xanathars guide to everything

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LEFT TO RIGHT. B11Ros OF THE COLLEGES OF G1.11MOUR, SwoRDS, 11ND WHISPERS

T he ways that a performance can go wrong ar e as
varied as the fish in the sea. No matter what sort of
disaster migh t occur, however, a bard has t he courage
and t he confidence to rebound from it- either pressing
on w ith the show (if possible) or promising to com e back
tomorrow with a new performa nce t hat's guaranteed
to please.


EMBARRASSMENTS
d6 Embarrassment
The time when your comedic song, " Big Tom's
Hijinks"-which, by the way, you thought was bril-
liant-did not go over well with Big Tom
2 The matinee performance when a circus's owlbear
got loose and terrorized the crowd
3 When your opening song was your enthusiastic
but universally hated rendition of "Song of the
Froghemoth"
4 The first and last public performance of"Mirt, Man
a bout Town"
5 The time on stage when your wig caught fire and
you th rew it down-which set fire to the stage
6 When you sat o n you r lute by mistake during the
final stanza of "Starlight Serenade"

A BARD'S MUSE


Natur ally, ever y bard has a repertoire of songs and sto-
ries. Some bards ar e generalists w ho can draw from
a wide range of topics for each performance, and w ho
take pride in their versatility. Others adopt a more per -
sonal approach to thei r a r t, driven by th eir attachment to

a muse- a p ar t icular concept t hat inspires much o f w hat
those bards do in front o f an audience.
A bard who follows a muse generally does so to gain a
d eeper understanding of w hat that muse represents and
how to best convey that understanding to other s throug h
per formance.
If your bard cha racter has a muse, i t could be one of
the three described here, or one o f your own devising.
Nature. You feel a kinship w ith the natural world, and
its beauty and mystery inspire you. For you , a tree is
deeply symbolic, i ts roots delving into t he dar k unknown
to draw forth t he power of the earth, while its branches
reach toward th e sun to nourish their flower s and
fruit. Nature is the ancient witness who has seen every
kingdom rise a nd fall, even those whose names have
been forgotten and wait to be rediscovered. The gods of
nature share their secrets with druids and sages, open-
ing t heir hearts and minds to new ways of seeing, and
as with those individuals, you find that your creativity
b lossoms while you wander in an open field of waving
grass or walk i~ si len t reverence through a gr ove o f an-
cien t oaks.
Love. You^ ar e on a quest to identify the essence o f
true love. Though you do not disdain the superficial
love of flesh and form, the deeper form of love that can
inspire thousands o r bring joy to o ne's every moment
is what you a r e i nterested in. Love o f this sort takes o n

many forms, and you can see its presence everyw here-


from the sparkling of a beautiful gem to t he song of a
simple fisher t hanking the sea for its bounty. You a r e
o n the trail of love, that most p recious and mysterious
of emotion s, a nd your sear ch fills your stories a nd your
songs with vita l ity and passion.

CHAPTER I I CHARACTER OPTIONS
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