Being a bard is perhaps the most fun and challenging of the professions. Some tend to fit the role like a glove, weaving their songs through the ether with the skill of a master craftsman. While others, such as myself, must constantly work to uphold the bardic image. In other words, don’t feel intimidated by the "mystique" of being a bard. No one expects a young bard to start singing songs and telling stories right from the beginning. If you feel interested in becoming a bard, simply start playing one.

There are as many types of bards as there are stars in the sky. Some prefer the swashbuckling adventurer, quick of wit and tongue. Others choose to role-play a loremaster type, interested in the lore of the lands and the stories that make up our history. Still others value the performance above all things. They are often found singing and storytelling all over the lands at our finest taverns and establishments. These are but a few broad characterizations of bardic types. Many bards themselves often disagree on "what makes a bard", so feel free to role-play your bard in any fashion you want.

This is not to say that the bardic profession doesn’t have its fair share of power hunters who never role-play or perform. But, rather, a bard is so much more than a hunter consisting of just an AS and a DS. Anyone who creates a bard simply as a hunter, is denying him or herself the best part of being a bard. Even if all you do is create a few simple loresinging verses of your own, you will be taking your place among a society whose membership contains many of the finest role-players in the lands.

(A brief note on the writing of your own performance material. Some bards go through their entire lives without producing a single original piece of work. I still have a healthy volume of work outside my own that I perform for the enjoyment of others. I think you will find, though, that once you’ve become acquainted with the art of performing, your own style and artistry will naturally come forth.)

Well, now that I have thoroughly demolished my soap box, we can get onto the meat and bones of bard creation.

2. The Name Giving:

The first thing I always suggest is to decide on a race and name. These two will often give you ideas for the type of character you want to create and how you want to role-play them. In order to get your name, though, you have to go through a rather intensive amount of trial and error testing. No name can be duplicated and with tens of thousands of characters created through the years, chances are that your first choices will be gone.

Since this can be a very time consuming process, I recommend taking care of it before you start rolling for stats. There is nothing worse than losing that "perfect roll" because you got disconnected while searching for an adequate name. In order to do this, take the first roll the character manager gives and go through toward the name selection screen(you won’t be keeping these rolls, so don’t worry about placement). Find a name that you like and continue on into Elanthia. This will save your name so that, when you go back to roll your stats, you can just fly right through the name selection process.

Make an effort to create an original name. It can be a hard thing, but your name is something you can never change. For good or bad, it is how you will be perceived throughout the life of your character.

Guidelines for name choosing:

1. Don’t use main characters from a well known set of books. Believe me, there are more than enough out there. You will not be setting yourself apart.

2. If a name you want is already taken, don’t add several t’s or l’s onto the end of it. You can try to subtly change the name but don’t butcher it. Silvan, for instance, might be changed to Sylvan, Sylven, Sylvin, Silven, or several variations, but don’t make it into Sillvvan or some such. At that point, the name is no longer beautiful but looks like the scrawl of a child.

3. Although names from well known books are usually taken already, I’ve found that lesser known books can yield a good supply of names. In fact, my very first character was named using this method.

4. Perhaps the most important thing is to create a name that is suitable for the lands of Elanthia. Please don’t call yourself Roboman or any other nonsense. Your character will never be respected and you will most likely be made to change it by the GMs.

5. Try not to create a name similar to a creature in the lands. Names like Trollkiller will be very dangerous in a troll area. Other characters will be swinging at you instead of the trolls.
6. Try to create a name that fits with the character. If you want to create a dark, brooding giantman, then you would want a name that somehow reflects that. Names like Fluffy or Tiny probably wouldn’t be on the list.
7. Above all, just try to be sensible. We don’t want to see Bigbaddude or Prettygirl running through town. Consider whether the name you chose would ever be used in a fantasy setting, either as a given name or as a nickname.

3. Roll of the Dice:

Once you have decided on your name, go to the nearest inn and recreate the character (you will have to choose delete character to do this). Don’t worry, the name is still there. Just write it down and re-enter it when the time comes.

Now you are ready to roll the dice and give your character his stats. First, a little about how the dice are rolled. The first three numbers are between 50 and 90. The fourth through sixth are between 40 and 60. The seventh, eighth, and ninth range between 20 and 50, and the last number can go between 20 and 100. Of these ten rolls, you want a total of AT LEAST 620. I would strongly suggest a total of 630 or greater. The time spent getting a good roll is but a pittance in relation to the time you will probably spend playing this character.

