In a Dungeons & Dragons-style fantasy world full of monsters and magic, the Bard has surprisingly risen from a weak character class into one largely considered overpowered. In the third edition of D&D, the Bard had a reputation for being underpowered. However, Bards in D&D 5th Edition are notoriously versatile "jack of all trades" classes with useful abilities for dungeon exploration, combat, and narrative role-play.
In the Basic D&D beginner play-kits of the 1980s and many modern Old School Revival RPGs, players can generally choose between just four main character classes - Fighter, Wizard/Magic-, Cleric, and Thief/Rogue. Each of these D&D character classes were designed to fulfill certain roles in a classic fantasy adventuring party; Fighter player characters were damage-absorbing "tanks" who could wield any weapon and wear any armor, Wizards were fragile "glass cannons" who could unleash destructive or environment-manipulating magic, Clerics were "healer" holy warriors who could mend and bolster their allies, and Rogues were "skill-monkeys" adept at stealth, lock-picking, and trap detection. From a certain perspective, all the other character classes introduced in later versions of D&D were mechanical hybrids of these four core classes and their gameplay roles...particularly in the case of the Bard.
The Bard edition of D&D released.
Bards In The First and Second Editions of Dungeons & Dragons
According to this D&D history article on Tribality, becoming a Bard was an epic and arduous quest in the 1st edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons; to acquire the Bard prestige class, players had to acquire multiple levels in both the Fighter and Thief first, eventually gaining access to new skills, language fluencies, and Celtic mythology-style druidic spell-casting. When Bards were made a core character class in 2nd Edition D&D, they were designed to be hybrids of Rogues and Wizards who could counter certain hostile magical attacks with a "counter-song" and could level up surprisingly quickly thanks to a quirk in their XP rules.
Bards In The Third And Fourth Editions of Dungeons & Dragons
The 3rd Edition of Dungeons & Dragons (the basis for the Pathfinder spin-off TTRPG) seems to be where Bards got their reputation for being underpowered (or at least unoptimized). The switch from 2nd to 3rd edition gave the Bard class a new selection of healing and charm spells along with song-based abilities such as "Inspire Courage" or "Song of Freedom." Since most of these abilities were augmented by the Charisma score and the Perform skill, a decently leveled 3rd edition Bard was a force of nature in scenarios of diplomacy or socialization, but not as adept in combat as it was in previous editions such as 2nd Edition.
The Bard's functionality was greatly improved in the 4th edition of D&D. Its abilities and core skills were designed to let it fulfill the role of an "Arcane Leader" in a classic adventuring party during a given session. The selection of spells could heal wounds, bolster allies, and harm foes with elemental damage. Ritual spell-casting and powers like "Song of Rest", meanwhile, gave the 4e Dungeons & Dragons Bard excellent utility between combat encounters.
Bards As Of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition
The modern Bard of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition arguably brings together the best concepts from previous editions of the game. From the original version of Dungeons & Dragons, it took the "jack of all trades" and "magical musician" design premise, while 5th edition D&D Bard subclasses like the "College of Lore" or "College of Valor" owe much to the "Kits" of D&D 2nd edition. The 3rd Edition Bard's emphasis on the Charisma attribute informed many of the 5e Bard’s core features, and its current arsenal of enchantment, healing, and damage spells owes a lot to the powers of the 4e Bard. The Inspiration Dice of D&D 5e Bards acts as a mechanical template for many of the "bolstering song" abilities of Bards in previous editions, while the high-level "Magical Secrets" Feature lets Bards acquire spells from other character classes in potentially game-breaking ways.
The Platonic Ideal Of A Dungeons & Dragons Bard
Future Witcher books and video games, etc.
Mechanically, Bards should also continue to be "Jack Of All Trades" characters – able to fulfill a wide range of roles within a D&D adventuring party without outshining more specialized character classes. They should be able to cast arcane spells nearly as powerful as a Wizard's, heal not quite as well as a Cleric, and perform feats of skill and precision that almost match the grace of a Rogue. For all the flashiness and self-aggrandizement associated with the stereotypical Dungeons & Dragons Bard, players who choose the Bard character class should both mechanically and narratively be encouraged to inspire, promote, and the other PCs in their adventuring party. The traditional duty of the historic Bard, after all, was to sing about and spread legends of worthy heroes and the feats they performed.
Source: Tribality
