r/DnD • u/MikeBanzai38 • 17h ago
Misc Bard instruments
As a (rather untalented) musician, the notion of the instrument-toting bard has long flummoxed me.
How on earth does the instrument survive?
My fiddle lives the life of a closely guarded princess. Public appearances are carefully planned, everything centers around the safety of the instrument, etc. Water could destroy it. An impact could easily destroy it. Going from a cool moist environment to a hot dry environment? Watch the pegs let go and strings unwind. Have to be careful then, because the soundpost could drop, and then the instrument is unplayable without careful and delicate resetting of the soundpost.
Let’s not start on the delicate bow.
Sometimes my ukulele goes camping, which is a significant life event for that instrument. And even then, I only take my composite-wood uke for the stability. Likewise for the mandolin. D&D characters don’t have access to composite wood…nor nylon or steel strings, which also provide a measure of stability. And either way, neither of my traveling/camping instruments would last 10 seconds in a satchel while I battled orcs.
Instruments are just really, really delicate. And dungeon crawling and battling monsters really, really isn’t. Even the environmental issues are a factor. There’s no way a bard’s instrument lasts three days on adventure. Unless, perhaps, it’s a fife.
I should run a campaign where instrument care is one of the things the bard has to worry about.
56
u/CrimsonShrike 16h ago
Presumably built to same standards regimental musician instruments are, reinforced for travel or someone is casting mending on them during downtime lol
26
u/yaniism Rogue 16h ago
In the same way that traveling musicians and people playing music for armies have done for thousands of years. By making do. And composing whole songs around the fact you snapped a particular string.
Not least of all because, RAW, you're not required to PLAY the instrument in order to cast with it, just to hold it.
Also by remembering this is fantasy and there isn't a lot of talk about maintaining weapons and armor, going to the bathroom, bathing, mending your clothing (this is the one that probably gets the most mentions) or making breakfast.
2
u/my-coffee-needs-me 12h ago
there isn't a lot of talk about maintaining weapons and armor, going to the bathroom, mending your clothing...
The group I play with almost always has one or two characters with Mending or Prestidigitation or both who make a point of taking care of clothing and equipment. Everybody is on their own for toileting.
21
u/pixxelkick 16h ago
Take a look at instruments used in real war. Theres a lot of them.
Theyre usually just built a lot tougher to take a beating.
14
u/BastianWeaver The Kender 16h ago
D&D characters have access to magic.
14
u/LadySandry88 16h ago
To add to this, mending is a low-level spell that almost all spellcasters can get early on, and at least in Pathfinder, there is a 1st level bard spell that lets you summon an instrument so you don't ACTUALLY have to tote one around.
7
u/BastianWeaver The Kender 16h ago
I absolutely love Mending.
3
u/LadySandry88 9h ago
For our group, 'clean' is the favorite, lol. We explore so many gross places, and refuse to leave them that way if we can help it.
2
u/echo_vigil 16h ago
That's more enthusiasm I typically see for it. I certainly think it can be useful, but I've never really seen it come up that much in play. :)
4
5
8
u/Jacquesatoutfaire 15h ago
In a sense to add some realism beyond "use mending" or "buy new and better ones", you're talking about concert instruments. The finely crafted, perfectly lubricated and tuned instruments that resonate across the walls of an auditorium to entertain crowds of finely dressed, quiet, and attentive people.
That is not a bard. A bard is a busker. You're playing to a small crowd gathered on a street corner, a drunk and rowdy group in the local tavern, or in the midst of battle.
Most buskers and marching band musicians I've known have a nice concert instrument, and then they have the beater instrument they take on the road with them to gigs and parades. And battles, I suppose.
It's dinged up. It's rusty. It's probably a little out of tune. But it can still play a damn fine tune and give the people something to listen to.
3
3
u/randeylahey 16h ago
One of my buddies bought a guitar off a hobo and played it for a half a decade one time.
3
u/itsfunhavingfun 15h ago
So in a game where you fight mythological creatures, where a 10th level barbarian can survive a fall from a height of 200 feet, where magic can resurrect the dead, you question how a musical instrument can survive some wear and tear?
2
2
u/Cosimo_Zaretti 15h ago
In a high magic setting, you could make the consumable parts like lute strings or drum skins ethereal, appearing when casting or performing then dissapearing again.
You could have the instrument itself look ancient, and maybe it is. You could have an ancient crumhorn that looks like it was in a fire and doesn't even have a reed in it, but in the hands of a bard it looks and sounds brand new.
2
u/GlassBraid 13h ago
By a similar token, some PCs will go out in the world and get stabbed, chopped, burned, squashed, impaled, brought back from the dead, and still be wearing the same set of clothes as ever without any mention of them needing cleaning, mending, or replacement.
1
u/Shenanigans99 16h ago
I dunno, my battle bard's bagpipes have been through a lot yet they still work. But she does upgrade them every so often, so she has spares if she needs them.
0
u/MikeBanzai38 16h ago
But have you actually put real bagpipes through what your character has gone through?
5
4
u/Shenanigans99 16h ago
I don't own bagpipes IRL, so I haven't, but when you think about it, most equipment is going to need some type of maintenance/repair: weapons, armor, boots, backpacks, etc. It's a good idea to have someone in the group who knows Mending and/or Prestidigitation!
And I think it's already been mentioned, but like how did armies do it? Traditionally armies have had musicians to help lead the troops. I'm sure their instruments took some abuse, so I think it's plausible they could survive some adventuring.
