Bard, Non-Magic variant

Characteristics
Minstrel, storyteller, poet, or rogue, the bard is all of these. The bard combines skill, finesse, and panache,
dazzling with her abilities and capturing minds with her arts. Wanderers, the bard has been everywhere and
done everything, or so she would like you to believe. In a fight, the bard tends to be more agile and mobile
then most melee combatants, distracting in their speech and quick with a sword. When she can pick her
battles carefully, a bard becomes a very deadly opponent (not to mention hard to pin down). Bards also hold
their own in social situations, unlike most fighters.

Alignment
Any, tend towards chaotic

Hit die: d8 (Half-way between Bard(d6) and Swashbuckler (d10) )

Class Skills (Bard’s, + ‘Use Rope’)

The bard’s class skills (and key ability for each skill): Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str),
Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex),
Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen
(Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Speak
Language (None), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), Use Magic Device (Cha), Use Pionic Device (Cha) and Use Rope
(Str).

Skill Points at 1st Level (Bard’s Skill points): (8 + Int modifier) ×4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 8 + Int modifier.

Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special

1st +0 +0 +2 +2 bardic knowledge, bardic music, weapon finesse
2nd +1 +0 +3 +3 Roguish Charm + 1
3rd +2 +1 +3 +3 Bardic music/Swashbuckling
4th +3 +1 +4 +4 Skirmish +1d6
5th +3 +1 +4 +4 Bardic music/Swashbuckling, Dodge bonus +1
6th +4 +2 +5 +5 improved feint; Skill Focus (Perform)
7th +5 +2 +5 +5 Bardic music/Swashbuckling, Always Armed
8th +6/+1 +2 +6 +6 Skirmish +2d6
9th +6/+1 +3 +6 +6 Bardic music/Swashbuckling, Acrobatic Spring Attack
10th +7/+2 +3 +7 +7 Dodge bonus +2,
11th +8/+3 +3 +7 +7 Bardic music/Swashbuckling, Roguish Charm +2
12th +9/+4 +4 +8 +8 Skirmish +3d6
13th +9/+4 +4 +8 +8 Bardic music/Swashbuckling
14th +10/+5 +4 +9 +9 Skill Focus: Knowledge (Local)
15th +11/+6/+1 +5 +9 +9 Bardic music/Swashbuckling, Dodge bonus +3
16th +12/+7/+2 +5 +10 +10 Skirmish +4d6
17th +12/+7/+2 +5 +10 +10 Bardic music/Swashbuckling
18th +13/+8/+3 +6 +11 +11 Skill Focus: Knowledge (History)
19th +14/+9/+4 +6 +11 +11 Bardic music/Swashbuckling
20th +15/+10/+5 +6 +12 +12 Dodge bonus +4, Roguish Charm +3, Skirmish +5d6

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 Class Features
All of the following are class features of the non-magic bard.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

A bard is proficient with all simple weapons, plus the longsword, rapier, sap, short sword, shortbow, and
whip. Bards are proficient with light armor and shields (except tower shields). Some of the bard’s class
features, as noted below, rely on her being no more than lightly armored and unencumbered.

Weapon Finesse
A bard gains Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat at 1st level even if she does not qualify for the feat.

Improved Feint
A bard gains Improved Feint as a bonus feat at 6th level even if she does not qualify for the feat. The bard
does not feint through movements, but rather through wit, thus a bard must be able to speak and be
understood by her enemy for this application of the feat to work.

Bardic Knowledge
A bard may make a special bardic knowledge check with a bonus equal to his bard level + his Intelligence
modifier to see whether he knows some relevant information about local notable people, legendary items,
or noteworthy places. (If the bard has 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (history), he gains a +2 bonus on this
check.)

A successful bardic knowledge check will not normally reveal the powers of a magic item but may give a hint
as to its general function. A bard may not take 10 or take 20 on this check; this sort of knowledge is
essentially random.

DC Type of Knowledge
10 Common, known by at least a substantial minority of the local population.
20 Uncommon but available, known by only a few people legends.
25 Obscure, known by few, hard to come by.
30 Extremely obscure, known by very few, possibly forgotten by most who once knew it, possibly known only
by those who don’t understand the significance of the knowledge.

