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E'irawen · **04-16-2013, 03:27 AM**

So, one of the primary focuses on Ophelia that I've been trying to work with before actually putting her up on the wiki or RPing her too heavily, is that she is a songstress. But not 'just an entertainer' type.

I've been working with the concept that her singing and dancing is actually useful in the battle (preferablyÂ offensive, as I haven't heard anything about any..y'know. "Stat buffing" in RP, which is usually the role a songstress or bard seems to have in any game I've personally played).

Dancing as a sort of almost..fighting style (martial arts, so, pugilist, I guess?) seems easy enough. But I actually seem to be getting hung up on the singing bit. I've considered a heal-ing type thing, but as I already have a character who's literal entire purpose is that field, I didn't want to go with it. I wanted to kind of keep things different, yeah?

I had considered some sort of reverse-empath thing too. But then I realized, singing in itself causes people to feel emotions anyway so it just seemed a bit redundant.

So, I was hoping someone could help me along with this? What are some ways I could incorporate singing as an actual, offensive, battle-ready weapon of sorts?

I really do appreciate the help. I'm sorry for cluttering up things with another thread of questions.

Manari · **04-16-2013, 04:09 AM**

Well, bards are normally relegated to stat buffs in battle systems in the FF games, whereas dancers normally get the more offensive role. But if you really wanted to use singing as an attack, a few ideas come to mind, but I'm not really sure if this fits with the lore.

If you sing certain lyrics, perhaps it can translate into a type of offensive spell that could either work like Foe's Requiem from FFXI, or possibly just be your character's own personal method for conjuring up black magic spells. You could say the song basically works like a fire spell, but then use your own custom RP to flavor it to your songstress. Maybe her voice could sustain a spell that weakens or binds an enemy as long as she can sustain the proper note? It's just a few ideas that spring to mind.

I think the easiest thing to do that most other RPers would easily accept is to take things in the lore, like black magic, white magic or bard songs, and just customize them to your songstress. I hope that helped at least a little bit.

Moltove · **04-16-2013, 05:35 AM**

I would check out the abilities of Bards in other games. usually the name and description says it all, though sometimes it's just a song name. Then again, if you know the context of how their used, all the more better.

Offensively speaking, Bards have been an AoEish type class in such a regard, used to disorient and demoralize enemies. So more or less stat changes, but to an AoE effect. There's of course damaging spells, but it would be harder to convey. But you have to remember that Bardsong is like magic and magic can do /anything/. You may not be able to damage directly with bardsong, but you can torture an enemy with an ear-piercing song or noise, deafening them. If it's...say an Aria of Darkness or something, Blindness can work. You can calm/mesmerize...even charm enemies with song. OR be blunt and just the music surrounding them can cause them immense pain, as if a thousand widows sing a Dirge for their lost love,as though your lips are the ones directing and singing for them. Such strong sorrow can overload and cause physical pain to an enemy, making him writhe in pain and anguish, begging for the songs to stop.

On the other side, helping those around you is all about morality. Singing jaunts and epic verses get your groups morale high, and the bardsong can amplify that not only mentally but physically. A certain song could not only make their weapons swing more swift, but their feet may be just as swift as their blades, allowing them to travel fast.

I think the best part of playing a bard is the creativity that the RPer can actually put into it. Bardsong is so open-ended, YOU can create the song, the lyrics (if you so choose), the beat, rythm and most importantly, the effect such a song can have by those who hear it--or even those who are meant to hear it.

I would recommend Youtubing and Wiki-ing Bard abilities for Everquest 1/2, Vanguaard and whatever else game you can find. The full descriptions can show you an example of the effects along with name use, while Youtube can get you familiar with visuals and sounds if not more.

I also recommend finding a pocket music dictionary that has all musical terms defined. I have one from high school (and it's sorta old) that I wouldn't mind sending to you but...it would take forever and you'd probably find a free one online or a website with a lot of the terms defined.

Terms usually have Latin or Italian origins, though it certainly does not exclude any other Euro areas.

Also consider having a musical instrument. Your bard's voice can be the source of power, while the instrument can amplify it, and if you have many instruments that you carry (mandolin on the back, flute around the neck, hand drum on the belt) you can experiment with what effects they have on a song, or what power they draw out the best. Or perhaps if they even work at all with certain songs. Everquest 1 had many weapon varieties and you had to actually make macros in order to quickly switch between them in order to use them effectively, but I think they phased that out mostly.

Also, EQ1 also had Bards do fantastic things, like levitate (useful for traversing fast around big cliffs and hills--or finding ways to get stuck in the guild hall chandelier >.>). A downside was that a song lasted 4-10 seconds, and you either had to manually cycle through up to four songs continuously (until macros and /autoplay came about)

There's so much potential! The choice is ultimately yours to make, but I guarantee you can find something that can fit any character's archetype.

Oh yeah, there's the whole lore thing...Ehh, current Bards have offensiveÂ and defensive songs, so I would imagine you still get quite the freedom.

As far as instruments go...the relic weapon has a harp on it, if that's any indicator that perhaps an instrument can amplify the Bardsong, but it could very well be a decoration.

Unfortunately, SE declined the idea of making instruments I do believe, and the Bard in An End of an Era doesn't really sing, just raises her hand, sooo...

There's not much support for the actual Bard (as it's meant to be) in game, but...I guess that's where RP comes in. Just make it fair-- if an opposing character breaks an instrument, make it harder for your own to make song. Likewise, if she just sings, then find an eqivilant weakness that balances your character, and/or don't have really powerful spells.

Charming/Mezzing effects or anything paralytic seems like a touchy subject to RPers, and it seems no matter what OOC tensions rise between combatants. there's no doubt about it, so give heads up and agree on things in a OOC /tell to agree on how to fight in a fair way. But in all honestly, everyone's OP, especially magic types,Â and the more magic and creative you get the harder it is to balance things. I know that's not your main intention, but it's a heads up and a warning for just in case.

Arlon · **04-16-2013, 11:12 AM**

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU28QpwT3-0

6:04 to 6:08 and 8:00 to 8:08 shows a bard playing an instrument and I think that they said that's what they wanted to add to ARR since people were agitated that bards simply waved their hands instead of singing or playing.

As far as singing as an attack. You could use the enemies senses, distracting and disorienting them, as was mentioned. You could sing a lullaby, putting them to sleep, sing and create illusions, the air around them could become thin and cause them to have difficulty breathing(dot), blow their eardrums out and cause them to lose balance/senses, "notes" could be morphed into anything. One thing that comes to mind is that the notes shrink and stretch, becoming glowing threads that can bind or slice an enemy(requiem).

E'irawen · **04-16-2013, 02:10 PM**

Thank you. I really appreciate the ideas. I do kind of like the idea of a charming orÂ mesmerizingÂ thing (almost like a siren? hahah. it seems fun.), but as said, I don't know how touchy of a thing that would be for other RPers.

Thank you again. I really do appreciate it.

Moltove · **04-16-2013, 08:09 PM**

(04-16-2013, 11:12 AM)Arlon Wrote: 6:04 to 6:08 and 8:00 to 8:08 shows a bard playing an instrument and I think that they said that's what they wanted to add to ARR since people were agitated that bards simply waved their hands instead of singing or playing.

Ah, never noticed that. Hmm...They're not items (merely part of the animation, I'd wager), but I guess it's an improvement and certainly solidifies that there are plenty of instruments in Eorzea and Bards can and do utilize them, in a way.

Arlon · **04-20-2013, 11:42 AM**

Just a quick image reference for the notes, taken from the official FFXIV site:
[Image: FFXIVBard_zps38936f32.jpg]

How would you...

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes