To establish my credentials right off the bat….J I’ve been around GSIII for about six years now and I’ve had a solid Bard the entire time. I’ve rerolled my Bard, Lesorel, three or four times and I’ve found the training path that suits me.
Seeing as the lands can be a little confusing at first, this guide is to give you an idea of not only how to create and train a Bard, but to try to help you understand what a Bard is. Bards embody life. In our music, our souls, we embody the heart, the dreams, hopes, ambitions, aspirations, and memory of the people. We are the wind in the trees and the song of crickets and cicadas at night. Without Bards life would become, succinctly, very dull.
The idea behind roleplaying a Bard is not to get cool spellsongs that let you…ohh…boost your group’s AS (If you don’t know what any of these abbreviations and acronyms are, I’ll get to them later,) or to have a spell-casting swinger. For one, the Bard class is designed to be very well balanced and you won’t come into any idea of your full skills until around your thirtieth training, more often, fiftieth, usually you’ll find that by the time you’ve hit Legend status (50th Training) you’ll be able to practically wipe out every living thing near your level by yourself and not get hurt doing it. 35th training’ll be when you can get Song of Mirrors (+75 personal DS,) although I don’t recommend a straight Bard Circle training plan. If you do go straight Bard circle you’ll be kicking yourself in the head later when it takes so much longer to train and get new spells, and you don’t even know how to cast Presence yet, much less e-wave some of those obnoxious buggers you’re suppose to be hunting (or helping a friend hunt.)
Beyond that, the Bard Circle is extremely versified. With everything from building yourself a set of armor, weapon, and shield from pure song and magic, to boosting group and personal AS, DS, TD, to a version of Fogging, basically Bards rock. I’ll go over the entire list later in this guide and point out how the songs can be used and where they might be most helpful.
Also, the older you are (that is, the more training levels you’ve had) the better your songs are going to work and the more of them you can keep in the air at once. That point is a good one to remember, the older your character is, the better everything is going to work. Okay, let me start off with some generic stuff for understanding the Lands. There are eight classes to choose from, if you’re looking at this Guide, you’re probably thinking about being a Bard. I hope you are as the Lands can always use good Bards. Also, remember that GSIII isn’t a solo game; it’s designed with groups in mind. The classes though, are:
Empath-
These are the guys that heal you. Trust me, these guys are your best friends, and if they aren’t…well, enough said. Empaths are pretty cool on a general basis, sometimes you’ll find some that became Empaths to try to powerlevel or the like, but they usually can’t stand sitting around TSC all day healing the poor, broken folks that come to them. Not that Empaths have to be healers, they can be fighters as well, but they are the only class in the lands that have that particular skill and, frankly, usually make better healers than fighters. I mean, what other class always has second thoughts when swinging at someone about whether or not they should be doing this? If we didn’t have Empaths we’d all be lugging around forty pounds of herbs to fix all those minor scratches we seem to think are life threatening.
‘path’s are cool, but don’t mistake them for pushovers. If you start bugging them, don’t be surprised to find yourself in a sticky mess, one, Empaths that don’t like you tend to stick together and could refuse to heal you, making those herbs a necessity, and two, Empaths have access to both the Minor and Major Spiritual Circles, the same as a cleric, and Web, Bind, and Silence can have you trussed up waiting for the cows to come home in short order. Also, never forget that the Empaths are doing you a favor by healing you, even if they do get experience from it. I know that the experience isn’t that great except for major wounds and that they have to sit around all day in a busy spot to get enough people to heal to make it worthwhile. Most of them don’t mind that though, they’re a close bunch and tend to be pretty chatty.
Never forget to tip these guys, at least with a hug or smile, make their day brighter and they’ll be there when you need them to patch up your rotting corpse or 20/round neck bleeder.
Sorcerer-
Okay…sorcs…well, some of my best friends RL are sorcs, but to tell you the truth, Lesorel cannot stand these guys on a general basis. Not because their bad guys, but because the kind of people who choose Sorcerer as a class tend to be powerhungry, malevolent, enchanted with destroying things and other people, and just a tad bit obsessive.
