Choosing a Class

=Player Classes=

Bard
Everybody’s friend, the bard is the most approachable of all the arcane spellcasters—less isolated than a wizard and less threatening than a sorcerer. Though he shares many skills with rogues, he does not share their criminal stigma. Most people either welcome him with open arms as a talented entertainer or at the very least tolerate him as reasonably harmless. The bard is one of the few characters who can move freely through all levels of society and among nearly all humanoids. His lute and ﬂ amboyant clothing are passports to any place where the people enjoy good music, from an elven forest to a goblin warren.

This wide acceptance makes the bard an excellent messenger, for he can collect and distribute news wherever his wanderings take him. Only a fool or a madman would kill a bard without ﬁ rst ﬁ nding out what he knows. Once given the chance to talk, of course, any bard worth his salt can not only convince his captors to spare him, but get them to relate their life stories as well! Naturally, a bard must be very careful not to abuse this kind of trust. If bandits spare his life, he had best not try to slit their throats by night or lead the local militia to their lair. To do so would endanger all bards, for such tales have a way of spreading.

For just this reason, bards take great pains to circulate stories about the good fortune that comes to those who treat bards well. Many a troll has heard the ballad about one of his brethren who got a terrible stomachache and died after eating a bard, just as most ogres know a tale about a captive bard who was ransomed for a princely sum. Some of the dimmer humanoids might fail to connect the harp-holding man whose head they’re bashing in with the “bards” mentioned in such stories, but every little bit helps. Thus, bards everywhere continue to make a concerted effort to keep alive the myth that bards bring good luck.

In Faerodune, the bard is either a lighthearted entertainer or a trusted go-between. It’s not unusual to ﬁ nd bards serving as nobles’ heralds or even ambassadors, since they make such good spokesmen. It’s rare, but not unheard of, for a bard to wind up as a member of the Imperial Citadel, often simply because he’s the best-known and best-liked of its citizens. Bards generally prefer to avoid such ties, for responsibilities restrict their wanderings and keep them from meeting new people. And when it comes to visiting new (often very out-of-the-way) places and meeting different kinds of people, nothing beats adventurin

Ranger
Despite his association with the forest, the ranger cannot be described as “rooted.” Too great an attachment to places, material possessions, and traditions is unhealthy from his point of view. After all, change is a fundamental aspect of nature, and it doesn’t pay to fight that. In fact, the ranger is among the most versatile of all characters. Yes, he wears armor, but it’s never as clunky as the paladin’s. Yes, he casts spells, but he never relies solely on them for survival as the wizard does. Yes, he moves like the breeze, but never with the blatant fear of straight-on confrontation that so many rogues display. Though the bard claims to be a jack-of-all-trades, it is the ranger who quietly proves himself the perfect balance of disciplines.

The ranger’s versatility makes him more of a generalist than most other characters, and that can be as much a hindrance as a boon. He can’t deal as much damage with a single blow as a greatsword-wielding fighter with Weapon Specialization or a wizard with a maximized fireball. What he can do is mete out a wild flurry of damage from multiple sources, then retreat before his opponent can return the favor.

A ranger of moderate level might unleash three unerring arrows in one round, switch weapons and close in the next round, then lay his opponent low with four blows from his two weapons in the third round. If that opponent is a favored enemy, the second and third rounds might not even be necessary. In many ways, the ranger’s greatest strength is leadership. Like the rogue, he often scouts ahead of fellow party members, where he can make the best use of his Track feat and sense-oriented class skills. Unlike the rogue, however, he feels physically outmatched by the challenges that those talents reveal. As the first to spot an enemy, he must decide whether to close or sneak back, and his friend’s lives may depend on the wisdom of his decision.