The bard is a standard playable character class in many editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game . The bard class is versatile, capable of combat and of magic ( divine magic in earlier editions, arcane magic in later editions). Bards use their artistic talents to induce magical effects. The class is loosely based on the special magic that music holds in stories such as the Pied Piper of Hamelin , and in earlier versions was much more akin to being a Celtic Fili or a Norse Skald , although these elements have largely been removed in later editions. Listed inspirations for bards include Taliesin , Homer , Will Scarlet and Alan-a-Dale .
56-669: [REDACTED] Look up loremaster in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Loremaster may refer to: Loremaster ( Dungeons & Dragons ) , a prestige character class in the Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition role-playing game Lore-master, a character class in The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game Loremaster , a series of campaign modules for
112-443: A few weapons, though that did include the scimitar and crossbow), and were of True Neutral alignment , but were able to cast spells more times per day than the magic-user and at a faster speed than clerics; they also had access to both healing and attack spells (albeit at different levels). Essentially, they were in many ways in between the cleric and the magic-user in function and use, with different special abilities. There were also
168-503: A jack-of-all-trades with its large number of class skills. The bard is also unique in that they are free to take as many multiclass feats from other classes as they please, whereas all other classes are only able to take multiclass feats from one other class. Members of the bard class can use wands, songblades, and magical instruments as their arcane implements. Several new rituals in Player's Handbook 2 can only be cast by bards, making them
224-430: A limited wizard spell progression, access to proficiency in any weapon, and some special bardic music abilities and bardic lore. Beginning at 2nd level, a bard began to gain spells as if a wizard, and like wizards, they had to keep a spellbook and could not cast spells while in armor. They could learn any spell they had access to (as a mage would). Bards' biggest advantage was their use of the rogue advancement table, which
280-435: A need for spellbooks or preparing specific spells; unlike AD&D 2nd edition, bards are now limited to a list of specific bardic spells. Unlike wizards and other arcane spellcasters, they can cast a small number of healing spells like Cure Light Wounds (a relic of the druidic origins of the class). Other abilities, like bardic music and the aforementioned bardic lore, were retained but overhauled to be more compatible with
336-412: A set of societal rules governing druidic life as well as higher-level abilities. In order to reach some of the higher levels, players had to defeat a higher-level druid in combat; after accomplishing this, they earned different titles (such as Archdruid) and gained lower-level druids as followers. The later-published accessory Unearthed Arcana featured several higher-level abilities for druids, including
392-403: A sort (for instance, attempting to earn free food and rooms at inns through doing odd jobs like killing rats, singing, or just wooing the bartender). D&D bards are described as not necessarily opposed to tradition, but to the staleness and risk of corruption that comes with a settled life. Bardic magic also changed once again. Now, like the sorcerer , the bard casts arcane magic but without
448-417: A special ability to know legendary information about magic items they may encounter, and a percentage chance to automatically charm any creature that hears the bard's magical music. Because bards must have first acquired levels as fighter and thief, they are more powerful at first level than any other class. This version of the bard is a druidic loremaster, more than a wandering minstrel and entertainer, though
504-525: A special class unavailable for initial character creation. A character could become a bard only after meeting specific and difficult requirements, achieving levels in multiple character classes, becoming a bard only later. The process of becoming a bard in the First Edition was very similar to what would later be standardized in D&;D as the prestige class —the First Edition bard eventually became
560-608: A thief (but before reaching 9th level), they had to change again, leaving off thieving and begin clerical studies as druids; but at this time they are actually bards and under druidical tutelage. Bards gained a limited number of druid spells, and could be any alignment that was neutral on at least one axis. Because of the nature of dual-classing in AD&;D, bards had the combined abilities of both fighters and thieves, in addition to their newly acquired lore, druidic spells, all level dependent druidic abilities, additional languages known,