These guys have a Sorcerer Circle of spells and the Minor Elemental and Spiritual Circles. This gives them a wide variety to choose from, but they're mostly a class intent on damaging everything around them. Watch out for them as they can be nasty and tend to roleplay it that way.
Also, a Bard’s spiritual and sorcerer magical defenses (TD) are the lowest ones you have. You do have songs (1006) to boost it, and some spells from Minor Elemental, but watch it anyway.
Ahh, now these guys are cool. These are the Elementalists, they work with fire, water, air, and earth to create their magics. They typically use bolt spells to attack (A shield is a necessary defense against bolt attacks) and have a ton of damaging attack spells.
These guys can also call familiars and enchant items; they're really useful when you need something recharged as well. Unfortunately, Wizards tend to be weak physically, a drawback from my point of view; as they have to be in offensive stance or close to it for their bolt spells to work the best. They’re good guys to round out a group though and they get a ton of defensive spells to boost their defense, and yours. They share the minor Elemental with Bards, although they’d probably say it was the other way around and it might even be true, and they have as well the Major elemental and Wizard Circles.
Warrior-
These, well, I don’t really need to explain these guys. Give ‘em something to hit and they’re happy. These guys can take a truly stunning amount of damage at later trainings, especially once their skin begins to harden as they get defense reduction (DFRedux.) Basically, they are the masters of the weapons and can wear the most armor the most easily. Still don’t expect to see one able to wear full plate correctly before they’ve made Legend though. Also, I tend to find this class a little boring, all hack and slash and no mysticism. They do have a nice Guild and some good tricks though. Warriors can train in both Minor Circles, although it takes a truly horrifying number of training points and lowers their DFRedux.
Rogue-
Ahh, our friends the lockpickers and thieves. Well, these guys can probably pick your locked box for you; just watch your pockets at the same time. They’re also good swingers and ambushers, watch out for your legs and head if you ever duel one. They’re good to have in a group, rounding it out and providing hard hits, basically pseudo-warriors with some different skills. Rogues can also train both the Minor spell circles and it takes less than it does for warriors. I’ve seen a good many Rogues that have gone that route.
Cleric-
Ahh, I love these guys! These are the ones that’ll take your stinking, rotting, everloving carcass and tell it to get its arse back on its feet. That is, these guys’ll resurrect you from the dead with the aid of their God. These guys have a ton of cool spells for defense and aid, but they’re weak by themselves to balance it out. They make an awesome group member though. With the Cleric circle and both Spirit circles they make a powerful addition and great friends.
Ranger-
::laughs so hard that he gasps for breath:: Eh, heh…oh yeah, these guys…::snickers:: Okay, my bro in RL is a Ranger, and I guess these guys can be fun, just watch out for the jokes. :P Rangers are basically swingers with some forest/nature magic, like tangling vines and camo. They also get the minor spirit circle to boost the class a bit. They make good archers and can be fun to roleplay, too.
And Lastly…
Bards!
Yeah Baby, yeah! ::grins:: Okay, finally, the guys that rock! In general Bards are well-rounded swingers and casters with the Bardic and Minor Elemental spell circles and a good right hook. With these spells and their natural gifts Bards make one hell of a hard to hit guy. Bards have, potentially, the highest personal Defense(DS) in the Lands. Also, with our not too shabby sword arm we’re pretty good at critter discipline too. Toss in Bard Songs and you have a great guy to have in your group. Not only can you boost the group, but you can keep them entertained by singing songs about the guys you’re fighting and other inspiring things. I mean, come on, who doesn’t want to hear about last night’s drinking binge and how when you woke up in the morning you were sleeping on top of a pile of stunned dwarves at Helga’s, an instrument in one hand and an arrest warrant shoved in the other? Maybe this is a good time to point out all those Spellsongs that’ll make your life a lot easier.
There are eight different races that you can play.
Human- Basic, no bonuses, no detriments really.
Halfling- High dex, which makes good wizards or archers, but physically weak.
Elf- High reflexes and Charisma, decent strength, negative on discipline. Elves are my favorite characters.