Roguish Charm
A bard is skilled in the art of communication. A bard gains a +1 competence bonus to Cha skills at 2nd level.
This bonus increases to +2 at 11th level and +3 at 20th level.

Dodge Bonus
A bard is trained at focusing her defenses on a single opponent in melee. Starting at 5 th level she may,
during her action, designate an opponent and receive a +1 dodge bonus to her armor class against melee
attacks from that opponent. She can select a new opponent on any action. This bonus increase by +1 at
every five levels after 5th (+2 at 10th level, +3 at 15th, and +4 at 20th). A bard loses this bonus when wearing
medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load.

If the bard also has the Dodge feat, she need not designate the same target for this ability as for the Dodge
feat. (If she designates the same target, the bonuses stack.)

Always Armed
A bard of 7th level or higher is skilled at using whatever is at hand as a deadly weapon. She may wield
improvised weapons without suffering the usual -4 penalty to attacks. Most objects do 1d4 + Str danage,
while two-handed objects (chairs, etc.) do 1d6 + Str. Improvised objects are generally considered blunt,
though the DM should rule based on the object. A broken chair leg, for example, may be blunt/piercing.

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Acrobatic Spring Attack
At 9th level, the character may act as if they have the Spring Attack feat when using tumbling and/or
jumping as their movement. A bard cannot use this ability when wearing medium or heavy armor or when
carrying a medium or heavy load.

Sneak Attack.
At 4th level she gains a sneak attack and every 4 levels thereafter, the character gains a bonus of additional
1d6 on her sneak attack. This bonus stacks with the Rogue’s ability with the same name.

Bardic Music / Swashbuckling

At first level, the Bard may select a Bardic Music ability from the list below. After that, at levels 3, 5, 7, 9,
11, 13, 15, 17, and 19, the bard must choose either a Bardic Music ability or a Swashbuckling ability. For
ease of reference, the lists of available abilities are grouped below. The descriptions of each follow.

Level Bardic Music Swashbuckling

1st counter song, fascinate, inspire courage n/a
3rd counter song, fascinate, inspire courage, Insightful strike
Inspire competence
5th Counter song, fascinate, inspire courage, Insightful strike
inspire competence
7th Counter song, fascinate, inspire courage, Insightful strike, Acrobatic Charge
inspire competence, suggestion
9th Counter song, fascinate, inspire courage, Insightful strike, Acrobatic Charge, Improved
inspire competence, suggestion , Inspire Flanking
greatness
11th Counter song, fascinate, inspire courage, Insightful strike, Acrobatic Charge, Improved
inspire competence, suggestion , Inspire Flanking, lucky
greatness
13th Counter song, fascinate, inspire courage, Insightful strike, Acrobatic Charge, Improved
inspire competence, suggestion , Inspire Flanking, lucky, acrobatic skill mastery
greatness, Song of freedom
15th Counter song, fascinate, inspire courage, Insightful strike, Acrobatic Charge, Improved
inspire competence, suggestion , Inspire Flanking, lucky, acrobatic skill mastery,
greatness, Song of freedom, Inspire heroics Weakening critical
17th Counter song, fascinate, inspire courage, Insightful strike, Acrobatic Charge, Improved
inspire competence, suggestion , Inspire Flanking, lucky, acrobatic skill mastery,
greatness, Song of freedom, Inspire heroics Weakening critical, slippery mind
19th Counter song, fascinate, inspire courage, Insightful strike, Acrobatic Charge, Improved
inspire competence, suggestion , Inspire Flanking, lucky, acrobatic skill mastery,
greatness, Song of freedom, Inspire heroics, Weakening critical, slippery mind, wounding
Mass suggestion critical

Swashbuckling
Insightful Strike
At 3rd level, a bard becomes able to place her finesse attacks where they deal greater damage. She applies
her Intelligence bonus (if any) as a bonus on damage rolls (in addition to any Strength bonus she may have)

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with any light weapon, scimitar, falcion, as well as any other weapon that can be used with Weapon
Finesse, such as a rapier, whip, or spiked chain. Targets immune to sneak attacks or critical hits are immune
to the bard’s insightful strike. A bard cannot use this ability when wearing medium or heavy armor or when
carrying a medium or heavy load.

Acrobatic Charge
A bard of 7th level or higher can charge in situations where others cannot. She may charge over difficult
terrain that normally slows movement or allies blocking her path. This ability enables her to run down steep
stairs, leap down from a balcony, or to tumble over tables to get to her target. Depending on
circumstances, she may still need to make appropriate checks (Jump or Tumble checks, in particular) to
successfully move over the terrain.

Improved Flanking
A bard of 8th level or higher who is flanking an opponent gains a +4 bonus to attacks instead of a +2 bonus on
attacks. (Other characters flanking with the bard don’t gain this increased bonus.)

Lucky
Many bards live by the credo “Better lucky than good.” Once per day, a bard of 10 th level or higher may
reroll any failed attack roll, skill check, ability check, or saving throw. The character must take the result of
the reroll, even if it’s worse than the original roll.

Acrobatic Skills Mastery

At 13th level, a bard becomes so certain in the use of her acrobatic skills that she can use them reliably even
under adverse conditions. When making a Jump or Tumble check, a bard may take 10 even if stress and
distractions would normally prevent her from doing so.

Weakening Critical
A bard of 14th level or higher who scores a critical hit against a creature also deals 2 points of Strength
damage to the creature. Creatures immune to critical hits are immune to this effect.

Slippery Mind
When a bard reaches 17th level, her mind becomes more difficult to control. If the bard fails her save against
an enchantment spell or effect, she can attempt the save again 1 round later at the same DC (assuming she
is still alive). She gets only this one extra chance to succeed at a certain saving throw.

Wounding Critical
A bard of 19th level or higher who scores a critical hit against a creature also deals 2 points of Constitution
damage to the creature. (This damage is in addition to the Strength damage dealt but the bard’s weakening
critical class feature.) Creatures immune to critical hits are immune to this effect.

Bardic Music
Once per day per bard level, a bard can use his song or poetics to produce near-magical effects on those
around him (usually including himself, if desired). While these abilities fall under the category of bardic
music and the descriptions discuss singing or playing instruments, they can all be activated by reciting
poetry, chanting, singing lyrical songs, singing melodies, whistling, playing an instrument, or playing an
instrument in combination with some spoken performance. Each ability requires both a minimum bard level
and a minimum number of ranks in the Perform skill to qualify; if a bard does not have the required number
of ranks in at least one Perform skill, he does not gain the bardic music ability until he acquires the needed
ranks.

Starting a bardic music effect is a standard action. Some bardic music abilities require concentration, which
means the bard must take a standard action each round to maintain the ability. Even while using bardic
music that doesn’t require concentration, a bard cannot cast spells, activate magic items by spell

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completion (such as scrolls), spell trigger (such as wands), or command word. Just as for casting a spell with
a verbal component, a deaf bard has a 20% chance to fail when attempting to use bardic music. If he fails,
the attempt still counts against his daily limit.

Countersong (Su) (Perform 3)

A bard with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his music or poetics to counter magical effects that
depend on sound (but not spells that simply have verbal components). Each round of the countersong, he
makes a Perform check. Any creature within 30 feet of the bard (including the bard himself) that is affected
by a sonic or language-dependent magical attack may use the bard’s Perform check result in place of its
saving throw if, after the saving throw is rolled, the Perform check result proves to be higher. If a creature
within range of the countersong is already under the effect of a noninstantaneous sonic or language-
dependent magical attack, it gains another saving throw against the effect each round it hears the
countersong, but it must use the bard’s Perform check result for the save. Countersong has no effect against
effects that don’t allow saves. The bard may keep up the countersong for 10 rounds.

Fascinate (Sp) (Perform 3)

A bard with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his music or poetics to cause one or more creatures to
become fascinated with him. Each creature to be fascinated must be within 90 feet, able to see and hear
the bard, and able to pay attention to him. The bard must also be able to see the creature. The distraction
of nearby combat or other dangers prevents the ability from working. For every three levels a bard attains
beyond 1st, he can target one additional creature with a single use of this ability.

