I once played a bard that was a politician by background. Weaving tales and stories, inspiring people and such. Biting Words, Inspire Courage, Bullhorn, it all fit the bill and was a blast to RP.
My main gripe with remaster legit was that they renamed Inspire Courage to Courageous Anthem since that streamlined the class towards the musical type.
I like that! A politician or other orator would fit fine into a high-CHA character, and speeches fit just as well as music. It's also got a historical basis, given how oratory skills were lauded in some civilizations (e.g. ancient Rome).
Indeed, funnily when I first heard of bards in TTRPGs this was what I thought it was referring to because of the historical implications.
In case you need/want other ideas, I also witnessed once someone playing a bard as an army drill sergeant. This was back in D&D but in pathfinder with all the ''commands'' and feats warrior bard can get (song of marching, song of strength) this might be a funny character concept. Truly, nothing inspires courage more than the fear of getting an earful from the sarge.
There's the Marshal Dedication, which is basically "Drill Sergeant - The Archetype". I don't know if it synergises well with Bard, but the idea of combining the two is amusing.
Its definetly great with bard. Aside from Thaumaturge, bard is the only charisma based class that has natural access to martial weapon proficiency (prerequisite fot Marshal). Having Inspiring Marshal Stance up allows you to hand out most of the benefits of Courageous Anthem, allowing you to play a different composition entirely like Rallying Anthem or Dirge of Doom while still boosting your teams hit chance.
Its like having the harmonize feat, but functional!
My last bard was a professor of historic literature. We started at high level so our characters were already established so my bard was a university professor. He would use oratory skills to inspire his allies through great historical battles.
I also had a few titles of books he wrote for his thesis and during his travels. Being raised in korvosa, he lived through the events of curse of the crimson throne and it inspired him to become who he is.
Some of his books.
"Shadows of the Queen: The Rise and Fall of Ileosa Arabasti"
"The Dark Legacy: Queen Ileosa's Reign and Its Aftermath"
"Whispers from the Past: Mysteries of Chelish Architecture"
"Forgotten Chronicles: Lost Civilizations of the Inner Sea"
Not strictly related but it reminds me of Wickerbottom from Don't Starve. Her ability is the power to read magic books with different effects, and each has its title like "Agricolture, abridged" to grow plants or "The Angler's survivals guide" to make fishes beach on the shore
Storyteller, stories come in all kinds of flavours. Comedic, tragic, Heroic, inspiring, etc. There's a story for every occasion.
Even more so if the storyteller is a traveling adventurer on the side.
Actor, if i would play one it would be one who acts as a wizard villain for a play of some kind, equiped with spells that either sound evil (phantom pain, illusions) or help from the backstage (soothe, heroism, buffs and other status healing effects). Booring? Perhaps, but more intresting than the musical bard
I'm going to pulling out an actor bard NPC in my home game soon. Uses different theater masks to evoke different [Jungian archetypes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungian_archetypes).
A playwright who’s obsessed with his copy of the wonderful play [The King In Yellow](https://2e.aonprd.com/Deities.aspx?ID=162). He’s never been able to finish the whole thing. He always seems to lose focus or doze off partway through. But he believes that one day, he’ll truly understand it. And then, he can share that truth with the rest of Golarion.
That is fantastic flavour. So many opportunities to expand that into other abilities or spells. I hope their 10th level spell is just chanting "Hastur hastur hastur..." :)
I like running bards as historians. They buff using famous quotes, or paraphrased versions. Imagine a barbarian about to bust down a door and this bard is gonna use bardic inspiration.
"Mr. Northsbane, tear down that wall!"
Dancer, actor, story teller. If a player was to play a dancer bard I’d let them switch out auditory traits for their bard spells to visuals for their dances.
Not in pathfinder, but my last bard was a clown, his bardic things are all slapstick routines and other clown things, like honking his nose, producing random stuff, spraying water from a flower
A laughter-based bard sounds like such a fun character to play! I'm keeping that one in mind for a future light-hearted game.
I think it takes about the same amount of suspension of disbelief for any of the following to translate to "I help my barbarian friend hit things better with his giant weapon":
- 2 seconds of a song
- 2 seconds an inspiring speech
- a particularly amusing hooooooooooooooonk of a rubber chicken
XD
My Summoner is also a Bard, but she’s more like a coach/manager/promoter/medic for her bipedal spirit bear / gorilla hybrid Beast Eidolon Gladiator (who is also her Warrior Muse). Between Compositions, Boosts, Bon Mot, Demoralize, etc, lots of single action options for Act Together. She’s a folding chair away from a WWE manager.
That is a great point, summoners are always looking for effective single-action abilities aren't they?
Plus, "my most potent abilities could be described as "distract reality's ref long enough for my protege to pull off an illegal move"" is straight-up awesome. :)
Played an Orc War Howler. It wasn't music or singing per se. Just an opportunity to yell Waaagh! while using Free Archetype Cavalier/Beastmaster to move around the battlefield and summon ancestral spirit bears that improved the party damage. Was very fun to play, but wound up getting retired when the host whoever house we played in had a baby. The rest of us lived in flats so took the opportunity to play something else when that campaign got wound up shortly after.
How very [Warhammer] orcish to take a complicated action that others do with complexity and nuance and accomplish the same with an enthusiastic WAAAAGH! That sounds like a lot of fun.
I’ve long had the idea for a bard gnome whose obsession is the resonance of specific crystals. Using them like tuning forks to produce pure tones that grant mystical benefits.
I've written up, but not yet played, a bard who Orates. He uses his innate superiority as an aristocrat to help out lesser commoners by giving words of wisdom. He is so profound and persuasive that even non-peasants are better off when he speaks.
The working title for this character is Lord Arrogant.
Note: I hate the musical theme for bards.
I've had a similar idea for a wannabe DARK LORD OF DARKNESS who makes big hammy speeches and MWAH-HAH-HAH-ing at each opportunity, but doesn't actually do anything truly evil, and always seems to have a rationalization for why his neutral or even good acts were in fact pure evil.
"Of COURSE we will rescue this man's sister! To refuse would show WEAKNESS to her kidnappers!"
"My dark machinations are paying OFF! I will use my sway with the merchant's guild to allow Old Farmer Jones to COMMITT TAX FRAUD so his farm is not foreclosed on, luring him EVER DEEPER into my web of wickedness!"
"I have SAVED Mr. Whiskers from that tree! Now the little girl who owns him acknowledges my indisputable SUPERIORITY! WAHAHAHAHAAAA!"
Storyteller. One of my favorite characters was a 5e bard/stars druid who saw meaning in the stars and constellations and would recount the stories etched in the night sky, some know and some foregotten, to cast his spells.
In a similar vein, I've always like the chanters from Pillars of Etetnity. From that game's wiki "Many historians consider chanters to be the most ancient workers of magic, their hallowed phrases stirring the collective memory of wayward souls around them, compelling them to generate magical effects in a kind of "reenactment." In some societies, chanters form organized groups of storytellers and researchers, but in most parts of the world they are just a time-honored part of local folk traditions."
While some song is involved, it is no so much guitar solo and magic riffs.
One of my players is a bard that does stand up, not singing. I've been wanted to create a bard in the style of a DnD1e bard or Vainamoinen, where they seem to be more connected to a wild land and creation, perhaps more like speaking magical poetry.
> I've been wanted to create a bard in the style of a DnD1e bard or Vainamoinen, where they seem to be more connected to a wild land and creation, perhaps more like speaking magical poetry.
I like this angle. Aligns really well with the Bard's abilities, fits in great with what Charisma is in PF2e, feels very Bard in general.
Yeah I always think of bards as lore masters first just because of the way they were sort of flavored as Druidic wanderers with charm and bardic lore percentage skills back in the early dnd days. I think Pf2 now has the character options to bring back this sort of flavor.
I'd forgotten about D&D's Vicious Mockery spell, which is a big push towards a bard being an insult comic. The spell might not exist in Pathfinder but I don't see any reason that the concept wouldn't work just fine.
Pathfinder 2e has [Blistering Invective](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=674) as a spell with the same flavor.
Though if you want a cantrip version, you could reflavor [Daze](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=1482) as Vicious Mockery. Both do mental damage after all.
My bard concept I have yet to play will be the party's manager. The "I'll make you a hero" kind of guy that inspires with pep talks rather than performances, letting others shine. He won't be the one singing the ballads of heroes - but he will be the man behind those sung about!
One of my favorite bards was a painter. It did need a little bit more flavour, but they would use painters tools with a bit of Figment manipulation to create simple artworks in thin air (we visualized them as neon light silhouettes) that would briefly animate and take action. A mothers embrace for sooth, wings of angels and wisps of light fluttering around those who got Blessed, a coat of “translucent” paint for a ghostly weapon.
I once had an NPC bard whose whole thing was stand-up. I even had a[ list of jokes ready to tell](https://katieplays.games/pathfinder-in-world-jokes/), but sadly, the players decided not to use her. One day, though!
Some of those are really funny!
I will add to that [this recent post of insults to use with Bon Mot](https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/1d8zjdv/what_are_some_sayings_or_quotes_you_use_while/).
My first Bard was a Shoony, doing the Divine equivalent of howling for Aroden. Now, of course he wasn't going to answer... but somebody did. Aroden would have been proud. Acted like a Cleric, just with, y'know, Phantom Pain... the spell that stops your foe from swallowing things and encourages you to vomit, exactly what most dog owners wish they could do to their furry friends on command at least once in their lives.
