D&D: Four Bard Colleges in Pop Culture
Jack of all trades, master of none; bard is a great class to play if you want to be good at a little of everything and maybe also like to perform.
College of Valor
“Bards of the College of Valor are daring skalds whose tales keep alive the memory of the great heroes of the past, and thereby inspire a new generation of heroes. These bards gather in mead halls or around great bonfires to sing the deeds of the mighty, both past and present. They travel the land to witness great events firsthand and to ensure that the memory of those events doesn’t pass from the world. With their songs, they inspire others to reach the same heights of accomplishment as the heroes of old.”
Jaskier
Pretty much the bardiest bard to bard, Jaskier most definitely travels the world to tell the tales of great heroes. Or hero. Really it’s just the one hero. But he has those deeds locked down. Sure, sometimes he’s a little troublesome and doesn’t always provide Geralt with inspiration as much as irritation, but he makes his adventures known and gets that coin nonetheless.
College of Glamour
I almost picked the picture of her dressed as Dr. Clara Mandrake. You’re welcome.
“The College of Glamour is the home of bards who mastered their craft in the vibrant realm of the Feywild or under the tutelage of someone who dwelled there. Tutored by satyrs, eladrin, and other fey, these bards learn to use their magic to delight and captivate others.
The bards of this college are regarded with a mixture of awe and fear. Their performances are the stuff of legend. These bards are so eloquent that a speech or song that one of them performs can cause captors to release the bard unharmed and can lull a furious dragon into complacency. The same magic that allows them to quell beasts can also bend minds. Villainous bards of this college can leech off a community for weeks, abusing their magic to turn their hosts into thralls. Heroic bards of this college instead use this power to gladden the downtrodden and undermine oppressors.”
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Moira Rose
Feywild tutelage? Probably! Awe and fear? Check! Performances so eloquent as to be legendary? Yes! Okay, maybe Moira and all of her daytime soaps don’t actually check all of these boxes from our perspective as an audience, but within the world of Schitt’s Creek everyone regards her as a star. Moira is what happens when you commit to making a glamour bard, the dice always work against you, but you’re very funny so it’s sort of always okay somehow.
College of Whispers
“Most folk are happy to welcome a bard into their midst. Bards of the College of Whispers use this to their advantage. They appear to be like any other bard, sharing news, singing songs, and telling tales to the audiences they gather. In truth, the College of Whispers teaches its students that they are wolves among sheep. These bards use their knowledge and magic to uncover secrets and turn them against others through extortion and threats.
Many other bards hate the College of Whispers, viewing it as a parasite that uses the bards’ reputation to acquire wealth and power. For this reason, these bards rarely reveal their true nature unless they must. They typically claim to follow some other college, or keep their true nature secret in order to better infiltrate and exploit royal courts and other settings of power.”
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Varys
Perhaps the Master of Whispers fitting into this bard college is a little on the nose, but when the shoe fits. Uncovering secrets, weaponizing knowledge and sometimes being seen as parasitic are Varys to a fault. Even if it got him in trouble a few times, it’s also usually what got him back out. Usually.
College of Lore
“Bards of the College of Lore know something about most things, collecting bits of knowledge from sources as diverse as scholarly tomes and peasant tales. Whether singing folk ballads in taverns or elaborate compositions in royal courts, these bards use their gifts to hold audiences spellbound. When the applause dies down, the audience members might find themselves questioning everything they held to be true, from their faith in the priesthood of the local temple to their loyalty to the king.
Subscribe to our newsletter!Get Tabletop, RPG & Pop Culture news delivered directly to your inbox.By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.The loyalty of these bards lies in the pursuit of beauty and truth, not in fealty to a monarch or following the tenets of a deity. A noble who keeps such a bard as a herald or advisor knows that the bard would rather be honest than politic.
The college’s members gather in libraries and sometimes in actual colleges, complete with classrooms and dormitories, to share their lore with one another. They also meet at festivals or affairs of state, where they can expose corruption, unravel lies, and poke fun at self-important figures of authority.”
Alan-A-Dale
Many bard colleges feel like the singular quintennial bard until you really get down to their small differences. In this case the rooster minstrel from Robin Hood appears a few times to bear witness to important events and sing about them to the audience (us as kids) later. His first interests are whether people are being treated well again and telling the tale of Robin Hood and shows no issue with exposing corruption or poking fun at the prince.
Who is your favorite pop culture bard? What’s your bard college of choice? Which class would you like to see me pick characters for next? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Adventuring!
