Harcourt had given her an address on the surface to contact him at when the need arose, also offering to be an instructor for weapons dancer when she reached the prerequisite of five in dancing. Overall, fairly generous.

As she made her way back to the Bards College, Lucia reflected on the changes that were getting ready to come for her. Taking on the bard class would initially lower her health and mana points because instead of the 11 levels of rogue and 7 levels of fighter averaging out to level 9 for the calculation, the three classes would average out to level 6. Since her mana would now be computed by her higher charisma instead of her intelligence, that may not be such a loss of mana.

This was one of the main reasons that people didn’t multi-class more. Adding in just a few levels of a class might actually make a character weaker overall. Also was the time factor. It was estimated that a skilled player could achieve max level 20 in three to four months of dedicated work, but for many it took at least twice as long. At level 20 a character could receive an advanced race that was capable of traveling the other planes of existence for endgame content. Much of the endgame content was designed for multi-party or even armies, and in that framework, a level 20 fighter that took feats and skills of a tank, boosting strength, constitution and some dexterity, dump stating intelligence, wisdom, and charisma, would never lack for work, particularly if they had a pocket healer to go along with them. Also, some would argue that the best things that a level 20 wizard or sorcerer could do, would almost always be doing what a level 20 wizard or sorcerer was designed to do, even if they had another class at level 20. Lucia felt this was somewhat short sighted. It simply took a lot more skill to play a multi-class or advanced class, since the options increased greatly.

Advanced classes were available as a combination of any two basic classes, often with more than one option available, when both classes reached level 13. Lucia planned to take on the swashbuckler advanced class when rogue and fighter reached that point. Advanced classes took 50% more than a basic class to advance but that was still considerably less than continuing to level the two separate classes. She would no longer get any bonuses to leveling certain rogue skills like pickpocket or locksmith, and she would no longer continue to receive bonuses to leveling any taunt, two-handed or heavy armor skills from fighter. It didn’t mean that those skills could no longer advance, just that she would no longer receive the class bonuses to leveling those skills.

She didn’t know the time frame she would need to bring her bard skills up to snuff for her party. There were several methods for casting bard spells and that would impact their strength. Also, her cantrips would have a skill level. She would start with three cantrips and one first level spell. All others would need to be bought from the Bard College, magic store, or auction. She would get a new cantrip slot with every level and every other level she would get a new level of spell. In between those levels, she would receive an additional spell for each level she had already received a spell for. In other words, at level 20 she would have 20 cantrips, 10 level 1, 9 level 2, on down to 1 level 10 spell. One trick though was the cantrips would level just like skills, so they could end up being very powerful if they were frequently used. It made it tricky to pick the order, since those taken early in a bard’s career would naturally be the most powerful. Cantrips generally had a very low recast times, so they were appropriate to be used in every battle, while the other spells had recast times of 30 minutes to a day. Other spells that had a level didn’t have skill levels but could be made more powerful by taking them as an option at 2 levels above the initial spell level. A player could decide when they got a level 4 spell option to empower a level 2 spell they already possessed, and they would have no need to buy a new spell. As such it was very important as a spell caster to have future progressions planned. Lucia being Lucia already had it planned out for ultimate utility for her play style and aims.

Her first aim was to give her party the buffs, debuffs and crowd control that bards were known for. Beyond that, she wanted to be able augment the type of solo play she engaged in. Her first three cantrips would be a health regen, a haste and a charm. None of them would be worth much at level 1 but that wasn’t the point. Eventually they would be somewhat overpowered. In the next couple of levels, she would take a slow debuff, an attack bonus and a mana regen. That was about the total number of things that she could keep going in a standard battle so past that point she would start to add more things for herself.

For her first level spell she would take a single use heal spell. It was about the same power as the heal cantrip that clerics, healers, and druids got, and she could only reuse it once every half an hour. Still, it might save a player going down. She would likely boost it to 3rd and 5th levels eventually.

One thing about many classes was that class experience needed to climb levels didn’t come from the same kinds of activities that skills were built on. One of the best ways to gain in skill was to fight monsters in a hunting party. The party would choose a monster type that was a few levels beyond them and go out and grind for a few hours. Experience gains did come this way but at a glacial rate compared to quest experience. On the other hand, many quests actually only offered limited chances to grind skills for a party but offered great experience gains on completion. It made it so that some players were only skilled in a few specialized areas that they absolutely needed. That level 20 tank fighter might only be heavily skilled in a couple of weapons, heavy armor, taunting and shield and they could serve their need. Lucia had many skills that made her a premier damage dealer for her level and would now need to grind many more. Not exactly the most fun thing to do.

She was looking forward to solo bard quests a lot. They usually involved a large amount of role play.

Entering the Bard College, the same greeter was in the hallway ahead. “Welcome back! Welcome Back! I can see you were successful in your endeavor.”

