specialized uses of the fascinate ability can only be performed on creatures who are under the influence of the bard’s fascinate ability. At 5th level, a bard may attempt a charm person on a fascinated creature. At 8th level, a bard may attempt to implant a suggestion into a fascinated creature. At 12th level, a bard may attempt antipathy/ sympathy on a fascinated creature. At 18th level, a bard may attempt a mass suggestion on fascinated creatures. In each case, the creature receives a saving throw to attempt to resist the spellsong. As the bard gains experience, the number of creatures that can be affected by the fascination, or one of its specialized uses, increases. The number of creatures is equal to two fewer than the level of the bard. For example, a 4th level bard can fascinate 2 creatures, a 6th level bard can fascinate 4 creatures, and a 12th level bard can fascinate 10 creatures.
EXHORT GREATNESS:
At 9th level, a bard can inspire greatness in one other creature. For every two levels the bard attains beyond 9th, the bard can inspire greatness in an additional creature. To inspire greatness, the bard must use song, poetry or some sort of oration. The creature to be inspired must be able to hear the bard, and must be within 30 feet for the effect to take place. A creature inspired with greatness gains temporary hit points and attack bonuses for as long as the bard is within its hearing and the bard continues to sing or orate. This effect lasts for one minute, or six rounds, at 9th level, and the duration increases by one additional round for every level beyond 9th. The creature can move out of the 30 foot radius once the exhortation has begun, but it must still be able to hear the bard at all times.
The target creature gains a +2 bonus on all ‘to hit’ rolls, and gains temporary hit points as if two hit dice (or levels) higher. Apply the creature’s constitution modifier, if any, to each bonus hit point roll. See the combat section for a detailed explanation of temporary hit points.
ROGUE SKILLS
SLIP OUT THE BACK (DEXTERITY):
This ability allows a bard to find and utilize exits out of buildings and towns that most people don't think of using (or hopefully watching). This ability is due to athleticism and a misspent youth. The skill defaults to dexterity as while it requires a certain amount of 'thinking outside the box', the actual execution of the plan normally requires a good deal of physical dexterity. Included are the skills to be a little more flexible to wiggle through openings and the skills to climb up, down, or across a wall, and across roofs. The bard can scale manmade heights and obvious natural ones. Surfaces or climbs that require specialized knowledge (e.g. a sheer cliff) are beyond the bard's skill. The bard's skill is building orientated and utilizes the easiest route. When climbing, the bard moves at one-third the character’s normal speed. A failed climb check means that the character makes no progress. A check that fails by 5 or more means that the character falls from the currently attained height, and must suffer falling damage. Bards can not carry anything in their hands while climbing.
Wearing armor heavier than studded leather affects this ability.
LISTEN (WISDOM):
Bards are used to listening intently and carefully sorting out sounds. A bard can use this ability to listen and hear noises that others might not detect, even through an obstacle such as a door. Success indicates the bard can hear soft sounds, like a whisper or cat stalking, while outside or in the open and up to a range of 30 feet. It also indicates success if the bard is listening for sounds on the other side of a door, but the bard must be adjacent to the door. However, exactly what is heard is up to the Castle Keeper’s discretion as each case is unique. If listening through a stone wall, the bard suffers a -10 penalty to the check. For other materials, vary the penalty as appropriate. This skill may also be used for listening in on conversations. This part of the skill depends equally on the bard's intent hearing and his astute 'people skills'. A bard can retry this ability once a round.
This ability is affected by wearing a metal or large helmet.
MOVE SILENTLY (DEXTERITY):
The bard is able to move silently in settled and indoor areas with a successful dexterity check. The bard can move up to one-third the character’s normal speed at no penalty. At more than one-third and up to the character’s full speed, the character suffers a -5 penalty. It’s practically impossible (-20 penalty) to move silently while running or charging. Bards cannot perform this ability in wilderness or most outdoor settings.
This ability cannot be used with any armour heavier than studded leather.
SLEIGHT OF HAND (DEXTERITY):
This ability also allows the bard to perform “sleight of hand” maneuvers. A successful dexterity check indicates the bard has hidden or moved an item in such a manner so that observers are not aware of where the item has been hidden. Such typical maneuvers are hiding a coin, sliding a card up a sleeve, performing the shell game, and the like. A penalty to the check may be applied if there is an observer present that is determined to note where an item is moved. This penalty is equal to the wisdom attribute bonus for the observer. The bard may use this skill for simple but impressive juggling tricks (with appropriate items).
Wearing armor heavier than studded leather affects this ability.
PRIME ATTRIBUTE: Charisma
HIT DICE: d10
ALIGNMENT: Any
WEAPONS: Broadsword, bows, club, dagger, dart, hand axe, hammers, javelin, longsword, rapier, scimitar, short sword, sling, spear, staff
ARMOR: Breastplates, chain shirt, cuir bouille, greek ensemble, hide, laminar leather, leather, leather coat, padded, ring mail, studded leather
ABILITIES: Assess person/crowd, decipher script, exalt, legend lore, fascinate, exhort greatness, slip out the back, listen, move silently, sleight of hand.
Lvl HD BtH EPP
1 d10 +0 0
2 d10 +1 1,501
3 d10 +2 3,251
4 d10 +2 7,501
5 d10 +3 15,001
6 d10 +4 30,001
7 d10 +4 60,001
8 d10 +5 120,001
9 d10 +6 240,001
10 d10 +6 450,001
11 +4 HP +7 625,001
12 +4 HP +8 800,001
13+ 175,000 per level
Overview of Bards
Bards are the consummate 'people persons'. While other character classes, such as Paladins, may depend upon their charisma for an aspect of their character; the Bard's entire character revolves around her ability to relate to people. People trust Paladins and Knights and will follow them into battle; but they are still followers. A Bard will inspire a person from the 'inside-out'; convincing him he is heroic and that his deeds will matter to both him, his community, and his descendants. Also, a Bard will find out far more about a community and its inhabitants than any other character; he knows who to ask, how to ask, what to ask, and how to listen carefully. Taking all those pieces together, a Bard is able to tease out information unavailable to others and to use it. A Bard's stories or songs can sway communities or even nations.
Of course, it is a 2-way relationship. Bards became Bards because they love to entertain. They not only find it easy to entertain people; but it is a necessity as well. Bards enjoy being the center of attention. Bards are a group that genuinely enjoy their work. However, they expect to be paid and to enjoy the other fringe benefits that come from a certain style and a way with people.
Bards are attracted to adventuring parties. Such a group is not only a wonderful opportunity to travel and see new places, but also a rich source of stories and renown. While a Bard can attract more attention at times then an adventuring party may desire, the Bard's talents far outweigh any such minor inconveniences. Bards are able to inspire their companions. In addition, they are a wealth of knowledge and have the skills to find out additional information. Plus, as noted earlier, Bards are the uncontested master class at negotiations, assessing and altering social situations and NPCs, and negotiating favourable deals and rates for the Party. Finally, the Bard is a valuable addition in her own right. Minstrels or Gleemen have all the before mentioned Bard skills plus very respectable fighting skills and a few rogue skills thrown in as well. Troubadours or Jongleurs also have the same Bard skills as their Minstrel counterparts. However, these Bards have magical abilities and can cast literal spells with their performances. Such talents come at a cost of their weaker fighting skills than the Minstrels and a lack of rogue skills.
Overview of Minstrels/Gleemen: (note: the rest of the information on this page applies to Minstrels/Gleemen only - see the Troubadour page for specific information on that Bard class).
While Minstrels are sometimes referred to as "Low Bards", they are not better nor worse than troubadours, just different. Minstrels tend to be the entertainers of the common folk where they can be found entertaining audiences in bars, inns, camps, … anywhere where people gather. They enjoy interacting with their audiences - from taking requests, trading riddles, and using their knowledge about the audience to personalize the performance. Typically a minstrel will perform for 1 night to a couple of weeks before moving on - partly to have fresh audiences but also to satisfy the minstrel's urge to wander and find new adventure.