616-579: Is an iconic feature of every bard regardless of subclass, as the Bardic Inspiration ability allows a player to add an additional die to any of their teammates attack rolls, ability checks, or saving throws. Additionally, the Jack of All Trades feature adds small bonuses to any abilities the character is not proficient in, while the Expertise feature adds large bonuses to any abilities the character
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#1732772056581672-474: Is named for the pre-Christian Celtic priests called druids . In the book The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games (2014), Michael Tresca highlighted that "historically, druids did revere trees as nature spirits. [...] Zoomorphism was common enough to justify druids transforming into all kinds of animals. [...] Conspicuously lacking from Dungeons & Dragons is the role of sacrifices in druidic rituals". Druids appeared, but not as player characters, in
728-606: Is proficient in. Bards have their own spell list and full casting progression up to 9th level spells, but are also able to access a limited number of spells from any of the other classes, due to the Magical Secrets feature, and gain bonuses to all skill checks. Xanathar's Guide to Everything (2017) added 3 more Bard College options: the College of Glamour, College of Swords and College of Whispers. The College of Glamour focuses on charming other creatures by magical means,
784-456: The Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game . Druids wield nature-themed magic . Druids cast spells like clerics , but unlike them do not have special powers against undead and, in some editions, cannot use metal armor. Druids have a unique ability that allows them to change into various animal forms, and various other qualities that assist them in natural settings. The druid
840-462: The Rolemaster role-playing game The Loremaster, a level boss in the video game Strife LoreMaster.io, a world building application specialised for TTRPG content Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Loremaster . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to
896-415: The 2024 revision to the 5th Edition ruleset, updates preexisting player options while introducing new content to the game. Three bard subclasses (College of Glamor, College of Lore, College of Valor) are revised and one new subclass (College of Dance) is introduced. Chris Stomberg of TheGamer commented that "the biggest changes we see to bard subclasses revolve around the idea that bards are more than
952-833: The Player's Handbook are two Druid subclasses: the Circle of the Land and the Circle of the Moon. Several sourcebooks published since the launch of 5th edition have expanded the number of Druid Circle options. Xanathar's Guide to Everything (2017) added the Circle of Dreams and the Circle of the Shepherd. Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica (2018) added the Circle of Spores, which was then reprinted in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (2020) along with two new options: Circle of Stars and Circle of Wildfire. All subclasses offer additional features for
1008-571: The original Greyhawk supplement from 1975. They were presented as a player character class in the Eldritch Wizardry supplement in 1976. The druid was one of the standard character classes available in the original Player's Handbook , and appeared as a sub-class of cleric. The druid was one of five subclasses presented in the original Players Handbook . Originally, druids were very limited in their choice of weapons and armor (not able to wear any metal armor, and only permitted
1064-705: The "Beast Form" keyword. Like clerics and wizards , druids gain Ritual Caster as a bonus feat. The Essentials rulebook Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms presented an alternate core version of the Druid, known as the Sentinel. The druid is included as a character class in the 5th edition Player's Handbook (2014); druids utilize divine magic in this edition. Druid spells are typically devoted to communing with nature, interpreting or directing
1120-461: The 3.5 edition, Druids are allowed significantly more freedom so that an appropriate animal shape can be chosen to match the circumstances. At higher levels Druids can even change into elementals. Animal companions are more clearly defined in the 3.5 edition as well. The Druid was introduced to Fourth Edition with Player's Handbook 2. The newest incarnation of the class has the Primal power source and
1176-409: The 5th edition "class and race combinations per 100,000 characters that players created on D&D Beyond from" August 15 to September 15, 2017, bards were the third to last in player creations at 7,804 total. Half-elf (1,808) was the most common racial combination followed by human (1,454) and then tiefling (806). Druid (Dungeons %26 Dragons) The druid is a playable character class in
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#17327720565811232-536: The Celtic druids the class was inspired by: "Druids could be classified as neutral alignment, in that druids were on both sides of morality. Celtic stories are filled with accounts of druids on both sides, undoing each other's spells, and batting in fantastic magical combats that would make any role-player envious. But the alignment of druids as being true neutral was simply not accurate; druids were just as passionate about one ethos as anybody else". Screen Rant rated