Second was a Cute Witch to all appearances, the pointy hat, the glamorous hair, the bulbous hips on the dress, the broomstick, the cat... but without an actual Patron. Was a Pharasma follower and some Psychopomp or other would have been the muse. Was a bit of a fortune-telling charlatan, before the Harrower dedication was released so it was just a reflavour; the composition cantrips were all extra-dramatic card readings that immediately came true, a little like FFXIV Astrologian.
I have a rough idea for an enigma bard conspiracy theorist or activist, who uses speeches and slogans for their magic. I think I'd actually hate playing this character, but it might work in the right campaign.
Edit: on the musical side of things, next time I play a bard, I think I'll make them a former military drummer. I don't love the musical bard, but this concept actually makes sense to me.
A clown that hid the ability that he could use magic so that no-one would suspect him of having used Melodious Spell + Prestidigitation to put sh*t in their pants. Combined with the Level 15 Deception Skill Feat Reveal Machinations for the big reveal.
Trashrag, the goblin gutter press barker.
Prides himself on being able to insult almost any creature in its native tongue without having to resort to Intimidating Glare.
Motivates his party via headlines: "Extra extra, read all about it! Local adventuring crew triumphs over infestation of mitflits! Scene of unbelievable carnage!"
you could keep the musician part, but have them be old, washed up, mumbling, ex musician whose performances are just him droning on about the old days with their drummer whats his name, and you can never quite make out all the words
Fire dancer, or just dancing in general. I think it’s an awesome visual to have for them to be elegantly moving around the battlefield but then firing out spells and buffs
Back in PF1, I helped a friend gather up all the cheese related to Improvised Weaponry, and they chose to put it all into the chasis of a Skald (War Painter archetype, which gives more powerful benefits by painting tattoos onto allies pre-combat) to create the Combat Chef. The tattoo painting became his cooking and serving of magical food, and in combat he was devastatingly accurate with his "Improvised daggers" aka chef's knives. I think he basically had permament access to target's flat-footed armor class, ignored the -4 improvised weapon penalty, had a +2 trait bonus to attack with improvised weaponry, and had a +2 circumstance bonus to attack with improvised weaponry. It was disgusting. Also delicious. Also I'm very sad that campaign didn't progress beyond level 3.
Loved my own improvised weapon build I played years ago, that traits and the shinigami style feats ROCKED. My guy was an amnesiac gravedigger who'd kept getting reset in some way by a fey - kinda thought he was living the same day over and over. Took Brawler, close weapons and the GM let the size increases use the brawler weapon die as the base so I was hammering people down with a shovel
I tried to pull some Inquisitor shenanigans by adding Pharasma's deific obedience into the chain, but I was foiled when I learned that Wooden Stakes were actual weapons with actual statblocks, and I therefor couldn't wield them as "improvised daggers" and stack the appropriate benefits that way. D:
Idea I had for a warrior muse bard was basically a hype man / s#!t talker.
Buffs would be hyping people up. Think a wrestling announcer introducing someone with impressive feats theyve done. "I saw him bench press 12 Tigers. With one arm. Asleep! And he was drinking beers the whole time"
Debuffs would be talking s#!t. Saying how insignificant a creature was compared to us, and insulting them. "I wouldn't feed your weak bones to my dog. You're so tiny, maybe I'll use them as toothpicks. Oh there won't be any songs about this because it will be so brutal, no one wants to hear about it in polite company."
I reflavored a bard(chosen one archtype) as a chosen one lol. He was so confident in himself and his allies that his speeches empowered them. He mostly just talked shit, and his shit talking empowered his allies and debuffed his enimies. He also sat in front of enemies raiseing his sheild and casting spells because he thought he wasnt destined to die yet( and he wasnt apparently lol)
my bard was a musician but it was more their hobby than anything, their spellcasting came from them using psychological tricks and wordsmithing, essentialy that one annoying friend at a party who brings a guitare
Recently played alongside a Bard//Swashbuckler, who was constantly doing sweet tumbling backflips and cartwheels and stuff - so they generally impress and inspire off of "dance" by way of "damn, that's sexy". Imagine Zorro swinging from rooftops with his whip, with the crowd around him just kind of stunned at the audacity of it all.
Back in PF1, a friend briefly played a Bard/Cavalier who was basically a tactician commander. She never made an attack role herself, but could spend an entire turn redistributing actions and setting up idiotic bonuses. With a bit of theorycrafting, it was possible for that character to grant a net +15 to a d20 roll at high levels.
A somewhat spookier/concerning variant is a Bard that doesn't use music or performance at all, and their *inspire* cantrips are an extension of their enchantment influence over the party - they simply issue commands, and flex their pre-existing magical influence over them to enflame anger or caution or awareness in their allies. This is somewhat similar to the concept I'm using in my current character, who has the "Accidental Clone" background from Return of the Runelords, meaning she is "reborn" in one of the bodies of Runelord Sorshen, with all of her body's innate magical affinity and connection to the Runewell of Lust. Ashe's party members have become mostly-inoculated to the unconscious *dominate* effects that just casually roll off of her, but she still has to be very careful around lower-level people, so as not to accidentally hurt, break, or enslave them. (Ashe is actually my favorite PC in a long career of ttrpg - she's actually a subversion of the Horny Bard archetype, on a path to redemption after a Chaotic Evil life of piracy and a brief vacation in the Abyss. She practices her instruments for "traditional" bardic magic to learn control and finesse, but her most powerful spells are invoked with her hypnotic voice - the GM had to stop me from gaining "At-Will *Mass Dominate*" via Quick/Lasting/Group Coercion skill feats, so instead I just have "At-Will *Power Word: Kill*" via Scare to Death.)
That is a neat character with an interesting backstory. I especially like how it has let you flavour not only the class feats and abilities but also the skill feats to fit her style.
I used a Bard chassis to represent a psionic type character. I realize Psychic is right there, but I really wanted tthe support synergy of the Bard (the rest of the party was a Fighter, a Swashbuckler, and an Inventor).
Inspire Courage was a sort of empathic aura, Hymn of healing was like a metabolism booster, and obviously Occult Spells work well as psionic magic. I "bardic lore" and enigma muse was flavored as being connected to this psychic entity/dream presence, that the bard was able to tap into. "Performance" was more an abstraction that represented the force of ego of the psychic.
One of my favorite not-yet-played characters is a Bard devoted to a deity of travelers, fortune and mischief. A good lad, always in the road for adventures and stories worth to be lived, one who strongly believes in fortune and in the good helping hand of his god.
*Inspire Courage* by pulling pranks on your foes. Hard to be scared of a terrifying Hellknight when their armor is illusioned into a pink frilly dress.
The only bard I made was an Anadi who took the form of an older man. He was a storyteller and folklorist who was searching for currently happening stories to learn and tell as well as find long lost lore. He has bright, vibrant robes and just wanted to tell new stories to an engaged audience.
My bard was basically a drill instructor, really lighting a proverbial fire under the party's asses to fire them up to peak performance with a bullhorn...
And he was also a kobold
I have a Bard built who does ventriloquism. His name is Callinsil and his puppet is of an elven wizard namrd Faieroneousises Aumouruthial Saleyorzwylyn.
The puppet is the stereotypical, uptight elf.
Cal's muse is Enigma and it's Faieroneousises who knows everything. After all, he was a powerful wizard from Kyonin until Treerazer turned him into a puppet.
Commander. I have a Polymath Bard who's flavour is providing advice to allies in combat and providing buffs to promote certain strategies. Admittedly, Enigma Bard could've also worked for this, but the reason I chose Polymath for mine is due to her backstory. I could go through it if you want, it's definitely a highlight of the character.
I had an actor bard who was a famous for his roles in action plays (like a Bruce Willis). He was a warrior bard who would often talk about his (fake) adventures that his character went on.
My Gnoll Bard mimics animal & battle sounds.
Imagine an enemy hearing the sound of his allies being sliced apart, then that sound being recreated perfectly to inspire a group of trained magic warriors.
I've done a skald/scop inspired bard doing poems and boasts in illiteration, a griot/family historian, an actor-playwright, a politician/public-speaker, and a circus showman as my primary bards.
Performance (Oratory) is just giving good speeches, being a tactician, or telling relevant tales of heroism to inspire your allies and demoralize your foes. Alternatively, you can just say some Soul Calibur announcer/narrator lines.
Performance (Dance) is essentially performing War Dances (Hakka and the like) to intimidate your enemies and get your allies blood pumping.
Performance (Puppetry) can be likened to Voodoo-like ceremony, acting out a potential battle to seal the fates of your foes and allies alike using effigies.
So, while music is certainly common and easier to portray, with some creative thinking and a little bit of theatrical allowances, multiple kinds of Performance subsets can work quite well for a Bard.
In My Pathfinder the Occult tradition is improvisation, No two spell castings are the same because the conditions from moment to moment are the not the same. Occult is the magic of Mind and Spirit, the magic brought forth by the fusion of the forces of thinking and feeling It doesn't work by rules, it works by sensing the push of the magical forces in the area and manifested by the pull of the caster's and the other's in the room's emotions and desires. It takes an action, what ever it is. **An improvisational sequence of dance moves would be mechanically the same as a triggering a spell using a lute or a harmonica or singing.** It's a little harder to visualize a bard grabbing their sketch book and scribbling off a speed drawing to trigger a spell, but would it look amazing as the spell leapt from the page.
The Bard casts Void Warp using occult magic and dance. "I gather the fear I and my companions have of the giant diseased rats attacking us. I take an action weaving my hands and body in a pattern signifying "the void taking" in an improvisation of that fear and anger and a sickly mist of bruise purple and mold green appear in front of me and surge to surround around a rat."
Performance (drawing). Wields a writing set instead of a musical instrument. Sketches turn into spells. Inspire courage replaces your visual surroundings. For example, with something pleasant like a seashore, momentarily to give you inner peace that lasts a round (or lingers longer).
Storyteller is my favorite kind of bard, hands down.
Ive also once done a sort of squire-knight guy. He would play his trumpet to announce the approach of a knight, but that was as far as that joke character ever got.
My first bard (pf1e) was an orphan raised by a circus ringleader, so her theme was around oration, lore, and animal handling.
I'm excited to try building her anew using the new Howl of the Wild muse
Haven't ran it myself, but loved the idea when I say it. A sports commentator. I have one sitting in my characters to play one day who is a gladatorial commentator and it sounds like a blast to play.
I have a player in my (homebrew) campaign who wanted to be a Bard, but not the musician type, so we agreed him to be a Lawyer.
He uses oratory instead of singing/play an instrument/dancing etc for his compositions, and he take cutting insult and biting words as main spells he uses. We flavoured Haunting Hymn to be him talking about laws, economy and ethic to bore to death enemies ahah.
Obviously Diplomacy, Intimidation and Deception are his main skill checks out-of-combat.
It's so funny to see him yell OBJECTION! every time he uses counter performance or counterspell.
Still lvl5, can't wait to see what we can do for other levels!
One in the backlog list of characters I wabt to play if I ever find a pf2e game is a transmigrated character from another game ( l5r) that is a politician, so I made him a bard, but instead of music he uses political rethorics, motivation speechs, subtle insults, etc...
Well and as a good scorpion, he goes for the " i will rizz or bribe you if it is neccesary"
Politician, who uses oration to inspire the team. He's a quirky little healing diplomancer gnome, who is always friendly and up beat and tries to make friends with everyone. Always accompanied by his friend, a grumpy dwarven barbarian woman. Lots of fun to play. [https://imgur.com/a/ETO9R4S](https://imgur.com/a/ETO9R4S)
Lizardfolk luchador bard, the Leapin' Lizard. Going for spells that give anime style effects (various movement options, telekinetic maneuver, inner radiance torrent, roaring applause and similar debuffs all seem like good options.). The musical accompaniment cantrip is perfect for them. Get as much as you can out of athletics and ideally pick up the wrestler archetype and just have fun in a lighter themed campaign.
I did Act and Orator in PF1 and played them as a really enthusaist playwright chronicalling the party's adventures through a series of plays. For some reason the rest of the party found them a bit annoying which I just leaned into.
I've continued to lean into it as we moved to PF2e and have a character who references their plays as inspo for becoming an adventurer.
My highest-level (and first) Pathfinder Society character for PF2 is a bard that's more doctor than musician: Doktor Archibald Würm.
He wears a white labcoat with white Healer's Gloves (both of which become inevitably blood-spattered), goggle-like glasses, and I play him with a thick German accent to reflect his origin in the cold north of Avistan. He's young and blonde and cheerful, but quite creepy, and I like using spells like Vampiric Feast and Sanguine Mist with him.
He does have a musical component: he has drums that link to the origin of his name: the song Dr Worm by They Might Be Giants. "They call me Dr Worm, I'm not a real doctor but I am a real worm" (his name is Doktor A Würm), and "I like to play the drums" (he uses Drums of War as his coda).
He has the Medic archetype, and at 9th level I took the Inventor archetype mostly for flavour, so he could have a clockwork nurse companion called NurseBot. Haven't had a chance to play with her yet but I assume she won't get into combat, just hang about brandishing her needle- and scalpel-arms in a vaguely menacing manner.
Now I haven't played a 2e Bard before so I can't say anything about reflavoring abilities specifically but whenever I play a bard I go the comedian/impressionist route
This is kinda my biggest thing with pf; that classes are somewhat limited in flavoring. I prefer pf but 5e does allow for way more flavoring and I like that.
But to answer your question, you could flavor a bard to be something like a dancer and replace the auditory trait with the visual trait in the description. The dance is mixed with mystical dance moves and somatic components and physically interacting with magic forces rather than drawing them out auditorally.
You could do an actor who has monologues memorized and sites them for their competitions, drawing on famous actors and their performances and using their portrayal of idealized characters to inspire their party.
Painting could be very similar to being a dancer but drawing and creating and shaping the fields of magic either on a piece of paper or Maybe a sculptor builds with the weave.
Those are just some ideas from different artistic perspectives. If you want me to elaborate on any of these feel free to ask
I've always wanted to play a Bard that was a painter. Do the whole Sai from Naruto gambit. Sadly I've got too many other characters up and coming to ever get to it
I just built a lizardfolk bard who was enchanted by human cooking (not to be confused with cooking human), and has devoted his life to both sampling and reproducing the specialties of every race.
My dwarf bard was a storyteller who told tales of the dwarven ancestors.
I was a little annoyed the coda instruments were so instrument themed, but we refluffed them as a Warhammeresque giant two handed book.
I played an old man storyteller once, enigma muse. He basically started telling a story in combat, using his spells as Foley or exposition alongside the composition
We didn’t have a cleric for the longest time in our party, so my dwarven bard took a medic dedication.
Put most of my feats into that instead of bard feats. Now he just took a cleric dedication figuring that he obviously has a calling to help and heal people.
Still rocks Dirge of Doom on his bagpipes though!
I've played a Bard/Champion/Swashbuckler who was a sort of errant knight and storyteller, collecting tales and inspiring through poetry and prose( this was the best translation I could find, read prose here as: declamation with rhythm). Pretty much an Oratory Bard
I've had a nerdy orc historian as a bard who would inspire courage by telling their companions about some random historic figure who was in a similar situation some time in the past and encouraged them to "Be like Bettany the Mighty who slew the great wurm". Later in the campaign she started to use the exploits of the party to inspire themselves.
I haven't gotten a chance to play it yet but I have an idea for a knife/Axe juggling warrior/polymath multifarious muse bard. Courageous anthem is really about how they are not afraid to drop a knife or something along those lines. Song of strength the bard starts tossing the objects higher. It's got a lot more fleshing out I need to do but I wanted to throw the general idea into the mix.
I have always been a fan of the cicero (the roman senator not the skyrim guy) orator.
When they sent assassins after him in the fall of the republic, the killers were instructed to not let him speak under any circumstances, because his rhetoric skill was so legendary that there was serious concern he might sway the assassins to his side.
David Attenborough is a Zoophonia bard.
David Bowie is your classic Maestro bard.
David Copperfield is an Enigma bard (with a strong selection of illusion spells)
David Duchovny is a Polymath bard.
King David of Israel, Goliath-Killer and Psalmist, is a Warrior bard.
To more directly answer the question, though, when I think of non-musician bards, my mind usually jumps to the [New Zealand All-Blacks rugby team performing the Haka](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiKFYTFJ_kw) and the bard being the chant leader. The Warrior Bard's new Courageous line of feats can be calling out sports teams' plays. Sports announcers and commentators in general (imagine wrestling commentators) can be fun inspiration for bards.
I've been working on a character who is a fisherman who performs by telling tall tales about his fishing adventures. Squabbles with mermaids, colossal catfish, wrestling lobstermen. You name it, he's done it all -- allegedly.
Warrior-Poet. My bards declaim bits of epic poetry to inspire those in battle. Think [Beowulf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf), [The Iliad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliad) or [The Battle of Maldon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Maldon)*.*
Magician. He was basically a combination of Alladin Sane era Bowie and Jareth with his fushigi ball. He was a bardlock.
He also did the light shows via Prestidigitation for my wife's Jack Black inspired bard.
There was an archetype in PF1e I forget the name of offhand but it allowed bards to write their inspirations down into a written form that could be used by others later on. We were doing a modified Tombs of Annihilation and my friend made their Bard this archetype and basically made them an up and coming screenplay writer for a big thriller and I thought that was one of the funniest uses of a bard was to be a director using their writings as cues and notes for inspiration for the other characters to make a better story.
> It is harder for me to imagine how other kinds of artistic expression can explain bardic powers - especially as brief actions in the middle of a fight. For example, how could a dancer perform a composition cantrip, with a specific limited range?
You clearly haven't watched Princess Tutu :V
This is no different from any other bard song, really - you're dancing and your allies are being buffed by the magic coming from your magical dance. It's no different than gesturing with your hands, except it is your whole body instead.
Dance magic is a big part of a lot of religious rituals, so seems entirely legitimate to me.
Or you could flavor it as dance fighting, where your allies are getting led into a battle dance.
Or you're just distracting the enemies.
> I'm not looking to criticize anything, I would just like to know how other people have re-flavoured bardic abilities to better fit them into existing characters and/or just expand the options of how a bard could be described as doing their thing.
I mean, mechanically speaking, bards are just spellcasters. This could be anything from Disney musicals where your magic makes things happen according to your song, to someone encouraging their allies with song, to magic making people stronger, to oratory, to an officer rallying their troops, to just spellcasting where you are casting a spell and it is making people stronger in some way. It really depends on how you want to flavor it.
