Bard¶

A Bard makes information and company into force. A weapon keeps the tempo, sung appraisal turns strange objects into knowledge, and held songs reshape a group as long as the singer can sustain them.

Calling feature	Bard
Aptitudes	Presence, Finesse
Casting aptitude	Presence
Magic	all foundations, Bard's Wheel
Guild	none currently
Natural strengths	performance, item lore, perception, weapons, sustained support

Building the character¶

Presence powers the voice and the Bard's magical reserve. Finesse supports weapons and fine item work. Attunement helps magical contests, while Vigor and Grace keep a performer standing when the room stops listening politely.

A new Bard should choose a weapon plan and keep it functional, then add:

Channeling and Bard's Wheel for the songs actually intended;
Awareness and item disciplines for discovery and found magic;
Conditioning, Armor Training, and either Shield Training or Evasion for the chosen kit;
Trading, lockwork, or another social/utility specialty only as the character's concept requires.

Use TRAIN for the calling's own current prices. “Competent at many things” is an opportunity to choose, not a requirement to buy everything.

Sung appraisal¶

Hold an object and use LORESING <item> to sing its appraisal. Only a Bard can use it. The song reports exact value in silver and recorded weight, plus any material traits, maker's mark, crafting quality, enchantment, or passive magical bonuses on the piece. It also warns you if you are below the level needed to wield its enchantment. A vendor's offer can differ from the sung value.

Each reading takes three seconds of Recovery and can award experience; enchanted pieces award more. Repeat readings still print the appraisal, but items with the same name share an experience cooldown of about six hours.

It is useful to hunters, crafters, collectors, and the whole group. It also gives the Bard a social role that remains relevant when no combat spell is being cast.

Paid performances¶

Hold a playable instrument and use PERFORM <instrument> — for example, PERFORM WHISTLE — in a participating common room. A completed 60-second set pays 120 silver and 30 experience through the usual experience rules. After payment, wait five minutes before another paid set; the rest applies across all venues and survives logging out.

The participating rooms are Inn Common Room; The Crooked Flagon, Common Room; Lanternwatch, the Long Hall; The Shared Pot, Common Room; The Held Breath, Common Room; and The Long Loaf, the Common Room.

Stay in the room with your instrument in hand. Leaving, entering combat, being stunned or disconnecting interrupts the set without payment. PERFORM STOP ends it early. Ordinary PLAY WHISTLE still plays a note without starting paid work.

Held songs¶

Bard's Wheel contains both instant workings and sustained spellsongs. A held song remains active while the Bard pays its renewal cost. Group songs refresh nearby grouped companions between payments, so late arrivals can join the harmony.

INCANT <catalogue code>
SPELLS
STOP <catalogue code>

Basic buffs and ordinary sung weapons, shields and armor renew for one third of their startup price, rounded up to at least one Mana. Stronger effects such as Song of the Cairnfather, The Deep Chord and The Blade That Sings keep their full renewal price.

Renewals begin at two minutes. Every ten ranks in Bard's Wheel adds thirty seconds, up to five minutes at sixty ranks. Each song has its own timer, beginning when you start it. A brief stun gives you fifteen seconds to regain your senses; the songs resume automatically when you recover in time. A longer interruption, dead-magic air, death, STOP, or insufficient mana when payment comes due can end the song.

Use EFF to see each held song's renewal price, next payment, any stun recovery window, the combined bill, and a mana outlook that includes your current recovery. The outlook assumes you stay here with the same songs and training and spend no other mana; a song may falter at renewal before the pool reaches zero.

Lesser Vein adds shared wards and practical elemental utilities. SPELLS separately prints each working's code, rank requirement, and mana price; the suffix encodes none of those values.

Fighting rhythm¶

The Bard is strongest when the weapon, song, and group solve different parts of the fight. Use READY while reading a new opponent, move to PRESS when support is stable, and do not let a long renewal bill leave no mana for an emergency.

Solo play is viable, but the calling's ceiling is social: one maintained song can improve several companions while the Bard still attacks, appraises, and reacts.

Common mistakes¶

Starting too many songs without adding their renewal costs together.
Neglecting the weapon because the calling has a dedicated circle.
Buying every utility discipline instead of choosing a recognizable specialty.
Treating Presence as permission to ignore defensive attributes and training.
Reading a catalogue suffix as a spell's depth or price.

Protection, equipment, and upkeep¶

The Steadying Air and The Muster are alternative Guard refrains. Muster supplies stronger Guard; singing either replaces the other. Starting a held combat bonus costs one Mana per five points of full bonus, rounded up. Basic songs then renew for a third of that startup price, rounded up. Training that makes a song stronger can raise its price while also lengthening the renewal interval. Spell stacking can reduce a ward's contribution without changing its price. Use SPELLS <code> or EFF for your current price.

At 29 Bard's Wheel ranks, Steadying Air supplies +23 Guard for 5 Mana to start; Muster supplies +29 for 6. Either renews for 2 Mana every three minutes. Other spell wards can still affect their applied contribution.

INCANT 6164 <small|medium|large|tower> creates The Sung Shield in an empty hand. It uses Shield training and the ordinary size tradeoff between blocking and evasion. You cannot hold it alongside another shield.

INCANT 6129 <cloth|leather|scale|chain|plate> creates The Sung Mail in your empty chest slot. It replaces that piece of equipment rather than layering another spell ward over it. Armor training, movement costs and spell hindrance still apply. Stronger enchantment and heavier protection cost more to maintain. Either song remembers your chosen form; use INCANT <code> FORMS to see the choices.

While a paid song is running, its equipment keeps its last note refreshed between payments. A brief stun can recover automatically within fifteen seconds. If a longer stun or a dry pool ends the song, its equipment retains its last note briefly; EFF shows the time left. Restart with INCANT <code> before it fades; STOP <code> releases it immediately. Death and dead-magic air end it. Sung equipment cannot be stored or sold. Your held Sung Shield and worn Sung Mail persist through logout and resume with their songs when you return. Normal mana upkeep still applies; logging back in does not charge for every interval you were away. Equipment whose song already ended still fades on its original deadline.