Bard

Bards often serve as negotiators, messengers, scouts, and spies. They love to accompany heroes (and villains) to witness heroic (or villainous) deeds firsthand, since a bard who can tell a story from personal experience earns renown among his fellows. A bard casts arcane spells without any advance preparation, much like a sorcerer. His magic emphasizes charms and illusions, and the bard can also play an inspiring song that strengthens him and his allies. Bards also share some specialized skills with rogues, and their knowledge of item lore is nearly unmatched.

Some hold that if one had the eyes to see, the world would be revealed as a symphony of celestial music, each theme playing out its part on the stage of reality. For some bards, this intuition is true. When they let the scales slip from their eyes, they see the underlying overture of music that connects all levels of reality.

Hit Die: d6

Proficiencies: Armor (Light, Medium), Shields, Weapons (Simple)

Skill Points: 6 + INT

Class Skills: Appraise, Bluff, Concentration, Craft (all), Decipher Script, Discipline, Disguise, Escape Artist, Forgery, Heal, Hide, Knowledge (all), Listen, Lore, Move Silently, Parry, Perform, Persuade, Profession (all), Sense Motive, Speak Language, Spellcraft, Taunt, Tumble, Use Magic Device

Spellcasting: Arcane (spell failure from armor is a factor), charisma-based (a base charisma score of 10 + the spell's level is required to cast a spell, bonus spells are based on modified charisma, and the charisma modifier affects spell DCs), and spontaneous cast (no spell preparation required). Bards begin the game knowing four cantrips.

Spells

Cantrips	1st level spells	2nd level spells	3rd level spells
Cure minor wounds Daze Flare Light Resistance	Amplify Balagarn's iron horn Charm person Cure light wounds Expeditious retreat Grease Identify Lesser dispel Mage armor Magic weapon Protection from alignment  Scare Sleep Summon creature I	Blindness/deafness Bull's strength Cat's grace Clarity Cloud of bewilderment Cure moderate wounds Darkness Eagle's splendor Fox's cunning Ghostly visage Hold person Invisibility Owl's wisdom See invisibility Silence Sound burst Summon creature II Tasha's hideous laughter   Ultravision	Bestow curse Charm monster Clairaudience/clairvoyance Confusion Cure serious wounds Dispel magic Displacement Fear Find traps Greater magic weapon Gust of wind Haste Invisibility sphere Keen edge Magic circle against alignment   Remove curse Remove disease Slow Summon creature III Wounding whispers

4th level spells	5th level spells	6th level spells
Cure critical wounds Dismissal Dominate person Hold monster Improved invisibility Legend lore Neutralize poison Summon creature IV War cry	Ethereal visage Greater dispelling Healing circle Mind fog Summon creature V	Dirge Energy buffer Ice storm Mass haste Summon creature VI

Level progression

Lvl	BAB	Saves			Feats	HP range		Base spells per day								Known spells
		Fort	Ref	Will				0	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th		0	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
1st	+0	+0	+2	+2	bardic knowledge, bard song	3-6		2	-	-	-	-	-	-		4	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	+1	+0	+3	+3		6-12		3	0	-	-	-	-	-		5	2	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	+2	+1	+3	+3		9-18		3	1	-	-	-	-	-		5	3	-	-	-	-	-
4th	+3	+1	+4	+4		12-24		3	2	0	-	-	-	-		5	3	2	-	-	-	-
5th	+3	+1	+4	+4		15-30		3	3	1	-	-	-	-		5	4	3	-	-	-	-
6th	+4	+2	+5	+5		18-36		3	3	2	-	-	-	-		5	4	3	-	-	-	-
7th	+5	+2	+5	+5		21-42		3	3	2	0	-	-	-		5	4	4	2	-	-	-
8th	+6/+1	+2	+6	+6		24-48		3	3	3	1	-	-	-		5	4	4	3	-	-	-
9th	+6/+1	+3	+6	+6		27-54		3	3	3	2	-	-	-		5	4	4	3	-	-	-
10th	+7/+2	+3	+7	+7		30-60		3	3	3	2	0	-	-		5	4	4	4	2	-	-
11th	+8/+3	+3	+7	+7		33-66		3	3	3	3	1	-	-		5	4	4	4	3	-	-
12th	+9/+4	+4	+8	+8		36-72		3	3	3	3	2	-	-		5	4	4	4	3	-	-
13th	+9/+4	+4	+8	+8		39-78		3	3	3	3	2	0	-		5	4	4	4	4	2	-
14th	+10/+5	+4	+9	+9		42-84		4	3	3	3	3	1	-		5	4	4	4	4	3	-
15th	+11/+6/+1	+5	+9	+9		45-90		4	4	3	3	3	2	-		5	4	4	4	4	3	-
16th	+12/+7/+2	+5	+10	+10		48-96		4	4	4	3	3	2	0		5	5	4	4	4	4	2
17th	+12/+7/+2	+5	+10	+10		51-102		4	4	4	4	3	3	1		5	5	5	4	4	4	3
18th	+13/+8/+3	+6	+11	+11		54-108		4	4	4	4	4	3	2		5	5	5	5	4	4	3
19th	+14/+9/+4	+6	+11	+11		57-114		4	4	4	4	4	4	3		5	5	5	5	5	4	4
20th	+15/+10/+5	+6	+12	+12		60-120		4	4	4	4	4	4	4		5	5	5	5	5	5	4

Being able to cast 0 spells of a certain level per day means the bard cannot cast spells of that level unless bonus spell slots of the appropriate level are granted by a high charisma.

As a rule of thumb, bards can cast spell levels up to a third their class level, rounded up.

Epic bard

The epic bard's music is beyond inspiring, beyond heartrending, beyond perfection. With just a song, the bard can weaken the cruelest creature or inspire allies to the heights of power and bravery.

Hit die: d6

Skill points: 4 + int modifier

Bonus feats: The epic bard gains a bonus feat every three levels after 20th. In other words, at levels 23, 26, 29, 32, 35, and 38.

Epic bonus feats: arcane defense, curse song, epic skill focus (all but animal empathy), epic spell focus, epic will, extra music, great charisma, great dexterity, greater spell focus, greater spell penetration, improved combat casting, lasting inspiration, lingering song

Unavailable epic feats: bane of enemies, construct shape, dragon shape, epic spell: dragon knight, epic spell: epic mage armor, epic spell: epic warding, epic spell: greater ruin, epic spell: hellball, epic spell: mummy dust, epic weapon specialization, great smiting, improved ki strike 4, improved ki strike 5, improved sneak attack, improved spell resistance, improved stunning fist, mighty rage, outsider shape, planar turning, terrifying rage, thundering rage, undead shape
These general epic feats cannot be selected when taking a level of bard.

Epic bard level progression

Lvl	Feats	HP range
21st		63-126
22nd		66-132
23rd	bonus feat	69-138
24th		72-144
25th		75-150
26th	bonus feat	78-156
27th		81-162
28th		84-168
29th	bonus feat	87-174
30th		90-180
31st		93-186
32nd	bonus feat	96-192
33rd		99-198
34th		102-204
35th	bonus feat	105-210
36th		108-216
37th		111-222
38th	bonus feat	114-228
39th		117-234
40th		120-240