Bard Song Availability

[The Band Played On]

Bard songs are incredibly rare in loot, in fact I'm not certain you find them at all. The only feasible place to obtain them is from an NPC in the House of Knowledge. This means that any PC bard who can't enter Upper has no real access to the custom bard songs. I'd like to suggest that alternative sources be made available, or that they come up more often in loot.

[Pup]

Yeah, this seems strange.  I've sort of assumed this was intentional but I've never seen any documentation or discussion of it.

[Zango_Unchained]

I think that bards should on creation get a songbook and a small selection of songs from the current setting that they can pick from. A large majority of the classes have perks or augments to make them better, I think giving bards the choice of two songs, one at six and another at eight is a good idea. They can be given a menu that gives them a selection of themes rather then the name of a piece of music and when they click the theme they get a random song from such theme. I also think they should get the songbook for free.

[HalflingPower]

There are hero loot song sheets that can only be acquired through hero loot.

And there is nothing saying you can't have someone run an errand for you to get you song sheets.

[Pompeiiya]

It's also pretty unfortunate for newbies who wanna play bards and have no idea how to make money. :c I would love for bard songs to be scattered around, as well, to have people travel to certain locations and learn from certain people the songs they have come up with themselves--
Unless this is actually already in. I've only been playing for a week or so, so I have yet to discover if this is the case or not.

[Frenzied]

Grotesque Grunting best song.

[granny]

alternative sources not only for bardsongs, but for also other items.

considering that the DMs are putting work on the mini priests of lately, maybe it could be nice to have one of them delivering a suitable one, accordingly to their theme.

maybe having some goblin or gnome lost in the underdark to be the source of some others too. I guess the kuo-toan should be selling some exotic chants themselves and also the duergar.

and, adding to the setting, if not added already, an illithid or aberrant bardsong to be given by the baron or to be found in the sleeping pyrimo...

[Aethereal]

to have people travel to certain locations and learn from certain people the songs they have come up with themselves--

I like this idea of a bard's quest. Where they go out into the world to find inspiration or are made aware of a reclusive maestro residing on the edges of the Dark Lake, playing haunting tunes into the depths of despair (or whatever).

Someone players could interact with and write in-character work for in exchange for critique, reward/admonishment and even tuition.

It wouldn't necessarily have to be scripted, but could have a scripted element like that impoverished noble (Azure addict) with the songchest based in Sis Liman, who used to wax lyrical from time to time.

[Pentaxius]

That is an excellent idea Aethereal.

As I see it, it could be semi-scripted, following this pattern :

1. Poem/Song work presented on the forum / performed ICLY is evaluated by a DM.
2. The DM grants a token to activate a special menu conversation with these NPCs.
3. The player can exchange his song against a special song that isn't available in the current song lottery system.

[HalflingPower]

I am pretty sure there are DM loot only songs to reward exceptional bards as is.

[PanamaLane]

What happened to napster? I remember as a bard who obtained many of these songs, having to actually find other bards and trade. The more I got, the more bards came to me. This to me encourages PC interactions as opposed to loot drops.

[Ebok]

To share them, you must be able to actually find them. Considering whether or not something drops enough to be viable is extremely important, especially considering the impact these have on the class. The oldest bard on the server at the moment started this thread, I doubt tBPo would bring it up if there wasn't something to it.

Also, if the drops are so rare that only the most prestigious and oldest bards get any, then they have an extremely powerful advantage over all the other bards that are just starting out. The ability to have song sheets is a huge part of the class, not something needing to be unlocked. The harder it is for them to use their perks, the less of a perk it is.

Access to basic class essentials that make them FUN and useful should be plentiful, not restrictive. That said, restricting rare songs and powerful songs should be handled like any other powerful loot--clearly.

[granny]

I would like the bards to be allowed to have access to an initial set of bardsongs directly from the start, kinda alike the sorcerer that can choose between the summon themes.

Say, they can chose up to three bardsongs from the scratch or they'd have some presets inspired in bard themes that they'd be rolling (maybe in order to avoid exploit/ imbalance).

[Pup]

I'd suggest 1 mediocre bard song choice at the starting area.