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The remastered Player Core book for Second EditionPathfindermakes some substitutions for which classes are featured in their main roster. With the sorcerer shifted out of the main roster in favor of the witch, bards have a special niche as the only remastered class to wield spontaneous casting.
These changes make bard suitable as a good class option for first-time players or converts from adjacent systems. With a healthy blend of spellcasting, utility skills, and support powers, they give a glimpse into many different parts of the broader game system without requiring mastery of all the individual parts.
Bard’s Class Identity In Pathfinder 2e Remastered
Pathfinders Bards have multiple roles they can fit into depending on the character concept you are aiming for and the class features that appeal to you the most. Among the cast of the Player Core book, they’re the only class towield charisma as their key attribute.
This means they can default into arole as party diplomatunless another party member goes out of their way to specialize.
The bard’s unique mechanic are compositions, musical spells that provide ongoing benefits to the party. In this way, bards benefit from having a large group to receive the buffs. Theypair well with classeswith companions such as animal order druids.
The broader identity of the bard is tied to their subclass, determined by the muse that inspires them. Each offers different focus spells, feats, and compositions. The multifarious muse feat allows your muse to branch across more than one category. If you’re stuck deciding between them,the maestro is a good first choice.
Description
Enigma
You gain aspecial type of lore skill that can recall knowledge about anything. Enigma feats are about empowering lore skill checks, gaining additional information, and having bonuses for those rolls.
The Enigma is the know-it-all among bards. This is a good choice if you’re building your bard in the tradition of minstrels as intelligence traders and spymasters.
Maestro
Specializes in composition spells, able to maintain several at a time, cast them quicker and extend their durations.
The most formal and the most cookie-cutter of the bardic muses.The maestro excels in doing what bards already want to be doingand is always a strong choice.
Polymath
This is a great choice forversatility, both in their spellcasting and skills. The polymath can use their performance skill (typically of little use outside being needed for bardic compositions) as their main charisma skill, substituting it for diplomacy, intimidation, and deception. Most importantly, they canlearn the skill feats for those skillsusing their performance to meet any requirements.
The polymath tries to do a lot of things at once. They’re ajack-of-all-tradesbut don’t have to sacrifice specialization in the process.
Warrior
The warriorties strikes and attacksinto their performances. Note that this doesn’t require you to fight up close with light armor and minimal hitpoints. Instead, you cancower in the back with a short bow while singing motivational songsat your more durable allies.
The Warrior Muse is the archetypical Skald. Sadly, they do not gain much in the way of skills to support this style.Making the subclass work is an uphill battlethat requires a lot of careful optimization and multiclassing to achieve a similar result to where the other muses start without effort.
Attributes, Ancestries, And Backgrounds For A Bard
A bard’s key attribute is charisma, but how they’ll want to spread their other boosts will vary depending on their muse and how they plan to develop beyond first level.
Your ancestry should provide a boost to charisma, or use alternative boosts if they have a charisma flaw.
Key features
Attribute boosts to charisma and constitution
Bonus spells via heritage and ancestry feats
The aesthetic of jumping between disciplines to chase the whims of the moment is one of the defining traits of Golarion’s gnomes.A polymath gnome can expect to live a long and enjoyable lifeif they don’t stumble into any dangerous misadventures.
Attribute boosts to dexterity and charisma
Access to goblin weapons and martial feats
Goblins are a fun choice for warrior bards, boosting dexterity and charisma.The Goblin Scuttle action lets you reposition yourself if you get caught in melee, and the goblin weapons are a fun choice for a bard looking to spice up their martial life.Both the Irongut and Razortooth goblins can do a passable Ozzie Osbourneimpression by biting the head off a live bat.
Two free boosts
Feats to train animals and improve animal companions
Taking the beast trainer feat from your ancestry gives your character something novel to do during downtime and lets youpad out your team size with some trained beasts.
A versatile heritage can further augment your ancestry with new options.The changeling is of special appeal to bardsas it focuses on occult magic and charisma skills.
Backgrounds are similar to ancestry in that you should aim for one that boosts charisma. Most will offer one fixed and one free boost and will suit your bard as long one of them goes to charisma.
Spells And Equipment For Bards
Compositions are one of the bard’s unique mechanics. A mixture of cantrips and focus spells, these cover a lot of ground in giving the bard something no other class can match.
Focus Spell or Cantrip
Uplifting Overture
Cantrip
Aid an ally on a skill check, even if you are not trained in it.
Uplifting Overture is the perfect utility cantrip, aiding the entire party on skill checks and succeeding automatically at higher levels. The only downside is that it isMaestro exclusive and doesn’t work on sneak checks. Other bards can still pick it up if they take the multifarious muse feat.
Hymn of healing
Spell
Gives a character fast healing for up to four rounds.
Hymn of Healing doesn’t provide a tremendous amount of recovery. But as occult casters, thebards do not have easy access to restorative magic. As a focus spell, it can be recast after a mere ten minutes of rest, making this composition more useful out of combat than within.In a fight, you’re better off casting Soothe.
House of Imaginary Walls
Creates an illusory barrier that only blocks creatures that see you miming it.
On first reading, this sounds like a wacky homebrew spell, but it has manycreative uses that require you to carefully memorize its rulesand negotiate a shared understanding with your GM. The invisible wall is enough to give complete cover to allies behind it while still allowing them to attack through it.
Keep in mind that it specificallydoes not block objects, and this includes arrowsand crossbow bolts fired at you. It will block emanations from a creature, such as a breath attack.
Quickens one ally for a round.
Allegro spends one action to give an ally one action. It’s a situational composition since the amount of use you get depends entirely on how your ally can use that action, butwith the right target, it pays for itself. When paired with themaestro’s lingering composition,you can instead trade one action and a focus point for three or four actions on your quickened ally.
At third level, you gain access to Signature Spells. These are spells you can heighten freely, giving you great versatility in casting them. The only nearly mandatory pick for this feature isSoothe, the bard’s first and only proper healing spellfrom the occult list.
For equipment, you’ll be using light armor and the cheapest weapon you’re comfortable using. Your strength determines how bulky a light armor you can use without a penalty. Your weapon should never be more than a sidearm for when you have a single action to spare.
If you havetwo actions to spare,a cantrip will outperform any weaponthe bard is trained in, even a warrior bard.
It’s worth havingmultiple performing tools available to your bard. Consider whichinstruments can be wielded in one or two handsfor situations where you’ll need one free for using potions or magic items. Some spells, such as counter-performance, require you to vary the type of performance you are giving between auditory and visual mediums.
You could always do a visual performance by dancing, but a good set of pom poms will complete the look.