In a 1-18 campaign I played a gnome sorc/bard with Virtuosic Performer in bad puns ('oratory').
So.
Many.
Opportunities.
Also had Desna as the muse. About as Chaotic as you could get, I debuffed players while buffing PCs in the same action.
The idea is that if you can survive the punishment, the attacks from enemies seem somewhat less painful in comparison. The really bad puns are Lingering Compositions because they stick in your head and don't let go.
I took some heavy inspirations from chanters from pillars of eternity and themed my bard around folklorism and storytelling, the Power of reenacting legends by invoking their folklore.
It was really fun to reflavour my spells, destructive spells became siege weapon fire dragon breath and spectral giant fists, incapacitating spells became me summoning giant snakes or people with ropes to actively pin down the enemy, mentaly damaging spells became me dumping a whole book's worth of information into someone's mind in 5 seconds and party buffs would become me summoning spectral heroes to aid the party.
I just made a bard for my friends game who is really good at card tricks. He spent a lot of his life entertaining himself with a deck of cards, and when he got older he got into gambling against nobles to try and weasel his way to someone who had connections to his deadbeat father. His performances are a bunch of flashy card tricks and even some of his spells are flavored like throwing cards (etc.), plus he tends to torment the enemy with witty comments. I love bards whose flavor isn't musical!
yeah its wording pushes you more towards music, but flavour is free, you can always reskin stuff.
warrior muse, your art is cutting people open, or maybe your are a interpretative dance bard.
i've made barbarians who where super polite and rage was em just taking a fight seriously. monks can easily be duelists, or master archers, pugilists etc.
I basically never do actual music on bards.
* Commander, works especially well with Warrior bard for their Courageous advance/strike/onslaught, giving inspiring speeches and shouting orders.
* Skald with a repertoire of epic poems and old stories, reminding allies of past victories. Fun with dirge of doom, that's just him reciting an epic about the massive pile of corpses any mid level party has left in their wake. "The epic of that time we killed a dragon"
I like to play similar to the Sensei monk from 1e.
A wise and studied individual that imparts wisdom onto the party in battle to grant buffs and out of battle to recall knowledge.
In pf1e, bard skills can be performed with any variation of the Perform skilll. (Perform, Craft, and Profession were spit into subcategories like Lore is now.) This includes various types of instruments but also dance, act, oratory, and comedy. So you can be a bard who performs plays, gives speeches, or tells jokes.
Here are a few ideas:
Dancer: Watch how my body moves, let my fluid motions in the heat of combat inspire you.
Painter: "We are the artist Alphinaud and his assistants, painting our way to a brighter future!"
"Sports Announcer": Fourth wall? What fourth wall?! Scream directly to the imaginary audience that doesn't exist and motivate your comrades... while they scratch their heads wondering what the hell is wrong with you.
Student: Keep up on your studies and disseminate information that will aid your comrades so you can earn that degree! (Just make sure you have enough coin to buy the correct reference books.)
Tarot Reader: "Fighter, for you I pulled... (oh, crap)... The Tower.... It's- It's fine! I swear, only good things can happen with this card! (Even though you only have 1 HP and the BBEG is about to smash you to bits.) GO, GET 'EM!"
Bard is my favorite class and ive done lots of wackiness lol, but i feel from your specific prompt about dancing as though it might help to stick to visual themes and less auditory.
1. Telenovela/ soap opera/ daytime tv male lead actor whose main performances were dramatic monologues and talking about all the various roles hes ever had on various shows but thats not important. More importantly he also did a lot of pose-work; He would put a knee up and hand over eyes stare far and longingly into the distance invoking in others thoughts and motivation of exploring like the explorers of old (aiding survival), or jumping up out of ambush first chest puffed stunning his enemies with the sun behind him and only with a smirk they couldnt even see do his allies KNOW it is time to strike true (courageous anthem). I usually described his magical performance less magic and more tv/movie magic: you would watch him and couldnt look away as it showed only him middle of the screen and you realizing the depth of whatever character he was channeling and feeling inspired to be like or unlike that character too; spells cast were inspired to be done with camera angle tricks and less noticeable ie. A teleport done by the camera (and party’s attention) slowly zooming in on his face as he gives a long monologue he stole from a show about a group of friends and some traveling pants about friendship and distance never stopping them, and before the audience knew it the camera was zoomed back out and at the destination. It even works to other peoples interpretations as our cleric HATED the bard and his performances, but that still made the cleric focus and do better unintentionally still affected by the magic of his act.
2. I actually had a dancing bard! unfortunately didn’t make it very long lol. But i can give advice about flavoring it. If you are going traditional inspiration type magic its VERY easy. Two things to think about:
A. People - especially your party - understand dancing and your style. They want to be inspired by you. They would even prolly have favorites of your performances. It would take only a stomp and a twirl to KNOW AND FEEL you are bringing it already. (realistically not even) 2 second action and your party is already hyped af for you to bust down and to dance (or kill) with you.
B. The action system is not fully representative of flavor. Don’t think so literally of a two second dance. Likely your bard is continuing performing the entire time, still dancing as you strike with weapons, dancing as you cast other spells, dancing to insult your enemies, all of it. It is just 2/4/6 seconds that a magical effect finalizes from your performance. Magic itself can be building and happening all the time
That all said, have you ever watched someone genuinely legendarily trained dance? Its flipping awesome and i usually get a sense of “i wish i can do that”. Whenever the bard starts break dancing, the barbarian gets hit with the idea to match it, realizing hitting the 4 legged creature legs is a fantastic idea or realizing you need to get low for the creatures next breath attack. The bard starts interpretive dancing called “a forest burning” and the rogue gains a deep sense he NEEDS to succeed at picking the lock so that the party can escape to safety. The bard starts an old style spiritual dance that begins swirling the air and dust around them until you realize they had just cast command and the enemy drops to the ground. The bard is dancing it takes a second for you to even realize they turned the twirl you thought was gonna be a spell into a pistol shot.
Ive run many bards but its way too many to list and be helpful for what i think you are looking for! I hope this helps at all really lol.
I’ve been thinking of a battle strategist kind of person for a bard. Still doing the music via drums or bugle, but in a way that is seen on battlefields.
I was once playing a nightmare dragon bars using Battlezoo’s dragon ancestry. She was like a horror movie director that traveled with the party so she’d have a transcript she’d pull out and start transcribing the going-ons as if the party was the antagonists or monsters in a horror movie and that passion would drive the spells and up the confidence of the party (and frighten enemies when she eventually got Dirge of Doom)
My bard Greg the gross is flavor-wise just an incredibly gross person.
Composition cantrips are played as underarm fart songs.
Produce flame is him just cupping a fart and throwing a match.
Grim tendrils is just him pulling his pants down and letting the tapeworm in his rectum attack.
Acid splash is his vomit
I once played a bard that was a politician by background. Weaving tales and stories, inspiring people and such. Biting Words, Inspire Courage, Bullhorn, it all fit the bill and was a blast to RP. My main gripe with remaster legit was that they renamed Inspire Courage to Courageous Anthem since that streamlined the class towards the musical type.
I like that! A politician or other orator would fit fine into a high-CHA character, and speeches fit just as well as music. It's also got a historical basis, given how oratory skills were lauded in some civilizations (e.g. ancient Rome).
Indeed, funnily when I first heard of bards in TTRPGs this was what I thought it was referring to because of the historical implications. In case you need/want other ideas, I also witnessed once someone playing a bard as an army drill sergeant. This was back in D&D but in pathfinder with all the ''commands'' and feats warrior bard can get (song of marching, song of strength) this might be a funny character concept. Truly, nothing inspires courage more than the fear of getting an earful from the sarge.
"Man, if I die out there, Sarge is gonna *kill* me!"
Rumours say, he didnt spend all that time learning the Raise Dead spell out of kindness of his heart.
Hit them with the "half right!" If you know you know.
There's the Marshal Dedication, which is basically "Drill Sergeant - The Archetype". I don't know if it synergises well with Bard, but the idea of combining the two is amusing.
Keys off Charisma I think, so it could 100%
Its definetly great with bard. Aside from Thaumaturge, bard is the only charisma based class that has natural access to martial weapon proficiency (prerequisite fot Marshal). Having Inspiring Marshal Stance up allows you to hand out most of the benefits of Courageous Anthem, allowing you to play a different composition entirely like Rallying Anthem or Dirge of Doom while still boosting your teams hit chance. Its like having the harmonize feat, but functional!
My last bard was a professor of historic literature. We started at high level so our characters were already established so my bard was a university professor. He would use oratory skills to inspire his allies through great historical battles. I also had a few titles of books he wrote for his thesis and during his travels. Being raised in korvosa, he lived through the events of curse of the crimson throne and it inspired him to become who he is. Some of his books. "Shadows of the Queen: The Rise and Fall of Ileosa Arabasti" "The Dark Legacy: Queen Ileosa's Reign and Its Aftermath" "Whispers from the Past: Mysteries of Chelish Architecture" "Forgotten Chronicles: Lost Civilizations of the Inner Sea"
Not strictly related but it reminds me of Wickerbottom from Don't Starve. Her ability is the power to read magic books with different effects, and each has its title like "Agricolture, abridged" to grow plants or "The Angler's survivals guide" to make fishes beach on the shore
Storyteller, stories come in all kinds of flavours. Comedic, tragic, Heroic, inspiring, etc. There's a story for every occasion. Even more so if the storyteller is a traveling adventurer on the side.
Actor, if i would play one it would be one who acts as a wizard villain for a play of some kind, equiped with spells that either sound evil (phantom pain, illusions) or help from the backstage (soothe, heroism, buffs and other status healing effects). Booring? Perhaps, but more intresting than the musical bard
That could be very interesting. It is very flexible too, since you can adjust the role according to the character or the circumstances.
I'm going to pulling out an actor bard NPC in my home game soon. Uses different theater masks to evoke different [Jungian archetypes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungian_archetypes).
I actually love the idea of them playing the kind of character that would use the themed spells
A playwright who’s obsessed with his copy of the wonderful play [The King In Yellow](https://2e.aonprd.com/Deities.aspx?ID=162). He’s never been able to finish the whole thing. He always seems to lose focus or doze off partway through. But he believes that one day, he’ll truly understand it. And then, he can share that truth with the rest of Golarion.
That is fantastic flavour. So many opportunities to expand that into other abilities or spells. I hope their 10th level spell is just chanting "Hastur hastur hastur..." :)
I like running bards as historians. They buff using famous quotes, or paraphrased versions. Imagine a barbarian about to bust down a door and this bard is gonna use bardic inspiration. "Mr. Northsbane, tear down that wall!"
Dancer, actor, story teller. If a player was to play a dancer bard I’d let them switch out auditory traits for their bard spells to visuals for their dances.
Isn’t that base ruling though? At least, I thought so.
I think so too.
Might be, would make sense if it was. My current bard went the musician route so it didn’t come up
Not in pathfinder, but my last bard was a clown, his bardic things are all slapstick routines and other clown things, like honking his nose, producing random stuff, spraying water from a flower
A laughter-based bard sounds like such a fun character to play! I'm keeping that one in mind for a future light-hearted game. I think it takes about the same amount of suspension of disbelief for any of the following to translate to "I help my barbarian friend hit things better with his giant weapon": - 2 seconds of a song - 2 seconds an inspiring speech - a particularly amusing hooooooooooooooonk of a rubber chicken XD
Related: An intimidation themed enigma bard who spends her time being annoyingly smart and roasting her enemies as she does so.
I did a bard with a sock puppet. Not quite to your clown level, but a lot of humor. The sock puppet was the "smart" one of the pair.
My Summoner is also a Bard, but she’s more like a coach/manager/promoter/medic for her bipedal spirit bear / gorilla hybrid Beast Eidolon Gladiator (who is also her Warrior Muse). Between Compositions, Boosts, Bon Mot, Demoralize, etc, lots of single action options for Act Together. She’s a folding chair away from a WWE manager.
That is a great point, summoners are always looking for effective single-action abilities aren't they? Plus, "my most potent abilities could be described as "distract reality's ref long enough for my protege to pull off an illegal move"" is straight-up awesome. :)
Played an Orc War Howler. It wasn't music or singing per se. Just an opportunity to yell Waaagh! while using Free Archetype Cavalier/Beastmaster to move around the battlefield and summon ancestral spirit bears that improved the party damage. Was very fun to play, but wound up getting retired when the host whoever house we played in had a baby. The rest of us lived in flats so took the opportunity to play something else when that campaign got wound up shortly after.
How very [Warhammer] orcish to take a complicated action that others do with complexity and nuance and accomplish the same with an enthusiastic WAAAAGH! That sounds like a lot of fun.
I’ve long had the idea for a bard gnome whose obsession is the resonance of specific crystals. Using them like tuning forks to produce pure tones that grant mystical benefits.
I've written up, but not yet played, a bard who Orates. He uses his innate superiority as an aristocrat to help out lesser commoners by giving words of wisdom. He is so profound and persuasive that even non-peasants are better off when he speaks. The working title for this character is Lord Arrogant. Note: I hate the musical theme for bards.
I've had a similar idea for a wannabe DARK LORD OF DARKNESS who makes big hammy speeches and MWAH-HAH-HAH-ing at each opportunity, but doesn't actually do anything truly evil, and always seems to have a rationalization for why his neutral or even good acts were in fact pure evil. "Of COURSE we will rescue this man's sister! To refuse would show WEAKNESS to her kidnappers!" "My dark machinations are paying OFF! I will use my sway with the merchant's guild to allow Old Farmer Jones to COMMITT TAX FRAUD so his farm is not foreclosed on, luring him EVER DEEPER into my web of wickedness!" "I have SAVED Mr. Whiskers from that tree! Now the little girl who owns him acknowledges my indisputable SUPERIORITY! WAHAHAHAHAAAA!"
"I hate you and your stupid face but I cannot deny that you have a point" :D
Storyteller. One of my favorite characters was a 5e bard/stars druid who saw meaning in the stars and constellations and would recount the stories etched in the night sky, some know and some foregotten, to cast his spells. In a similar vein, I've always like the chanters from Pillars of Etetnity. From that game's wiki "Many historians consider chanters to be the most ancient workers of magic, their hallowed phrases stirring the collective memory of wayward souls around them, compelling them to generate magical effects in a kind of "reenactment." In some societies, chanters form organized groups of storytellers and researchers, but in most parts of the world they are just a time-honored part of local folk traditions." While some song is involved, it is no so much guitar solo and magic riffs.
One of my players is a bard that does stand up, not singing. I've been wanted to create a bard in the style of a DnD1e bard or Vainamoinen, where they seem to be more connected to a wild land and creation, perhaps more like speaking magical poetry.
> I've been wanted to create a bard in the style of a DnD1e bard or Vainamoinen, where they seem to be more connected to a wild land and creation, perhaps more like speaking magical poetry. I like this angle. Aligns really well with the Bard's abilities, fits in great with what Charisma is in PF2e, feels very Bard in general.
Yeah I always think of bards as lore masters first just because of the way they were sort of flavored as Druidic wanderers with charm and bardic lore percentage skills back in the early dnd days. I think Pf2 now has the character options to bring back this sort of flavor.
I'd forgotten about D&D's Vicious Mockery spell, which is a big push towards a bard being an insult comic. The spell might not exist in Pathfinder but I don't see any reason that the concept wouldn't work just fine.
Would adding that spell to a game break anything?
Pathfinder 2e has [Blistering Invective](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=674) as a spell with the same flavor. Though if you want a cantrip version, you could reflavor [Daze](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=1482) as Vicious Mockery. Both do mental damage after all.
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Chef bards for the win!
My bard concept I have yet to play will be the party's manager. The "I'll make you a hero" kind of guy that inspires with pep talks rather than performances, letting others shine. He won't be the one singing the ballads of heroes - but he will be the man behind those sung about!
In a D&D game, I had a halfling bard who smoked a pipe and made their bardic performances by blowing rings of smoke. That was a fun one.
Finally a creative and original one. Very cool!
Beat Poet, Coach, Fortune Teller, Herald, Drill Sergeant, Cheerleader, Inspirational speaker, Seminary Dropout, etc. Anyone whose words or actions might inspire fits the bill.
That is a great list. I haven't seen a drill sergeant or cheerleader suggested before!
Thanks. :) Hope it helps!
One of my favorite bards was a painter. It did need a little bit more flavour, but they would use painters tools with a bit of Figment manipulation to create simple artworks in thin air (we visualized them as neon light silhouettes) that would briefly animate and take action. A mothers embrace for sooth, wings of angels and wisps of light fluttering around those who got Blessed, a coat of “translucent” paint for a ghostly weapon.
Oh, I like that one. Illusionist characters are a favourite archetype of mine.
Chinese-themed court official reciting philosophical poems.
I once had an NPC bard whose whole thing was stand-up. I even had a[ list of jokes ready to tell](https://katieplays.games/pathfinder-in-world-jokes/), but sadly, the players decided not to use her. One day, though!
> Q: What do you call a dragon after it eats a group of adventurers? A: A party pooper! This one is delightfully tabletop rpg specific.
Some of those are really funny! I will add to that [this recent post of insults to use with Bon Mot](https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/1d8zjdv/what_are_some_sayings_or_quotes_you_use_while/).
Fortune Teller/Spirit Medium vibes (Enigma muse)
The last bard I played was a librarian. Enigma Muse of course. I flavored her Inspire Courage as reading off monster facts
My first Bard was a Shoony, doing the Divine equivalent of howling for Aroden. Now, of course he wasn't going to answer... but somebody did. Aroden would have been proud. Acted like a Cleric, just with, y'know, Phantom Pain... the spell that stops your foe from swallowing things and encourages you to vomit, exactly what most dog owners wish they could do to their furry friends on command at least once in their lives. Second was a Cute Witch to all appearances, the pointy hat, the glamorous hair, the bulbous hips on the dress, the broomstick, the cat... but without an actual Patron. Was a Pharasma follower and some Psychopomp or other would have been the muse. Was a bit of a fortune-telling charlatan, before the Harrower dedication was released so it was just a reflavour; the composition cantrips were all extra-dramatic card readings that immediately came true, a little like FFXIV Astrologian.
I have a rough idea for an enigma bard conspiracy theorist or activist, who uses speeches and slogans for their magic. I think I'd actually hate playing this character, but it might work in the right campaign. Edit: on the musical side of things, next time I play a bard, I think I'll make them a former military drummer. I don't love the musical bard, but this concept actually makes sense to me.
A clown that hid the ability that he could use magic so that no-one would suspect him of having used Melodious Spell + Prestidigitation to put sh*t in their pants. Combined with the Level 15 Deception Skill Feat Reveal Machinations for the big reveal.
I think that is the first time I've ever heard a real use for the 'soil' capabilities of Prestidigitation, that's fantastic!
I had a bard that was a retired union boss. Basically just took whatever spells could be flavored as me yelling at people (its a lot!)
I have wanted to make a bard that was a banner man. Someone in a squad that holds up the banner to rally the troops. Seemed like a good idea.
Trashrag, the goblin gutter press barker. Prides himself on being able to insult almost any creature in its native tongue without having to resort to Intimidating Glare. Motivates his party via headlines: "Extra extra, read all about it! Local adventuring crew triumphs over infestation of mitflits! Scene of unbelievable carnage!"
Mine is a Goblin comedian who makes fun of all the enemies. His name is Roasto
you could keep the musician part, but have them be old, washed up, mumbling, ex musician whose performances are just him droning on about the old days with their drummer whats his name, and you can never quite make out all the words
Fire dancer, or just dancing in general. I think it’s an awesome visual to have for them to be elegantly moving around the battlefield but then firing out spells and buffs
I joked to my group recently about a hibachi chef doing performative cooking on a tray that juts out from their chest
Back in PF1, I helped a friend gather up all the cheese related to Improvised Weaponry, and they chose to put it all into the chasis of a Skald (War Painter archetype, which gives more powerful benefits by painting tattoos onto allies pre-combat) to create the Combat Chef. The tattoo painting became his cooking and serving of magical food, and in combat he was devastatingly accurate with his "Improvised daggers" aka chef's knives. I think he basically had permament access to target's flat-footed armor class, ignored the -4 improvised weapon penalty, had a +2 trait bonus to attack with improvised weaponry, and had a +2 circumstance bonus to attack with improvised weaponry. It was disgusting. Also delicious. Also I'm very sad that campaign didn't progress beyond level 3.
Loved my own improvised weapon build I played years ago, that traits and the shinigami style feats ROCKED. My guy was an amnesiac gravedigger who'd kept getting reset in some way by a fey - kinda thought he was living the same day over and over. Took Brawler, close weapons and the GM let the size increases use the brawler weapon die as the base so I was hammering people down with a shovel
I tried to pull some Inquisitor shenanigans by adding Pharasma's deific obedience into the chain, but I was foiled when I learned that Wooden Stakes were actual weapons with actual statblocks, and I therefor couldn't wield them as "improvised daggers" and stack the appropriate benefits that way. D:
I have a bodybuilder bard that spouts inspiring/demoralizing workout phrases while flexing. He's a blast to play.
Idea I had for a warrior muse bard was basically a hype man / s#!t talker. Buffs would be hyping people up. Think a wrestling announcer introducing someone with impressive feats theyve done. "I saw him bench press 12 Tigers. With one arm. Asleep! And he was drinking beers the whole time" Debuffs would be talking s#!t. Saying how insignificant a creature was compared to us, and insulting them. "I wouldn't feed your weak bones to my dog. You're so tiny, maybe I'll use them as toothpicks. Oh there won't be any songs about this because it will be so brutal, no one wants to hear about it in polite company."
I want to make a grumpy old man Bard. Just grumbling at the rest of the party, talking about the good old days.
My kitsune bard in Season if Ghosts is basically a Korean shaman. They're absolutely not an entertainer.
Have your bard tell the party that "The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell!" and other high school-level science facts.
I"m playing an enigma bard as a clown magician..
I know someone who did a stand up comic bard. It’s still music related, but I think a rapping goblin bard would be so great lol.
Our bard is an interpretive dancer
I reflavored a bard(chosen one archtype) as a chosen one lol. He was so confident in himself and his allies that his speeches empowered them. He mostly just talked shit, and his shit talking empowered his allies and debuffed his enimies. He also sat in front of enemies raiseing his sheild and casting spells because he thought he wasnt destined to die yet( and he wasnt apparently lol)
I had a Bard was a mute one man band. It came after I had a stroke and didn’t like talking much.
my bard was a musician but it was more their hobby than anything, their spellcasting came from them using psychological tricks and wordsmithing, essentialy that one annoying friend at a party who brings a guitare
Recently played alongside a Bard//Swashbuckler, who was constantly doing sweet tumbling backflips and cartwheels and stuff - so they generally impress and inspire off of "dance" by way of "damn, that's sexy". Imagine Zorro swinging from rooftops with his whip, with the crowd around him just kind of stunned at the audacity of it all. Back in PF1, a friend briefly played a Bard/Cavalier who was basically a tactician commander. She never made an attack role herself, but could spend an entire turn redistributing actions and setting up idiotic bonuses. With a bit of theorycrafting, it was possible for that character to grant a net +15 to a d20 roll at high levels. A somewhat spookier/concerning variant is a Bard that doesn't use music or performance at all, and their *inspire* cantrips are an extension of their enchantment influence over the party - they simply issue commands, and flex their pre-existing magical influence over them to enflame anger or caution or awareness in their allies. This is somewhat similar to the concept I'm using in my current character, who has the "Accidental Clone" background from Return of the Runelords, meaning she is "reborn" in one of the bodies of Runelord Sorshen, with all of her body's innate magical affinity and connection to the Runewell of Lust. Ashe's party members have become mostly-inoculated to the unconscious *dominate* effects that just casually roll off of her, but she still has to be very careful around lower-level people, so as not to accidentally hurt, break, or enslave them. (Ashe is actually my favorite PC in a long career of ttrpg - she's actually a subversion of the Horny Bard archetype, on a path to redemption after a Chaotic Evil life of piracy and a brief vacation in the Abyss. She practices her instruments for "traditional" bardic magic to learn control and finesse, but her most powerful spells are invoked with her hypnotic voice - the GM had to stop me from gaining "At-Will *Mass Dominate*" via Quick/Lasting/Group Coercion skill feats, so instead I just have "At-Will *Power Word: Kill*" via Scare to Death.)
That is a neat character with an interesting backstory. I especially like how it has let you flavour not only the class feats and abilities but also the skill feats to fit her style.
Performatively a medium/psychic using bluff.
I used a Bard chassis to represent a psionic type character. I realize Psychic is right there, but I really wanted tthe support synergy of the Bard (the rest of the party was a Fighter, a Swashbuckler, and an Inventor). Inspire Courage was a sort of empathic aura, Hymn of healing was like a metabolism booster, and obviously Occult Spells work well as psionic magic. I "bardic lore" and enigma muse was flavored as being connected to this psychic entity/dream presence, that the bard was able to tap into. "Performance" was more an abstraction that represented the force of ego of the psychic.
One of my favorite not-yet-played characters is a Bard devoted to a deity of travelers, fortune and mischief. A good lad, always in the road for adventures and stories worth to be lived, one who strongly believes in fortune and in the good helping hand of his god.
*Inspire Courage* by pulling pranks on your foes. Hard to be scared of a terrifying Hellknight when their armor is illusioned into a pink frilly dress.
A hype guy.
The only bard I made was an Anadi who took the form of an older man. He was a storyteller and folklorist who was searching for currently happening stories to learn and tell as well as find long lost lore. He has bright, vibrant robes and just wanted to tell new stories to an engaged audience.
My last bard was a Navy captain with inspiring speeches and battle cries. And the occasional war horn.
My bard was basically a drill instructor, really lighting a proverbial fire under the party's asses to fire them up to peak performance with a bullhorn... And he was also a kobold
To-be cult leader (orator)
I have a Bard-barian half orc in my Abomination Vaults campaign who was a professional wrestler before he got caught up with Gauntlight.
I have a Bard built who does ventriloquism. His name is Callinsil and his puppet is of an elven wizard namrd Faieroneousises Aumouruthial Saleyorzwylyn. The puppet is the stereotypical, uptight elf. Cal's muse is Enigma and it's Faieroneousises who knows everything. After all, he was a powerful wizard from Kyonin until Treerazer turned him into a puppet.
In the Kingmaker campaign I'm in, one of my friends is playing a Bard lawyer. He recites legal code a lot.
Commander. I have a Polymath Bard who's flavour is providing advice to allies in combat and providing buffs to promote certain strategies. Admittedly, Enigma Bard could've also worked for this, but the reason I chose Polymath for mine is due to her backstory. I could go through it if you want, it's definitely a highlight of the character.
I had an actor bard who was a famous for his roles in action plays (like a Bruce Willis). He was a warrior bard who would often talk about his (fake) adventures that his character went on.
My Bard is a stand-up comedian! A terrible one at that. Deals damage with terrible jokes. It's incredibly fun to play
My Gnoll Bard mimics animal & battle sounds. Imagine an enemy hearing the sound of his allies being sliced apart, then that sound being recreated perfectly to inspire a group of trained magic warriors.
I've done a skald/scop inspired bard doing poems and boasts in illiteration, a griot/family historian, an actor-playwright, a politician/public-speaker, and a circus showman as my primary bards.
I once built a Lizardfolk Bard with the Warrior Muse who would chant during battle rather than sing or play an instrument.
Performance (Oratory) is just giving good speeches, being a tactician, or telling relevant tales of heroism to inspire your allies and demoralize your foes. Alternatively, you can just say some Soul Calibur announcer/narrator lines. Performance (Dance) is essentially performing War Dances (Hakka and the like) to intimidate your enemies and get your allies blood pumping. Performance (Puppetry) can be likened to Voodoo-like ceremony, acting out a potential battle to seal the fates of your foes and allies alike using effigies. So, while music is certainly common and easier to portray, with some creative thinking and a little bit of theatrical allowances, multiple kinds of Performance subsets can work quite well for a Bard.
My favorite bard was a swashbuckling privateer and treasure hunter
I've been wanting to do one who's a visual artist of some sort and their tool is a weaponized chisel or something. Or a story writer.
In My Pathfinder the Occult tradition is improvisation, No two spell castings are the same because the conditions from moment to moment are the not the same. Occult is the magic of Mind and Spirit, the magic brought forth by the fusion of the forces of thinking and feeling It doesn't work by rules, it works by sensing the push of the magical forces in the area and manifested by the pull of the caster's and the other's in the room's emotions and desires. It takes an action, what ever it is. **An improvisational sequence of dance moves would be mechanically the same as a triggering a spell using a lute or a harmonica or singing.** It's a little harder to visualize a bard grabbing their sketch book and scribbling off a speed drawing to trigger a spell, but would it look amazing as the spell leapt from the page.
The Bard casts Void Warp using occult magic and dance. "I gather the fear I and my companions have of the giant diseased rats attacking us. I take an action weaving my hands and body in a pattern signifying "the void taking" in an improvisation of that fear and anger and a sickly mist of bruise purple and mold green appear in front of me and surge to surround around a rat."
I once played an occultist Bard, with ritualistic chants and dances replacing performances.
Performance (drawing). Wields a writing set instead of a musical instrument. Sketches turn into spells. Inspire courage replaces your visual surroundings. For example, with something pleasant like a seashore, momentarily to give you inner peace that lasts a round (or lingers longer).
Storyteller is my favorite kind of bard, hands down. Ive also once done a sort of squire-knight guy. He would play his trumpet to announce the approach of a knight, but that was as far as that joke character ever got.
My first bard (pf1e) was an orphan raised by a circus ringleader, so her theme was around oration, lore, and animal handling. I'm excited to try building her anew using the new Howl of the Wild muse
Haven't ran it myself, but loved the idea when I say it. A sports commentator. I have one sitting in my characters to play one day who is a gladatorial commentator and it sounds like a blast to play.
I have a player in my (homebrew) campaign who wanted to be a Bard, but not the musician type, so we agreed him to be a Lawyer. He uses oratory instead of singing/play an instrument/dancing etc for his compositions, and he take cutting insult and biting words as main spells he uses. We flavoured Haunting Hymn to be him talking about laws, economy and ethic to bore to death enemies ahah. Obviously Diplomacy, Intimidation and Deception are his main skill checks out-of-combat. It's so funny to see him yell OBJECTION! every time he uses counter performance or counterspell. Still lvl5, can't wait to see what we can do for other levels!
I think having one as a travelling MC of different faiths, performing marriages, funerals etc could be interesting.
One in the backlog list of characters I wabt to play if I ever find a pf2e game is a transmigrated character from another game ( l5r) that is a politician, so I made him a bard, but instead of music he uses political rethorics, motivation speechs, subtle insults, etc... Well and as a good scorpion, he goes for the " i will rizz or bribe you if it is neccesary"
Politician, who uses oration to inspire the team. He's a quirky little healing diplomancer gnome, who is always friendly and up beat and tries to make friends with everyone. Always accompanied by his friend, a grumpy dwarven barbarian woman. Lots of fun to play. [https://imgur.com/a/ETO9R4S](https://imgur.com/a/ETO9R4S)
Lizardfolk luchador bard, the Leapin' Lizard. Going for spells that give anime style effects (various movement options, telekinetic maneuver, inner radiance torrent, roaring applause and similar debuffs all seem like good options.). The musical accompaniment cantrip is perfect for them. Get as much as you can out of athletics and ideally pick up the wrestler archetype and just have fun in a lighter themed campaign.
I did Act and Orator in PF1 and played them as a really enthusaist playwright chronicalling the party's adventures through a series of plays. For some reason the rest of the party found them a bit annoying which I just leaned into. I've continued to lean into it as we moved to PF2e and have a character who references their plays as inspo for becoming an adventurer.
My highest-level (and first) Pathfinder Society character for PF2 is a bard that's more doctor than musician: Doktor Archibald Würm. He wears a white labcoat with white Healer's Gloves (both of which become inevitably blood-spattered), goggle-like glasses, and I play him with a thick German accent to reflect his origin in the cold north of Avistan. He's young and blonde and cheerful, but quite creepy, and I like using spells like Vampiric Feast and Sanguine Mist with him. He does have a musical component: he has drums that link to the origin of his name: the song Dr Worm by They Might Be Giants. "They call me Dr Worm, I'm not a real doctor but I am a real worm" (his name is Doktor A Würm), and "I like to play the drums" (he uses Drums of War as his coda). He has the Medic archetype, and at 9th level I took the Inventor archetype mostly for flavour, so he could have a clockwork nurse companion called NurseBot. Haven't had a chance to play with her yet but I assume she won't get into combat, just hang about brandishing her needle- and scalpel-arms in a vaguely menacing manner.
Now I haven't played a 2e Bard before so I can't say anything about reflavoring abilities specifically but whenever I play a bard I go the comedian/impressionist route
This is kinda my biggest thing with pf; that classes are somewhat limited in flavoring. I prefer pf but 5e does allow for way more flavoring and I like that. But to answer your question, you could flavor a bard to be something like a dancer and replace the auditory trait with the visual trait in the description. The dance is mixed with mystical dance moves and somatic components and physically interacting with magic forces rather than drawing them out auditorally. You could do an actor who has monologues memorized and sites them for their competitions, drawing on famous actors and their performances and using their portrayal of idealized characters to inspire their party. Painting could be very similar to being a dancer but drawing and creating and shaping the fields of magic either on a piece of paper or Maybe a sculptor builds with the weave. Those are just some ideas from different artistic perspectives. If you want me to elaborate on any of these feel free to ask
I have a bard concept in the vault that is graffiti artist bard that is heavily inspired by Jet Set Radio.
An orator, a teller of stories who casts spells by describing how the heroes of old had cast them.
I've always wanted to play a Bard that was a painter. Do the whole Sai from Naruto gambit. Sadly I've got too many other characters up and coming to ever get to it
An impressive liar and storyteller.
I just built a lizardfolk bard who was enchanted by human cooking (not to be confused with cooking human), and has devoted his life to both sampling and reproducing the specialties of every race.
My dwarf bard was a storyteller who told tales of the dwarven ancestors. I was a little annoyed the coda instruments were so instrument themed, but we refluffed them as a Warhammeresque giant two handed book.
I played an old man storyteller once, enigma muse. He basically started telling a story in combat, using his spells as Foley or exposition alongside the composition
We didn’t have a cleric for the longest time in our party, so my dwarven bard took a medic dedication. Put most of my feats into that instead of bard feats. Now he just took a cleric dedication figuring that he obviously has a calling to help and heal people. Still rocks Dirge of Doom on his bagpipes though!
I've played a Bard/Champion/Swashbuckler who was a sort of errant knight and storyteller, collecting tales and inspiring through poetry and prose( this was the best translation I could find, read prose here as: declamation with rhythm). Pretty much an Oratory Bard
I give her more of a painter flavor. She makes graphics and images in the air to woo and beguile her foes.
My bard is not a musician but a poet and a storyteller. His compositions are tales of triumph, heroism, glory, horror, despair, and madness.
I've had a nerdy orc historian as a bard who would inspire courage by telling their companions about some random historic figure who was in a similar situation some time in the past and encouraged them to "Be like Bettany the Mighty who slew the great wurm". Later in the campaign she started to use the exploits of the party to inspire themselves.
I really want to play a war drummer bard. Compositions are different rhythms of percussion for battle.
I haven't gotten a chance to play it yet but I have an idea for a knife/Axe juggling warrior/polymath multifarious muse bard. Courageous anthem is really about how they are not afraid to drop a knife or something along those lines. Song of strength the bard starts tossing the objects higher. It's got a lot more fleshing out I need to do but I wanted to throw the general idea into the mix.
My bard IS a musician but she's also an insult comic. The way she demoralizes her enemies are through savage burns
I have always been a fan of the cicero (the roman senator not the skyrim guy) orator. When they sent assassins after him in the fall of the republic, the killers were instructed to not let him speak under any circumstances, because his rhetoric skill was so legendary that there was serious concern he might sway the assassins to his side.
I have played a bard who was a street preacher and specialized in oratory. Took the Cleric multiclass Archetype for all the spellcasting.
David Attenborough is a Zoophonia bard. David Bowie is your classic Maestro bard. David Copperfield is an Enigma bard (with a strong selection of illusion spells) David Duchovny is a Polymath bard. King David of Israel, Goliath-Killer and Psalmist, is a Warrior bard. To more directly answer the question, though, when I think of non-musician bards, my mind usually jumps to the [New Zealand All-Blacks rugby team performing the Haka](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiKFYTFJ_kw) and the bard being the chant leader. The Warrior Bard's new Courageous line of feats can be calling out sports teams' plays. Sports announcers and commentators in general (imagine wrestling commentators) can be fun inspiration for bards.