Dark Elf- Make good sorcerers or Rogues. The highest warrior in the Lands also happens to be one.
Sylvan- Wood Elves, good guys. Nimble and make good rogues and rangers.
Half-elf-Balanced between Human and Elven.
Giantman- Big, strong, burly. J Good bashers.
Dwarf- Strong, tough, and short.
You can use pretty much any race for anything, especially for roleplaying purpose, but remember that it works best to accent your class with a race that works with it. A halfling warrior isn’t going to be the greatest warrior in the lands, obviously, but he could be a ton of fun to roleplay. Remember that in whatever you do, have fun! J
Alright, the Bard circle consists of spellsongs 1001-1050. However, like most circles, the higher spellsongs take longer to learn, so there’s a gap you have to train through after your 20th song. If you keep training, you’ll get your next songs at 25, 30, and 50 trainings in the Bard Circle. All of the circles are like this, it gives people something to do later. J Here’s a list of the spellsongs and what they do. Remember that to use a song the command is Sing, or sing <target> i.e. sing goblin, to sing at a goblin. Simply using sing will default the target to you.
Songs initial mana costs are the same as their level, renewing songs is a bit different and every song tends to be different, at least after the first few. Songs renew at a maximum of six minutes per cycle. That is, 360 seconds. The renewal time depends on the singer’s age(Level). It’s something like 120 seconds plus 5x the singer’s level for a max of 360.
1001- Song of Holding. Lowers target DS by 10%. Really nice at higher levels, but fun all around. Works against a Bard Circle TD. That is, your strength in singing has to be stronger than the target’s defense for it to work. This song will renew as long as the creature is in the room with you and still alive until you cancel it. It costs 1 mana to renew.
1002- Vibration Chant.
This one is fun, you work with sonics to knock something (usually a
weapon or shield) out of a creature’s hand.
Get lucky and it might even blow up, damaging the creature and making a
nice show. Works against a Bard Circle
TD.
1003- Song of Fortitude. +10 to your DS. 2 mana to renew.
1004-Song of Purification. People love this one, you might hate it for all the requests you’ll get to sing it.. The song improves the quality (price) of a gem by 10% when performed by you. When invoked off a scroll by a non-Bard it improves the gem by 2%. This song also has a chance of making a gem embeddable(It can then hold a spell) or of making the gem rechargeable as well as embeddable. This is very rare and has never happened to me in six years.
1005-Lullabye. Age based…well, lullabye. It generally puts a critter (or player) to sleep, how well depends on your age compared to the targets. If something falls asleep it lies down and it’s defense is greatly reduced. (-50, and the creature usually parries down, that is, drops into a more offensive stance.) I use this as a great roleplaying tool, put the bratty kid that’s bothering you to sleep. Maybe he can learn manners in his dreams. You don’t want to hurt anyone though, so make sure it’s in a safe place.
1006-Song of Protection. +15 TD(Magic defense) to everyone in your group.
1007-Kai’s Triumph Song. +10 AS(Attack Strength) to everyone in your group. Cannot be used in conjunction with Song of Eonak.
1008-Mass Holding Song. 1001 to the entire room not in your group. Don’t do it in town, people hate it, it can be useful in the wilds if you have the mana though.
1009-Sonic Shield Song. Creates a magical shield out of air and harmonics. It’s a base of +10 and a max of +50 with the value set at 10 + (# of songs known divided by 2.) Usage is sing <shield type> i.e. “sing kite” to get a kite shield.
1010-Song of Valor. Awesome song. +25 to your physical DS and Elemental/Bolt DS. Gets a higher bonus after you master more than 25 songs. +1 per song over 1025, max of +50.
1011-Song of Peace. Sanctifies the room you are in and will move with you through rooms if you travel slowly. Great for taking a break or rescuing deaders. Sancting means that no one in the room can attack or cast an offensive spell. It’s a major Spirit spell and you’ll thank it more than once. It’s age based though, so watch using it in an area where the creatures are much older than you, it might not work.
