The charismatic voice. The party’s representative. The dragon seducer. Bards are a notorious class inDungeons & Dragons, not only for being rather versatile but also for being chosen by players who want to be more comedic with their characters and their roleplaying.
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However, whenever you have to come up with a character, you’re able to get stuck with what backstory you’ll give them to justify their behavior and actions. Here are some ideas of what backstories you can give your bard, and you can even mix and match concepts here to create your unique story.
10Street Artist
A simple yet effective concept and a pretty easy one to make a character witha more tragic past.Essentially, a person who lives by themselves and uses music as a way to get some money. If that isn’t enough to buy everything you need, you can also steal from time to time, making life a bit more complicated.
Perhaps the life of adventuring became a tempting way to leave poverty altogether. It’s a good way to give your character motivation to do something as dangerous as going through dungeons for profit.
9Noble
The sheer opposite of the previous idea, a noble is also a good way to justify a Bard. you’re able to easily explain how you were educated to play a musical instrument and how you have some control of arcane powers. The aesthetic of a noble character who uses a violin or something similar during combat is also pretty fun.
If you are going for the comedic side of things, you’re able to also provoke other players with your status or act a bit ignorant or arrogant in situations outside of nobility life. Just don’t go too far, so the other players won’t find you annoying.
8Searching For Inspiration
You are a bard who lost your spark. You have created many different songs, but now, they all feel repetitive, including your new creations. It almost feels like you have nothing left to say. Thus, you’ve decided to travel, see the world, and recover your inspiration for composition.
This is a simple concept that easily justifies why you’re adventuring around the setting, and your party members can become your inspiration, just like you are theirs, making it easy to add your character with the rest of the group.
7Storyteller
Another good way to justify traveling and getting together with your fellow adventurers. You wish to tell the stories of your time, but you are no boring wizard who writes books about the events that are happening. Nay, epic adventures require epic ways to be told!
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A character that turns the events of their life into songs, as well as their feats and the feats of your friends, is a fun little way to motivate your character. And you don’t need to actually compose; you’re able to just imply that your songs are based on the events and let people’s imaginations run wild. Or do compose if you’re a musician. Why not?
6Circus
You can give a backstory to your performance skills by being a former member of a group, such as a Circus. You were part of a large group of presenters, and living with them taught you everything you know and use through your adventures. And, in a world where magic is relatively common, learning magic just for the sake of presenting yourself is pretty credible.
Just give yourself a reason to ditch the original group, and your character is all set to join the other players and start your misadventures. Maybe you did something wrong; maybe you wanted to leave. Who knows? It’s up to you.
5Solo Career
Alternatively, you can be a former member of a band. You can give yourself a whole backstory as to why you’re not part of the band anymore or if the band still exists, and that is also a fun way tointegrate memorable NPCsinto your story, as you’ll need at least three or four other characters to be members of the band.
You can use them as allies or even create a falling out and give yourself a personal enemy to deal with throughout the campaign. This gives your Dungeon Master room to create unique surprises just for you.
4Fake Hero
In case you want toplay around with your charismaand roleplaying skills, you can pretend to be a great hero, even if you’re still a level-one bard. Just pitch the idea to your DM and see if they’re on board with it since it will also demand a bit from the NPCs' behavior towards you.
Essentially, people believe you’re a hero who did a great deed for them, though in reality, that is not the case, and you’re just keeping the lie going because it’s nice to be treated as a great hero. And things can get pretty intense if people find out you’re lying, so the stakes can get pretty high.
3Use Music Genres Or Artists As Reference
Think of a music genre you love and the style it brings with it. That is a powerful reference to create multiple backstories, integrating the genre into the character’s personality. A Metal Bard, for instance, is the perfect Lone Wolf character with a tragic past who vows to get revenge on an enemy.
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A Pop Bard could be a more positive person and a famous performer with the goal of being the best in business. A Country Bard could work as an outsider, getting in touch with civilization and learning from it. And, if possible and your party is okay with it, you can even separate music on your phone or online to use during the sessions.
2Other Types Of Art
This will require some homebrewing, but it is a fun way to make a more distinct bard. Instead of using music for your spells, why not use another type of art? You could use a magical brush and paint your spells in the air while casting them, for example. An ancient item that allows you to turn your paintings into reality, and you can use it for either good or nefarious purposes
Alternatively, your way of changing the world could be done through other means other than music; A professional dancer who uses movement for their spells, a sculptor whose small sculptures hold their arcane power, a poet who can recite their spells, which even gives you a fun roleplaying gimmick where you can write a few lines to say whenever you cast certain spells.
1Mime
This is definitely a gag concept, and it will require a lot more homebrewing, but speaking in different ways to perform your craft, why not go full Mime and rock your spells through body language? Many spells require verbal components, so you need to discuss with your DM to see how you’ll approach the idea.
You can be a performer who doesn’t speak, so you only need to be quiet whenfightingperforming, but if you want the roleplaying challenge of not talking, this is an interesting way to do so. Maybe you have a vow not to speak until you accomplish a certain goal. Maybe you had to learn magic in secret, so not making noise was of utmost importance. Maybe you are incapable of speaking, and your hard training allowed you to use verbal magic in your unique way since talking is not an option.
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