“Uh…Thank you.” Lucia was surprised by the shift in the man who had given such a cold shoulder the first time around. “If you don’t mind me saying, you seem different this time around.”

“Thank you dear! I have little more to do in this post than to work on my acting skill,” explained the greeter. “By the way my name is Brandon, apprentice bard of the college.” That meant that he was somewhere in the 5-9 levels of bard.

“Good to meet you Brandon. Is this closer to how you normally act?”

“No darling, this is also a bit of a false face, but thank you for the question. I’m glad that it seems right!” Brandon seemed very excitable in this role. “Same room down the hall.”

Pausing outside the door Lucia set about straightening her clothes and trying to get some of the dirt of the mission off. In actuality she was activating one of her earrings that allowed her to hear three times as much.

Earring of hearing

Triple the strength of your hearing for up to five minutes.

Cooldown: 2hrs

“… we need to up our game at identifying agents of the Mergenian throne,” she heard Elcatrin saying. “There are forces that are driving the merchants and bankers even further apart than normal. We have known for some time that the Mergenians would like to expand their sphere of influence westward. If they do, we could be looking at outright annexation.”

“We know that Covren is in their pay, since he’s too stupid to mask his loyalties,” responded Matriam. “Are there any other members of the council that we know or suspect of being bought?”

“The Grandmaster has set out to determine that along with the other shadow council,” again from Elcatrin. Then again she doesn’t know if there are any shadow council members acting as agents either.”

Lucia felt that much more delaying in the hallway may be noticed by Brandon, so deactivating the earring she knocked on the door. “Come in,” said Elcatrin.

“… so, I had heard that he was less than decerning when came to bed mates but from what I understand, the female tiefling used her tail in a very interesting way,” said Matriam. Both she and Elcatrin broke down in laughter.

Milesmith was no longer with them and there were no signs that the two had just been doing anything except gossiping in a catty manner. Lucia wondered what their acting skill was at.

“Congratulations Lucia!” enthused Elcatrin. “We heard from the Rat King that you utterly beguiled him, completing our requirement to enter your career as a bard and become a member at novice level of the Bards College.” Both bards were standing and applauding.

Congratulations! You are now a Bard level 1

You have (2) free attribute points to spend

“As such,” continued Matriam, “We offer you your first three cantrips and one first level spell. From now on you will need to acquire them on your own. Do you know what your picks are yet, or will you need some time to look over your choices?”

“I know what I want. For cantrips it will be regen, haste and charm. For first level I want minor heal.”

You have learned the cantrip Regen

(skill level 1)

All party within (4) meter diameter

Regenerate (1) HP every (20s) for (5) minutes

(2) MP

Cast time (1) minute

Cast method: Unset

You have learned the cantrip Haste

(skill level 1)

All party within (4) meter diameter

Increase attack rate by (5)%

(2) MP

Cast Time (1) minute

Cast method: Unset

You have learned the cantrip Charm

(skill level 1)

All enemies within (3) meter diameter

(10) MP

Cast Time (5) seconds

Cast method: Unset

You have learned spell Minor Heal

Heal for 20 HP

Chosen target

(10) MP

Cooldown (5) minutes

Cast Time (5) seconds

Cast method: Unset

Elcatrin seemed to approve her choices. “In addition, you can receive two skills to cast with. I believe Harcourt already gifted you with dancing, so the initial skills you can choose from are singing, woodwind instrument, string instrument, percussion instrument, specialty instrument, storytelling and acting.”

“I’ll take woodwind and singing.”

Skill Learned

Woodwind Instrument

Increase the Diameter of spell (5)% per level

Can be used in downtime to earn 5-8cp per (hour) performing in public

Lvl. 1

Skill Learned

Singing

Increase the duration of spell (5)% per level

Can be used in downtime to earn 3-5cp per (hour) performing in public

Lvl. 1

Lucia pulled up the description of dancing to see it changed.

Skill Learned

Dancing

Decrease MP cost by (5)% per level

Can be used in downtime to earn 7-10cp per (hour) performing in public

Lvl. 1

“Can you tell me what the other skills do to the spells?”

“Absolutely, “replied Matriam. “Percussion enhances the effect of the spell, string instrument decreases the cast duration, specialist instruments have various effects, as do acting and storytelling which are mostly used with fairly advances spells. You can use more than one method as well such as dancing and woodwind or singing and string, but not woodwind and singing because you can’t do both at once.”

“Some high-level spells can require a complete performance.” Elcatrin had sat back down and had put their boots up on the table. They were looking very relaxed. Are you going to be in this realm much longer? I may know of an initial bard quest you could get some EXP with.”

“Actually, I must return to my own realm soon,” replied Lucia. “But if the invitation is still open when I return, I would be happy to take on some of your missions.”

“Excellent! I shall have something for you soon.” Elcatrin was already turning away in an obvious dismissal.