From the lore wiki:



This is a great bit of existent lore to (possibly) immerse the player in! :celebration:

The trailer has already demonstrated an NPC playing a lyre-like instrument, so I'm confident that the bard college mentioned in the wiki quote is going to be in the game in some way, shape, or form. However, will the player be able to attend this college? Will it be a faction, even? There'd be every opportunity to travel around Skyrim in a bardic quest line; it's not like 'Go play for this noble!' requires much setup. :biggrin: What are our chances at joining this college?

It's backed up by lore, and there's circumstantial evidence in the trailer (albeit very, very circumstantial). Unfortunately, I'm not very hopeful regarding a Bard faction. But I'll take what I can get! I'd like to think instrumental skill will be implemented as a craft, at the very least. What do you think? Will it happen? Is it probably in already? Probably not?

_{Instruments were brought up recently, but bards haven't been brought up for almost two months, and I wasn't sure if I should necro a thread that old. :confused: Close this if necessary, please?}

Sounfd good, but remember many people in this forum wil be like: "No. It's dumb because we don't kill dragons with music Herp Derp. I am Dovakiin, not some musician herp derp. Slay dragon argghhh!"

I'm all for it though.

I think a faction for the Bards' College is very possible. At the very least, you can bet on some quests revolving around it.

If its not in vanilla I think it will soon get added by a mod

Love to have a Bard questline, said this in January, and had guys demanding to know from me how it would work ( "don't they like read poems and stuff" ), and what the quests would be like. Only possible answer was given, I am not a games writer, but if Beth could come up with a decent Guild/storyline, then I for one would be a very happy bunny.
TES is not all about combat and magic, there is always room for the smooth talking charmer/rogue type, and the Bard's College sounds like the ideal place to look for work.

If they actually made speechcraft and personality something that can stand on it's own fairly well I would be more than happy to have a bards guild.

i hope there is a bards guild, i have fond memory's playing the bards tale and i would love some interesting bard npc companions and quests

I can think of several decent and executable quest plots that fit along with a bard's skillsets:

- A man sold his instrument to a traveling peddler; you need to find the peddler, and then convince him to give/sell the instrument to you. Perhaps the instrument that the peddler gave you is fake, so you need to find him again and figure out what happened to it.

- A young bard student can't raise the money for tuition. The teacher sends you to make a personal plea to the child's parents for money, because the child is so gifted. Perhaps the parent doesn't see the value of their son/daughter becoming a bard, so you have to raise the child's courage enough to perform for their disapproving father.

- A wealthy estate is holding a party and has commissioned a bard for the evening. The guards, however, weren't informed of this fact -- so you need to coerce/bribe/talk your way trough several layers of guards to get to the party room.

- For a main plot arc, something a bit more elaborate, (Actually, I have a good idea and will keep it to myself in case I have to mod this in. :whistling: )

Upon running out of speechcraft-based quests, there's ways to make a typical quest bard themed:

- A wealthy estate is holding a party and has commissioned a bard for the evening. You find out, upon arrival, that the party has been canceled due to a spider infestation in the gardens. You must clear out a little dungeon. The lady of the house, however, is in hysterics, and you need to talk her down so the party can go on.

Whilst I am not of the oppinion "Dragons don't kill dragons herp derp" as stated by another member; I also don't see it is a viable quest line.

Play for this person, get paid, play for that person, get paid, busk, get paid. It would be very repetitve would it not? Though perhaps the bard college is the front for the thieves guild?

At any rate, if its included and tastefully done I would make my 2nd character a bard :thumbsup:

Nothing says a Bard can't slay a dragon anyway. The whole "Music" thing is just seen by short-sighted MMO sheep. And while a good bard certainly had a way with song, they were no stranger to bloodshed. A good bard keeps his blade as sharp as his/her tongue, so I'd personally love to see some recognition of the trade, it hasn't been since "A Bard's Tale" on PS2 that the trade has been shown as anything more than a party buffer, and usually botted at that!

one can only hope... i want *puppy eyes*

The burning of the king thing has already been confirmed to be in!

Cant remember the source. Was a magazine though.

I can't imagine its purpose, but yes. Things like this, that really had little to do with the game, would have really improved Oblivion.
Seriously, there was one bakery, and I couldn't even buy sweetrolls? How is that believable..?

I remember reading something about it on PCGamer, lemme see if I can't find the link --

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/02/08/skyrim-has-a-hand-crafted-world-with-no-two-areas-alike/ Well, maybe. I don't know if I trust their unnamed sources. But it gives me hope!

This.

Sounds good.

Because my character is not Dovakiin. Unless bravely filling your pants counts as dragon slaying. Maybe after a lot of jalapenos, but still don't think so.

I've always wanted to have a wandering player type character. Be nice if you had choices of instruments as well.

Giving some instrumends a calm aoe spell when played, and other instruments a rally aoe when played would allow minor combat viability if one wished to be a full blown bard and wish to live if you ever encounter a beast that wants to attack you, or if you need to get some npc's to not run away and protect you.

Bards are not wimpy musicians who hang out in taverns getting drunk and playing for money. In fact, they are often assassins. By persuasion, trickery, bribery, deciet, and stealth they can make their way into even the most heavily guarded areas to take out a target. I think that a bardic college would be a great addition to the game, mabye acting as a branch of the theives (less likely the assassins) guild. Besides, I think a bard who can evade enemies will last much longer than some crazed and druken barbarian running at 8 enemies without a short and an axe to heavy for him to carry.

Im a bard when I start playing. Always.

Thieves guild was mentioned twice in here; but I think bards are more suited to spycraft than thievery? Maybe it's a network of spies? :hubbahubba:

Then again, lore says that all the bard students are rowdy frat partiers. Might be too much to ask of them. :tongue:

A spy network is good as well. I still like the idea of it being linked to the thieves guild or the dark brotherhood.