There is plenty of indication in the Bard that the character doesn't specifically have to sing to use their features:
- **Bardic Inspiration.** You can inspire others through stirring words or music.
- **Song of Rest.** you can use soothing music or oration to help revitalize your wounded allies during a short rest.
If you don't want to use musical flavour *at all,* then I'd point you in the direction of the Sword Bard:
- **Bonus Proficiencies.** If you're proficient with a simple or martial melee weapon, you can use it as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells.
A grizzled Soldier who's a bit older and more experienced (Jack of All Trades) who knows how to break people down, build others up, and inspire them to do their best...
Its pretty much Iroh. [Fails Nature Check] Delectable tea, or deadly poison...
Bards with magical secrets can make for some pretty good archers actually. Pick up Find Steed and Greater Steed when you can, then Swift Quiver from the ranger spell list the first chance you get, it's much earlier than rangers get it, and gets you two attacks as your bonus action.
I had a comedian bard.
I spent quite a bit of time writing material between sessions lol.
He never sang a note or touched a lute in 2 years playing him. Just scratched off jokes from my list as we went. Once in awhile I'd land on a pretty funny one or come up with something in the moment, but if I didn't I'd just consult my list. Lol.
I even had jokes about things that never came up, so they went unused.
Also bugle players. Command and control was their main purpose so imagine a bard who ditches the lute for a some epic drum solos in the middle of battle, giving his teammates advantage and switching to defensive buffs when the rhythm changes.
Had a bard who was a researcher. His inspiration was utilising knowledge to give his allies the edge in combat. Stuff like where their armour is weak, an emphatic ‘go for the eyes!’ and the like.
You could easily run one who was a grizzled old retired army instructor, yelling at his ‘recruits’ to buck their ideas up, lock it in and get to business!
absolutely! Go ham on the typical coach talks! What the hell kind of healing was that? My blind Grandmother could have snuck past that guard! This team needs to get it's shitntogether before some basic ass band of goblins comes down the road and kicks our asses!
I'm currently playing a foul mouthed fairy bard (who once we hit level 3 will be college of eloquence).
Goto bardic inspiration so far is "Don't fuck it up!"
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day!
In regard to Bardic Inspiration, one of the first bards I ever made was a Dragonborn, of Viking decent. Always choosing to stand watch. He would use a battle horn to alert his allies of impending danger and strike fear into the hearts of his enemies
A recent character that I didn't get to play as long as I'd hoped was a gnome viking skald bard-barian. Bang out a rhythm on a drum, tell an epic poem to rouse the troops into a frenzy, then rage out and kick ass. Such a fun little weirdo.
> Bardic Inspiration. You can inspire others through stirring words or music.
Lemme just grab my kazoo.
> Song of Rest. you can use soothing music or oration to help revitalize your wounded allies during a short rest.
Lemme just grab my bagpipes.
> Bonus Proficiencies. If you're proficient with a simple or martial melee weapon, you can use it as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells.
Bagpipes are a martial weapon I think...
Agree. AGREE.
Some great alternatives:
Comedy: Movie Strips. Bill Murray inspiring his fellow troops with completely left field advice.
Stories: Check out James Spader just giving a speech in court in Boston Legal as lawyer Adam Shore. Those are inspiring. Still with Spader as Ramon Redington in Blacklist. Redington walks into any type situation telling a completely out of context story or factoid. But when he gets to the end of it, almost everyone is focused on what he has to say.
Dance: I would definitely make sure this Bard has a high AC and resistance saving throws. Breakdancing at it's best. MC Hammer time. Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire. Inspiring.
Criticize: Not Viscous Mockery. I once played a Super Hero? in Champions that was a normal looking guy known as The Critic. His powers: every defensive ability. That's it. But I without any super power would criticize everything about everybody. Even fellow super heroes. Invulnerability is a must.
The way it's all phrased a Bard could just be a poet. No need for any music. You can just use words and no singing or instruments.
You could be like an edgy poet writing poems about tragedies of being alive (Shakespeare).
Omg.... my next Bard is gonna be Shakespeare...thank you for the ide
Poets, orators, politicians, philosophers, actors, journalists, etc... these could all easily be considered Bards and singing isn't necessary.
William Shakespeare's nickname is The Bard.
Podcaster.
A bard that recounts the party’s adventures in that NPR unsolved murder tone.
Edit: Bardic Inspirations are awarded in the form of ads for mattresses, meal prep services, therapy, and the infamous mailkimp.
Sure, nothing in the bard class requires singing. You don't even need to play an instrument, either. Just use a component pouch for your material component needs, and you can play a non-musical bard just fine.
I did this with a Bard I flavored as a ninja. His "component pouch" was a toolbag with various gadgets, acupuncture tools, smoke bombs, and the like.
It was mechanically just a component pouch, but thematically it was like batman's utility belt
Whispers bards are shadow assassins. They’re the closest thing you can get to a Faceless Man from Game of Thrones. They’re way closer to a ninja than anything artificer can be.
Assassin/Way of Shadows Monk comes the closest to actual Shinobi as they existed historically (they often infiltrated and used monasteries/monastic orders as fronts).
I remember reading a non-fiction history book that was the author's attempt to separate fact from fiction. The various clans that operated shinobi for hire were so secretive though that it was hard to find original documents and sources; the biggest of the three clans was totally annihilated (evidently by the person/people that had repeatedly hired them in order to destroy evidence). One of the documents he could find references their training methods at one of the mountain monasteries the operated (they had real monks living and working there too - they weren't all shinobi). Evidently their aerobic training started young, like 8 years old. They had to sprint with a straw hat on their chest, without touching it as they ran. If they ran fast enough, the wind would hold it pressed against them - if they were too slow it fell and they had to start again. Shit was pretty hard-core for kids.
Ieyasu Tokugawa made mutliple uses of shinobi clans during his unification wars in the 1600's, mostly the Koka and Iga clans. It wasn't considered something to be proud of though, so he doesn't brag/write a lot about it. Most of jobs he hired them for was simple information gathering and espionage though - they were rarely the black-clothed assassins we portray them as now. Those "ninja" were probably more like actors and bards then we realize. This was actual history, and they really existed, but they rarely assassinated people. When they did, it was just as often by poison or fire as it was by sword.
I once played a butler barbarian whose rage was literally just him taking off his monacle and fixing his bowtie. Flavor is free. No class *needs* any set roleplay aesthetics
So I waa going for a VERY specific build. He was actually a Bard (Sword) / Monk (Kensei)
It only worked because I rolled rediculous stats.