To use the ability, a bard makes a Perform check. His check result is the DC for each affected creature’s
Will save against the effect. If a creature’s saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot attempt to fascinate
that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature sits quietly and listens to the song,
taking no other actions, for as long as the bard continues to play and concentrate (up to a maximum of 1
round per bard level). While fascinated, a target takes a -4 penalty on skill checks made as reactions, such
as Listen and Spot checks. Any potential threat requires the bard to make another Perform check and allows
the creature a new saving throw against a DC equal to the new Perform check result.

Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell, or aiming a ranged weapon at the
target, automatically breaks the effect. Fascinate is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting ability.

Inspire Courage (Su) (Perform 3)

A bard with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use song or poetics to inspire courage in his allies
(including himself), bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities. To be affected, an
ally must be able to hear the bard sing. The effect lasts for as long as the ally hears the bard sing and for 5
rounds thereafter. An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear
effects and a +1 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls. At 8th level, and every six bard levels
thereafter, this bonus increases by 1 (+2 at 8th, +3 at 14th, and +4 at 20th). Inspire courage is a mind-
affecting ability.

Inspire Competence (Su) (Perform 6)

A bard of 3rd level or higher with 6 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his music or poetics to help an
ally succeed at a task. The ally must be within 30 feet and able to see and hear the bard. The bard must
also be able to see the ally.

The ally gets a +2 competence bonus on skill checks with a particular skill as long as he or she continues to
hear the bard’s music. Certain uses of this ability are infeasible. The effect lasts as long as the bard
concentrates, up to a maximum of 2 minutes. A bard can’t inspire competence in himself. Inspire
competence is a mind-affecting ability.

Suggestion (Sp) (Perform 9)

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A bard of 6th level or higher with 9 or more ranks in a Perform skill can make a suggestion (as the spell) to a
creature that he has already fascinated. Using this ability does not break the bard’s concentration on the
fascinate effect, nor does it allow a second saving throw against the fascinate effect.

Making a suggestion doesn’t count against a bard’s daily limit on bardic music performances. A Will saving
throw (DC 10 + ½ bard’s level + bard’s Cha modifier) negates the effect. This ability affects only a single
creature (but see mass suggestion, below). Suggestion is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting,
language dependent ability.

Inspire Greatness (Su) (Perform 12)

A bard of 9th level or higher with 12 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use music or poetics to inspire
greatness in himself or a single willing ally within 30 feet, granting him or her extra fighting capability. For
every three levels a bard attains beyond 9th, he can target one additional ally with a single use of this
ability (two at 12th level, three at 15th, four at 18th). To inspire greatness, a bard must sing and an ally
must hear him sing. The effect lasts for as long as the ally hears the bard sing and for 5 rounds thereafter. A
creature inspired with greatness gains 2 bonus Hit Dice (d10s), the commensurate number of temporary hit
points (apply the target’s Constitution modifier, if any, to these bonus Hit Dice), a +2 competence bonus on
attack rolls, and a +1 competence bonus on Fortitude saves. The bonus Hit Dice count as regular Hit Dice for
determining the effect of spells that are Hit Dice dependant. Inspire greatness is a mind-affecting ability.

Song of Freedom (Sp) (Perform 15)

A bard of 12th level or higher with 15 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use music or poetics to create an
effect equivalent to the break enchantment spell (caster level equals the character’s bard level). Using this
ability requires 1 minute of uninterrupted concentration and music, and it functions on a single target
within 30 feet. A bard can’t use song of freedom on himself.

Inspire Heroics (Su) (Perform 18)

A bard of 15th level or higher with 18 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use music or poetics to inspire
tremendous heroism in himself or a single willing ally within 30 feet. For every three bard levels the
character attains beyond 15th, he can inspire heroics in one additional creature. To inspire heroics, a bard
must sing and an ally must hear the bard sing for a full round. A creature so inspired gains a +4 morale bonus
on saving throws and a +4 dodge bonus to AC. The effect lasts for as long as the ally hears the bard sing and
for up to 5 rounds thereafter. Inspire heroics is a mind-affecting ability.

Mass Suggestion (Sp) (Perform 21)

This ability functions like suggestion, above, except that a bard of 18th level or higher with 21 or more ranks
in a Perform skill can make the suggestion simultaneously to any number of creatures that he has already
fascinated. Mass suggestion is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting, language-dependent ability.

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