1012-Sonic Blade Song. Creates a weapon to match your shield. Base of +10, plus the number of songs you know divided by 2. Max of +50. Usage is sing <blade type>. i.e. “sing falchion” to get a falchion.
1013-Song of Unravelling. Steals mana and charges from an item or creature with a spell prepared to cast. Can also work as a dispelling song. Not really worth it to get mana from something, but it can come in handy at other times. TD to bard circle on target creatures; age based for items.
1014-Sonic Armor Song. Rounds off your suit of magical equipment. Base of +15 and (songs known divided by 2.) Usage is sing <#> Number is the AgS of the armor you want. AgS is Armor advantage. The higher the AgS the stronger the armor. The stronger the armor the more you’ll need to be able to use heavy armor to be able to sing through it.
1015-Song of Depression. Depresses the creatures or players in the room around you not joined to you in a group. This causes them to lower their TD by 20, making them easier to hit with spells and increases their RT. Bard Circle TD.
1016-Song of Rage. Causes a creature to berserk. To go to full offensive and attack the singer. Useful if they are turtling (hiding in a defensive stance) or you want to draw attention to yourself. They might run off if there is no hope of hitting you.
1017-Song of Noise. Causes nasty harmonics all over the room, you included, so that no one can cast any spells or sing any songs. Often interrupts other songs that you may be singing. Age based, so the older you are the better it’ll work.
1018-Song of Power. Creates a mana node in the room with you for everyone in your group. Adds to nodes already there, but is age based so it might blow up in your face if you don’t know what you’re doing.
1019-Eonak’s Song of Glory. +20 to group AS and adds +1 to blood regen every round for the group.
1020-Traveller’s Song. Takes you and your group to the nearest Inn or the one you last visited on a successful attempt. Bad attempts can drain all your mana, give your headaches, or take you to the wrong place, etc. Age based, the older you are the better it works. By thirty it’ll be fairly accurate and if you are playing an instrument you get a tremendous bonus towards a favorable attempt.
1025-Singing Sword Song. Creates a sword that follows you around and attacks what you attack. Sort of like a familiar and it attacks with your AS. You can attack at the same time as well. It has a roundtime (RT) of five (that’s the usual) and you can direct it about like a familiar.
1030- Song of Sonic Disruption. Sonic disruption to the body of every creature in the room except the Bard’s group. Bard Circle TD.
1035-Song of Mirrors. +75 to your physical defense. Makes you really hard to hit.
1050-Song of Mana Streaming. Not implemented yet, but is suppose to take you and your group to the nearest node, or from node to node.
As for how to train a Bard, I leave that up to you, but hear are some ideas. Remember that a Bard gets bonuses in Aura and Logic and that Aura is your mana and spirit points.(Spirit points can be drained by some undead and they are your…physical and mental energy so to speak, the lower they are the worse state you’re in and when they all disappear, you do too. Instant decay and exp loss, called a spirit death. Clerics use these to rezz you from the dead as well.) If you have above a 95 or so after the bonus in Aura, you’ll receive about 3 mana every training, cumulative. The lower the number, the less mana. And yeah, you need a LOT of mana. J You also need Aura for Mental training Points. Okay, there are ten subsets to put your numbers into.
With the new system you have 420 points to divvy up, with a base of 20 already being set for every subset; 620 points in all; 640 with the class bonuses. 4 of them can be over 70 or something and the rest as you like. The stats are, Constitution (CO), Dexterity (Dex), Discipline (Dis), Intelligence (Int), Logic (Log), Strength (Str), Reflexes (Ref), Charisma (Chr), Wisdom (Wis), and Aura (Aur). The higher the value for a number the higher the bonus you’ll get for it. And the bonus is what matters. As a swinger you’re going to need Str, so there’s one 90+. You’ll also need a high Aura, but remember it’s going to get a +10, so put an 80-85 in it. Logic is how fast you absorb exp, and it matters for other Bard stuff too, put at least a 50 in it, with the +10 that’s a good 60. Int is how much exp your mind can hold before it gets fried (full.) Put at least 50 in it and it should be close to your Log stat. Dis should be one of your other 70+ as it matters in how many training points you get.