There are a few loose guidelines that I use for rolls:

1. Absolutely no numbers below 30.
2. Four numbers above 70 (this means the first three and the last number)
3. Of those four over 70, at least 3 above 80.

4. Placing the Numbers:

There are many different ways to place these rolls. If you are familiar with all the stats and what they do, by all means, feel free to place them any way you like. The following is merely a suggestion based on a bard’s needs and individual stat growth rates. It is meant to be manipulated based on race or on personal preference.

1. Discipline
2. Aura (never above 90)
3. Strength
4. Reflexes
5. Wisdom
6. Logic
7. Dexterity
8. Intelligence
9. Charisma
10. Constitution

Here is my reasoning for the above placement:

1. Discipline is a slow grower for bards. This growth combined with its importance in regard to training points, places it high on the list.

2. Aura is our most important stat (mana & training points). Remember, we get +10 to this number too, so a roll between 80 and 90 is fine to start with.

3. Whether we like it or not, bards must survive by swinging our weapons. Although Strength rises at a decent rate for bards, it is necessary in order to hunt well.

• If you are willing to sacrifice hunting ability now for a better character after legend level, you might consider putting Strength a little lower. Be warned that this is a tougher road to walk down.

4. Like Strength above, Reflexes are necessary to hunt effectively. We have a decent amount of defensive spells which help us, but the bonus from Reflexes is always welcome.

• As with Strength, Reflexes grow fairly fast, so if you are looking real long-term, you might consider moving this down a few spots. It will make things harder at the beginning though.

5. Contrary to popular belief, Wisdom is an important stat. It’s greatest ability is to increase your TD, which is sorely needed in later years. Also, if you want your bard to be able to open boxes effectively, you will need a decent Wisdom.

6. Logic really should be placed higher due to its extremely slow growth and importance in experience absorbtion. However, unless you are willing to drop Strength or Reflexes, there is really no place else to put it.. Like Aura, we also get +10 to our Logic stat, so don’t place a roll higher than 90 here.

7. Dexterity is a good all around stat. It helps your ambush RT, skills like climbing and swimming, and dodging manuever attacks. Again, though, it is hard to place this higher without dropping another needed stat.

8. Intelligence also helps with experience absorbtion. I am sacrificing a little learning ability here for better hunting abilities.

9. Charisma is a bard’s fastest growing stat. Currently, the only thing I think this affects is your loresinging ability. In other words, it has time to grow…and grow it will.

10. Constitution rises at a decent clip and doesn’t really affect too much during your life. It too has plenty of time to grow.

5. The Training Path:

The most important thing I can think of here is for you to decide what skills you want for your bard and train him or her accordingly from the very beginning. Since we can only train most skills once, missing a few trainings in a particular skill makes it much harder for us to catch up. These skills are what I consider "core skills" for all bards. Always train in these forever.

2x Weapon Training (of your choice)

1x Shield Training

1x Spell Research

1x Combat Manuevers

Aside from these core skills, practically any variety of other skills can be trained in. The following is a brief summary of the secondary skills:

Ambushing: This comes very close to a core skill for many bards. I strongly suggest you start training in it as soon as possible. Without it, you will have a hard time solo hunting critters in later years. Single train as much as you can.

Stalk & Hiding: In combination with the ambushing skill, this is almost necessary for hunting later in life. You can certainly survive without these two skills, but it makes things much harder. My suggestion: start training early and try not to skip it once you have started. Even fully single trained in this skill, I still have many problems hiding from creatures like Kiramon.

Armor Use: Due to spell hinderance, most bards just get enough for double leather and then stop. Armor use takes off one second of RT for every 20 in the skill that you have (rounded up). Double leather would then require 6 ranks, or 30 skill, to fully train off. If you are willing to put up with the spell hinderance, by all means train higher. Better armor does indeed give better protection.

Perception: Often overlooked, perception is one skill that you always wish you had more of. If you want to open your own boxes, you will need a lot of perception to spot the traps (try to single train). If not, then aim for about 24 ranks (102) by level 40.

Mana Share: This is a must train skill. I made the mistake of putting off training in it and am still trying to recover. At about level 30, it becomes necessary to ask for spells for most critters you hunt. Try to have a minimum of 10 ranks (50) by that time. Then get to 24 ranks (102) as fast as you can (without compromising your core skills).

