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Bard Utility Skill Idea: "Loremaster"
ArchivedUser
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I'll preface this with saying that I know that Intrepid has likely already thought up the Bard's utility skills, and that it might even be something along these lines. What I'm suggesting is hardly unique or unthought of, but since I haven't seen it quite proposed in the way I'm proposing it—I figured I'd give it a go. It could also be entirely different, and I'm excited for whatever they have in store for us.
What is a "Bard"?
So the concept of a bard is not just someone who plays music, at least in the RPG sense—nor in the Ashes sense, from what we've been told. To better describe what I mean, I think we have to look at the origin of the concept of "the bard as a class": Tabletop games.
Here is a DnD description of a bard.
Here is a Pathfinder description of a bard.
What you'll see with both of them, is that a Bard is just not about music and song—though they often incorporate them. A Bard—at its very core—is a class that conveys things to other classes in some way to some additional effect. In Ashes, they've chose to realize this as conveying a "story". It's very clear why they're casters.
As Steven has put it: "Bards have often been portrayed as a musical class and while they can be that, many Bard applications may exist in just telling a story. Telling a story is going to be the thematic component of how the Bard interacts with the party. And that story is going to enhance player's abilities to perform." (Source)
If we see the role of the bard beyond "the musician" and more as "the magical storyteller/performer", we can begin to understand what the Bard is capable of—and that their utility skills do not just have to incorporate music. I wanted to get this out of the way so that the automatic response isn't: "Shouldn't everything be musical if they're a bard?"
How would this work?
The idea of "the Loremaster" is simple at its core, but complex in execution. What would a Bard with this sort of ability do? They'd know things about the world, and knowledge can be power.
Through studying tales, legend, song, and story they can bring information and context to the world around them. They may recognize, for instance, that in many ancient myths Aela had parts of statues that could be moved to various effects. So while other classes may pass these by and don't even know how to activate them—the Bard may have it highlighted as they near it and be able to use it. The Bard twists the statue's arm and a hidden passageway opens, or they activate an inscription in the room that makes the statues in the room animate and begin working for the party—resulting in an easier fight in the next room.
While mages can find things hidden by magic, and the ranger can find tracks and signs left that others don't know how to look for—the Bard knows how to use things others wouldn't even think could be used in the first place. The difference between them is that the Bard is useful for the application of their knowledge. This could cover situations as wide-ranging as being able to activate ancient devices no one else knows how to, to finding and using secrets hidden in dungeons, to automatically having ancient text translated for them, to even fluff-type elements such as some sort of lesser-known knowledge conveyed to them through text.
What are the cons?
One of the hardest parts of this, is that it requires a great degree of thought and imagination from the developers into each location to decide where to make use of something like this, and how it will be best made use of. It isn't as simple as purifying an area or identifying tracks or dispelling things in front of them, it's situational knowledge that comes from interacting with the world. It's a bookcase being highlighted because of the Bard knowing there's likely something secret behind it because of old tales, or activating a basin to fill it with water in accordance to ancient Pyrian rituals which unlocks a door that gives players a tactical advantage against the boss.
It requires thinking of the history of the world in every instance, and how the Bard would know what they do. And it's for that reason it may also be something worthwhile to overlook as well.
There's also the complicated issue of Tulnar history, where if we're going to be encountering things in-world related to the Tulnar—then no one aside from the Tulnar would reasonably know about it. For it to "make sense" some of it might have to be racially flagged, which sounds very complex and perhaps not worth it. There are other solutions, such as handwaving it, or being very specific about Tulnar-related elements this would unlock so that it still ties into knowledge the other races would know.
What is the purpose of it?
This would mean that choosing a Bard unlocks aspects of the world through the fragments of story that have survived the millennia. It would be a way for players who choose the Bard class to incorporate this utility skill in a way that's extremely useful for the entire group and even make Bards as sought after for their utility skills as other classes.
What is a "Bard"?
So the concept of a bard is not just someone who plays music, at least in the RPG sense—nor in the Ashes sense, from what we've been told. To better describe what I mean, I think we have to look at the origin of the concept of "the bard as a class": Tabletop games.
Here is a DnD description of a bard.
Here is a Pathfinder description of a bard.
What you'll see with both of them, is that a Bard is just not about music and song—though they often incorporate them. A Bard—at its very core—is a class that conveys things to other classes in some way to some additional effect. In Ashes, they've chose to realize this as conveying a "story". It's very clear why they're casters.
As Steven has put it: "Bards have often been portrayed as a musical class and while they can be that, many Bard applications may exist in just telling a story. Telling a story is going to be the thematic component of how the Bard interacts with the party. And that story is going to enhance player's abilities to perform." (Source)
If we see the role of the bard beyond "the musician" and more as "the magical storyteller/performer", we can begin to understand what the Bard is capable of—and that their utility skills do not just have to incorporate music. I wanted to get this out of the way so that the automatic response isn't: "Shouldn't everything be musical if they're a bard?"
How would this work?
The idea of "the Loremaster" is simple at its core, but complex in execution. What would a Bard with this sort of ability do? They'd know things about the world, and knowledge can be power.
Through studying tales, legend, song, and story they can bring information and context to the world around them. They may recognize, for instance, that in many ancient myths Aela had parts of statues that could be moved to various effects. So while other classes may pass these by and don't even know how to activate them—the Bard may have it highlighted as they near it and be able to use it. The Bard twists the statue's arm and a hidden passageway opens, or they activate an inscription in the room that makes the statues in the room animate and begin working for the party—resulting in an easier fight in the next room.
While mages can find things hidden by magic, and the ranger can find tracks and signs left that others don't know how to look for—the Bard knows how to use things others wouldn't even think could be used in the first place. The difference between them is that the Bard is useful for the application of their knowledge. This could cover situations as wide-ranging as being able to activate ancient devices no one else knows how to, to finding and using secrets hidden in dungeons, to automatically having ancient text translated for them, to even fluff-type elements such as some sort of lesser-known knowledge conveyed to them through text.
What are the cons?
One of the hardest parts of this, is that it requires a great degree of thought and imagination from the developers into each location to decide where to make use of something like this, and how it will be best made use of. It isn't as simple as purifying an area or identifying tracks or dispelling things in front of them, it's situational knowledge that comes from interacting with the world. It's a bookcase being highlighted because of the Bard knowing there's likely something secret behind it because of old tales, or activating a basin to fill it with water in accordance to ancient Pyrian rituals which unlocks a door that gives players a tactical advantage against the boss.
It requires thinking of the history of the world in every instance, and how the Bard would know what they do. And it's for that reason it may also be something worthwhile to overlook as well.
There's also the complicated issue of Tulnar history, where if we're going to be encountering things in-world related to the Tulnar—then no one aside from the Tulnar would reasonably know about it. For it to "make sense" some of it might have to be racially flagged, which sounds very complex and perhaps not worth it. There are other solutions, such as handwaving it, or being very specific about Tulnar-related elements this would unlock so that it still ties into knowledge the other races would know.
What is the purpose of it?
This would mean that choosing a Bard unlocks aspects of the world through the fragments of story that have survived the millennia. It would be a way for players who choose the Bard class to incorporate this utility skill in a way that's extremely useful for the entire group and even make Bards as sought after for their utility skills as other classes.
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