Training points are PT or MT, Physical training or Mental training. The more stats in physical areas, the higher the number of points you get in PT; the same for Mental.
So for your 70+ you need to have Aura, Str, Disc, and the last is up to you. Reflex adds to your defense bonus, but only 10 or 15 points at max. Charisma is what you need to be a good loresinger, and Co will add to your health and PT. In my opinion, go with Charisma. You’re a Bard! You need to Loresing!. J Besides, it’s fun and useful and people are always asking for it. They also tip usually. J
Okay then. Your top four should be Aura, Disc, Str, and Charisma. After that, stick things wherever you like, but remember Wis isn’t going to do you much good except in MT, the same for Dex, although in PT. Those are always my two lowest stats. Also remember that with most trainings, your base stats are going to increase. They should be set to max around the time you make Legend. That may seem like a long time, but trust me it’s worth it. And you’re probably going to spend a great deal of time with your character, you want him or her to be perfect, right? J
Okay, now…you’ve probably been wondering, “What the hell is this idiot blathering about…Loresinging? What the *&% is that?!” Yeah, that’s cool, because now I’m going to explain it. :P
Okay, basically Loresinging is all about learning what an item is and what it can do. It’s age based so the older you are the more you’ll learn from the item. And yes, Rhyme and Rhythm does matter. :P Crappy songs get you crap in answer. Charisma matters too, the higher it is, the more the item is going to “like” you and the more it’ll want to tell you. Loresinging is activated by holding the item you wish to learn about in your right hand. The command is Loresing <song>. Separate the lines with a semicolon. The usage verb of the item (i.e. silver plated dagger is going to be dagger) has to be in the first line of the song and what you want to know has to be in the last. The longer a song is the more it’s going to tell you and the more mana it’ll cost and the time it takes to sing it will increase. Usually though, a couplet is good enough to get you an answer.
You’re going to need to sing about four songs to an item to get it to tell you all about itself. Many key words will work and I leave it to you to find and decide which you will use. Keep it simple and direct and if you really need help, find me in the the Lands and I'll be happy to down a few ales and tell you all about it. You can experiment with others as you like. Also, song order matters, so mess around with it until you figure it out and don't get discouraged. If you don’t keep the order straight you can twist the progression up and the item will stop answering. As you get older there will be more leeway, but when you’re young you really need to behave. J Here’s an example of a couplet. Loresing Dagger that I see as flame;Tell me the properties of thy name.
You’ll see.
Lesorel sings:
Dagger that I see as flame
Tell me the "keyword" of thy name.
This will give you some info about the item. The info has to be there for you to learn about it. Also, the loresinger is the only one who sees the info, so you’ll need to tell the person whose item you’re singing to all about it.
This’ll work for any item, including lockpicks and gems, even your instrument. Singing to a lockpick or instrument will give you the item’s quality. The best lockpicks are superb quality, most are lower. When you are old enough the superb quality will be broken down into a couple other categories, but those picks are very rare. A master quality instrument also only comes from god auctions or raffles and they are extremely rare. I pray to Ronan that I receive one some day, but until then, my flute will stand me in good stead.
As for gems, you’ll be so sick of these things that you’ll never want to see a sack of them again unless you’re about to sell them. People always want Bards to loresing to gems to find out if the blasted things are rechargeable or orbable. For most gems this’ll just tell you that, yeah…it’s a gem. But on some gems, the stone will resonate with your voice. These are the so called “Orb gems.” Wizards can use these in the recharging process. The more expensive the gem, the better. Mostly, it’s not worth bothering unless the gem is 5k or up, a ruby or diamond. The more expensive it is, the longer the spell will last. Tons of pearls and star rubies and things come up as orbs, and people will want to know; but basically, the things are useless except for selling. On a few, very rare stones, the gem will “pulsate” in tune with your song and will give you a message about magic. These are the very rare rechargeables. I’ve sung to only one of these, a diamond, and the thing was pickpocketed out of the guy’s boot as soon as he left the table we were at. It’s a pity that it was probably sold to a gemshop.