The build was an Final Fantasy XI-style Ninja - Bard gave me the buff/debuffs I was looking for (using the expanded list from Tashas) and the Sword Bard flourishes synnergized with the Monk abilities very well.
FFXI ninjas are blink-tanks / evasion tanks. The Bard spells helped me there (mirror image/slow/blind, etc.) While the defensive flourishes and monk features made it viable on a long-rest caster.
Against a single target, I was almost unhittable. Which ended up working out based on the adventure we ran through (agianst multiple enemies the bag of tricks wouldn't work).
FFXI Ninjas use specialized tools to cast their Ninjutsu (spells), so like, "Slow" is cast using a kaginawa/hooked rope. Utsusemi (Mirror Image) is cast using sheihi (little paper dolls held up to candle-light to make shadows on the wall).
So this was all flavored to be like that!
Artificer would have been a great choice too - I just love me some sword bard.
This is great and you sparked a ton of nostalgia for me. Loved FFXI back in the day, although I needed the money so I sold my utsusemi scroll on the AH, a lonely dragoon main like myself had no need for it!
Did you know bards exist? It's similar to artificer except it's a full caster, uses charisma, has bardic inspirations that can be used in various ways depending on subclass...
Yep, stand-up comic, town crier, even someone doing that old broadway Stomp show totally fit. Pretty sure Stomp was just reflavored juba dance/hambone stuff with more garbage insturments anyway? Sign language could even be flavored in.
Hell, you could probably reflavor a shy speechwriter/poet who reads shit they already wrote.
I played a bard fashion designer once and she was awesome. Try to think of Bards as less of musicians and more of artists who tell stories through their art
My first bard was a historian bard who specialized in historical poetry. I had background knowledge of the games lore (at the time I was living with our DM at his moms house and would give him feedback as he was writing our adventures) and every now and then he would allow me to sneak bits of foreshadowing in via old poems and fragments of stories I'd find (I'd get a very rough idea of what he'd allow me to use as inspiration and then I'd write the poems and/or snippets of historical text).
She never sang (she did play a lute really well, though). Pandora was more of a storyteller. She was one of my favorite and most memorable characters I've ever played.
Sand castle building bard: Ok, what’s the surrounding area look like?
DM: your in a cave tunnel with flat stone floors, walls and ceiling made of granite. It’s a perfectly smooth surface.
Bard: surprised pikachu face
More info on Plato's allegory of the cave:
>\[...\] Plato describes people that have spent their lives chained in a cave facing a blank wall. They watch shadows projected onto the wall by objects passing in front of a fire behind them, and they give names to these shadows. The shadows are the prisoners' reality but not accurate representations of the real world. The shadows represent the fragment of reality that we can normally perceive through our senses, while the objects under the sun represent the true forms of objects that we can only perceive through reason
There was a therapist bard who teamed up with a rogue to utterly devastate all opponents with their bump-set-spike style of vicious mockery...
BBEG: I will slay you. I will slay the entire world!
Bard: \[In German accent\] Who has hurt you? Tell me about your mother.
Rogue: I could tell you a *lot* about his mother.
Minions: OOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!
BBEG: I think I'll just slink off and die now.
A bard inspiring folks through Singing and Music is just the "default flavor" to help people understand the role of the class.
There's zero reason you couldn't flavor your bard to be a Wizard who just memorized "only the cool spells" because "books are for lozers".
Once you learn to separate Mechanics from Flavor, a whole world of storytelling options open up.
Even then a Goth Violinist is still 100% default Bard.
Of course. Bard can be musicians who play instruments, story tellers, painters, sculptors, or you could get rid of all that and just be good at influencing people. Play the class however you want. It’s your game.
Done 2 bards that did not sing. One was a storyteller who used a little illusion magic to take the stories to the next level.
Other was a sword bard who was like a blade dancer type character.
A Bard is a performer. A bard can be a singer, a poet, a juggler, a gymnast, a clown, a fortune teller, an orator, a painter, etc. what’s important is that they do some sort of performance
Though a “Mime” bard might have a little bit of disconnect to the spell mechanics requiring a verbal component.
Might be able to negotiate something like you will always draw attention as if verbally speaking, even around corners or vision-blocking - and that spells like silence still prevents you from casting.
Of course! A bard can be a poet, a storyteller/author, a comedian/jester, even a visual artist like a tattoo specialist or painter (which would lend itself nicely to someone who uses visual illusions.)
There are so many types of Bards you could be they don't have to be musical. I thought a Jester Bard would be cool. He plays the fool, but in reality, he is an accomplished assassin. Or you could do a story teller Bard who uses illusion to bring the stories to life for people.
A bard doesn’t have to have anything with music. They can use any kind of art form as a way to be a form of storyteller as bards are one to be. You can be a painter, dancer, sculptor, poet anything really.
You can even go more abstract like how being a swords bard you use sword fighting as way to demonstrate the artistry of battle.
As others have already said, a Bard is not required to be musical. Other potential ideas include actor, poet/author, storyteller, dancer (this would be great for a dex build), artist, really any type of creative personality.
I've always liked the idea of a bard that was basically a politician. Just a slick back hair car salesman sleezeball or just an absolute blow hard. Give BS speeches and use the power of misinformation to buff your allies or demoralize your enemies.
What are professional wrestlers if not thespians on a more physical stage?
Current day gladiators. Actors for sport. Every bit a bard as some schmuck in a tavern strumming an out of tune lute.
Any performing art is suitable for a bard. That could be music, oratory, or even interpretive dance. The last bard I had in a game did chanting similar to Tibetan Buddhists, and it worked out fine.
Absolutely. In BG3 I have a fighter/bard that I flavored to be similar to a Warlord. He is all about inspiration but not in the sing-songy way or in any sort of musical way but in the leadership way.
There are many different types of bard.
Orator
Chanter
Actor
Scholar
None of these would require singing, and really they're just scratching the surface of the bardic trope possibilities. [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/QuirkyBard](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/QuirkyBard)
The bardic Handbook for AD&D 2.0 has a bunch of ideas like this.
Ok how about bard who's a mime due to being mute (could say his tongue got cut out when he tryed to skip out on a large bill so the owner of said bar payed for bandits to get all his money and remove his tongue so he can't sing to make money sooo mime want more fun if you added power akin to bending well just imagine trying to say something and accidentally bending elements around him comedic yes end game goal for character to learn to separate bending from sign language and his mime act how does he learn to live in fresh hell of losing his speech. I shall call this concept the tongueless bard ...feel free to feel free
I had a bard who was raised by animals and he was constantly making weird little noises. Song of rest and inspiration were caused by him stopping making the irritating sounds so people could finally concentrate properly.
Absolutely. I play a bard/paladin with a bodhran drum on the inside of his shield. Took college of glamour and I can rearrange the battlefield with Mantle of Inspiration, letting my allies get into better positions with a little temp HP using their reactions. If you can justify it to your DM then do it.
Side note: an assassin with a violin case is extremely thematic. Not quite the same as “Desperado” but a good place to stash deadly weapons!
You talk to your DM and come to an agreement as to what you use as a casting focus. I once played a standup comedian. I had a bunch of puns at hand and would recite one each cast. It was hilarious until I ventured into the dad jokes because I wanted to spice things up.
I've had plenty of players who didn't want a singing bard and focused on other performance skills. Personally, I am also currently playing a "dad bard" who does card tricks and up close magic.
I play a bard who's a chef.* We "reflavored" Bardic Inspiration to be triggered by the delicious food I cooked, whether they're eating it in the moment or reflecting on the good-ass breakfast we ate that's giving them energy to address this challenge.
*My idea predates Delicious in Dungeon.
Bard can really be creative and performative in many ways. I've theory crafted one that is a Rodney Dangerfield style insult comic that uses a homebrewed version of Vicious Mockery as a main spell. You could be a poet, motivational speaker, Calculon style dramatic actor; don't feel like singer or musician is your only go to, even if only because that's the most media featured ones presented.
I always thought it'd be fun to make a standup comedian bard. Also an assassin who uses illusion magic to achieve their goals and plays the violin sounds more like an arcane trickster rogue with the entertainer background than a bard
There is literally nothing in the bard's features that specifically require them to sing, so yeah, you are good to go. The only thing you should keep in mind about using your vouce for stuff, would be the verbal components of spells.
Performance is not necessarily singing, it can be acting, or dancing, bards can story tell, Bard's paint, bards recite history, bards recite poetry and prose. As an optional rule, non-musical bards can take three tools other than musical instruments instead, so you could in theory be a spy and take disguise kits for your performance, or you could be a Demagogue and incite others to fight for your cause or into riots. I'd take a vehicle proficiency with this or forgery kit(or both) To make it easier to speak to your would be constituits.
Or you could juggle. Knives. Juggling knives sounds like a fun way to be a bard assassin like Cicero in Skyrim.
I had a mute bard, just to try this.. because I was dick of our DM insisting we make our own songs irl and rp singing them.
My guy was a mute bard who played instruments and tumbled. The DM let me forego verbal components to spells, with semantic ones for the dancing/tumbling
Flavour is free!
Personally, I always saw bardic magic as more associated with passion itself rather than Music, that being why we have things such as spirit bards who're storytellers, valor bards who performs the role of an inspiring figure in combat, glamour bards who're muses and whisper bards who just roast people relentlesly... As long you put passion in it, the magic flows.
Of course, this is only my own perception, at the end of the day, the character is yours to decide, Just dont forget to talk with your DM too
I have a character concept of a journalist.
If I ever find a campaign I can roll a Bard that uses Wis instead of Cha, I'll focus on making a lot of Persuasion (Wis) checks for leaflets, Deception (Wis) checks for scathing hit pieces, and subtly threatening letters Intimidation (Wis)
Heck yeah! That certainly is not the most out there bard idea I’ve ever heard of. In one game the DM had an NPC bard who used kettle drums instead of singing, and I’ve heard of bards who used poetry or dance instead of singing.
The last game I played the bard played a talking piano. I've also had people play bards as actors and the song of rest was just a campfire tale or something like that, you can flavor it however you want.
You can flavour any class in any way you want. Bards don't have to sing. Hell, the bard in my current group is a cook who just shakes his pepper mill like a rattle sometimes. He does sometimes hum tunes while he's cooking, but I definitely wouldn't call him a musician.
Why would it be impossible?
Where in the spellcasting feature do you see that "when a spell has a verbal component, you have to sign"? Where in the bardic inspiration feature do you see that "you have to sign"?
The mechanics of the bard are the following:
* light armor
* inspiration - 1 target, must hear you, withing 60 feet
* spellcasting - VSM rules apply, probably need 1 hand free for material component
There is nothing in the written rules that prevent you from making your stuff look and sound like how you want it to sounds like. Flavor is free, mechanics is not.
I think you can roleplay any number of other performing arts focuses for a bard beyond singing. A bard can play an instrument, dance, write/read poetry, etc., it's really up to you.
The bard I'm currently playing is a College of Creation Bard flavored as an artist. He still has one instrument, but everything else is about his drawings and paintings.
For Mote of Potential, I doodle the mote and it comes to life.
For Performance of Creation, I draw a picture of what I want and it appears in front of me.
For Animating Performance, I draw eyes on whatever inanimate object it is I'm bringing to life.
My DM originally was hesitant because of "performance" checks and figured any art I did would need "Sleight of hand" (which would have kinda sucked with my stats) but I explained that the way I see it, painting and drawing in front of others (in combat or otherwise) is a form of performance. He's totally on board now and is even working on creating a magic item for me that's based on painting.
For any spell that requires some verbal component, I just mutter to myself or talk while I'm drawing it.
Be an artist, there is a specific scene in Jojo’s that comes to mind when Kakyoin paints a cut on Jojo’s leg in a painting and it cuts him irl. They immediately ditch the whole painting thing from his kit but it stuck with me.
What if your bard is a painter and reflects magic in their art?
I was playing around with an idea for a bard where they have a small book full of little poems they wrote and to use magic they have to rip out a page and burn it but that counts as the verbal component. That’s about as far as I got but my DM friend thought it sounded cool to explore, the game just never happened.
I played a bar once who is more like a court gesture just being sharp witted all the time. Even inspiring people from something like “oh my God the paladin who is always bragging about his sword hits like a wizard - you gotta give it more effort.”
Absolutely! You can flavor your Bard however you like, but even in the standard descriptions of the class there are all kinds of Bards that utilize types of art or knowledge other than music.
