Being a Bard 
Thaerin Plainsinger 
So you want to play a bard? Warning: I think the greatest thing about playing a bard is the opportunity to roleplay a singer, storyteller, dramatist or clown. If you're chosing the profession of bard only because you want to be a fighter with spells, this file may not be for you. Everything in this file has an implicit "in my opinion" in front of it. Take it as advice, not gospel! 
Thaerin Plainsinger 
All right, let's get started with the basics. I'm assuming you've read the manual. (If you haven't, go do it!) 
The Character Manager 
So it's not the simplest system in the world! Relax and take a deep breath and let's see if I can give some tips on what's most important. 
Stats 
The most important stats for a bard are, in order: Strength, Aura, Discipline and Charisma. 
Strength: Put your highest roll in this. A bard, although she'll have many songspells, relies on her sword (or halberd, or mace) to get her through the dangers of Elthania. If you place a low roll here, you'll have a hard time hitting a rat, never mind t he deadly creatures that await you later in life. 
Aura: This is the stat that controls how much mana, or magical energy, you have. Put a high 80 or low 90 on it. Since you get an automatic +10, don't waste a high 90 - it can't get better than 100. Since stats rise slowly with age and you don't need tons of mana until you've got the spells to spend it on, don't panic if you end up wi th less than 100. Try not to chose a race that's got a penalty in aura development (I'm not even sure there is one.) 
Discipline: This stat actually has very little to do with a bard (ask anyone!) but it controls development points in both the physical and mental realms. A higher number here means that you can afford to train in more skills. 
Charisma: Since you're a performer, your natural magnetism affects your performance - in other words, it factors into how effective your spellsongs and lore singing is. 
That leaves dexterity & reflex, intelligence & logic, wisdom and constitution. If you want to be quick (and harder to hit) concentrate on the first two. If you want to absorb what you learn faster and more efficently, work with the second pair. I've yet t o meet a wise bard, and constitution, although important, can be a mid-level number. 
If you plan to use polearms or a weapon type other than one-handed edged, make sure you have a decent score in reflex, otherwise it will take a very long time to swing. 
All right. You've run through all the numbers and gotten a good set - my definition of that is at least one 90, one 80 and two or three over 60, but you'll find some folks who think that's ridiculously low - and put 'em in place. What do you do now, and h ow long will it take to get to the good stuff? 
Well, you train. Actually, you select a race first. I wouldn't recommend a halfling bard (awfully weak, if very cute) but I don't think any race is truly unworkable. Choose what you want. Okay, okay, put down your calculators. Giantkin, half-elves and elv es will do best. Now, you train. 
Skills & Spells 
A bard is a "semi-circle" - someone skilled at both arms and magic. As such, she has a wide choice of training. 
Combat skills 
Long section coming up. Skip to the end of each section for a short summary of recommended skills. 
Your Weapon 
The cheapest weapon skills for a bard are edged and polearms. Edged is the easiest and most common choice for all classes and allows you to use swords, daggers and funky things with pointy ends. Since a bard has to spend some time (development points) on magic and "utility skills" it's not usually possible to learn more than one weapon class at a time. Edged weapons are cheap and easy to use and have the added benefit of allowing you to use a shield. They require that you engage the opponent at melee ran ge. Polearms do slightly more damage, but most of them require that you have both hands free (no shield, in other words.) However, when the Engagement System comes in, you'll be able to attack from the front (not melee) rank, a slightly safer position. I f you train in polearms, the extra points add up, meaning you'll have to sacrifice some of the other skills. Always, ALWAYS train twice in your weapon of choice. That's your main offensive skill. While sitting around Town Square singing silly songs about the cleric who married a rolton to a wolverine is more fun than fighting, it's a fact that faced with rabid sheep, angry rats and ugly looking kobolds. Be prepared, and be as good as you can. That means double-training. 