With such an independent and dangerous lifestyle, it is no surprise that minstrels are quite capable of looking after themselves. There are few situations that a minstrel cannot talk or charm her way out of; however, if talk fails, a minstrel is both an impressive fighter and also adept at quietly getting out of town. Minstrels often have a checkered past and boyhood friends who became rogues. Other minstrels have found the ability to climb out of windows or to move silently down hallways useful not only for romantic encounters but to also avoid any possible violent consequences of a rhyme the crowd found funny - but the local lord was decidedly not amused … A keen ear is a must for a musician gathering new material. Lastly, most minstrels can juggle and perform sleight of hand tricks to warm up an audience. While these talents could be put to more dishonest uses, minstrels tend to avoid troubles with the law or smears on the minstrel's reputation. After all, a minstrel prefers to be a very public figure. Minstrels not only like to talk and sing about heroes, each minstrel fancies himself as a key figure in the next heroic epic - composed and sung by the minstrel himself.
Adventuring parties find the minstrel a very useful person to have along on an adventure. The minstrel has the very useful people skills common to all Bards. In addition, the minstrel's performance can enhance the morale or even the skills of his companions. Finally, minstrels can hold their own in a fight and have some useful scouting skills.
ABILITIES
ASSESS PERSON/CROWD (WISDOM):
Using this ability, the bard can gather the information an astute 'people watcher' would be able to gain from an individual or group. The player must state what sort of information the bard is trying to gather and how she is gathering that information. The Castle Keeper will give the player an approximate idea of the length of time required to gather that information and how difficult it will be to collect the information. For instance, a roll will not be required nor more than a few seconds for the bard to judge an openly hostile mood in a bar and who is the subject of that hostility. On the other hand, a bard trying to pick up subtle clues for someone from a different culture or a person who is hard to see and hear will face a much higher difficulty challenge and would take substantially more time. Note: the more strategies and time the player has his bard utilize, the more likely the information being gathered is accurate or even possible to gain. But, the target of the bard's attention may get suspicious or worse… The player does not get to know if the roll succeeded or not. A successful check will result in information useful to assess the target. A narrow fail will result in inconclusive results while a significant fail will result in the bard making an incorrect assessment. A critical fail will result in the target knowing he/she/they are being studied by the bard - results will vary and depend on the Castle Keeper.
While this ability is unaffected by wearing armor, appearing ready to fight will have an effect on the reaction of people being studied by the bard…
The Castle Keeper may or may not allow a check on non-human creatures.
DECIPHER SCRIPT (INTELLIGENCE):
Bards often need to decipher and interpret legends and secret writings to acquire more knowledge. This ability allows the bard to decipher writing in an unfamiliar language, a message written in an incomplete or archaic form or a message written in code. If the check succeeds, the character understands the general content of a piece of writing. It takes ten minutes to decipher each page of a script. A decipher script check may be made only once per writing. A bard may use this ability to decipher arcane script if a successful check is made at a penalty of -10. If successful he can read the spell but not cast the spell. This ability may not be used to decipher divine scrolls
EXALT (CHARISMA):
This is the bard’s ability to inspire companions and listeners, allowing them to surpass their normal level of performance. Some bards invoke this ability through song and music, while others do so through oration, battle cries or sheer acting and demeanor. With a successful attribute check, a bard can help allies succeed at a task. The ally gets a +2 bonus on any action requiring an attribute check, including class ability checks, saving throws and standard attribute checks. This ability does not affect attack rolls. The allies must be able to see and hear the bard, and must be within 60 feet. The Castle Keeper may rule that certain uses of this ability are infeasible. The bard can use this ability once per day per level, and can maintain the effect for a number of rounds equal to the bard’s level. The bard can take other actions while using this ability, unless the Castle Keeper rules otherwise. As the bard rises in levels, the bonus imparted increases as well. It rises to +3 at 6th level, +4 at 12th level and +5 at 18th level.