Climbing: Used rather heavily in skill checks by the time you reach level 30, I would try to have at least 10 ranks (50) by then. More is needed for areas like Pinefar.

Swimming: Although less frequently used than Climbing, Swimming is another skill that you can find yourself wishing you had more. 1 rank (5) is needed to get to Imaera’s Shrine, 2 ranks (10) is needed to enter Wolves Den. Other than that, try to have at least 5 ranks (25) by 20^th. Pick up more whenever you can…you never know what new areas might require this.

Physical Training: Train in this every year until about 15 (100 or so hit points), then train in it whenever you can until you reach your maximum hit points.

First Aid: With the ability to bundle herbs and the lowering of pelt prices, this skill has lost quite a bit in the last few years. I have never trained in it but sometimes really wish I could skin those critters I kill. It is up to you and your training regimen if you can afford this skill. There’s every possibility that its importance could increase in the future. The Council of Light requires you to skin in order to advance, so if you go this route you should pick up at least a few ranks early on.

Disarming Traps: A very nice skill to have if you want to open your own boxes. It helps to find traps and then to disarm them. With the current difficulty of traps in the realms, you will need to train this skill often to keep up. Don’t trust spell 408 (Disarm) to disarm your boxes, you might end up splattered all over my new vest .

Lockpicking: Not really necessary with spell 407 (Unlock) available to us but it can be incredibly fun. If you stay with it, it provides a nice alternative to hunting in later years.

Scroll Reading: A nice skill to have, but I would consider this more of a tertiary skill. I won’t train in it until I have completed my mana share but others might want to start earlier. About 15 ranks (70) will allow you to read almost anything. Get more for greater success.

Magic Item Use: This skill isn’t really needed for most bards. Spell aiming is too costly for us to use wizard wands and TD’s vs. Sorceror’s spells are too high to really make use of those sorc wands. Getting spells imbedded into wands and rods are about the only use for this skill.

Brawling: The only reason I would train in brawling is for the Voln Skills of Throw, Punch, and Kick…commonly referred to as Voln Fu. But in order to be good at this, you practically have to double train in it. This, unfortunately, is an impossibility for bards. The one bard I’ve heard of that singled in it felt he had wasted training points because of his lack of success in Voln Fu. Not recommended unless you are willing to sacrifice a lot.

Trading: Only train in this if you want to role-play your bard as a merchant. It only saves you money, and money is irrevelant when compared to training points. I would willingly give all my money for a few more training points a year.

Picking Pockets: As with trading, only train in this if you are role-playing your bard with thiefly tendancies. It used to be that training in this helped you to spot people trying to pick your pockets, but it may or may not be true now.

One brief skill discussion I wanted to finish with is what your main weapon will be. The best two choices for a bard are generally one-handed edged (OHE) and Polearms. Polearms are extremely cheap for us to train in (compared to most other professions). The only problem is that polearms are a bit weak right now. The one-handed variety can’t compare to OHE weapons and the two-handed polearms are usually behind other two-handed weapons. This is not to say that polearms will always stay as they are now. They could very well be made much more effective, giving the ones who trained in them significant advantages. This can’t be assumed, though, and the chance remains that they will stay "as is". Currently, the OHE skill is a much safer and more effective choice. But if you are really looking for something different and want to stand out in the crowd, try Polearms.

• Note: Polearms don’t ambush well so if you want to ambush, choose OHE.

6. Spell Training (to sing or to cast):

As an increasing amount of our spellsongs become implemented, more and more bards choose to go up the Bard List first. At long last, this is becoming a viable alternative for bard training. I still think the Minor Elemental List has more to offer at this point, but in the future, who is to say? The most popular spell training system (and the one I use) is this:

Year Spells

------ --------

0 401

1-7 1001 - 1007

8-36 402 - 430

37-49 1008 - 1020

After getting to this point, you can make the choice of either going on up to Sonic Disruption (1030) or going back to the Minor Elemental List to increase your bonuses on 425, True Strike, and 430, Guard True. Beyond that, it is entirely up to you.

• Note: With the fantastic spell 1010 (Song of Valor) now implemented, you may want to go ahead and get this before heading up the Minor Elemental List. You probably won’t be able to use it much before 20^th level, but it is one of our best defensive spells.