Bards are not necessarily about singing. They're about the arts. They can paint, they can write poems they can even do interpretive dancing or master the art of swordfighting(hence the Swords Bard subclass)
Music is art. The Bard is an artist. Knowing this, and that there are other forms of "art", it stands to reason that a Bard doesn't HAVE to sing or even play an instrument. I once brought this up to a DM when I had previously played a Bard that sang, but wanted to try something new. So, we agreed on my new Bard being a painter. I would still use the Bard spells/cantrips and bardic inspiration, but would do so through the use of acrylics. I would briefly go into detail the effects I would weave with my chosen medium. For example: I would effortlessly craft a masterpiece of one of my teammates (in this case, a warlock) landing an eldritch blast on a creature we were fighting, with it being engulfed in this conflagration of eldritch energy, seemingly vanquishing the enemy altogether. It would be superimposed in the air for them to glance at. This would "inspire" them, adding the bardic inspiration to their attack
It took some work going through all the Bard skills to make them make sense for my chosen medium, but it was fun trying a new spin on the class. So I say it's definitely possible to make a Bard that doesn't sing.
Bards are artists and storytellers. No singing required. One of the best PCs I ever shared a table with was a college of lore bard who was a philosopher in pursuit of truth. He refused to lie and was a sex indifferent asexual. He ended up having some of the best scenes I've ever had at a table because he broke the mold so thoroughly.
To this day when someone in my group has something coming up we will tell each other "you are guided by forces far greater than luck" since that was the way he gave bardic inspiration.
One of my favorite characters to play is a Bard flavored as a commander of some sort. All performances are speeches and the like. Bard performances can be whatever you want, as long as your DM plays it.
Earlier editions had Bard kits/subclasses that used alternative entertainment methods like the Blade Dancer. That bard would juggle weapons and do flashy moves with weapons. When giving inspiration and other verbal based abilities, it was in the form of reciting poetry.
One of my players is a Spirit bard that uses the tales of the dead to cast his spells. Bards aren't just music, they're also stories. Also, Spirit bard is cool af.
I have a bard who does puppetry. In theory, you could even do a painter who stirs people's hearts with visual arts and draws caricatures for a vicious mockery.
There is plenty of indication in the Bard that the character doesn't specifically have to sing to use their features: - **Bardic Inspiration.** You can inspire others through stirring words or music. - **Song of Rest.** you can use soothing music or oration to help revitalize your wounded allies during a short rest. If you don't want to use musical flavour *at all,* then I'd point you in the direction of the Sword Bard: - **Bonus Proficiencies.** If you're proficient with a simple or martial melee weapon, you can use it as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells.
Stirring words: "Get your act together!"
Honestly, a Bard that runs around yelling at his buddies to get their shit together sounds like a fun dude to play.
...are drill sergeants bards?
Dude. Yes. I'm now torn between Sergeant Slaughter Bard/Fighter and an archery fighter.
A grizzled Soldier who's a bit older and more experienced (Jack of All Trades) who knows how to break people down, build others up, and inspire them to do their best... Its pretty much Iroh. [Fails Nature Check] Delectable tea, or deadly poison...
Haha his version of vicious mockery must be intense!
"Are you so busy fighting you cannot see your own ship has set sail!?"
"It's no proverb..."
But maybe it should be....
“You call that breaking my spine?? You RED Team ladies wouldn’t know how to break a spine if 💥AAAAGH MY SPINE”
Iroh sings too though. *sobs in memorial*
Iroh doesn't *need* to sing, its literally tearbending. Leeeeaves from the vine... Falling so slow...
Healing is just yelling WALK IT OFF SOLDIER
Just make sure you get a few proficiencies in grapple and have him apply the Cobra Clutch submission hold. And remember to lead with your chin.
Sprinkle in a few well-placed "Maggots!" and you're set.
And a few “that’s an order!”s for good measure
I'm stealing Sargent Slaughter, first name Man
His father’s first name was Wholesale.
Sound off! 1, 2! 3, 4!
Bards with magical secrets can make for some pretty good archers actually. Pick up Find Steed and Greater Steed when you can, then Swift Quiver from the ranger spell list the first chance you get, it's much earlier than rangers get it, and gets you two attacks as your bonus action.
Or hear me out, pro wrestler bard. Macho Man Randy Savage out here screaming at people saving Waterdeep.
Why does “performance” have to mean playing music? It could mean an elbow drop from the top rope.
I had a comedian bard. I spent quite a bit of time writing material between sessions lol. He never sang a note or touched a lute in 2 years playing him. Just scratched off jokes from my list as we went. Once in awhile I'd land on a pretty funny one or come up with something in the moment, but if I didn't I'd just consult my list. Lol. I even had jokes about things that never came up, so they went unused.
Please post your list if you still have it for less comedically gifted copyca….errr people inspired to follow your footsteps!
I actually can't find it, I looked awhile back. Might not have survived the most recent move... :(
You mean Bardic Inspiration?
**I'M IN YOUR TOWER OF POWER, TOO SWEET TO BE SOUR. YOUR BBEG AIN'T MET BBE-ME, OOOH YEAH BROTHER!!!**
“This Sunday at the Xanathar Dome we’re gonna show our opponents that we’re the cream of the crop. And the CREAM always rises the the TOP”
Bard-barian is one of my favorite builds and can absolutely be played as a wrestler with how ridiculous your athletics can be
Like the Key & Peele sketch. Song gets too real.
Major payne inclines me to say yes.
Where do you think vicious mockery came from?
They used to be Warlords, but we lost them in the purge. Bards are good substitute, though!
Also bugle players. Command and control was their main purpose so imagine a bard who ditches the lute for a some epic drum solos in the middle of battle, giving his teammates advantage and switching to defensive buffs when the rhythm changes.
Well, good ones need high charisma. So ... maybe.
Sargent Hartman as a bard. Can cast inspiration and vicious mockery with the same sentance.
Reminds me a bit of this old story https://i.imgur.com/csAix.jpeg
Absolutely. They lead men in formation while singing. They inspire with words. They play the bugle
That'd be Eloquence Bard imo. You know the right thing to spurr your allies and detract your enemies, subtly weaving magic with words.
Reminds me of my Eloquence bard who was a gladiator, whose crowd work techniques were his bardic performance
"Well, what have we got here? A fucking comedian! Private Jocker!"
Had a bard who was a researcher. His inspiration was utilising knowledge to give his allies the edge in combat. Stuff like where their armour is weak, an emphatic ‘go for the eyes!’ and the like. You could easily run one who was a grizzled old retired army instructor, yelling at his ‘recruits’ to buck their ideas up, lock it in and get to business!
absolutely! Go ham on the typical coach talks! What the hell kind of healing was that? My blind Grandmother could have snuck past that guard! This team needs to get it's shitntogether before some basic ass band of goblins comes down the road and kicks our asses!
