As many of you know I do not care for thieves and although bitd we put them in the campaign when we first obtained the Greyhawk Supplement, I never did like them. Here we are a mainly Lawful group and we are hanging out with a Thief (Thieves) who are inherently Chaotic and If you were looking at Good and Evil, they would be evil. That never made sense to me. So when I started the current campaign sequence I went back to just the 3LBBs and the three core classes - Fighting-Men, Magic-Users and Clerics. Then I added Paladins and Rangers back in.
The original Bard write-up from The Strategic Review ran a full 8 1/2 by 11 page and a half and is very bloated. Rather than post bits and pieces of it and edit it I am doing a full from the ground up rewrite, since I think that will be easier. As the original states the Bard is the Jack of All Trades and to me is a good way to add a character that has some "thieving" abilities. The OD&D bard started from first level as a bard unlike (I've heard) later versions. I have not looked at any later versions so I am only rewriting the OD&D bard. I made Dexterity the Prime Requisite since they must have the dexterity to play multiple musical instruments well
The Bard:
The Bard class has the following requirements: they may be Lawful or Neutral (PCs, NPCs) or Chaotic (NPCs). Dexterity is their Prime Requisite requiring a minimum of 15; they also require a minimum of 13 in Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. This Class is only open to Humans and they can use magic swords/daggers but no other magical weapons. They are limited to leather armor for the full range of abilities, but can wear chain mail, but that eliminates their ability to hide in shadows, move silently or climb sheer walls. The statistics regarding Bards are:
Bards-----------Exp Pts -------Hit Dice---M U Spells-----Charm----Move--Hide
-------------------------------------------------1--2--3--4------/Lore------Slntly--Shdws
Rhymer-------------------0--------1----------_--_--_--_------2in10-----2in10----1in10
Lyrist-----------------1000--------2----------1--_--_--_------2in10------2in10----2in10
Sonateer-------------4000--------3----------2--_--_--_------3in10------3in10----2in10
Skald-----------------9000--------4----------3--_--_--_------3in10------3in10----3in10
Racaraide---------16,000--------5-----------3--1--_--_-------4in10------4in10----3in10
Jongleur-----------25,000--------6----------4--1--_--_-------4in10------5in10----4in10
Troubador--------50,000--------7-----------4--2--_--_-------5in10------6in10----5in10
Minstrel----------100,000--------8----------4--2--1--_-------5in10------6in10----5in10
Muse-------------150,000--------9-----------4--2--2--_-------6in10------7in10----6in10
Lore Master-----200,000--------10---------4--3--2--_-------6in10------7in10----7in10
Bard--------------250,000--------10+1------4--3--2--1--------7in10------8in10----7in10
Master Bard-----300,000--------10+2------4--3--3--2--------8in10------9in10----8in10
Open Locks and Remove Traps follow the same chance as Move Silently. For listening for noises they have a 3 in 6 chance. For climbing sheer surfaces up or down they start with the same chance as the Move Silently Chance +2 at each level.
A Bard may use any weapon and has the same chance to hit as the cleric class and the same saving throws. Bards have an innate chance of charming any creature that can hear them sing and play, although some creatures have an innate resistance to being charmed. For every two levels (hit dice) that a creature exceeds the bards level, subtract one from the bards chance to charm and for every two levels below the bards level add one to the bards chance to charm. On a successful charm roll by the bard, the creature must roll a saving throw adjusted by level difference as already noted. If a bard has a Charisma of 16 or 17 add plus one to their chance to charm any creature and a plus 2 for an 18 Charisma.
Bards have a chance at identifying things with the Lore knowledge and they are quick at picking up languages, customs, and other information; they also have a wide knowledge of religions, cults, and legends. They are always on top of any current and past rumors.
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