DnD 3.5 - Any good homebrew Bard Prestige Classes?

[PangolinPie]

(originally posted in the wrong forum)

Just something I've been curious about...since Bard's don't get nearly enough cool stuff as a lot of other themed builds. If its not Sublime Chord than usually its using just a few levels of Bard to add buffing to another build; there's not much left.

So many of them just kinda lose their "Bardyness" I guess...

So anyone come up with anything interesting? (And yeah I've already seen Sooth's "Disciple of Metal" PRSC already...broken yet beautiful)

[Xaotiq1]

What specific "bardyness" are you trying to hold on to? I do like the Virtuoso in Complete Adventurer (i think) and Heartfire Fanner from Dragon Compendium is always fun.

[PangolinPie]

What specific "bardyness" are you trying to hold on to? I do like the Virtuoso in Complete Adventurer (i think) and Heartfire Fanner from Dragon Compendium is always fun.

Well yeah see thats it right there. Only a few very rare PRSC's ever really complimented the Bard's abilities like Virtuoso or Seeker of the Song but there are so few of them. Most people simply use levels of Bard to buff an existing build or choose leveling options that move away from Bard completely.

I dunno...maybe I really don't know what it is I'm looking for LOL

[Vath_The_Spooky]

Well A PRC at its heart is supposed to make a class better and one or more aspects while giving up advancement on other aspects. YMMV on how this functions across the books but that's the intent. Bards being Jack of all trades Have a lot to advance, but also a lot to lose from focusing. Preexisting PRCS that I can think of work like this:

Seeker of The Song: Advances Bardic Music, Gimps Spellcasting.
Sublime Chord: Advanced Casting, Gimps Bardic Music and Skills.
Virtuoso: Advances Skills and Bardic Music, Gimps Bardic Music and Casting.

Then there are these ones I don't know that well:

Dirgesinger
Warchanter
Dawncaller
Fochuclan Lyrist
Dragonsong Lyrist
Lyric Thaumaturge

So their are actually lots of options. Now if you've looked at all those and none of them offer the right feel you are looking for, then answer: Which parts of Bard do you want to advance and expand on, and which parts would you be willing to let slide?

[PangolinPie]

I guess it's one of those "not knowing what you want until you see it" type deals. Should have just asked if anyone had any good homebrew PRSC's and not over explained it.

From what I can tell no one does so whatev's :P

[Network]

Well A PRC at its heart is supposed to make a class better and one or more aspects while giving up advancement on other aspects. YMMV on how this functions across the books but that's the intent. Bards being Jack of all trades Have a lot to advance, but also a lot to lose from focusing. Preexisting PRCS that I can think of work like this:

Seeker of The Song: Advances Bardic Music, Gimps Spellcasting.
Sublime Chord: Advanced Casting, Gimps Bardic Music and Skills.
Virtuoso: Advances Skills and Bardic Music, Gimps Bardic Music and Casting.

Then there are these ones I don't know that well:

Dirgesinger
Warchanter
Dawncaller
Fochuclan Lyrist
Dragonsong Lyrist
Lyric Thaumaturge

So their are actually lots of options. Now if you've looked at all those and none of them offer the right feel you are looking for, then answer: Which parts of Bard do you want to advance and expand on, and which parts would you be willing to let slide?

I can complete the list :

Dawncaller : Advances Bardic Music and Skills, gives full BAB, gimps Casting. Needs to be a goliath.
Dirgesinger : Gives new class features, gimps existing class features (and Skills).
Dragonsong Lyrist : Slightly advances Casting, gives new class features, gimps existing class features (and Skills).
Fochlucan Lyrist : Advances Bardic Music, Casting and Skills (and other stuff), gives full BAB, gimps nothing of interest, but the prerequisites are severe.
Lyric Thaumaturge : Advances Bardic Music and Casting, gimps Skills.
Warchanter : Advances Bardic Music, gives full BAB, gimps Casting and Skills.

To my knowledge, the Fochlucan Lyrist is the most bardy of them. I heard it's a 3.5e adaptation of what the bard from older editions looked like.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

Since you asked for homebrew, I can point you towards two of my own Prestige Classes, along with the little blurb that sums up each one.

The Empyreal Cantatrice: Empyreal Cantatrices attune themselves to the celestial harmonies of the stars and the planets, making their music hum to the frequency of the universe around them. Their haunting tones reverberate through the heavens, striking chords with the heavenly bodies and changing the fate of man.

Restless Troubadour: Restless Troubadours were once bards…until their untimely demise. But some souls are to full of zeal, vengeance, or wanderlust to rest eternally, and such spirits are the Restless Troubadours of the world; minstrels caught between life and death, carried along by a song and a tale, unable or unwilling to pass on into the gray expanses of the afterlife.