Bard¶

"Words got me out of jail twice. The blade is for when they don't."

Role: Face / face-puncher. Charisma to disarm, dagger to follow through, performance to inspire the team. Bards win social encounters most classes don't even know are encounters.

At a glance¶


Stat bonuses	Charisma +5, Guile +3, Luck +2
Allowed weapons	Sword, Dagger
Starting skills	Daggers (5), Performance (5), Inspire (3), Charm (2), Streetwise (4), Appraise (3)
Starting kit	Dagger, Padded Vest, Wool Breeches, Wooden Lute, 2× Ale, 2× Bandage, Lockpick
Best faction	Merchants Guild (your charm sells things) and the Velvet Curtain (entertainment circuit)
Best merc team	Old Guard - sustain + extra burst lets you focus the talking

First 30 minutes¶

You start with a lute and Performance 5. Both are payday.

Perform at the Rusty Tankard.
```
perform
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Earns gold + drinks + tavern reputation. Marta tips well if you pull a crowd.
Talk to everyone. Bard rumors > Bestiary lore. Every NPC at the tavern + market has a hook if you've got the patter.
```
talk marta
talk grigg
```
Don't drink the starter ale yet. Save it for a roleplay moment there's a small Trust bump when you share a drink. (Quietly pickpocket-friendly during the chaos, too.)
Visit the Velvet Curtain when you have time. Performance gigs there pay better than tavern busking, but rep is gated - chat with the doorman first.

Skills to focus first¶

Performance (5 → 7) - your money skill. Performance tier unlocks bigger venues + better tips.
Charm (2 → 5) - opens flirt routes + Trust-tier shortcuts.
Streetwise (4 → 6) - gossip pipeline; drives most of your quest discovery.

After Performance rank 5, branch into Performer (charm focus, crowd buffs) or Trickster (deception, sleight, swindle).

Suggested merc team¶

Old Guard - Hendrik's healing covers your light armor; Maelis adds the burst your dagger can't deliver. The married-couple banter complements Bard energy perfectly.

Quest or grind?¶

Grind is performing. Tavern gigs, street busking, Velvet Curtain shows - all train Performance + Charm + Charisma SP + pay coin.

Quest-wise, the Velvet Curtain has a parallel questline that's all social/performance encounters. Worth knowing about even if you don't do all of it.

Mid-game arc¶

Hit Performance rank 5. Unlocks specialty path + bigger venues.
Reach Velvet Curtain friendly rep. Their roster opens performance contracts that double your income.
Master a signature move. Bards get signature performances - custom pieces that buff allies for an in-game day. See /skills bard.

Training & Practice¶

Where the work happens between adventures.

Head to the Rusty Tankard Performance Stage (tavern_performance_stage, the corner stage in the common room). Talk to Caedmon Larkmere - the resident bard who runs the stage, signs the ledger, and decides which slot you've earned that night.

How it works:

/shift start at the stage (or /perform_shift start) to take a 4-hour set. Caedmon posts a card of pieces scaled to your rank - an opener ballad at the bottom, a full storytelling cycle or improvised set at the top.
Resolve pieces with the stage's verbs: perform <piece> for a rehearsed number, recite <piece> for spoken-word work, or improvise <theme> if you trust the room. Each resolution credits SP to performance plus the matching sub-skill (charisma / diplomacy), and pays a stipend on top of the floor.
/shift end to close early (or let the timer expire).

Audience-reception roll: every piece rolls against the room's mood. A polite room pays the floor; a room that joins in pays well above. The trip-risk on each piece (a bad rhyme, a missed cue, a heckler you can't shut down) multiplies - or shrinks - your purse that night. Caedmon notices either way.

Tier ladder (Caedmon decides): easy → standard → challenging → esoteric. Higher tiers pay more and unlock the bigger slots; new hands start at easy and earn the headline cards by keeping the warm-up sets tight.

Why bother:

Steady SP and audience SP both, without the bar-fight risk of street busking.
Modest purse per resolved piece, plus whatever the room throws - the esoteric tier pays well when the room is with you.
Twenty clean shifts typically earn a referral letter the other city stages honor - opens doors at sibling venues in other towns (Velvet Curtain, traveling shows, the larger inns).
Caedmon teaches up to rank 70 in performance / charisma / diplomacy.

Capstone - Heroic Anthem¶

Unlocked at rank 30 in performance. For the next 5 turns, all party members gain +50% damage and +20% accuracy.

You raise your voice in song. The party stands a little taller; the arrows fly a little truer.

Once per long rest. A 5-turn party buff is the capstone you build the whole kit around - a Bard with a full party at rank 30+ swings most non-boss fights with one song.