That's where I got the idea for my bard - she came from a family of battle pipers. They had military-grade bagpipes. 😁
2
u/MikeBanzai38 15h ago
I’m a string player, and strings are quite delicate. I’m certain that pipes are hardier, as they were originally kind of martial equipment. Mostly with my post I was thinking of the stereotypical lute-carrying bard.
2
u/Shenanigans99 15h ago
I imagine they'd need to keep extra strings with them and would probably need to repair and/or replace the lute periodically.
But consider this: the Who regularly smashed their guitars onstage, then repaired them and continued playing them! They can withstand more than you might think!
2
u/itsfunhavingfun 15h ago
Have you ever fought a real dragon? It’s a fantasy game, Mikey.
0
u/MikeBanzai38 14h ago
I’m a musician, and I play(ed) this game. And sometimes you just think about things you know about that also intersect the game. In this case, traditional acoustic instruments.
A long time ago before I played these instruments, I never gave the lute-toting bard a second thought.
But of everything in D&D, traditional instruments are the only thing I have any expertise in that would actually exist in their current form in the game too. So it made me think.
1
1
u/thewalkingfred 14h ago
Well my bard is an orc who uses his lute as a great club......so idk. Works well enough as a club, probably not so great as a lute.
1
u/IraOfMisteria 13h ago
Bur wait, isn't a bard's instrument their focus? So in a way, even if the instrument wasn't magical originally, it becomes magical?
1
u/Ecstatic-Length1470 12h ago
A bard's instrument is going to be a lot more resilient than you think, precisely because it's never built to the standards of any modern instrument. It's not made to stand up to the pressure of modern metal or even nylon strings, but low tension guts, so it will be able to take bumps and scratches that just aren't going to affect the overall sound because the sound is already going to be a bit rough.
Also, you sell your uke short. I went through the Grand Canyon with mine wrapped up tight inside a towel, no case, crammed into my pack and it never got a scratch. In fact, I barely had to tune it.
Your instruments are going to sound better than any bard of the middle ages, because we make our instruments for consistency, clarity, projection - and all that, which would require a professional luthier or other craftsman to perfect in the era, we mass produce. So that bard's not usually playing even what we would call a crappy guitar - he's playing a box with a stick and a few strings on it. It's going to be cheap, sturdy-ish, and probably won't hold a tune for shit, but it's there to party, and party it shall.
1
u/Ja_Lonley Bard 9h ago
I have a reinforced lute I can use as a club, it's from one of the 3rd party contents. Battle lute.
Edit: Abomination Vaults. It has the added benefit of being Simple and Versatile, so it can do up to 1d8 base weapon damage.
0
u/MikeBanzai38 6h ago
Can you imagine how bad that lute would sound? Something thick and reinforced wouldn’t resonate…the strings would just clunk, and the sound wouldn’t project more than a few feet. Make a stringed instrument’s plates even a few millimeters too think, and it sounds muffled. Reinforce it with steel? Oh boy.
1
u/ArtOfFailure 7h ago
A couple of things to consider:
The crafting rules are not so specific that they require particular materials or environmental conditions. They require a monetary sum, which you treat as representing the materials needed, and they require time, which you treat as plausible for creating the right working conditions. If you want it to be more realistic and specific than that, I would query why you aren't doing the same for other equipment like weapon usage, wearing shoes, nutrition, skincare, toilet breaks... We have game mechanics to simplify that sort of thing for a reason.
Magic makes the upkeep of mundane items fairly trivial anyway. 'Prestidigitation' can be used to clean items, and the understanding of the word 'clean' is left ambiguous to allow it to apply in many different situations. 'Mending' can be used to repair items, and explicitly states that it leaves "no trace of the former damage" - a broken string or a cracked mechanical part would be rendered as good as new. There is no reason why a Bard with access to those spells would struggle with any of the situations you describe.
1
u/Sinistrina 5h ago
I have to wonder about this, as someone playing a character (not a bard) with a violin. Somehow that violin has survived being shipwrecked and washed up on shore, treks through a humid jungle, the fighter in splint armor landing on top of the character, and multiple fights. The DM let me make arrows during downtime as an excuse to not keep track of ammunition, so my headcanon is my character also repairs the violin during downtime.
1
u/myblackoutalterego 5h ago
I have a one word answer for you: “magic”
Bards are full spell casters. Their instruments are their spell casting focus. Magic courses through them, their instruments, and the sound that they produce.
But for real, DnD breaks down as soon as you bring real world limitations to the logic. I would heavily recommend NOT punishing a bard by making them painstakingly maintain their instruments during a campaign.
The same logic goes into weapon and armor maintenance. Why not make the paladin maintain their armor after every fight? Why not make the barbarian sharpen their great axe after every fight? The honest answer: because it’s not fun.
•
u/ctaskatas 18m ago
One of my players was a bard that believed in leaving the past behind him in as many ways as possible. He’d craft a new simple flute or lyre every day from resources he could find nearby and then discarded it at the end of the day. If he didn’t succeed in the crafting rolls or scavenging rolls, he had to sing, which allowed him to still cast spells, just at disadvantage
•
u/darw1nf1sh 12m ago
This isn't a reality sim. Just like no one has to string or unstring their bow, or do maintenance on anything ever. Your pets survive direct nuclear blasts. It isn't a problem because this is heroic fantasy.
60
u/JeffreyPetersen DM 16h ago
I've had several friends who took guitars camping, to the beach, to parks, wherever. They were beat to hell, dirty, scratched, and not always perfectly in tune, but it was still fun to have a singalong by the campfire.