And now, in a continuing service, an entry from the Encyclopedia Ardrisia...
BARDS
For as long as there have been people singing off-key and getting the facts wrong in important news stories, there have been bards slowly shaking their heads in frustration. Masters of music, story and magic, bards come from nearly every walk of life and are respected as entertainers, teachers, and reporters of the news of the day, as many remote areas can go months without hearing news of the outside world.
The profession of the bard can be rewarding one, albeit not always in coin; for this reason, teenagers set on becoming bards invariably disappoint their parents, who wanted them to go into carpentry, law, or medicine; something with a future. Nevertheless, the pull of music cannot be denied and there have been many bards whose songs and stories have helped shape the world.
There are two great bardic institutions on the continent of Ardris: The Ber-Zal Conservatory, located in the Duchy of Osapal in Westhame, and The Royal Imperial School of Musicology And Didactics (or RISMAD), which is located in the city of Nabbai in the Imperial Protectorate of Ghal-Nabbar. Of the two, The Ber-Zal Conservatory has a greater reputation for producing well-rounded graduates and blends its instruction in music with a magical curriculum, whereas RISMAD students are taught only the songs and musical theories approved by the Imperial Protectorate and often have difficulty finding work as bards; they tend to work side jobs after graduation, usually involving coffee shops where they can put their artistic skills to work by drawing pictures of leaves, roses and snowflakes in cappuccino foam.
Many bards take up the life of an adventuring bard, going from town to town, performing at local inns and occasionally getting swept up into an adventure of some sort. Along the way, bards learn myriad skills, some of which end up being useful, such as lockpicking, pick-pocketing, forgery and other less savory abilities, such as performing in dinner theatre. As their repertoire and reputations grow, many bards seek out patrons to fund their lifestyle, so as to commit themselves to their music. Some of the more famous of these include Nsoka ManyDrums of Tarokka, Bors Borsheall of the Imperial Protectorate and Aneira Summerleaf, the Royal Bard of Westhame.
The Encyclopedia Ardrisia , volume 2 (Attender, The to Bespectacled Otter), Kilanio University Press, 48th edition.
Bards can be a “Jack-of-all-trades”. Not a bad thing mind you. They do get hired as couriers, ambassadors, and diplomats at times as well. The bards life may not be a profitable one money wise. However they do tend to make quite a few friends and have favors owed.
“It’s only unprofitable you’re not doing a good enough job of leveraging those favours.”
-Caldyssa Thanarr, Bard 10/Seeker of the Song 6
The fighter has strength, the sorcerer overwhelming magic. What does a bard bring to the table to you ask? A ton of buffs that are in most cases comparable to or better than anything your cleric or wizard can dig up, allowing them to focus on healing/damaging spells; along with a decent weapon selection, a few choice healing and damaging spells, average fighting ability, and a skill list that nearly rivals any practiced rogue. The bard is like the Swiss Army Knife of D&D. You can never be sure what they have until you’ve gone through the whole thing. Plus, Bards make good villains too. Seen too many players go “He’s a friggin’ bard, he can’t possibly be tough enough to be evil!” to not use them as main campaign villains on occasion. Plus the look on a PC’s face when they realized a bard just mopped the floor with them is always too good to pass up.
Hmm… so her mother is a bit of a royal stalker groupie.