Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General How will bards work on BG3 ?

So, how will bards work in BG3 ? How do they work in D&D5 ?
In BG1 it was a pain to play, you could chant or play the character in combat. As the song last till end of turn, you could activate it as first action then deactivate it for second action (if you have one). It was useless micromanagement.

Tyranny made something great with Sirin, what will larian do with BG3 ?

We know almost nothing about the classes in BG3 (and in general very few about the game) but I can tell you about bards in D&D 5e. They are very different from the ones in 2e(used in bg series). I`ll try to be brief.

The Bard is one of the classes that evolved the most in D&D and d&D-based games. From a situationally useful dabbler mage with bonus lore, pickpocket and a (one) bard song they became something different: they evolved in a very specialized support class.
You have the songs gained per level, that affect all the party and offer bonuses, immunities, improved skills and saving throws, etc. Songs that you can now cast from a different pool from spells and some can be used as a reaction or bonus actions, like cutting words. You do not have to stand and play your song without doing nothing more. It is similar indeed to Sirin`songs or chanters in PoE but the songs´s buffs are not nearly as powerful as the ones in those games.

They are the only class that can give an "inspiration roll" that improves with level to a party member (There are very few options to get inspiration, mostly inspiration are given by the GM as a prize for good RP). Inspiration is a core mechanic of D&D, like advantage/disadvantage. It gives you a high one-time bonus to a roll of your choice (skill check, hit roll, saves, etc) and you can only have one at a time. But you can use it whenever you want.

Now the bards are not dabbler mages, they have their own spellbook that mixes divine, arcane and some unique spells. Mostly focused on support and debuff spells. You can note that now the bard uses charisma to cast spells, so they do not compete for the same equipment with most caster classes and charisma also improves a fair number of their signature skills, like "performance".

They retain the lore bonus and a varied set of skills (including using magic device, all persuasion skills, perform, knowledge, sneak and pickpocketing). They can cast with armor and still have the hit die (d6) of the rogue classes. In 5e all classes have the same base BAB, but warrior types get more APR. You have now the "jack of all trades" trademark officially: improves the use of all skills, even the ones that you are not proficient with.

Though a few levels in they can pick between two different specializations. The college of lore or the College of Swords. The latter is similar to the blade in BG2.
Xanathar's introduces a few more. College of Valor also gets a second attack at level 6 and some fighting´ prowess. The College of Whispers also could be used as a melee character although they are the deceptive/sneaky ones.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/classes/bard
https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/class/bard

All of this makes the bards the perfect class to support any party at any situation in most of the campaigns, in combat and out of it.
Overall a very fun and versatile class, at least for me.

Bards IMHO are one of these most power classes in 5e, full casters even.