Blood Throne: Bard in Depth
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Hey everyone, Reecius here again with another in-depth article in the ongoing series. This time we will go over the Bard in depth! We have previously covered the following classes:
Martial Characters:
To read the Fighter in depth article, click here.
To read the Barbarian in depth article, click here.
To read the Ranger in depth article, click here.
To read the Rogue in depth article, click here.
Skill Classes:
To Read the Warlord in depth article, click here.
Arcane Classes:
To read the Dread Mage in depth article, click here.
The Bard!
I’ve been looking forward to covering this class since I began this series. The Bard in Blood Throne is the most “souped-up” version of what you know and love from RPG-style games compared to any other class, in my opinion.
What do I mean by that? Well, in most D&D-style experiences, the Bard does a little bit of everything but is often not particularly good at any of them. They can also end up feeling boring outside of comic relief roleplay, like the classic “flirts with every NPC” trope. A few subclasses can be decent, but in general, they often feel weak.
I wanted the Bard in Blood Throne to be a solid and exciting choice when constructing a party. Since Blood Throne emphasizes combat more than roleplay—hence the Tactical RPG tagline—the Bard needed to be able to pull their weight!
Songs and Shouts: Making the Bard Stand Out
After much consideration, we leaned into the Bard’s singing aspect, which is a staple in RPGs, but we also introduced powerful Shout actions. These function similarly to the shouts in Skyrim—a game I imagine almost everyone reading this is familiar with. This way, the Bard gained unique team-buffing capabilities through Songs (which are exclusive to the Bard in the core box) while also having strong, short-ranged offensive abilities that feel thematically appropriate. Their abilities are close-range but potent, making the Bard both fun to play and effective on the tabletop.
Equipment Restrictions
The flipside to this is that the bard has a number of equipment restrictions and is the first class we have covered so far that has a mandatory Tool for their Main-hand slot. Tools are required for some Skill classes that have a powerful innate ability, like Songs and Shouts for the Bard, or creating and throwing bombs and potions for the Alchemist, to balance them rules wise and also to visually indicate what the model is. The Bard must always have an instrument in their Main-hand which prevents you from taking powerful weapon combinations that would imbalance the class but would also make them feel out of place. For example, a Bard model in chainmail with a sword and board would confuse other players as to what the model was. Plus let’s be real, a Bard without an Instrument would just feel really weird.
To this end, the Bard may only take up to Medium Armor if you want to build a sort of Battle Bard that carries their company’s drums or flute in the front ranks, or you could opt for a more traditional Bard attire of flashy clothing fitting a performer. As stated, they must carry an Instrument in their main-hand which counts as a two-handed weapon, meaning they may only take a Back-up weapon in their Off-hand. This limits what weapons they have access to but as we explain below, you will be using their Songs and Shouts so it won’t matter much. The only real takeaway is that they cannot equip a shield as beyond being a bit silly to be rocking a lute with a shield at the same time, would also be unbalancing from a rules perspective.
The real choice comes down to what type of back-up weapon you want, if any. A simple weapon to Parry with when needed or possibly a ranged weapon such as a flintlock pistol for some additional DPS are the most common options.
Class Ability
The Bard’s Class Ability is Song of Striking. Songs are unique types of Shout Actions exclusive to the Bard. They have several rules changes that make them both unique and very powerful. Most Special Actions in Blood Throne target a single model or will function as a line or AoE, and almost always require line of sight (LoS). The Bard breaks all of these rules! Their Songs are Shout Actions that affect all eligible models in range, and do not require LoS. This essentially makes them massive AoE buffs!
Further, the Bard’s Songs are all Simple Actions, meaning they do not burn one of your two Standard Actions which are used for things like moving, attacking, etc. The Simple Action is a sort half-action that is very restricted in what it can be used for, but increases the action economy of models that take advantage of it. Most Skill Classes make heavy use of the Simple Action mechanic as a part of what makes them special compared to other classes.
In this specific example what that means is the Bard may at any point in its Activation sing the Song of Striking and all allied models within Short Range (roughly a 4 square radius) will receive the buff, even if they are out of LoS! This is meant to represent them hearing the rousing Zenithae infused song even if they cannot see the Bard. This is huge as it means you could potentially affect your entire party with a buff, which is not possible any other way. As the Bard can move before using it, or use it then move, it is extremely flexible as well and allows the Bard to move into the best position before singing.