1288-399: The College of Swords focuses on damage output and attacking, and the College of Whispers focuses on use of sinister manipulation. Mythic Odysseys of Theros (2020) added the College of Eloquence subclass, which was then reprinted in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (2020) along with the new College of Creation subclass. The backward compatible Player's Handbook (2024), as part of
1344-470: The Controller role. They are proficient in simple weapons and light armor, use staves and totems as implements, generally use Wisdom for power attack and damage rolls and, like all primal classes, their powers are called evocations. Unlike most classes, druids know a third at-will attack power, however they must have at least one and at most two at-will attack powers with the "Beast Form" keyword. Each of
1400-660: The Fochlucan Lyrist prestige class in the Third Edition supplement Complete Adventurer . To become a bard, a human or half-elf had to begin with very high ability scores: Strength 15+, Wisdom 15+, Dexterity 15+ and Charisma 15+, Intelligence 12+ and Constitution 10+. These daunting requirements made bards one of the rarest character classes. Bards began the game as fighters, and after achieving 5th level (but before reaching 8th level), they had to change their class to that of thief, and after reaching 5th level as
1456-561: The Norse skald , the Celtic bard , and the southern European minstrel ". Historically, the title of 'bard' was initially considered "a term of great respect among the Welsh, but one of contempt among the Scots (who considered them itinerant troublemakers)" until later in history, when the term then became "idealized by Scott in the more ancient sense of 'lyric poet, singer.'" Throughout history,
1512-604: The Old Celtic 'bardo' which in turn produced the Scottish and Irish Gaelic 'bard.' This reference means 'poet-singer,' which introduced the word into English as a 'strolling minstrel'. [...] It is possible that the Celtic 'bardo' was formed from the Proto-Indo-European word 'gwredho' which means 'he who praises.' The Dungeons & Dragons bard is a hodgepodge of at least three different kinds of musical singers:
1568-553: The Striker role, focus on Dexterity and melee and short range evocations, and take the "Primal Predator" class feature, which makes them more mobile while wearing light armor, as well as giving some druid evocations additional effects, many of which are based on Dexterity. All druids also have "Wild Shape", an at-will power which allows them to switch between their natural and beast forms. While in beast form, they cannot use weapons, and cannot use weapon or implement attack powers without
1624-415: The ability to cast bard spells while in light armor. The bard is the only Core class able to freely cast arcane spells in armor, as well as the only Core class with Speak Language as a class skill (supplementary 3.5 books later introduced new base classes with these abilities). Perhaps more significantly, one of the bard's trademark abilities—that of bardic music—was both strengthened and tied more closely to
1680-588: The ability to summon various elementals and para-elementals , the ability to enter and survive in various planes (such as the elemental planes and the Plane of Shadow), and so on. The druid was available as a character class in the game's "Basic" edition, introduced in the Companion Set . Druids were clerics who adhered to a special code of conduct, maintaining a Neutral alignment; in exchange they gained some special powers and additional spells. According to
1736-416: The balance and amoral, impartial character of the natural world. Druids have also gained the ability to have a special animal companion; other abilities have been added or modified as well. For example, they can spontaneously convert a prepared spell in order to summon an animal that will serve as a temporary but loyal ally. In the 3rd edition Player's Handbook, Druids were limited to a single animal shape. In
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1792-539: The bard class as the 9th most powerful class of the base 12 character classes in the 5th edition. Based on a community poll, D&D Beyond ranked the bard class as the 6th most powerful class of the base 12 character classes in the 5th edition. The Gamer rated the 5th edition bard subclass College of Glamour as the 9th most awesome subclass out of the 32 new character options in Xanathar's Guide to Everything . Gus Wezerek, for FiveThirtyEight , reported that of
1848-417: The bard class. In the previous 3rd edition, the bardic music abilities available to a character depended only on the amount of Perform skill that character possessed, not advancement in the bard class. These abilities largely did not improve, once acquired, and no new abilities became available at high levels; only the number of daily uses of the music increased with bard class level. In the 3.5 version, not only
