Bard

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Hit Die	d6
Skills	6 + INT
Proficiencies	Simple Weapons, Longsword, Rapier, Shortbow, Shortsword, Light Armor, Shield
Class Skills	Appraise, Balance, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft (All), Decipher Script, Diplomacy, Disguise, Escape Artist, Gather Information, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (All), Listen, Move Silently, Parry, Perform, Profession, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft, Swim, Tumble, Use Magic Device
Requirements
Alignment	LG NG CG LN N CN LE NE CE
Source: Player's Handbook, p. 26-30

A bard brings forth magic from his soul, not from a book. He can cast only a small number of spells, but he can do so without selecting or preparing them in advance. His magic emphasizes charms and illusions over the more dramatic evocation spells that wizards and sorcerers often use. In addition to spells, a bard works magic with his music and poetry. He can encourage allies, hold his audiences rapt, and counter magical effects that rely on speech or sound. Bards have some of the skills that rogues have, although bards are not as focused on skill mastery as rogues are. A bard listens to stories as well as telling them, of course, so he has a vast knowledge of local events and noteworthy items.

Class Features

Level	BAB	Fortitude	Reflex	Will	Special
1	+0	+0	+2	+2	Bardic Knowledge, Bardic Music, Countersong, Fascinate, Inspire Courage
2	+1	+0	+3	+3	Inspire Competence
3	+2	+1	+3	+3	Haven Song
4	+3	+1	+4	+4
5	+3	+1	+4	+4	Inspire Defense
6	+4	+2	+5	+5	Cloud Mind
7	+5	+2	+5	+5
8	+6/+1	+2	+6	+6	Inspire Toughness
9	+6/+1	+3	+6	+6	Ironskin Chant
10	+7/+2	+3	+7	+7
11	+8/+3	+3	+7	+7	Inspire Slowing
12	+9/+4	+4	+8	+8	Song of Freedom
13	+9/+4	+4	+8	+8
14	+10/+5	+4	+9	+9	Inspire Jarring
15	+11/+6/+1	+5	+9	+9	Inspire Heroics
16	+12/+7/+2	+5	+10	+10
17	+12/+7/+2	+5	+10	+10
18	+13/+8/+3	+6	+11	+11	Inspire Legion
19	+14/+9/+4	+6	+11	+11
20	+15/+10/+5	+6	+12	+12

Spellcasting

See also: Bard Spells.

A bard casts arcane spells, which are drawn from the bard spell list. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time. To learn or cast a spell, a bard must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level (Charisma 10 for 0-level spells, 11 for 1st-level spells, and so forth). Starting at 8th level, and every three levels after, bards can replace one known spell with a new spell of the same level. The replaced spell must be two spell levels below what the bard can currently cast (1st level spell at 8, 1st or 2nd level spell at 11, 1st or 2nd or 3rd level spell at 14, and so forth). Bards do not suffer from arcane spell failure when wearing light armor. Medium and heavy armor, as well as all shields, still incur the normal failure chance.

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 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.

Bardic Music

Once per day per bard level, a bard can use his song or poetics to produce 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 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. Bardic music also requires that the targets of the song be able to hear it, and deaf creatures or creatures inside of spell effects like Silence are not affected by the song.

Countersong

Requires 3 ranks in a Perform skill.

This song puts a buff on the targeted ally that lasts for 10 rounds or until discharaged. Any hostile magic that would affect the countersong's target has to make a Spell Resistance check of 10 + levels of Bard the singer possesses. Whether the spell is blocked or not, the countersong is discharged.

A bard cannot cast this on himself, only on allies.