The buff itself is mild but good for all classes as it is a generic +1 action dice modifier. What this means is you get the bonus for ANY Action. We purposefully built Blood Throne to have almost no in-game +1/-1 dice modifiers to make the mental math easy. This is why we use the Advantage system instead as it happens after you roll, making the cognitive load of playing the game lower. We wanted the game to be very simple when it came time to figure out what to roll to determine the success or failure of an Action. So, the Bard granting this buff is another way in which they are unique as it is one of the only ways in the game to modify the number of dice a model may roll! So an additional die tossed into the dice pool whenever you attempt any Action is just flat out good, and it is good for any other model. It doesn’t rock the world for each individual affected hero but when multiplied over potentially the entire party over the course of the game it makes everyone better at anything they do.
As if that wasn’t enough, at level 4 the Bard can take a Feat to increase this to +2 action modifier dice!
Primary Skill Tree
The Bard’s primary skill tree revolves around their Songs as noted. These are typically AoE buffs but as you will see, they also have one that is an AoE damage Song! There are several Feats that modify all Songs for the Bard so we will touch on them here:
Projected Chant increases the range by +1 square which again as this is an AoE that ignores LoS, each square increases the total square coverage dramatically.
Charismatic Performance lets you increase the range of Songs to Medium (which does stack with Projected Chant) but the Bard becomes Hobbled, halving their movement. This makes the area covered by the Song immense!
Lastly, Virtuoso Chanter allows you to sing two Songs as a single Simple Action, but the Bard Becomes Stunned if they do so. This can be extremely powerful as you could grant your entire party two very good buffs at once, increasing the total party performance notably.
At level 1 they also get access to the Song of Defense. This functions just like the Song of Striking but instead of granting +1 action dice, it grants +1 defensive modifier dice. What this means is that it is always useful no matter what type of attack your model’s are being hit with. Again, not an earth shattering buff but over multiple models and multiple rounds of a game it really decreases the amount of damage your party takes! As with Song of Striking at level 4 you can opt to take a Feat that increases this to +2 defensive modifier dice. So, you can either lean into being more effective on the attack or more stalwart in defense as you prefer.
At level 4 the Bard gets the fantastic Song of Mending. This functions exactly as the other Songs but heals all allied models in range for 2 Raw Dice. While not a massive heal to any one individual model, considering it can potentially impact the entire party means you are getting a lot of mileage out of it! This is a great Class Skill choice generally but especially so if you do not have access to the other healers for a round of play. It makes the Bard a very versatile choice.
At level 8 the Bard gains access to Song of Metal! This Song bucks the trend by being offensive in nature as opposed to defensive. All affected opposing models in range (you make an Action roll against Will which is often the lowest save for most Monsters) take 3 Raw Dice of damage. As a reminder, Raw Dice ignore armor and cannot be blacked or parried, making this a great way to apply solid chip damage to potentially a very large number of monsters or enemy heroes!
Finally the ultimate class skill for the Bard, Magnum Opus! This is a doozy of an ability, it gives all allied models on the table Lucky and Armored status effects. This increases the odds they succeed in any action and increases their armor by 1 meaning they take less damage as well. It is a Ritual Action so it takes up your whole activation but it is very strong when you need the whole squad to go beast mode.
Secondary Skill Tree
The Bard’s secondary skill tree revolves around powerful, short ranged Shouts. These are fun and much like Songs are relatively unique as well. Most offensive powers in Blood Throne default to Medium Range as a rule of thumb, with defensive abilities tending to default to Short Range. The Bard instead increases power and decreases range, which also compliments the range of their Songs. This means the Bard typically wants to get close but not TOO close to the enemy, allowing them to buff allies and blast monsters with powerful shouts without getting tied down in melee. As with Songs, there are a number of Feats that improve all of the shouts as follows.
Bellowing Shout increases their range by +1 square.
Shattering Shout adds +1 Raw Dice of damage (except to Soul Shriveling Wail which will make sense once we get to that).
Reverberating Shout which increases their range to Medium.
