[Types]

Bard

You’re an entertainer: a singer, dancer, poet, storyteller, or something similar. Naturally charismatic and talented, your diligence and study have only improved your art. You know old poems, songs, jokes, and stories, and you’re skilled at creating new ones, too. Your seemingly beneficent nature puts others at heir ease, and your performances lift spirits, ease mental burdens, and may even inspire. their ease, and your performances lift spirits, ease mental burdens, and may even inspire.

Most characters on your team probably look to you for help, advice, and, if nothing else, a rousing performance to spark courage. Those same talents are useful when your group tries diplomacy.

Whether you’re relying on the truth or attempting a deception, your ability to flatter, smile, and delight others may open places that swords and spells can’t.

As a Bard, who is focused more on Speed than Might, you probably prefer to make dodge defense rolls in combat; if so, you probably don’t wear armor because that would hinder your Speed defense rolls to dodge.

Background Options

• You spent years as a wandering minstrel collecting epic tales, but some still elude you.
• Your younger sibling asked to apprentice with you last week.
• You were a court entertainer and courtier until a jealous noble slandered you.
• The theater your uncle runs was struck and destroyed by a falling star last month.
• You wrote a song to galvanize the rebellion, but now the king’s assassins hunt you.
• You’ve been getting gigs at an inn right outside the palace walls for almost a year.
• You received a rare book of poems as a gift from your lover, but it was stolen last week.
• Your instrument broke; you’ve been using a shoddy replacement since then.

Bard Abilities

You gain all of the following benefits:

• Able to take two more minor wounds and one more moderate wound
• Add +1 to Might Pool
• Add +1 to Speed Pool
• Add +2 to Intellect Pool
• Add +1 Edge in Pool of your choice
• Freely use light and medium weapons
• Freely use light armor
• Gain one weapon of your choice
• At tier 3 and tier 6, choose an ability from the Fantasy Genre Abilities list

Expert Interlocuter Enabler

You are trained in your choice of persuasion, deception, or intimidation.

At tier 6, you can become an expert in that same skill if you are already specialized, but you must gain the skill normally.

Inspiring Performance (2+ Intellect) Action

With a rousing speech or inspiring music, you lift the spirits of and inspire three allies who can hear and see you. While you continue to speak or perform each round as your action, affected allies gain an asset in a task you choose (combat or noncombat) related to your performance.

Even after the effect ends, affected allies are so inspired that they add +1 to their next recovery.

At tier 3, affected allies add +2 to their next recovery.

Effort: Affect three additional allies.

A Smile and a Word Action

When you successfully interact with a creature by succeeding on a persuasion, deception, or intimidation task—even those having to do with calming animals or communicating with someone or something whose language you do not speak—you also learn one small useful or at least interesting bit of information. For instance, if you convince the guard to let you pass, you might also learn that their supervisor is due back in ten minutes.

Bard Equipment Bundle

Choose the following equipment bundle to quickly outfit your character, or assemble your own starting equipment

A rapier, a gittern (a musical instrument also known as a guitar) and pick, a shield, a backpack, a bedroll, 50 feet (16 m) of rope, a stage makeup kit, three torches, three days of rations and water, a tinderbox, and enough extra currency to buy a moderately priced item.