D&D is changing bards (and I got to see 👀)
Added 2024-06-19 18:14:58 +0000 UTC
Wizards sponsored me and sent me a preview of the new College of Dance bard! (Sorry I couldn't give y'all early access on this one — it was under NDA.)
In this video, we'll talk through some of the ways that the bard class is changing overall in the new 2024 rulebooks, and I'll give you a look at the College of Dance bard's features!
In hindsight I should have realized that any transition between personas adds time to every step, from initial writing through the final edit. A bard character is the obvious first choice for a video about bards. In the spirit of "flavor is free" I'll continue to pretend that "Books" is busy off screen scrutinizing the new rules.
MartÃn Hoecker-MartÃnez
2024-06-22 14:40:37 +0000 UTC
Haha!! I don't normally bring in more than one other "character" in a video, because... it takes more time to film 😂 so in this case, I really wanted to have a dancer bard on the screen, so Books was out!
Ginny Di
2024-06-22 14:17:16 +0000 UTC
I was surprised not to see "Books" appear in this episode. Did that character get put out to pasture or is "Books" in a metaphorical chrysalis undergoing a metamorphosis into the 2024 version of the books? I'm going to pretend that's what's going on until proven otherwise.
MartÃn Hoecker-MartÃnez
2024-06-21 21:41:27 +0000 UTC
Aww that’s a shame it’s such a amazing outfit! Hopefully you get a reason to wear it again soon that isn’t so time sensitive so you get a chance to take some nice photos of it together!
Ghost
2024-06-21 19:19:12 +0000 UTC
I don't think so 😩 it took so long to film the dang footage in the first place, I didn't take the time to do a little shoot with it! And certainly didn't film putting it together, haha. (Filming something generally makes it take twice as long, so I don't film the process of things unless I already know I need that footage.)
Ginny Di
2024-06-21 19:03:54 +0000 UTC
Ah, good! *Breathes easier*
ChatN
2024-06-21 18:55:49 +0000 UTC
you still get 3 musical instrument proficiencies, which... I guess is fine, since you can choose to ignore them? 😂 but I do wish they'd broadened that a little!
Ginny Di
2024-06-21 18:55:42 +0000 UTC
yep, speech is also a key part of bards
Ginny Di
2024-06-21 18:55:10 +0000 UTC
haha yes, I asked my agent like FIVE TIMES because it made me nervous too
Ginny Di
2024-06-21 18:54:44 +0000 UTC
Ooh. No longer have to re-skin Drunken Master Monk to get Capoeira!🤸
Jonathan Alvear
2024-06-21 12:40:10 +0000 UTC
Great video! My one question about their broadening of the class is in proficiencies-- in 5e, you get 3 instruments (even Voice isn't an option, annoyingly). Have they fixed that, as well?
Heather Hofshi
2024-06-20 05:50:34 +0000 UTC
Bard idea I ran across while doing research for druids in my own campaign: In GURPS Celtic Myth, bards are actually the lowest rank of druid (below ollave and full druid). To become a bard, a character has to go through a trial:
"At sunset, a candidate for Bardhood was made to lie in a stone coffin filled with cold water with only his nose sticking out. Stones were put on his chest. Just before the lid was closed, he was given the subject, meter, and length for an original poem. When the lid was removed at dawn, survivors rose and performed their poems, accompanying themselves on a harp. The poem was judged on its own merits and on how much the initiate was believed to have learned from his Ordeal. Unsuccessful candidates were allowed to try again after another year of training."
So there you go. Alternative to the 'merry minstrel' bard archetype. More the, 'Wow, I come from a kind of effed up, barbaric culture,' archetype.
Jonathan & Megan Pierson
2024-06-19 23:45:25 +0000 UTC
*You* could bring back the songblade, Ginny. Make a great Patreon PDF. You can do it. You have the power. Use it wisely. Or irresponsibly. Whichever's more fun.
Jonathan & Megan Pierson
2024-06-19 23:28:59 +0000 UTC
I have 2 Bards in 5E, A legally distinct Christmas themed College of Eloquence bard called Extremely Small Timothy (he's a stout halfling), and a College of Swords bard inspired by movies like Pirates of the Caribbean and Robin Hood, and the insult fencing from the Monkey Island games called Flynn after the actor Erroll Flynn and the fact that the way sword fights in movies are mostly just clashing swords is called flynning. The new one sounds interesting though.
Matthew Bamford
2024-06-19 22:55:38 +0000 UTC
Loving this video!
But… um… you did make extra sure that you could display those pages that say “confidential†on them? 😬 im probably just a worrywort
ChatN
2024-06-19 20:59:38 +0000 UTC
I agree it doesn't have to bem usical, but it can still be inspirational in speech, think of the great lines in history-churchill 's speeches to parliament and the nation, lincoln at gettysburg or Dan Daly at Belleau wood. all inspired people to greatness. the wit of Twain ,or the words of col. Charles Stanton on july 4 1917, in four words he explained why America had entered World War one amd what they felt was only the line- "Lafayette, we are here!"
Graves
2024-06-19 20:13:23 +0000 UTC
"We can't ALL have taste"...audibly snorted at that line! 🤣
Aaron
2024-06-19 19:15:37 +0000 UTC
Puppeteer Bard... your time has come!
Also... Illusion-based "filmmaker".
Max Brannan
2024-06-19 18:52:52 +0000 UTC
Another amazing video! Thanks Ginny! So many character ideas now floating around!
Ryan L.
2024-06-19 18:23:58 +0000 UTC
Yes! Or a video of its assembly!
Kalcheus
2024-06-19 18:20:28 +0000 UTC
Will we get pictures of that beautiful bard outfit!
Ghost
2024-06-19 18:16:25 +0000 UTC