Bard (FiD)

Starfox's Blades in the Dark fan page

Bards work magic through performance, using one or more performing arts, such as acting, music, song, or dance. Their magic, often used to charm and influence, can potentially calm raging seas or even enchant death itself.

Ideas about the origin of bardic magic are as varied as the bards themselves. A popular one is that the world was made using the Song of Creation, the first song performed by the greater powers. This lingers still in the Music of the Spheres, and bards attune to this to do magic. Another idea is that bards charm mighty spirits or great powers that assist them. Wizards and clerics dismiss such notions, claiming bards merely distort spells into performances.

Bards are known by many names: orphics, troubadours, and countless titles for performers, reflecting their boundless creativity and varied traditions.

Touchstones: Ariel (The Little Mermaid, 1989), Giselle (Enchanted, 2007), Rapunzel (Tangled, 2010), Miguel (Coco, 2017).

Trauma Condition—Resonance

You use performance to activate your powers. This may attract attention but can blend seamlessly into ordinary performances. As a bard, your first Power Form must be Animal, Flux, Illusion, Life, Mind, Order, or Time. These are marked in green on the power list below. When gaining further powers, you can select any bard power you wish.

Special Abilities

Epic

By performing for 5 minutes with an audience of scale appropriate to your tier (p 221), you reduce the stress cost of a power or Ritual you or an ally uses by one.

Influence

You may expend your Special Armor to push or resist consequences of Resolve actions.

Inspiration

Two times per score you can assist a teammate without paying stress or even being there as long as they saw you perform this week. Tell us what performance inspired them. You can take this ability again to gain two additional uses.

Listener

When you gather info using Consort, Study, or Survey, you get +1d. Successfully gathering info for a score gives +1d to the engagement roll for that operation.

Social Butterfly

You never roll less than 2d indulging in vice. You may pick which dice result to use to reduce stress. For example, if you rolled a 2 and a 5 you could choose to reduce your stress by either 2 or 5. If your crew indulges with you, they gain the same benefit and may use your vice and provider but roll using their own attributes, with at least 2 dice.

Star

You gain increased effect when performing in front of an audience. You gain an additional xp trigger: Perform for an audience with scale based on tier (p 221). If your crew helped you, also mark crew xp. If you succeed at this during a score, gain +2 stash during payoff. You know all kinds of performance. If detail is desired, select a number of performance arts equal to the sum of your action ratings in Consort, Finesse, and Sway.

Tete-a-tete

Push a Resolve action to achieve one of the following: attract everyone's attention, get a scene alone with someone, or escape a location.

Powers

Abyss, Air, Animal, Barrier, Darkness, Death, Earth, Electricity, Fire, Ice, Flux, Illusion, Kinesis, Life, Light, Metal, Mind, Order, Plant, Space, Time, and Water.

Strangers in the Night

˄ ˅ Celest, a bard.

˄ ˅ Haia, a mysterious heir.

˄ ˅ Kalli, an adventurous fan.

˄ ˅ Tam Tam, a crafter.

˄ ˅ Yagatan, an impressario.

Inventory

☐,☐,☐ Fine Bottle of Wine.

◯ Memento.

☐ Scroll (Music Sheet).

◯ Stagewear.

• Fine Bottle of Wine ☐: A highly desirable vintage, effective at loosening tongues and making an impression.
• Memento ◯: A small personal item reminding you of your goals and passions. Reduces the stress cost of a power by one once per score, used after making the action roll. Playbook.
• Scroll ☐: A music sheet that allows one use of a power on the list of bard powers that you do not know. Playbook.
• Stagewear ◯: Elegant and provocative attire, designed to captivate. Allows you to push any Resolve action roll (not just powers) at the cost of only one stress. You must carry no more than a light load and cannot use armor. Playbook.

XP

• Every time you roll a desperate action, mark xp in that action's attribute.

At the end of each session, for each item below, mark 1 xp (in your playbook or an attribute) or 2 xp if that item occurred multiple times.

• You addressed a challenge using powers or your personal charm.
• You expressed your beliefs, drives, heritage, or background.
• You struggled with issues from your vice or traumas during the session.

Starting Actions

Consort 1

Sway 2

4 points by choice, no higher than 2 in any one.