Another important mechanic to note here is that both Songs and the Shouts are Shout Actions, meaning you can only do one of each or two of the following shouts. No Action keyword may be used more than twice in an Activation for balance purposes. In practice this means you always have one action for movement, helping to keep the Bard a very mobile class.
At level 1 the Bard gets Ocean’s Roar. It is a short ranged Shout that targets Fortitude, and if successful deals 3 Raw Dice of damage which is quite a bit and ignores defenses, it also pushes the target 2 movement points away. This ability is incredibly useful, not only for the damage that it deals but because it moves the target. As stated in previous articles, anything that moves another model is incredibly good. You can move a monster out of combat with an allied model or into combat. You can push them off a building to take fall damage, or behind a wall to no longer have LoS. The applications for this are massive and in testing this was a bread and butter card for Bards.
At level 2 the Bard may select Banshee’s Shriek, which much like Ocean’s Roar is a short ranged Shout that deals 3 Raw Dice of damage but also Dazzles the target. The Dazzled status effect halves the target model’s Evasion, making them dramatically easier to hit for other models. As this ability targets Will which is typically what melee models are weakest against, it has a high probability of going off. Your melee heroes can then wail on the target with abandon instead of worrying about missing.
Finally at level 6 you get Soul Shriveling Wail. This shout gives the Bard access to an important but limited ability to halve the HP of the target. We include these in the game on a very limited basis because obviously they are very strong, but they are important not only to overcome very high HP monsters but to check HP hero builds. If you want you can build heroes with insanely high HP which as they level up can become extremely difficult to kill just due to the fact you run out of time before they run out of HP. Abilities like these, similar to Dazzled above to counter Evasion max builds, are important for game balance. However, because this ability is so strong it is Once Per Game to prevent spamming it out. All of that said, this is a doozy of an ability. When you find yourself facing a really tanky enemy model. You blast them with this and all of a sudden they become vastly easier to deal with.
Tertiary Skill Tree
As a final touch on the Bard’s impressive skill set they get luck manipulation as a tertiary area of expertise. This is another restricted skill set in Blood Throne as obviously in a game that uses dice, you don’t want too many ways to manipulate them or it becomes unfair quite quickly. The Bard gets a signature Bard ability: Bardic Luck.
Bardic Luck becomes available to select at level 1 and is quite simple but extremely good. After any model in Medium Range declares an Action but before they roll, the Bard can give them +1 Advantage or if it is an opponent, take away one Advantage. Advantage as a quick reminder lets you change the result of an Action Roll after you roll. It is very powerful as it potentially lets you make a miss a hit or a hit into a critical hit. By adding or subtracting these you have a big impact on the probability of an Action’s success or failure. As this is a Reactive Action as well, meaning it doesn’t eat up any of the Bard’s actions, it is just icing on the cake. This is a card that very frequently finds its way into the Bard’s Special Action deck!
Feats
As stated, all of the Bard’s feats revolve around enhancing either their Songs or Shouts. You can go all in on one or the other to be a master of whichever skill set you prefer, or spread them around to make a more well rounded Bard.
As a quick reminder, all classes have access to the same General Feats at odd levels, and each class has unique Class Feats at even levels. Feats are permanent choices and you can only take one of the choices (apart from level 1 in which case you get 2).
At level 2 you can select between increasing the range of either Songs or Shouts by +1 square and this honestly just comes down to which you prefer as both are very good and their application is quite obvious.
At level 4 you can either buff the Song of Defense or Striking to double the bonus. Both of these are very strong and as with the above it just comes down to which you prefer.
At level 6 you can take one of two very powerful Feats. You can do more damage with Shattering Shout, making Ocean’s Roar and Banshee’s Wail up to a hefty 4 Raw Damage each or have the ability to increase your Songs to a whopping Medium Range in exchange for half movement on the Bard. Both are great, in practice most players took the damage upgrade but be mindful of the fact that as a Song affects models in a radius not requiring LoS, at that range a Song could hit most of the table!