Your Combat Abilities 
Combat Maneuvering - a lovely skill that helps you swing a blade (or shoot a bow, or so on) and also helps you keep your head - and feet - when a cloud of gas is hovering around you or a creature decides to knock you on your assets. Do not neglect this sk ill. If possible, train in it every single time. 
Armor - this one's your decision. You can train a little bit (4 or 8 times) and wear relatively light armor, or you can continue training throughout your life and be able to handle sturdier protection. If you don't train in it and you wear anything heavie r than light leather, it will take longer to swing your weapon. 
Recommended: single training. 
Note on armor: Bards should not wear helms or other headgear, since it's awfully hard to sing effectively when your mouth is stuck inside a tin pail. In other words, it makes it much more likely that your spellsongs will fail. 
Shield Use - this is NOT required to use a shield. Any shield will provide +20 to defense (and magical shields more!) However, training in shield use will increase the benefit of a shield. If you're an edged user, it's highly recommended. Not bad for thos e polearm users who find a weapon that can be wielded one handed, either. 
Recommended: Single train whenever possible if you use a shield. 
Multi-Opponent Combat - this is very expensive for a bard. You might want to consider putting it off until you're older. If you're set on being a warrior-bard at the cost of spells, by all means, go ahead. 
Recommendation: Wait on it. 
Physical Training - this increases hit points. Don't forget about it. When you're a little older and you're short on points, it's safe to skip every so often. 
Recommended: single train only, until you've reached the maximum. 
Ambush - this allows you to leap out from hiding and attack. You'll need to train in it and in stalk and hide for many years before it's effective, but it can provide a certain edge. If that's your style, do it. If not, skip it. 
Summary: Double train in edged or polearms (or ranged). 
Single train in: armor, combat manuevers, shield (if applicable) and physical training. 
Magic Skills 
Spells: You want these. It may not be possible for you to start with a spell every level. If this is true, "save" the mental points and spread them out over the next several levels so that you get 4 spells every 5 levels, instead of spending them on all t he other magic skills and settling for one every 2. If you were patient with numbers, you can do a spell a level. 
Bardic spells are wonderfully neat, Minor Elemental spells are very useful. If in doubt, train in Bardic one level, Minor Elemental the next, and so on. More on this later. Spells make you harder to hit, strengthen your swing, slow down that ravenous shee p (don't laugh, roltons are tougher than they look!) and do many other useful things. Besides, they're neat. Get them and enjoy them. 
Mana Share: Wait on this a few levels. It's a very handy thing to have, since it allows you to share power with other people. ("Quick! Start singing Cay's Song!" "But I don't have enough mana!" ::zap:: "Oh. Now I do.") It's also fairly expensive. Save th ose extra mental points and pick up a rank every few levels, unless you're a truly selfish type. 
Magic Item Use & Spell Aim: Don't bother. Okay, bother if you really want to. But most wands either contain sorcerer spells, and require knowledge of MORE sorcerer spells to cast well, or mage spells, which require spell aim to be of any use. Since you ca n only single train in spell aim (a mage's equivalent to your edged training) you'll never really be any good at it and it's not cheap. If you do decide to do it, for style, remember that the magic item skill "tops out" at around 130. I think it's 130, ch eck the manual. Same deal with scroll reading. 
Scroll use: This is not-too-expensive and kind of neat. I don't have it, since I use the more expensive polearm skill, but it's a nice option. Enough scroll skill lets you read (surprise!) scrolls and cast spells outside of your own list. You don't need t o train every level, as it will "top out" like the Magic Item Use skill does. Once you can read every scroll in the land without a chance of failure, there's just no getting better. 
Summary: Single train in spells. All others are a matter of taste. 
Utility Skills 
Climbing one level and swimming the next. There are lots of places in Elthania that are difficult to impossible to reach without at least some skill in each. (The Moat in the Dark Castle, the wall in Gremlins, the lovely shrine by the crystal shore, anywh ere in Ruined Lands, etc.) Although it doesn't come into play very much until you're older, start early. 
Recommended: One or the other, every level. Don't panic if you have to skip a level. You'll want to have trained around 10-15 times in climbing and 10 in swimming by around 30th level. 
First Aid: This is another handy skill. I train in it about every other level, which is less than some and more than others. It allows you to bandage up bleeding wounds and also to skin those valuable pelts for later sale to the Furrier. You can, however, skip it entirely. Up to you. 
Recommended: Train occasionally, until you have enough to stop that leaking head wound. 
Perception: Don't leave home without it. In fact, you often can't GET home without it. Perception helps you find hidden trapdoors, openings, and creatures. It also protects you from pickpockets. I can't always afford to train in it, but I give it my best shot. 
Recommendation: Try to single train every level. 
Lockpicking & disarming: Up to you. You'll never be as good as a professional, but it can be handy. I rely on the Unlock spell and some disarming training (Disarming isn't very reliable and it doesn't work on some traps), but I also have a lot more mana t han your average 7th-14th level character, which is the earliest you'll have the Unlock spell. If you want to be able to open chests (an occupation which provides experience and tips) at the expense of first aid or another skill, go ahead. Since you have access to the enchantments on Minor Elemental that up your skill (3rd and 4th MinorE spells), you could be fairly good at it. Otherwise, make friends with a rogue and remember to tip well. 
Recommendation: Up to you. 
Trading: This may be replaced. In the meantime, it gets you discounts at shops and some merchant events. 
Picking Pockets: Er... no comment. But be careful not to get caught, since you won't be very good. 
Summary: Recommended: Climbing, Swimming, First Aid, Perception. Don't try to do 'em all at once, you might strain something. 
Sheesh... finally out of the Character Manager, huh? So now what do you do? You walk around town. No, I'm not kidding. If you explore, using the ADVICE, DIRECTIONS and HELP commands, you should get enough experience to advance to level one and train all o ver again. You can also buy a weapon (the town loans you several hundred silvers to get started - you'll have to pay it back eventually), find important places like the bank, the pawnshop, the gate, the other shops and of course, Helga's Tavern! Try killi ng a rat or two, too. And making friends. How do you kill a rat? Okay, I'll tell you, just this once. Then we'll get back to the neat things about being a bard. Once you're in the game, acquire a weapon over at the weapons shop and maybe a shield at the armorer's. Stick 'em in your backpack, then follow DIRECTIONS to the catacombs. Don't panic if you can't cast your protective spells, that just means you're still level 0. Now, get to the Catacombs and take out that weapon and shield. Make sure the weapo n (a rapier or a broadsword is good if you can afford 'em) is in your right hand and the shield in the left. Type GLANCE to check. Type SWAP if you got them mixed up. Now, type STANCE HELP. It'll list all the choices for stances. Make sure you're at STANC E DEFENSIVE. Search around, find the opening to the rat tunnels and go in. Find a rat. Let the rat bite you while you're fully defensive. Poor thing probably won't even nick you. Immediately go to STANCE OFFENSIVE. ATTACK RAT. Then wait until you're finis hed swinging and type STANCE DEFENSIVE again. Oh - STANC O and STANC D work just as well. Congratulations, you've just "stance danced." You'll do this often when there's a good chance the critter can hit you. Repeat until rat is dead. Okay, back to the ne at things. 
The Neat Things About Being a Bard Are: 
The spells. Go download the Minor Elemental and Bardic list. Read 'em. Bardic has spells that protect you, make you swing harder, protect your friends, even create shields out of thin air. They're also not all in the game yet. Don't panic, they're worth w aiting for. To cast a bard spell, type PREP then, when you see "Your Spell is Ready" SING . Not cast, but sing. Like this...Thaerin suddenly realizes that she's walked into a graveyard full of restless zombies and they're bigger than she is. Oops. Grabbing the hand of her friend Karyl, she suddenly bursts into a song about the triumphs of the god Kai, bolstering both of their spirits and making 'em bigger and meaner. This would look like this: 
Thaerin says, "Oops!" 
> HOLD KARYL [making her part of Thaerin's group] 
> PREP KAISONG (or PREP 1007) [Note. Kaisong may be the wrong name, I use /s] Your spellsong is ready 
> SING 
You begin to sing of Kai's many triumphs, bolstering the spirits of your party. 
Thaerin is in the same graveyard and wants to distract the zombie that's currently trying to get intimate with her. This would look like this: 
The zombie drools at Thaerin, rasping "Fresh meat! I just want the eyes!" 
Thaerin says, "Ugh!" 
> PREP 1001 or PREP HOLDSONG 
Your spellsong is ready 
> SING ZOMBIE 
Lots of numbers which mean "Your base strength in singing it, minus it's defense against such songs, plus the bonus you get for knowing lots of bard songs & your level, plus the roll of a die 100" (Don't look at me like that. If the number after the equal sign is over 100, it worked. Okay?) Let's assume it worked. 
The zombie looks distracted. 
Thaerin says, "Lose a limb, you reeking corpse!" 
>ATTACK ZOMBIE 
Etc., etc., etc. 
Armor can interfere with your spellsongs and with regular spells. If this happens, a little message will pop up saying it happened. Hope it wasn't something vital. Minor Elemental Spells are useful, containing a lot of protective and "utility" spells. Ele mental wave, Unlock and Elemental Warding are all very nice things to have later in life. Estrike looks neat, but it really doesn't work worth a rat's tail. It's a good idea to pick up the first ten ranks or so of the Minor Elemental list, but if you truly want to be the Bard of Bards, you can forego it and go straight up the bardic list. Almost all of these spells ARE implemented. 
To use a Minor Elemental spell, PREP (spell / or name) then CAST (target). Simple! 
Singing To Objects (LoreSinging) This is one of my favorite things about being a bard. Found the SING command yet? It works like this... 
SING Oh, I am a bard short and sweet;and this I will repeat -- and it'll come out like this: 
Thaerin sings, "I am a bard, short and sweet 
and this I will repeat" 
and everyone in Town Square will look at me funny and throw things. 
Recite works this way, for those epic poets among you. However, if you have one object in your hands and you sing to it, something amazing happens. It will resonate to your voice and tell you about itself. Am I going to tell you how to do this? No. Oh, okay. I'll tell you the basics. But one of the neatest puzzles in the game is figuring out how to sing things. Talk to older bards, they'll give you more specific hints. Think of it as a great roleplaying opportunity. I had three of the best teachers in the City, and some of the best nights I spent there were with each of them, helping me puzzle through the complexities of Lore Singing. Hold that object in your hand and address it by name in a song, and in rhyme. Objects like rhymes, especially heroic couplets. The longer the song the better it works - most bards stick to four or five lines. 
For example, Thaerin stands in town square, holding a golden bracelet her boyfriend gave her. She wants to know how much it cost him, but she's not going to be tacky and go to the jeweler's to get it appraised, not her! Instead, she'll ask the bracelet it self. 
Thaerin sings: "Oh gold bracelet I hold in my hand 
what's your price in this land?" 
And the vibrations, amazingly enough, give her a rough estimate. Note that the hand/land rhyme is an OLD joke in Elthania and if I actually ever catch you using it in public, I shall thump you upside the head. Off in private, if you're desperate, it's okay. 
You'll have to sing several verses to a single object to milk all that you can out of it. Don't despair if you can only get a little information at a time - you get much better at singing as you get older, and as you figure out how it works. 
One large hint: you should also include key words, or words of power, in each verse. I gave an example above. (Figure it out!) And the absolute best thing about being a bard... 