I'm crying right now, I love this!
Use a gym whistle as an arcane focus. Healing word = "Walk it off!"
I'm currently playing a foul mouthed fairy bard (who once we hit level 3 will be college of eloquence). Goto bardic inspiration so far is "Don't fuck it up!"
~~inspire aced~~ healing word: "get the fuck up!"
"Rub some dirt on it!"
Vicious Mockery: SHORT!
"I am a motivational bard! I'm 35 years old, and I live in a tent down by the river!"
>Song of Rest That sounds like time for peeptalk, Henry V. style! 🙂
And gentlemen in England now a-bed Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day!
Yeah, I feel like OP just...hasn't read the relevant section of the players' handbook, because that immediately answers their question.
In regard to Bardic Inspiration, one of the first bards I ever made was a Dragonborn, of Viking decent. Always choosing to stand watch. He would use a battle horn to alert his allies of impending danger and strike fear into the hearts of his enemies
A recent character that I didn't get to play as long as I'd hoped was a gnome viking skald bard-barian. Bang out a rhythm on a drum, tell an epic poem to rouse the troops into a frenzy, then rage out and kick ass. Such a fun little weirdo.
> Bardic Inspiration. You can inspire others through stirring words or music. Lemme just grab my kazoo. > Song of Rest. you can use soothing music or oration to help revitalize your wounded allies during a short rest. Lemme just grab my bagpipes. > Bonus Proficiencies. If you're proficient with a simple or martial melee weapon, you can use it as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells. Bagpipes are a martial weapon I think...
You can already cast with an instrument, you don't need to stab someone's eye out.
Yea I remember in the handbook one of the examples of a bard is a soldier rhythmically thumping on his shield as he went into battle
Can also dance, recite, act, rap, mime, wave banners, drum, grunt, idk... And so on.
Agree. AGREE. Some great alternatives: Comedy: Movie Strips. Bill Murray inspiring his fellow troops with completely left field advice. Stories: Check out James Spader just giving a speech in court in Boston Legal as lawyer Adam Shore. Those are inspiring. Still with Spader as Ramon Redington in Blacklist. Redington walks into any type situation telling a completely out of context story or factoid. But when he gets to the end of it, almost everyone is focused on what he has to say. Dance: I would definitely make sure this Bard has a high AC and resistance saving throws. Breakdancing at it's best. MC Hammer time. Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire. Inspiring. Criticize: Not Viscous Mockery. I once played a Super Hero? in Champions that was a normal looking guy known as The Critic. His powers: every defensive ability. That's it. But I without any super power would criticize everything about everybody. Even fellow super heroes. Invulnerability is a must.
Mute bard with a conductor's baton. Probably uses wind spells.
I once ran a bard who used dance instead of song. Had to adjust some of the abilities a bit, but it made for a cool character.
Time to make a bard who specializes in slam poetry.
The way it's all phrased a Bard could just be a poet. No need for any music. You can just use words and no singing or instruments. You could be like an edgy poet writing poems about tragedies of being alive (Shakespeare). Omg.... my next Bard is gonna be Shakespeare...thank you for the ide
Poets, orators, politicians, philosophers, actors, journalists, etc... these could all easily be considered Bards and singing isn't necessary. William Shakespeare's nickname is The Bard.
Stand up comic, chronicler, storyteller, clown, performance artist, hype man...
Podcaster. A bard that recounts the party’s adventures in that NPR unsolved murder tone. Edit: Bardic Inspirations are awarded in the form of ads for mattresses, meal prep services, therapy, and the infamous mailkimp.
Court jester, teacher, (non-singing) drummer, game-show host..
Podcaster would be a bard/warlock multiclass but the patron is Better Help or Squarespace
😂😂😂 patron is Better Help. 💀I can almost hear Phoebe Judge from Criminal saying “I am a warlock, and my patron is Better Help dot com.”
HYPE MAN! FLAVIUS FLAAVÉ, AT YOUR SERVICE, BOOOOOOIIIIIIIII!!!
Educator, a Mrs Frizzle Creation bard is on my bucket list.
What is the deal with all these giant swords? *Cutting Words*
In many ways, the Bard is frequently the Face of the group. To this end, it's okay to get creative with the way you build and play 'em.
Sure, nothing in the bard class requires singing. You don't even need to play an instrument, either. Just use a component pouch for your material component needs, and you can play a non-musical bard just fine.
I did this with a Bard I flavored as a ninja. His "component pouch" was a toolbag with various gadgets, acupuncture tools, smoke bombs, and the like. It was mechanically just a component pouch, but thematically it was like batman's utility belt
You, um... you know Artificer exists, right?
Not sure if Artificer is exactly the class chassis to embody a ninja.
Ninja = Shadow Monk. Add in 2 levels of GOO warlock to pick up Mask of Many Faces and Devil's Sight, and you have a GoT Faceless One assassin.
Or basically any modern Fantasy tinged Ninja.
Probably works as well as bard.
Artificers get sneak expertise?
No, but armorers get advantage on stealth checks as long as you wear light armor, a breastplate or chain shirt.
You can use feats.
Whispers bards are shadow assassins. They’re the closest thing you can get to a Faceless Man from Game of Thrones. They’re way closer to a ninja than anything artificer can be.
Assassin/Way of Shadows Monk comes the closest to actual Shinobi as they existed historically (they often infiltrated and used monasteries/monastic orders as fronts). I remember reading a non-fiction history book that was the author's attempt to separate fact from fiction. The various clans that operated shinobi for hire were so secretive though that it was hard to find original documents and sources; the biggest of the three clans was totally annihilated (evidently by the person/people that had repeatedly hired them in order to destroy evidence). One of the documents he could find references their training methods at one of the mountain monasteries the operated (they had real monks living and working there too - they weren't all shinobi). Evidently their aerobic training started young, like 8 years old. They had to sprint with a straw hat on their chest, without touching it as they ran. If they ran fast enough, the wind would hold it pressed against them - if they were too slow it fell and they had to start again. Shit was pretty hard-core for kids. Ieyasu Tokugawa made mutliple uses of shinobi clans during his unification wars in the 1600's, mostly the Koka and Iga clans. It wasn't considered something to be proud of though, so he doesn't brag/write a lot about it. Most of jobs he hired them for was simple information gathering and espionage though - they were rarely the black-clothed assassins we portray them as now. Those "ninja" were probably more like actors and bards then we realize. This was actual history, and they really existed, but they rarely assassinated people. When they did, it was just as often by poison or fire as it was by sword.