1904-436: The bard does have song and poetic powers as well. The bard, as part of the "rogue" group, was one of the standard character classes available in the second edition Player's Handbook ; in this edition, the bard was regularized. According to the second edition Player's Handbook , the bard class is a more generalized character than the more precise historical term, which applied only to certain groups of Celtic poets who sang
1960-718: The bard has existed in a multitude of different forms, and "bardic traditions span many variations of personal approach, public conception, and historical context." A bard is traditionally defined as "a poet, especially one who writes impassioned, lyrical, or epic verse." In the fantasy tabletop role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons, bards are a playable class centered on the idea of accessing magic through some form of artistic expression. The bard first appeared in The Strategic Review Volume 2, Number 1. Bards in First Edition AD&;D were
2016-461: The classic musician archetype". Christian Hoffer of ComicBook.com and Shayna Josi of GameRant highlighted "one of the biggest functional changes" to base bard class is "how Bardic Inspiration works". Hoffer explained that it received "small but pertinent buffs". Critics also highlighted the improvements to the Countercharm and Magical Secrets class features. Screen Rant rated
2072-409: The core races dwarf and halfling, could not cast spells, but gained immunity to spells instead. Gnomes, who could be wizards, but only specialist illusionists, could be bards, but were restricted to the spell schools allowed an illusionist. In Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition, the bard class continued its change from a druidic loremaster in first edition into a jack-of-all-trades (retaining mainly
2128-680: The druid class, including druidic society, magic groves, class kits and herbal lore. Druid is one of the base character classes presented in the 3rd edition Player's Handbook (2000). In the 3.5 edition of Dungeons & Dragons, Druids are free to use different forms of weaponry, but they lose the ability to cast spells or change into animal form for a day if they wear metal armor. The alignment restriction now requires that druids remain neutral on at least one (but not necessarily both) alignment axis (Good vs. Evil and Law vs. Chaos). i.e., they are restricted to Chaotic Neutral, Lawful Neutral, Neutral Good, Neutral Evil, or True Neutral, to reflect belief in
2184-399: The druid. In addition to those features, some druid circles offer an expanded spell list, which may include spells not typically available to druids, and augmented or alternate uses for their "Wild Shape" ability. Druids are bound to the essence of a particular oasis or other geographic location. In the book The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games (2014), Tresca compared the class to
2240-541: The game, being moved from an appendix in the back of the Players Handbook to the normal listing of classes. This iteration of the bard class was based on the version that appeared in the Dragon magazine article "Singing a new tune: A Different Bard, Not Quite So Hard" (issue #56). A bard required ability scores of Dexterity 12+, Intelligence 13+ and Charisma 15+, and only humans and half-elves could be bards. Bard
2296-422: The history of their tribes in long, recitative poems. The book cites historical and legendary examples of bards such as Alan-a-Dale , Will Scarlet , Amergin , and even Homer , noting that every culture has its storyteller or poet, whether such as person is called bard, skald , fili , jongleur , or another name. In AD&D 2nd edition, bards were of the rogue group. They also became a more integral part of
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2352-427: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Loremaster&oldid=1227430774 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Loremaster (Dungeons %26 Dragons) The class name itself "is originally of Celtic origin, descended from
2408-462: The only current class with exclusive rituals. Bards have been included as a character class in the 5th Edition Player's Handbook . The 5th edition iteration of the bard emphasizes that "words and music are not just vibrations of air, but vocalizations with power all their own. The bard is a master of song, speech, and the magic they contain." A bard's spellcasting abilities are determined by their charisma score, which means they can generally take on
2464-463: The original Bardic Knowledge ability, an almost universal chance to know anything based on character level and Intelligence). Bards now could be any non-lawful alignment, meaning Bards could no longer be Lawful Neutral, but now could be Chaotic Good and Chaotic Evil. This was explained on the grounds that a bard wanders freely and is guided by intuition and whim. The D&D bard is inspired by wandering minstrels who were indeed considered "rogues" of
2520-485: The release of Player's Handbook 2 . Like all 4th Edition classes the bard's powers are exclusive to the class. Bards have the Arcane power source, the primary role of Leader and the secondary role of Controller, with most of its powers related to invigorating allies and hindering enemies through magical song (although the player is encouraged to describe these powers in whatever way they please). The bard retains its role as