Roleplaying. I don't care if you're a serious composer of epics, a silly flirt, a grumpy dwarf with a taste for limericks, or someone who can't sing a note but plays a mean fiddle via the ACT command. The bardic class provides a wonderful opportunity to t ell stories, write songs and just generally have fun. Make the most of it! 
All right, now what? You've explored town, fought a rat, bought your weapons and figured out how to start paying off your debt (go to the Debt Collectors Office in Moot Hall and read the sign.) So now what do you do? You make friends, start a love affair, go out and battle monsters, solve the puzzles and mysteries of the catacombs below the city, make up songs... and no inferiority complexes! One of my most popular songs initally was about something that ONLY happens to a low level adventurer. (I went down the well, looking for a drink of water and found... well, you'll see.) Make a life for yourself, and enjoy it. 
Okay - one last section. Call it nagging, call it common sense, call me the Emily Post of GemStone, but you really do need to know this stuff. 
Don'ts and Dos 
Do Not: "steal kills" - this is hard not to do in the catacombs, with everyone running around, but try your best. If a critter runs or limps into the room you're in, that means it's running from someone and they'll probably come after it. Be polite and let them finish the fight they started. If you walk into a room and someone's already fighting a critter, ask if you can join in. Don't just start swinging. If you do swing by accident (sometimes it's hard to see another person) apologize and leave any pelts or treasure for them. 
Do: Make friends and hunt in groups. Up to 8 people can gain full experience off of a single kill, if each injured it equally. There's really no such thing as "robbing each other of experience" if you're working in a group. 
Do Not: Steal. If it's on the ground in town, it's not up for grabs - this goes especially for chests or things on counters in shops. Pickpocketing, although frowned upon, is all right. Grabbing a chest that someone just spent five minutes getting open is not. Logging off after doing so is so Not that if it's reported that you do so three times, you're out. Do this to the wrong person and you'll be seriously injured, probably repeatedly. 
Do: take a look at the stuff on, behind and under the bench in Town Square. These are left there especially for new adventurers. Help yourself. Also, the stuff left behind when you search a creature is considered treasure. 
Do Not: attack other players. This is a biggie. PvP is frowned upon, and the same "Three strikes and you're out" rule applies. Save it for the orcs - they're nastier and more fun, anyway. Besides, murder is illegal and the fines are huge. 
Do: remember that for those truly passionate about testing their skills against others, there are the Challenge and Gladitoral Games where you can beat each other bloody for fame and silver. I love 'em. (Thaerin waves her "Best of Level" championship ri ng around.) 
Do: make friends, fall in love, make war (against the monsters!), solve mysteries, sing songs, buy a tart and figure out the intricacy of magic. 
Do Not: constantly demand that older spellcasters help you. Asking nicely, once, is usually okay, but accept a "No." It's their time and their mana, and two dozen other folks are bugging the heck out of 'em, too. 
Do: join up (type JOIN ) when a mage or ranger or bard offers "Mass Guard!" or "Group Colors!" in Town Square. These are nifty defensive spells that will help quite a lot. 
Do Not: constantly talk out of character. OOC, as it's known, is stuff that you, the player, know but you, the character, would not. "My AS is 20 and I need 25 to hit a kobold and I'm P.O.'d!" is OOC. "Aye, I don't think I could hit the broad side of a barn if someone held it down for me and painted a circle on the door" is in character (IC) It's also a lot more fun. "Hey, what about those Mets?" is also OOC. 
Do: feel free to speak OOC when you're in private, or when you're whispering. Also feel free to roleplay - create a personality for your character and have fun with it. Maybe you've got a fighter who's afraid of mice, or a dwarf who actually likes takin g baths, or a bard who's a ditzy flirt (sorry, that one's taken.) The GMs often reward amusing, intense or interesting roleplaying with experience awards, gifts that multiply any experience you earn over the next several hours. These are Very Nice. 
Do: have fun! 
Yours, 
Thaerin Plainsinger