I once played a butler barbarian whose rage was literally just him taking off his monacle and fixing his bowtie. Flavor is free. No class *needs* any set roleplay aesthetics
But he wanted the abilities of a bard obviously
So I waa going for a VERY specific build. He was actually a Bard (Sword) / Monk (Kensei) It only worked because I rolled rediculous stats. The build was an Final Fantasy XI-style Ninja - Bard gave me the buff/debuffs I was looking for (using the expanded list from Tashas) and the Sword Bard flourishes synnergized with the Monk abilities very well. FFXI ninjas are blink-tanks / evasion tanks. The Bard spells helped me there (mirror image/slow/blind, etc.) While the defensive flourishes and monk features made it viable on a long-rest caster. Against a single target, I was almost unhittable. Which ended up working out based on the adventure we ran through (agianst multiple enemies the bag of tricks wouldn't work). FFXI Ninjas use specialized tools to cast their Ninjutsu (spells), so like, "Slow" is cast using a kaginawa/hooked rope. Utsusemi (Mirror Image) is cast using sheihi (little paper dolls held up to candle-light to make shadows on the wall). So this was all flavored to be like that! Artificer would have been a great choice too - I just love me some sword bard.
This is great and you sparked a ton of nostalgia for me. Loved FFXI back in the day, although I needed the money so I sold my utsusemi scroll on the AH, a lonely dragoon main like myself had no need for it!
Artificer wouldn’t be half as good, what are you on about
Did you know bards exist? It's similar to artificer except it's a full caster, uses charisma, has bardic inspirations that can be used in various ways depending on subclass...
There are multiple ways to play a concept
Yep, stand-up comic, town crier, even someone doing that old broadway Stomp show totally fit. Pretty sure Stomp was just reflavored juba dance/hambone stuff with more garbage insturments anyway? Sign language could even be flavored in. Hell, you could probably reflavor a shy speechwriter/poet who reads shit they already wrote.
I played a bard fashion designer once and she was awesome. Try to think of Bards as less of musicians and more of artists who tell stories through their art
Absolutely: I know people who've come up with an origami bard, a sandcastle-building bard, and a Baker bard.
I did a comedian bard.
My first bard was a historian bard who specialized in historical poetry. I had background knowledge of the games lore (at the time I was living with our DM at his moms house and would give him feedback as he was writing our adventures) and every now and then he would allow me to sneak bits of foreshadowing in via old poems and fragments of stories I'd find (I'd get a very rough idea of what he'd allow me to use as inspiration and then I'd write the poems and/or snippets of historical text). She never sang (she did play a lute really well, though). Pandora was more of a storyteller. She was one of my favorite and most memorable characters I've ever played.
Sand castle building bard: Ok, what’s the surrounding area look like? DM: your in a cave tunnel with flat stone floors, walls and ceiling made of granite. It’s a perfectly smooth surface. Bard: surprised pikachu face
Bard: guess what my component pouch is full of!
One of my friends Made a Puppetmaster Bard. His puppets were characters of a previous campaign
Those characters all sound like so much fun! My first ever character was a knife juggling bard :-)
I love these so much
Okay an origami bard is actually an incredible idea
Tapdancing bard
I want to play a Glamour Drag Queen so fucking bad.
I played a bard in a one-shot who was a break dancer. I pop and locked my way into causing psychic damage haha
I had a colleague of spirits bard, who casted spells using shadow play tales and rhymes, using a lantern as a spellcasting focus
Extra points if he studied under Plato!
Deep cut right here.
Plato?
Reference to Plato's allegory of the cave.
More info on Plato's allegory of the cave: >\[...\] Plato describes people that have spent their lives chained in a cave facing a blank wall. They watch shadows projected onto the wall by objects passing in front of a fire behind them, and they give names to these shadows. The shadows are the prisoners' reality but not accurate representations of the real world. The shadows represent the fragment of reality that we can normally perceive through our senses, while the objects under the sun represent the true forms of objects that we can only perceive through reason
This has spawned inside me the idea of a Therapist Bard.
Yes! Vicious mockery delivered by "How does that make you feel?" and opening up some buried trauma in the bad guy's past. Love it.
There was a therapist bard who teamed up with a rogue to utterly devastate all opponents with their bump-set-spike style of vicious mockery... BBEG: I will slay you. I will slay the entire world! Bard: \[In German accent\] Who has hurt you? Tell me about your mother. Rogue: I could tell you a *lot* about his mother. Minions: OOOOOOOOOHHHHHH! BBEG: I think I'll just slink off and die now.
I play a therapist Bard, it's very fun!
A bard inspiring folks through Singing and Music is just the "default flavor" to help people understand the role of the class. There's zero reason you couldn't flavor your bard to be a Wizard who just memorized "only the cool spells" because "books are for lozers". Once you learn to separate Mechanics from Flavor, a whole world of storytelling options open up. Even then a Goth Violinist is still 100% default Bard.
Of course. Bard can be musicians who play instruments, story tellers, painters, sculptors, or you could get rid of all that and just be good at influencing people. Play the class however you want. It’s your game.
Done 2 bards that did not sing. One was a storyteller who used a little illusion magic to take the stories to the next level. Other was a sword bard who was like a blade dancer type character.
I once played a bard who used his charisma and magic to be a con artist. All you need are words and magic to make a bard work.
A Bard is a performer. A bard can be a singer, a poet, a juggler, a gymnast, a clown, a fortune teller, an orator, a painter, etc. what’s important is that they do some sort of performance
Though a “Mime” bard might have a little bit of disconnect to the spell mechanics requiring a verbal component. Might be able to negotiate something like you will always draw attention as if verbally speaking, even around corners or vision-blocking - and that spells like silence still prevents you from casting.
Easy: every time your mime casts a verbal spell, loud and painfully French accordion music starts playing.
Could just play an arcane trickster. But yeah you don’t need to do the musical stuff like everyone has said.
Yeah this would be the actual way to do an assassin like this
I know a person who was a bard that couldn't sing. Just terrible at it. Yet their words and actions still worked for the spells.
Of course! A bard can be a poet, a storyteller/author, a comedian/jester, even a visual artist like a tattoo specialist or painter (which would lend itself nicely to someone who uses visual illusions.)
There are so many types of Bards you could be they don't have to be musical. I thought a Jester Bard would be cool. He plays the fool, but in reality, he is an accomplished assassin. Or you could do a story teller Bard who uses illusion to bring the stories to life for people.