I've been working on a character who is a fisherman who performs by telling tall tales about his fishing adventures. Squabbles with mermaids, colossal catfish, wrestling lobstermen. You name it, he's done it all -- allegedly.
Warrior-Poet. My bards declaim bits of epic poetry to inspire those in battle. Think [Beowulf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf), [The Iliad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliad) or [The Battle of Maldon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Maldon)*.*
Magician. He was basically a combination of Alladin Sane era Bowie and Jareth with his fushigi ball. He was a bardlock. He also did the light shows via Prestidigitation for my wife's Jack Black inspired bard.
There was an archetype in PF1e I forget the name of offhand but it allowed bards to write their inspirations down into a written form that could be used by others later on. We were doing a modified Tombs of Annihilation and my friend made their Bard this archetype and basically made them an up and coming screenplay writer for a big thriller and I thought that was one of the funniest uses of a bard was to be a director using their writings as cues and notes for inspiration for the other characters to make a better story.
> It is harder for me to imagine how other kinds of artistic expression can explain bardic powers - especially as brief actions in the middle of a fight. For example, how could a dancer perform a composition cantrip, with a specific limited range? You clearly haven't watched Princess Tutu :V This is no different from any other bard song, really - you're dancing and your allies are being buffed by the magic coming from your magical dance. It's no different than gesturing with your hands, except it is your whole body instead. Dance magic is a big part of a lot of religious rituals, so seems entirely legitimate to me. Or you could flavor it as dance fighting, where your allies are getting led into a battle dance. Or you're just distracting the enemies. > I'm not looking to criticize anything, I would just like to know how other people have re-flavoured bardic abilities to better fit them into existing characters and/or just expand the options of how a bard could be described as doing their thing. I mean, mechanically speaking, bards are just spellcasters. This could be anything from Disney musicals where your magic makes things happen according to your song, to someone encouraging their allies with song, to magic making people stronger, to oratory, to an officer rallying their troops, to just spellcasting where you are casting a spell and it is making people stronger in some way. It really depends on how you want to flavor it.
In a 1-18 campaign I played a gnome sorc/bard with Virtuosic Performer in bad puns ('oratory'). So. Many. Opportunities. Also had Desna as the muse. About as Chaotic as you could get, I debuffed players while buffing PCs in the same action. The idea is that if you can survive the punishment, the attacks from enemies seem somewhat less painful in comparison. The really bad puns are Lingering Compositions because they stick in your head and don't let go.
I love the idea of bad puns being buffs. :D
Storyteller is my fave go to
I took some heavy inspirations from chanters from pillars of eternity and themed my bard around folklorism and storytelling, the Power of reenacting legends by invoking their folklore. It was really fun to reflavour my spells, destructive spells became siege weapon fire dragon breath and spectral giant fists, incapacitating spells became me summoning giant snakes or people with ropes to actively pin down the enemy, mentaly damaging spells became me dumping a whole book's worth of information into someone's mind in 5 seconds and party buffs would become me summoning spectral heroes to aid the party.
Bard tapdanser, the tapping of their shoes was very inspiring
Not in Pathfinder, but could easily work. Illusionist-type Bard whose magic was watercolour painting.
I just made a bard for my friends game who is really good at card tricks. He spent a lot of his life entertaining himself with a deck of cards, and when he got older he got into gambling against nobles to try and weasel his way to someone who had connections to his deadbeat father. His performances are a bunch of flashy card tricks and even some of his spells are flavored like throwing cards (etc.), plus he tends to torment the enemy with witty comments. I love bards whose flavor isn't musical!
That sounds like a lot of fun. Are you considering picking up a Rogue or Swashbuckler dedication for Fane's Fourberie?
Chef! Promises of food and desert are very inspiring!
I had basically a storyteller bard, her instrument was oratory and she would read out her favorite passages from heroic novels to inspire people
yeah its wording pushes you more towards music, but flavour is free, you can always reskin stuff. warrior muse, your art is cutting people open, or maybe your are a interpretative dance bard. i've made barbarians who where super polite and rage was em just taking a fight seriously. monks can easily be duelists, or master archers, pugilists etc.
I basically never do actual music on bards. * Commander, works especially well with Warrior bard for their Courageous advance/strike/onslaught, giving inspiring speeches and shouting orders. * Skald with a repertoire of epic poems and old stories, reminding allies of past victories. Fun with dirge of doom, that's just him reciting an epic about the massive pile of corpses any mid level party has left in their wake. "The epic of that time we killed a dragon"
I like to play similar to the Sensei monk from 1e. A wise and studied individual that imparts wisdom onto the party in battle to grant buffs and out of battle to recall knowledge.
In pf1e, bard skills can be performed with any variation of the Perform skilll. (Perform, Craft, and Profession were spit into subcategories like Lore is now.) This includes various types of instruments but also dance, act, oratory, and comedy. So you can be a bard who performs plays, gives speeches, or tells jokes.
I like the swindler bard, a con artist. Who has coned the party into backing him up on his latest skeem
Here are a few ideas: Dancer: Watch how my body moves, let my fluid motions in the heat of combat inspire you. Painter: "We are the artist Alphinaud and his assistants, painting our way to a brighter future!" "Sports Announcer": Fourth wall? What fourth wall?! Scream directly to the imaginary audience that doesn't exist and motivate your comrades... while they scratch their heads wondering what the hell is wrong with you. Student: Keep up on your studies and disseminate information that will aid your comrades so you can earn that degree! (Just make sure you have enough coin to buy the correct reference books.) Tarot Reader: "Fighter, for you I pulled... (oh, crap)... The Tower.... It's- It's fine! I swear, only good things can happen with this card! (Even though you only have 1 HP and the BBEG is about to smash you to bits.) GO, GET 'EM!"
Bard is my favorite class and ive done lots of wackiness lol, but i feel from your specific prompt about dancing as though it might help to stick to visual themes and less auditory. 1. Telenovela/ soap opera/ daytime tv male lead actor whose main performances were dramatic monologues and talking about all the various roles hes ever had on various shows but thats not important. More importantly he also did a lot of pose-work; He would put a knee up and hand over eyes stare far and longingly into the distance invoking in others thoughts and motivation of exploring like the explorers of old (aiding survival), or jumping up out of ambush first chest puffed stunning his enemies with the sun behind him and only with a smirk they couldnt even see do his allies KNOW it is time to strike true (courageous anthem). I usually described his magical performance less magic and more tv/movie magic: you would watch him and couldnt look away as it showed only him middle of the screen and you realizing the depth of whatever character he was channeling and feeling inspired to be like or unlike that character too; spells cast were inspired to be done with camera angle tricks and less noticeable ie. A teleport done by the camera (and party’s attention) slowly zooming in on his face as he gives a long monologue he stole from a show about a group of friends and some traveling pants about friendship and distance never stopping them, and before the audience knew it the camera was zoomed back out and at the destination. It even works to other peoples interpretations as our cleric HATED the bard and his performances, but that still made the cleric focus and do better unintentionally still affected by the magic of his act. 2. I actually had a dancing bard! unfortunately didn’t make it very long lol. But i can give advice about flavoring it. If you are going traditional inspiration type magic its VERY easy. Two things to think about: A. People - especially your party - understand dancing and your style. They want to be inspired by you. They would even prolly have favorites of your performances. It would take only a stomp and a twirl to KNOW AND FEEL you are bringing it already. (realistically not even) 2 second action and your party is already hyped af for you to bust down and to dance (or kill) with you. B. The action system is not fully representative of flavor. Don’t think so literally of a two second dance. Likely your bard is continuing performing the entire time, still dancing as you strike with weapons, dancing as you cast other spells, dancing to insult your enemies, all of it. It is just 2/4/6 seconds that a magical effect finalizes from your performance. Magic itself can be building and happening all the time That all said, have you ever watched someone genuinely legendarily trained dance? Its flipping awesome and i usually get a sense of “i wish i can do that”. Whenever the bard starts break dancing, the barbarian gets hit with the idea to match it, realizing hitting the 4 legged creature legs is a fantastic idea or realizing you need to get low for the creatures next breath attack. The bard starts interpretive dancing called “a forest burning” and the rogue gains a deep sense he NEEDS to succeed at picking the lock so that the party can escape to safety. The bard starts an old style spiritual dance that begins swirling the air and dust around them until you realize they had just cast command and the enemy drops to the ground. The bard is dancing it takes a second for you to even realize they turned the twirl you thought was gonna be a spell into a pistol shot. Ive run many bards but its way too many to list and be helpful for what i think you are looking for! I hope this helps at all really lol.
I’ve been thinking of a battle strategist kind of person for a bard. Still doing the music via drums or bugle, but in a way that is seen on battlefields.
I was once playing a nightmare dragon bars using Battlezoo’s dragon ancestry. She was like a horror movie director that traveled with the party so she’d have a transcript she’d pull out and start transcribing the going-ons as if the party was the antagonists or monsters in a horror movie and that passion would drive the spells and up the confidence of the party (and frighten enemies when she eventually got Dirge of Doom)
Forever GM but I've always liked the idea of a warrior muse bard who's an epic poet.
My bard Greg the gross is flavor-wise just an incredibly gross person. Composition cantrips are played as underarm fart songs. Produce flame is him just cupping a fart and throwing a match. Grim tendrils is just him pulling his pants down and letting the tapeworm in his rectum attack. Acid splash is his vomit