Finally at level 8 you get the choice between being able to sing two Songs at once in exchange for the Bard losing an Action or increasing Shouts to Medium Range which doubles Short Range (going to roughly 8 squares). Two Songs at once can be crazy particularly with both the offense and defense buff for heroes or simultaneously healing allies and hurting enemies. If you take this with Charismatic Performance at level 6 you impact nearly the whole board! It is really strong. On the flip side, being able to hit monsters at Medium Range (possibly with +1 square if you took Bellowing Shout) for 4 Raw Dice of damage is savage as well. It just comes down to how you want your Bard to function: more offensively or as a support hero.
Playing Song of the Phoenix
Song of the Phoenix was a very fun hero to design. He is a melancholy Bard consumed with sadness over the loss of the Overgoddess, Zenith. He battles a sense of hopelessness and often finds himself in a tavern drowning his sorrows. As a Zri’San, the mortal children of Zenith, he shares her blood and as such feels her loss more keenly than others. His faction, the Celestial Order, once preeminent in Cheol, known for their benevolence and wise leadership, have been decimated. Their Deh’Va and their Val’Tari are dead, lost in the Throne Wars. Phoenix, as he is known by his friends, does not even know why he has come to the siege of the Tower of Sacrifice. He tells himself it is just so he can play his lyre while the world burns in this final act, but perhaps deep down he holds on to some hope that things can improve.
Phoenix is an evasion tank build, which in layperson terms means he is built to not be hit. He has a whopping Evasion of 9 which is very high and means more often than not he will be missed when attacked with normal weapons. His Fortitude is a respectable 4 and his will a 6, so he is very hard to affect with special actions as well.
The downside to all of these awesome stats is that he has no armor and only 14 HP. So, when he does get hit, it hurts. Often he can only soak one hit, and the second will Knock him Out. He has a solid movement of 5 and 3 Class Skills to start (in addition to the Class Ability card, Heritage Card and General Skill Card all heroes automatically get) so he will give you a good variety of abilities, plus his Metaphysics is a very solid 5, meaning his Shouts will rarely miss.
In practice the best way to play Phoenix is to keep him in the middle of as many heroes as possible. Behind a tanky hero like Ajax or Kijo is often where he wants to be. His AoE buffs make everyone around him (including himself!) better. Song of Striking means he is effectively Metaphysics 6, and Song of Defense makes him Evasion 10 which is wildly high! As Monsters tend to be scripted to target the nearest enemy hero with the lowest relevant defensive stat, he often will not get targeted so long as you don’t get him in the front rank. Likewise in PvP, players will choose not to waste an Action on a hero with such high defensive stats unless they can stack advantage by flanking or dog-piling him.
Use Phoenix’ ability to push enemy models away from vulnerable allies or halve the HP or Evasion of key enemies to allow your other heroes to take them out with ease. Later in the game, you can burst heal allies every turn as well, keeping your party in the fight longer. He loves buffs like the Priest's Protection of Faith for an additional +2 Evasion, or Beast Hide from the Shaman which as a Barrier effect, absorbs all damage once and then breaks, meaning if he does get hit he can ignore one of them which makes him even less appealing to attack.
When playing against Phoenix, you want to try and overcome his high defenses if at all possible. The best way to do this is with status effects like Dazzled which drops his Evasion to a more manageable number, or with heroes that can Dual Wield, increasing the odds that one of the attacks connects. As he really cannot take much damage, it only takes a few rounds of combat to squash him. The flipside to this though is that with Constitution 2, he will gain +3 HP every odd level so later in the game he actually gets pretty beefy! In that case you want to contain him with spells that hold him place, making his shorter range a liability.
As a Zri’San his heritage ability is Creator’s Blessing. This allows him to once per game heal himself as a Free Action. Obviously a great ability for any class!
All heroes get 1 General Skill card for free in their deck, and one I find to be very effective for Phoenix is Spirited Offense. Once per game, after a successful Action Roll you can increase the damage of an action by +1 Raw Dice. This pairs very well with his Shouts making their already solid damage output even more deadly.
In a pinch, you can pair Phoenix with another hero that deals Raw Dice damage such as Jib Job the alchemist and they can chip away at monsters or heroes that have very high armor. It takes a few turns but as Raw Dice ignores damage resistance and shields or parrying, you can wear down even the toughest opponent as long as you can give them the time they need to plink away!
Thanks for reading, I hope you are as excited to play the Bard as I was to talk about them. Next time around we will cover the mighty Inquisitor, possibly the most powerful hero in the core box.