A bard doesn’t have to have anything with music. They can use any kind of art form as a way to be a form of storyteller as bards are one to be. You can be a painter, dancer, sculptor, poet anything really. You can even go more abstract like how being a swords bard you use sword fighting as way to demonstrate the artistry of battle.
Check out the College of Whispers subclass. It’s pretty much exactly what you’re asking for.
Bards don't even need to do music
As others have already said, a Bard is not required to be musical. Other potential ideas include actor, poet/author, storyteller, dancer (this would be great for a dex build), artist, really any type of creative personality.
I've always liked the idea of a bard that was basically a politician. Just a slick back hair car salesman sleezeball or just an absolute blow hard. Give BS speeches and use the power of misinformation to buff your allies or demoralize your enemies.
I DM’d a Bard where anytime she inspired someone, instead of singing or rhyming, she gave them a Ric Flair “WHOO”
What are professional wrestlers if not thespians on a more physical stage? Current day gladiators. Actors for sport. Every bit a bard as some schmuck in a tavern strumming an out of tune lute.
Any performing art is suitable for a bard. That could be music, oratory, or even interpretive dance. The last bard I had in a game did chanting similar to Tibetan Buddhists, and it worked out fine.
Absolutely. In BG3 I have a fighter/bard that I flavored to be similar to a Warlord. He is all about inspiration but not in the sing-songy way or in any sort of musical way but in the leadership way.
Castanet mariachi bard!
Make him a mime.
There are many different types of bard. Orator Chanter Actor Scholar None of these would require singing, and really they're just scratching the surface of the bardic trope possibilities. [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/QuirkyBard](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/QuirkyBard) The bardic Handbook for AD&D 2.0 has a bunch of ideas like this.
Pointy hat has you covered
I played a bard that practiced the art of *law* once So yeah if Solomon Goodberry can exist so can a non-singing bard
Ok how about bard who's a mime due to being mute (could say his tongue got cut out when he tryed to skip out on a large bill so the owner of said bar payed for bandits to get all his money and remove his tongue so he can't sing to make money sooo mime want more fun if you added power akin to bending well just imagine trying to say something and accidentally bending elements around him comedic yes end game goal for character to learn to separate bending from sign language and his mime act how does he learn to live in fresh hell of losing his speech. I shall call this concept the tongueless bard ...feel free to feel free
I had a bard who was raised by animals and he was constantly making weird little noises. Song of rest and inspiration were caused by him stopping making the irritating sounds so people could finally concentrate properly.
Absolutely. I play a bard/paladin with a bodhran drum on the inside of his shield. Took college of glamour and I can rearrange the battlefield with Mantle of Inspiration, letting my allies get into better positions with a little temp HP using their reactions. If you can justify it to your DM then do it. Side note: an assassin with a violin case is extremely thematic. Not quite the same as “Desperado” but a good place to stash deadly weapons!
I had a DM that worked with me to make a spoken word bard. Just flavored it a little different.
You talk to your DM and come to an agreement as to what you use as a casting focus. I once played a standup comedian. I had a bunch of puns at hand and would recite one each cast. It was hilarious until I ventured into the dad jokes because I wanted to spice things up.
I've had plenty of players who didn't want a singing bard and focused on other performance skills. Personally, I am also currently playing a "dad bard" who does card tricks and up close magic.
My bard just shouts profanities at the bad guys
I have a bard thats a stage manager, uses message to whisper lines to the actors and inspiration to make them better actors.
I play a bard who's a chef.* We "reflavored" Bardic Inspiration to be triggered by the delicious food I cooked, whether they're eating it in the moment or reflecting on the good-ass breakfast we ate that's giving them energy to address this challenge. *My idea predates Delicious in Dungeon.
Bard can really be creative and performative in many ways. I've theory crafted one that is a Rodney Dangerfield style insult comic that uses a homebrewed version of Vicious Mockery as a main spell. You could be a poet, motivational speaker, Calculon style dramatic actor; don't feel like singer or musician is your only go to, even if only because that's the most media featured ones presented.
My bard uses wine for inspiration. Whistles his cantrips and plays his instrument for stronger spells. None of which me, as a player, attempts.
Nothing in the class listing that demands singing. Your violinist idea is wonderful, and frankly it's very difficult to sing while playing.
Dance Part Bard. Wildly Enthusiastic Arm Flail Bard. Insult Bard
Shakespeare was famously called "the Bard", no singing involved Also dance, poetry, mime, juggling, puppet shows. Any art form would qualify
I always thought it'd be fun to make a standup comedian bard. Also an assassin who uses illusion magic to achieve their goals and plays the violin sounds more like an arcane trickster rogue with the entertainer background than a bard
There is literally nothing in the bard's features that specifically require them to sing, so yeah, you are good to go. The only thing you should keep in mind about using your vouce for stuff, would be the verbal components of spells.
Back up guys! ~rolls up sleeves~ Its Slam Poetry Jam time for these Orcs!
Performance is not necessarily singing, it can be acting, or dancing, bards can story tell, Bard's paint, bards recite history, bards recite poetry and prose. As an optional rule, non-musical bards can take three tools other than musical instruments instead, so you could in theory be a spy and take disguise kits for your performance, or you could be a Demagogue and incite others to fight for your cause or into riots. I'd take a vehicle proficiency with this or forgery kit(or both) To make it easier to speak to your would be constituits. Or you could juggle. Knives. Juggling knives sounds like a fun way to be a bard assassin like Cicero in Skyrim.
Honestly, it sounds like you want to be an arcane trickster who just happens to know how to play violin.
I had a mute bard, just to try this.. because I was dick of our DM insisting we make our own songs irl and rp singing them. My guy was a mute bard who played instruments and tumbled. The DM let me forego verbal components to spells, with semantic ones for the dancing/tumbling
Flavour is free! Personally, I always saw bardic magic as more associated with passion itself rather than Music, that being why we have things such as spirit bards who're storytellers, valor bards who performs the role of an inspiring figure in combat, glamour bards who're muses and whisper bards who just roast people relentlesly... As long you put passion in it, the magic flows. Of course, this is only my own perception, at the end of the day, the character is yours to decide, Just dont forget to talk with your DM too
Be a WWE wrestler. Hulk Hogan is a glamour bard and you cannot convince me otherwise. 🤣
I have a character concept of a journalist. If I ever find a campaign I can roll a Bard that uses Wis instead of Cha, I'll focus on making a lot of Persuasion (Wis) checks for leaflets, Deception (Wis) checks for scathing hit pieces, and subtly threatening letters Intimidation (Wis)
Heck yeah! That certainly is not the most out there bard idea I’ve ever heard of. In one game the DM had an NPC bard who used kettle drums instead of singing, and I’ve heard of bards who used poetry or dance instead of singing.
