[DF] Bards: Something Special or Just Run of The Mill

[scc]

Bards have long bothered me in DF, and I think I've pinned down part of it:
How do they fit into the setting cosmology?

OK bear with me here, Bards have two distinct magical abilities, a very limited form of Magery, and Bard Song abilities, which is where the actual question comes up:
Are Bards the only group in the DF 'setting' that have magical abilities along the lines of Bard Song, or are there others we simply don't know about?

And bonus question:
If there are other abilities, do you have to have Magery in some form to possess them?

[Kuroshima]

Originally Posted by scc

Bards have long bothered me in DF, and I think I've pinned down part of it:
How do they fit into the setting cosmology?

OK bear with me here, Bards have two distinct magical abilities, a very limited form of Magery, and Bard Song abilities, which is where the actual question comes up:
Are Bards the only group in the DF 'setting' that have magical abilities along the lines of Bard Song, or are there others we simply don't know about?

And bonus question:
If there are other abilities, do you have to have Magery in some form to possess them?

Elementalists, Demonologist and Necromancers have the exact same "limited magery"+"Special Powers" thing. Sure, they have different spell lists and powers, but the idea is exactly the same.

EDIT: And that's without getting outside of main series Dungeon Fantasy. The moment you jump to Pyramid, there's much much more...

[dataweaver]

Hijacking this thread. Elementalists, Demonologists, and Necromancers, huh? Is it a coincidence that three of the new Incantation Paths are Elementalism, Demonology, and Necromancy? Do Bards align with Mesmerism?

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by dataweaver

Hijacking this thread. Elementalists, Demonologists, and Necromancers, huh? Is it a coincidence that three of the new Incantation Paths are Elementalism, Demonology, and Necromancy? Do Bards align with Mesmerism?

Wouldn't that be interesting? What if there were other Paths for the other classes? Perhaps an outtake. Who needs normal magic at all really? Could it be that it may have already been written and is in the designer's notes? Such interesting "theoretical" things. ;-)

[Ternas]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

Who needs normal magic at all really?

*raises hand*

It always annoyed me that Bards only got access to Mind Control and Comm/Empathy colleges. They should have gotten access to the Sound College like the Echoists from Dungeon Magic.

Dang nabbit, I want my Faun to march through the dungeon and strike a pose before shredding his Hurdy Gurdy to cast Concussion or Air Jet on a group of foes, though the secret spell Disrupt from Dungeon Magic would make it even more awesome. A "song" that literally blasts the clothes from your body.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Ternas

*raises hand*

It always annoyed me that Bards only got access to Mind Control and Comm/Empathy colleges. They should have gotten access to the Sound College like the Echoists from Dungeon Magic.

Dang nabbit, I want my Faun to march through the dungeon and strike a pose before shredding his Hurdy Gurdy to cast Concussion or Air Jet on a group of foes, though the secret spell Disrupt from Dungeon Magic would make it even more awesome. A "song" that literally blasts the clothes from your body.

I agree. And I was being teasing, not serious. :-)

[Ternas]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

I agree. And I was being teasing, not serious. :-)

Absolutely understand, sorta the same here. If I really wanted access to the Sound college, I'd just take one college Magery from the Faun power-ups. Who needs fireballs and force domes when you've got Presence and Concussion? May need to beg for a Charm for the Flash spell or get some sort of enchanted item, gotta have that light show.

Hmm, I guess avoiding the light show would be a good reason to have those $600 Pixie Stained-Glass Spectacles.

[Graey]

Originally Posted by Ternas

*raises hand*

It always annoyed me that Bards only got access to Mind Control and Comm/Empathy colleges. They should have gotten access to the Sound College like the Echoists from Dungeon Magic.

In my "DF" games--I obviously don't stick to the templates, or even rules--I let Bards have access to Animal, Communication & Empathy, Illusion & Creation, Knowledge, Light & Darkness, Mind Control, and Sound. Some of that is based on older versions of D&D (Animal); some just make sense to me (most everything else).

- Graey

[Ternas]

That actually sounds quite interesting. I notice the quotes so I'm assuming that you're probably not running a straight DF game, but probably one in name only. But by allowing them access to so many extra magic colleges don't you need to also adjust their Power Modifier percentage?

[simply Nathan]

I would allow bards any chosen pair of Illusion & Creation, Light, Sound, Mind, and Communication & Empathy at the current cost of bardic magery, allow bards access to regular Magery, and if I really wanted to carry over D&D's cosmology I'd allow bards to learn Healing spells as well..