The Book of Familiars - Bard question(s)

[rom90125]

In Chapter 4 - The Bard's Familiar, under the heading Of Summoning and Songs on page 59 of this tome, it states:

Each of these songs is considered to be a spell-like ability and counts against the bard’s number of bardic songs she can use per day as described in the Castles & Crusades Players Handbook on the day that she performs the song.

I feel really ignorant for asking this but what does the phrase "bard's number of bardic songs she can cast per day as described in the Castles & Crusades Players Handbook" mean? I've read and reread the entry for the Bard class in the PHB and I can not find any description for the number of bardic songs that can be used by a bard in a day. Am I missing something or is this text carryover from an earlier version of the PHB or other source?

[Omote]

There is no such thing as Bardic Songs in the C&C game. That was an unfortunate mistake that TLG never edited out of the otherwise brilliant Book of Familiars. To correct that, you are going to have to limit the ability to a number of times per day, probably based on your own best instincts. Since the C&C Bard doesn't have a daily use of a Bardic Song ability, I would suggest using the d20/3E equivalent, but reduce the number of uses by 1 (to a minimum of 1).

~O

[rom90125]

There is no such thing as Bardic Songs in the C&C game. That was an unfortunate mistake that TLG never edited out of the otherwise brilliant Book of Familiars. To correct that, you are going to have to limit the ability to a number of times per day, probably based on your own best instincts. Since the C&C Bard doesn't have a daily use of a Bardic Song ability, I would suggest using the d20/3E equivalent, but reduce the number of uses by 1 (to a minimum of 1).

~O

Thank you sir, for confirming my suspicions about this text and also for the sound advice on how to adjudicate a solution!

[Rigon]

I'd just go with the same number of times a bard can use their charm ability. That seems to me to be a song ability.

R-

[Go0gleplex]

As Omote says, no such thing. But this can be an opportunity too.

To reference one of my favored anime the bards, or dantists as they are called, are able to summon spirits with especially pure music and forge contracts. Much like with a familiar. That said, you could approach this by using the Bard's fascinate ability as a base. Make notes of what potential familiars are in an area and let the music flow with saves and checks across the board. Another aspect of the anime dantists is that they can strengthen and heal their spirits with their music, but that's probably a different topic. (I don't have my books in front of me at the moment, so consider this conceptual. )

[rom90125]

I'd just go with the same number of times a bard can use their charm ability. That seems to me to be a song ability.

R-

Nice!

[Snoring Rock]

Another unfortunate D20/3e edit miss. D'oh!

And that just makes me want to grab a torch, a pitchfork and some friends and march to Arkansas.

[rom90125]

Another unfortunate D20/3e edit miss. D'oh!

And that just makes me want to grab a torch, a pitchfork and some friends and march to Arkansas.

I admit I am disappointed. Misspelled or missing words are easier to accept, given the public struggles TLG has had in the past with editing. However, The Book Of Familiars has five editors listed as having worked on this tome. Five! And yet, such a glaring error slipped through to the printed copy. Hell, the text in question even referred to a non-existing table in the PHB. How hard would have been to open a copy of the PHB and confirm the existence of the referenced table? Smh. Amateur, at best.

[Omote]

Out of all of TLG's book, this one infuriated me the most. That being said, I have already used the familiars for bards on a few occasions and now the familiars for paladins. Really, despite a some improperly worded rules, the ideas presented in this book alone are worth the price. I now have 3 characters that have familiars as are presented in the BOF. I'm the CK, and instead of the PCs doing all the "familiar building," I'm taking on most of that role to keep the stories moving. It's worked out pretty awesome. Despite some of the problems, and my unnecessary furious rant at the time of this book's release, it really is a totally unique and inspiring source for my games.

~O

[Captain_K]

Tangent to this string, how do you work familiars? Animal "slaves", second PC for the player, NPC for the CK?

[rom90125]

Omote, thanks for this additional post. You are rightfully respected 'round these parts and I'm encouraged to read that you find BoF to be a valuable resource. Faith (somewhat restored).

[rom90125]

Cap'n, we treat them as second PC for the players. I like Omote's comment that he (CK) takes on the role of 'familiar building'. I think I will look into that more...

[Snoring Rock]

Infuriated is the correct word. I was too. But the game content in the book is fantastic. As much as I hate finding these things, and I continue to (found a serious 3e-ism Friday during a game in BoF) find them, the ideas and execution are still balanced and work. I love the Book of Familiars!