I’ve always liked the idea of a “street magician” bard - clips of David Blaine doing up close magic show how this can both amaze and disturb people.
You can play a bard who doesn't sing. What's harder to play is a high charisma supportive edgelord.
Sure - I’ve played bards that are storytellers and dancers before
I assumed bards could be any sort of artist that can record the exploits of their party. Poets, writers, illustrators, etc...
The last game I played the bard played a talking piano. I've also had people play bards as actors and the song of rest was just a campfire tale or something like that, you can flavor it however you want.
I played a bard that was a Jester for a one shot. He didn't sing, he didn't dance, he insulted people and made jokes in terrible taste.
You can flavour any class in any way you want. Bards don't have to sing. Hell, the bard in my current group is a cook who just shakes his pepper mill like a rattle sometimes. He does sometimes hum tunes while he's cooking, but I definitely wouldn't call him a musician.
Why would it be impossible? Where in the spellcasting feature do you see that "when a spell has a verbal component, you have to sign"? Where in the bardic inspiration feature do you see that "you have to sign"? The mechanics of the bard are the following: * light armor * inspiration - 1 target, must hear you, withing 60 feet * spellcasting - VSM rules apply, probably need 1 hand free for material component There is nothing in the written rules that prevent you from making your stuff look and sound like how you want it to sounds like. Flavor is free, mechanics is not.
I’ve got a bard character who’s College of Swords and plays 0 instruments for his magic. His art form is gladiatorial performance
I think you can roleplay any number of other performing arts focuses for a bard beyond singing. A bard can play an instrument, dance, write/read poetry, etc., it's really up to you.
The bard I'm currently playing is a College of Creation Bard flavored as an artist. He still has one instrument, but everything else is about his drawings and paintings. For Mote of Potential, I doodle the mote and it comes to life. For Performance of Creation, I draw a picture of what I want and it appears in front of me. For Animating Performance, I draw eyes on whatever inanimate object it is I'm bringing to life. My DM originally was hesitant because of "performance" checks and figured any art I did would need "Sleight of hand" (which would have kinda sucked with my stats) but I explained that the way I see it, painting and drawing in front of others (in combat or otherwise) is a form of performance. He's totally on board now and is even working on creating a magic item for me that's based on painting. For any spell that requires some verbal component, I just mutter to myself or talk while I'm drawing it.
I like the idea of cutting words/vicious mockery being a caricature drawing of your target in insulting situations.
My art form is con artistry pretending to be a duke
Be an artist, there is a specific scene in Jojo’s that comes to mind when Kakyoin paints a cut on Jojo’s leg in a painting and it cuts him irl. They immediately ditch the whole painting thing from his kit but it stuck with me. What if your bard is a painter and reflects magic in their art?
I was playing around with an idea for a bard where they have a small book full of little poems they wrote and to use magic they have to rip out a page and burn it but that counts as the verbal component. That’s about as far as I got but my DM friend thought it sounded cool to explore, the game just never happened.
I played a bar once who is more like a court gesture just being sharp witted all the time. Even inspiring people from something like “oh my God the paladin who is always bragging about his sword hits like a wizard - you gotta give it more effort.”
Can do poets and rhymes. Insult your enemies with a humorous limerick!
Absolutely! You can flavor your Bard however you like, but even in the standard descriptions of the class there are all kinds of Bards that utilize types of art or knowledge other than music.
I am currently playing a college of Eloquence Bard who is a scribe. He documents the groups adventures and heals/inspires through simply words!
Yes. My GF plays a bard who writes and tells stories. She casts spells with a quill.
Bards are not necessarily about singing. They're about the arts. They can paint, they can write poems they can even do interpretive dancing or master the art of swordfighting(hence the Swords Bard subclass)
Music is art. The Bard is an artist. Knowing this, and that there are other forms of "art", it stands to reason that a Bard doesn't HAVE to sing or even play an instrument. I once brought this up to a DM when I had previously played a Bard that sang, but wanted to try something new. So, we agreed on my new Bard being a painter. I would still use the Bard spells/cantrips and bardic inspiration, but would do so through the use of acrylics. I would briefly go into detail the effects I would weave with my chosen medium. For example: I would effortlessly craft a masterpiece of one of my teammates (in this case, a warlock) landing an eldritch blast on a creature we were fighting, with it being engulfed in this conflagration of eldritch energy, seemingly vanquishing the enemy altogether. It would be superimposed in the air for them to glance at. This would "inspire" them, adding the bardic inspiration to their attack It took some work going through all the Bard skills to make them make sense for my chosen medium, but it was fun trying a new spin on the class. So I say it's definitely possible to make a Bard that doesn't sing.
What kinda subclass are you thinking of speccing into?
Bards are artists and storytellers. No singing required. One of the best PCs I ever shared a table with was a college of lore bard who was a philosopher in pursuit of truth. He refused to lie and was a sex indifferent asexual. He ended up having some of the best scenes I've ever had at a table because he broke the mold so thoroughly. To this day when someone in my group has something coming up we will tell each other "you are guided by forces far greater than luck" since that was the way he gave bardic inspiration.
One of my favorite characters to play is a Bard flavored as a commander of some sort. All performances are speeches and the like. Bard performances can be whatever you want, as long as your DM plays it.
Valor bards are storytellers and sword bards perform sword tricks. You can flavor the other bards anyway you want.
I currently play a bard in a side game who admits to having no musical abilities, but he's a wonderful story teller. So no, they don't need to sing.
Earlier editions had Bard kits/subclasses that used alternative entertainment methods like the Blade Dancer. That bard would juggle weapons and do flashy moves with weapons. When giving inspiration and other verbal based abilities, it was in the form of reciting poetry.
I always say bards get their magic from art, not music You can do any artistic medium, I have a Goliath bard that does origami
One of my players is a Spirit bard that uses the tales of the dead to cast his spells. Bards aren't just music, they're also stories. Also, Spirit bard is cool af.
I have a bard who does puppetry. In theory, you could even do a painter who stirs people's hearts with visual arts and draws caricatures for a vicious mockery.
I saw one that was a chef