LEGEND LORE (CHARISMA):
Bards are lore masters of myth and archaic knowledge. With a successful attribute check, a bard gains or remembers some relevant information about local notables, a legendary item, a noteworthy place or any other relevant bit of information. Gaining the information may entail speaking to local inhabitants and/ or doing research. The information might prove useful in diplomacy, entertaining, or otherwise influencing others. The ability also might impart a full or partial understanding of local or secret languages, including rogue’s cant, the secret druidic language or ranger signs.
The check will not reveal the powers of a magic item, but may give a hint to its history, general function or activation. The Castle Keeper gauges the challenge level of the check based on whether the knowledge is:
Common: This constitutes information known by at least a substantial minority of the local population.
Uncommon: The information is known by only a few people in the area, though easy to track down.
Obscure: The information is known by a few, but rather hard to come by.
Extremely Obscure: The information is known by very few scholars and sages, possibly forgotten by most who once knew it, or possibly known only by those who don’t understand the significance of the knowledge.
FASCINATE:
At 4th level, a bard gains the ability to place a single creature into a trance. The creature to be fascinated must be able to see and hear the bard, and the bard must also see the creature. The creature must be able to pay attention to the bard. The distraction of a nearby combat or other danger will prevent the ability from working. The Bard can use music, poetry, chanting, speech, whistling, playing an instrument or any combination of the above to produce the intended effect on the creature, as long as some verbal performance is included. Bards can use this ability three times per day, and can maintain the effect for a number of rounds equal to their level.
When a bard uses this ability, the target makes a charisma saving throw to resist the bard’s spellsong. If the saving throw fails, the creature sits quietly and listens to the bard for up to the full duration of the effect. While using this ability, a bard must concentrate, as if casting or maintaining a spell. While fascinated, the target is treated as if prone and also suffers a -4 penalty to all saving throws and a -5 to armor class. If the creature’s saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot attempt to fascinate that creature again for 24 hours. Any threat that is obvious to the fascinated creature, such as the casting of a spell, drawing of a sword or aiming of a weapon automatically breaks the effect.
As the bard rises in levels, the power of the fascination increases as well, allowing the bard to further influence the listener through suggestion. These specialized uses of the fascinate ability can only be performed on creatures who are under the influence of the bard’s fascinate ability. At 5th level, a bard may attempt a charm person on a fascinated creature. At 8th level, a bard may attempt to implant a suggestion into a fascinated creature. At 12th level, a bard may attempt antipathy/ sympathy on a fascinated creature. At 18th level, a bard may attempt a mass suggestion on fascinated creatures. In each case, the creature receives a saving throw to attempt to resist the spellsong. As the bard gains experience, the number of creatures that can be affected by the fascination, or one of its specialized uses, increases. The number of creatures is equal to two fewer than the level of the bard. For example, a 4th level bard can fascinate 2 creatures, a 6th level bard can fascinate 4 creatures, and a 12th level bard can fascinate 10 creatures.
EXHORT GREATNESS:
At 9th level, a bard can inspire greatness in one other creature. For every two levels the bard attains beyond 9th, the bard can inspire greatness in an additional creature. To inspire greatness, the bard must use song, poetry or some sort of oration. The creature to be inspired must be able to hear the bard, and must be within 30 feet for the effect to take place. A creature inspired with greatness gains temporary hit points and attack bonuses for as long as the bard is within its hearing and the bard continues to sing or orate. This effect lasts for one minute, or six rounds, at 9th level, and the duration increases by one additional round for every level beyond 9th. The creature can move out of the 30 foot radius once the exhortation has begun, but it must still be able to hear the bard at all times.
The target creature gains a +2 bonus on all ‘to hit’ rolls, and gains temporary hit points as if two hit dice (or levels) higher. Apply the creature’s constitution modifier, if any, to each bonus hit point roll. See the combat section for a detailed explanation of temporary hit points.
