This idea has been stewing for a long time. I've been disappointed with the lack of support for playing a real bard character in Skyrim (or any TES game, really). Speech isn't as useful a skill as in, say, Fallout, and in Skyrim we have fewer spell effects (such as Charm and Command) to play up the bard's strengths. Finally, while there is a Bard's College, it's a very short questline consisting almost entirely of dungeon crawls, like the rest of the game.

But lately I've been reading a lot of the Icelandic sagas, and stories about skalds in particular. Being a skald wasn't necessarily an occupation; it was a talent you had. Most of the skalds you read about in those sagas were warriors and adventurers, prowling for opportunity wherever it took them, whether that was leading a company of sea-raiders to distant shores or improvising verses for a powerful king.

Some skalds were also associated with a kind of magical prowess - they could read and carve healing runes, for example, and curse their enemies. A skald's insult was particularly to be avoided, and is often the subject of these stories.

So, "bard" may not be really well supported in Skyrim, but "warrior/adventurer with a knack for getting into trouble" certainly is!



I've put together some ideas and would love any feedback. This is something I'm planning on posting as a full 'build' in the Skyrim Blog eventually.

The build would be very strongly grounded in Icelandic/Scandinavian lore about skalds and magic-users, mixed with some fantasy elements (the Pathfinder RPG came out with a Skald class that has some very intriguing features I think would work well in Skyrim). Of course all of this would be cited in the build itself, so readers can go learn about the inspirations on their own.

So I'm thinking a Nord with the following equipment as a rough guess: War axe, hide shield, scaled (or other suitable light armor), scaled bracers & boots, possibly no helmet.

Illusion spells would work as a sort of 'singing curse'. In medieval lore, skalds/scops/bards were actually feared for their ability to satirize people they didn't like. It was the original trash-talking! And it probably had some perceived supernatural elements as well.

I'm not sure about other magic skills. Magic-users in Scandinavian folklore were, as I understand it, believed to have knowledge of the world beyond our own. Given that skalds may have participated in this knowledge (since they had to know all of the old stories and lore), I might inject a bit of primitive shamanism into my own build. The Conjure Werebear power, perhaps lycanthropy... dunno. I'm even considering the Ritual stone, but we'll see.

Shouts - a major feature of the build. Shouts are words made real - crucial to the Skald. I'd like to finally make some use of Battle Fury (not sure if it works on npcs raised by the Ritual Stone), but there's a ton of others that would fit, and they all are grounded in the power of the uttered word.

Scrolls are magic words scribed into parchment, or the hides of dead beasts - the Skald would collect and use these to great effect. He'd also probably collect lore-related books (as he needs to learn legends), and maybe even learn from any spell tomes he finds.

Speech would be a major perk investment. The aim is to get to Persuade ASAP, and talk his way through as many encounters as he can.

But skalds weren't just poets - many of them were actually adventurers and warriors who happened to have a talent with wordcraft. There are legends of historical skalds becoming famous soldiers and Vikings in their own right, and winning the ear of kings and princes across the northern world. So my Skald wouldn't shy away from a good fight; he's just as eager to bury his axe into an enemy's skull or to bash foes in the face with his shield as he is to compose a panegyric for some generous jarl.

Gifted weapons will probably be prioritized. I almost never end up using the Axe of Whiterun or the other weapons you're given as a reward for becoming thane, but the Skald would be happy to use them as a mark of his station and honor. So thane quests are high on the list, which gives the Skald a great reason to travel around and do quests, meet new people and possibly recruit some companions. Other quests of note would include the Bard's College, some of the interesting Daedric quests (such as Hermaeus Mora's), and visiting Solstheim and Apocrypha. The main quest is also a good goal, since Call of Valor is extremely fitting for a skald character.

Although not familiar with earth skalds, I am familiar with the various bard classes that were available in Baldur's Gate II. They were all 'rogues' in a manner, but varied among their four classes based on how much they emphasized thief skills vs combat skills. And skald was one of them. Your concept sounds quite a bit like one of those and would, I think, prove great fun to play. I basically don't like or use shouts, but this build is one where they seem very appropriate indeed.

Overall, sounds like a great idea!

Yes, I often avoid shouts on my playthroughs, or choose a very few shouts that fit a character concept. It will be fun to play a character that wants to use all of them for a change!

Also, I've never, ever used the Call of Valor shout except to see what it did. But it's very skaldic/bardy, I think. I might advance the Main Quest faster than normal and try to get it quickly this time.

I'm a bit unsure about one aspect - weapons. Originally I was planning to focus on One Handed weapons exclusively. But, man, I have a hard time resisting Greatswords! I've recently taken to carrying around a Two Hander as a fallback weapon... Not sure whether it will be a good idea to work up 2 melee weapon skills, although I have done it before.