Bard, Aspirant

Everyone listens to the legends told by their elders. Sitting around the heart with the grandfather of your family telling of the heroes of old is the most common form of entertainment in a pre-literate society. These stories thrill the children and amuse the elder. Children hear them and hope for a brighter, heroic future when they can be as great as the legends themselves. When they grow up they put them aside though, living their day-to-day lives until their own children are ready to wonder.

The Quintessential Bard
Author Shannon Kalvar
Publisher Mongoose Publishing
Publish date 2003

In a few cases those stories light a fire within the child’s heart. Those children grow up to be aspirants, men and women who strive to re-enact the legends of their people. They aspire to become like the greatest heroes and villains. Whatever their heroes did the Aspirant attempts, be it fair or foul.

In their quest, the aspirant may acquire fame and glory, wealth and power. All of these things are simply by-products of their true mission. They live for the moments when they can most fully realise their heroic dreams, becoming if only for an instant the heroes that they idolise and adore. Many become legends in their own right, their deeds passed down to light a fire in the hearts of a new generation.

Adventuring: An aspirant brings a great deal to an adventuring party. As a team member he has Bardic abilities, as well as an unflagging zeal for adventure. As a leader he can ferret out the most difficult and horrendous quests to accomplish and launch the party towards them. When out on his own, the Aspirant is a knight-errant, seeking out villainy and evil wherever he can find it.

Role-Playing: Aspirants make up the bulk of what one would think of as the ‘classic’ Bardic adventurers. Daring, foolish, heroic and courageous, these Bards take to the road to right wrongs and do great things. They have stars in their eyes and music in their hearts. For them the trials of the journey mark their progress along their path. They savour obstacles, comparing them to the difficulties faced by various legendary heroes.

Benefits: In keeping with their preoccupation with myths and legends all aspirants receive a +2 knowledge bonus to their Bardic Lore rolls to recognise references to mythic places, items and people. Additionally once per day the Aspirant may call upon his fervent belief in heroics to grant himself a +2 morale bonus to any one roll. This is a free action, but must be declared before the player makes the roll.

Penalties: Most aspirants are a bit naive. They learned about the world from epic stories, not harsh experience. Therefore they have a –2 circumstance penalty on any attempt to Sense Motive, and generally are likely to believe anything that someone tells them.