This rocks! I grew up on 1e and BECMI.
Bards really became playable in 5e. The bard class you share above is somewhat similar to one that appeared in an issue of Dragon magazine in the early eighties. It was more feasible than the sequential version appearing in the original player’s handbook but took too much XP to level, and was thus a true “master of none.”
For me, nothing beat clerics in 1e (save possibly a magic-user with wish). They fought about as good as a fighter with the right magic items, had great armor, good saves, could heal (which was important then, unlike 5e), and were the spellcaster masters of priority target damage with save or die spells (or in the case of destruction, no save). Loved my cleric…
