xanathars guide to everything

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