2576-399: The role of the party face quite easily. However, due to their versatility, bards can potentially fill any party role depending on the subclass (or College) a player chooses to take. From the Player's Handbook , bards join either the College of Lore, which focuses on knowledge and performance, or the College of Valor, which focuses on inspiring bravery on the battlefield. Inspiring party members
2632-500: The same alignment restrictions of First Edition, meaning they could not be Lawful Good , Lawful Evil , Chaotic Good or Chaotic Evil . The Complete Bard's Handbook significantly expanded on the 2nd edition bard, allowing bards of any race, reasoning that most races would have an analogous role for keeping oral and/or artistic traditions. The sourcebook also allowed a wide variety of multi-classing options, even Bard/Thief combinations. Bards of races that allowed no wizards, including
2688-505: The second edition Player's Handbook , the druid class is only loosely patterned after the historical druids of Europe during the days of the Roman Empire and acted as advisors to chieftains with great influence over the tribesmen. In 2nd edition AD&D , druids were presented as an example of a 'specialty priest', also known as a priest of a specific mythos, differentiated by spells and powers and ethos. The 2nd Ed AD&D druid
2744-525: The streamlined d20 System rules of the Third Edition. Old abilities like Read Language became new d20 skills like Decipher Script, and the mix of fighter and thief abilities was retained in the mix of weapon and armor abilities. In 2003, the Revised "3.5" edition of Dungeons & Dragons was released, including several minor but significant changes to the Bard class. Bards gained increased access to skills and
2800-538: The traditional illusionist. The dvati (an obscure race, composed entirely of sets of twins , that first appeared in Dragon magazine #271), also have bard as their favored class, and the satyr also shares this class as a favorite. The Star Elf race from the Forgotten Realms setting's Unapproachable East sourcebook also has bard as its favorite class. The bard class was introduced into 4th Edition with
2856-631: The two Druid builds presented in the Player's Handbook 2 emphasizes one of the class's two secondary roles. Guardian druids lean towards the Leader role, focus on Constitution and ranged evocations, and take the "Primal Guardian" class feature, which allows them to use their Constitution bonus in place of their Dexterity or Intelligence bonus when determining AC while wearing light armour, as well as giving some druid evocations additional effects, many of which are based on Constitution. Predator druids lean towards
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#17327720565812912-437: The weather, communicating with creatures and plants, and the like. The druid shares some spells with the cleric , such as some healing spells, and has a number of offensive spells which use the power of nature—calling down lightning storms, for example, or summoning wild animals to fight. They also gain special powers such as the shapeshifting ability "Wild Shape"; but these are not mechanically considered spells. Included in
2968-496: Was more similar to the cleric in terms of spellcasting (druids now learned spells at the same rate and level as clerics, as long as the spells were available to them; casting times were also the same). Certain higher level abilities as introduced in Unearthed Arcana were also removed (or ignored), such as the ability to enter the Plane of Shadow. The Complete Druid's Handbook , published in 1994, provided more details on
3024-400: Was the availability of bardic music abilities tied to bard class level as well as Perform skill, but also most of these abilities now significantly improved in potency with progression in the bard class. New high-level bardic music effects were introduced as well as progressive improvements of existing ones. Finally, in this edition, bard became the favored class for the gnome race, replacing
3080-605: Was the fastest in the game. Bards cast spells using their actual class level as their caster level. Since bards were usually higher level than the party's wizard, the spells they could cast were often more powerful than the wizard's. A bard who focused on spells that improved with caster level (such as Magic Missile and Fireball) was a very potent magical threat. Their ability to use any weapon, combined with rogue attack strength, made them credible second-line offensive threats even without magic, provided they had some form of magical Armor Class-boosting equipment. In this edition, bards had
3136-405: Was the only character class (other than thief) in which any non-human could advance to unlimited level, as both humans and half elves did not suffer a level limit, unlike every other character class for which a demihuman was eligible. The 2nd edition bard was explicitly a jack-of-all-trade class, with a limited selection of thief skills (pick pockets, detect noise, climb walls, and read languages)
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