Lastly, when you’re loresinging…Remember that you’re a Bard! Make it original, make it funny, and make it nice to listen to! People will like you all the better for it and trust me, hearing the same two lines fifty times in a row is going to drive someone with the patience of a saint up the wall and make them want to toss you in a room with a few Vvrael.
There are many different types of instruments, but they all fall into some basic categories. Woodwinds, necked stringed, percussion…etc. Every town has a music shop that sells basic instruments and you can find other, better looking ones from other players or from merchants. Most instruments are of average quality, but there are a few that are Master quality. You cannot see this until you are a Master at that instrument and every master instrument has a special technique that only it can do and only in the hands of a master player. Also only Bards can master instruments; that’s twenty ranks or “feelings of accomplishment.” Anyone can get up to 14 ranks, the highest apprentice value. Journeyman is 14-19 ranks, and Master is 20. Each rank gives a new ‘chord’ for your playing. You can also only learn an instrument when there is some exp to be absorbed in your mind.
Write songs, sing songs, live songs. You’re a Bard! Chronicle the history of the Lands with your music. Hold the friends and legends of the Lands forever perfect in music. Let there be instruments playing and music being made, let it cover the lands like a gentle blanket of pure, soothing sound. And entertain! It’s what you do. Never be surprised by or refuse a request for a song, it’s your life, live it! J
Okay, now when you come into the Lands, you’re going to be a youngling. Don’t bother to argue it, you are. J We all were at some point. Now, the best way to handle this is to go talk to Raging Thrak or Talbot Dabbings or the other guys in the inns in the town where you’ve been born. They’ll give you some really good advice and some experience for listening to them and answering their questions correctly. Also, you’re going to see people with Titles in front of their names. These are first achieved at the 20th training. It’s a good idea to be polite and respectful to these guys, because if they’ve gotten that far they usually know what they’re talking about. They can give you some really good advice and will probably be more than happy to give you a hand if they have the time. Older folks have a few different titles, you’ll figure them out as you go along. J If you’re worried about putting a foot wrong, remember that these guys are people just like you, they’re in the Lands to have fun. Never forget that they’re people, not something run by a computer and you’ll get along fine.
Gamemasters are what we call the Gods in the Lands, they are the employees of Simutronics who help us all out and spend a lot of time and effort in making the Lands a great place to be. Be really nice to these guys, they need it and will be happy to see and speak with you. Remember that they are likely to be busy though and don’t bother them for little things.
Okay, ::pokes:: As mentioned above, we call the GMs Gods because we’re staying In Character and guess what, with the things that they can do, they are. J Don’t confuse the GMs with the Pantheon of Gods in Elanthia. They are separate things and the Pantheon is completely an IC thing. Also, remember to always stay IC in the Lands, it’s a world built on the perceptions of the people within it, don’t disturb that by trying to tell sport jokes. There are a bunch of jokes about IC things, you can find them if you look around. J Like: What do you call a fifty-seater wagon that goes over a cliff with forty-nine Dark Elves on it? A: Waste of a good seat. Or, Why don’t you throw stones at a Dark Elf’s wagon? A: Because it was probably yours in the first place.
The best way to get to know the Lands is to find an older person and talk to them, have them show you around; someone of your class usually. Easy way to get your first level is to run around town and check out all the storekeepers and gate guards, banks and such too. Also, you need to hunt to get experience, although clerics can get it by rezzing and empaths by healing. Sometimes you’ll a little bit of exp for loresinging, but not much. Never forget to use the trash barrels for your junk or the bank for your cash. Umm…don’t buy crap you don’t need, work with an outfit in mind and buy things for that. Always stay IC and roleplay like there’s no tomorrow, you never know, there might not be. J Make friends! GSIII is nothing without them. Also, as a Bard, try to make sure that all of your spellings and grammar are correct. :P Especially in your songs.
*And above all, remember that you are a Bard! Breathe life into the Lands with every breath you take!
Oh yeah, mail me with any questions or additions that you can think of. [email protected]