ROGUE SKILLS
SLIP OUT THE BACK (DEXTERITY):
This ability allows a bard to find and utilize exits out of buildings and towns that most people don't think of using (or hopefully watching). This ability is due to athleticism and a misspent youth. The skill defaults to dexterity as while it requires a certain amount of 'thinking outside the box', the actual execution of the plan normally requires a good deal of physical dexterity. Included are the skills to be a little more flexible to wiggle through openings and the skills to climb up, down, or across a wall, and across roofs. The bard can scale manmade heights and obvious natural ones. Surfaces or climbs that require specialized knowledge (e.g. a sheer cliff) are beyond the bard's skill. The bard's skill is building orientated and utilizes the easiest route. When climbing, the bard moves at one-third the character’s normal speed. A failed climb check means that the character makes no progress. A check that fails by 5 or more means that the character falls from the currently attained height, and must suffer falling damage. Bards can not carry anything in their hands while climbing.
Wearing armor heavier than studded leather affects this ability.
LISTEN (WISDOM):
Bards are used to listening intently and carefully sorting out sounds. A bard can use this ability to listen and hear noises that others might not detect, even through an obstacle such as a door. Success indicates the bard can hear soft sounds, like a whisper or cat stalking, while outside or in the open and up to a range of 30 feet. It also indicates success if the bard is listening for sounds on the other side of a door, but the bard must be adjacent to the door. However, exactly what is heard is up to the Castle Keeper’s discretion as each case is unique. If listening through a stone wall, the bard suffers a -10 penalty to the check. For other materials, vary the penalty as appropriate. This skill may also be used for listening in on conversations. This part of the skill depends equally on the bard's intent hearing and his astute 'people skills'. A bard can retry this ability once a round.
This ability is affected by wearing a metal or large helmet.
MOVE SILENTLY (DEXTERITY):
The bard is able to move silently in settled and indoor areas with a successful dexterity check. The bard can move up to one-third the character’s normal speed at no penalty. At more than one-third and up to the character’s full speed, the character suffers a -5 penalty. It’s practically impossible (-20 penalty) to move silently while running or charging. Bards cannot perform this ability in wilderness or most outdoor settings.
This ability cannot be used with any armour heavier than studded leather.
SLEIGHT OF HAND (DEXTERITY):
This ability also allows the bard to perform “sleight of hand” maneuvers. A successful dexterity check indicates the bard has hidden or moved an item in such a manner so that observers are not aware of where the item has been hidden. Such typical maneuvers are hiding a coin, sliding a card up a sleeve, performing the shell game, and the like. A penalty to the check may be applied if there is an observer present that is determined to note where an item is moved. This penalty is equal to the wisdom attribute bonus for the observer. The bard may use this skill for simple but impressive juggling tricks (with appropriate items).
Wearing armor heavier than studded leather affects this ability.
PRIME ATTRIBUTE: Charisma
HIT DICE: d10
ALIGNMENT: Any
WEAPONS: Broadsword, bows, club, dagger, dart, hand axe, hammers, javelin, longsword, rapier, scimitar, short sword, sling, spear, staff
ARMOR: Breastplates, chain shirt, cuir bouille, greek ensemble, hide, laminar leather, leather, leather coat, padded, ring mail, studded leather
ABILITIES: Assess person/crowd, decipher script, exalt, legend lore, fascinate, exhort greatness, slip out the back, listen, move silently, sleight of hand.
Lvl HD BtH EPP
1 d10 +0 0
2 d10 +1 1,501
3 d10 +2 3,251
4 d10 +2 7,501
5 d10 +3 15,001
6 d10 +4 30,001
7 d10 +4 60,001
8 d10 +5 120,001
9 d10 +6 240,001
10 d10 +6 450,001
11 +4 HP +7 625,001
12 +4 HP +8 800,001
13+ 175,000 per level