C&C: the Minstrel class

This is a variation of the Bard class as it appears in the C&C Player's Handbook.  It is based not so much on the viking skald, but rather more on the traveling musicians of Irish and Welsh lore, as well as the British troubadour.  The Minstrel is less of a warrior than the Bard, and relies more on subtlety, as well as some magical ability.

There are many similarities between the two classes, as one might expect.  Charisma is, of course, the Prime Attribute for both classes, and the EPP chart is also the same.  The Minstrel is allowed the same armor and weapons as the Bard, and both classes may be of any alignment.  The Bard's special abilities (Decipher Script, Exalt, Legend Lore, Fascinate, and Exhort Greatness) are also shared by the Minstrel.

Being less of a straight-up fighter type, the Minstrel uses d6 for their Hit Dice (instead of d10), and their BtH progresses as per a Rogue.


Minstrels also have the Listen ability, as per the Rogue class (wearing metal or large helms negatively affect using this ability, of course).  They also have the Pick Pockets ability, to represent their ability with various sleight-of-hand tricks, but their bonus using this ability is only equal to half their level, round up (for example, a 7th level Minstrel would only get a +4 bonus to attempt this ability).  Because they are well traveled, and it is useful to be able to perform to a wide variety of audiences, Minstrels also get Bonus Languages: they get +1 language that they read and speak at 1st level, and they gain another language at 6th level, and another again at 11th level.  Also, they can use the ability modifier for CHR instead of INT to help determine the number of starting languages they speak, assuming that their CHR score is the higher of the two (which it probably is).

Last but certainly not least, Minstrels are also spellcasters.   They will never be the equal of equivalently trained Wizards or other spellcasting classes, but combined with their other abilities, they still get by pretty well for themselves.  The use of their spells (also known as 'songs of power') require the minstrel to play a musical instrument and sing while the spell is being cast; the singing and playing are the Verbal and Somatic components of the spell, while the instrument being played acts as the Focus.  The musical instrument/Focus replaces most Material components usually required by the spell, although Material components that are fairly expensive (100 GP or more) are still required.

Otherwise, Minstrels learn, prepare, and cast spells as other arcane spellcasters do.  They gain bonus spells for having a high INT score, in a manner similar to Wizards and Illusionists. They carry their own spellbooks (a.k.a. 'songbooks') for the purpose of preparing their daily spells.  Because the written notes for these spell include both magical and musical notations, any given song of power usually takes up twice as much space in the songbook as an equivalent spell in an arcane caster's spellbook.

Spells per day

Level              0     1     2     3     4     5     6
1                  1
2                  2     
3                  2     1
4                  3     1
5                  3     2     
6                  3     2     1
7                  3     3     1
8                  4     3     2     
9                  4     3     2     1
10                 4     3     3     1
11                 4     4     3     2     
12                 5     4     3     2     1
13                 5     4     3     3     1
14                 5     4     4     3     2    
15                 5     5     4     3     2     1
16                 5     5     4     3     3     1
17                 5     5     4     4     3     2     
18                 6     5     5     4     3     2     1
19                 6     5     5     4     3     3     1
20                 6     5     5     4     4     3     2 

0-LEVEL SPELLS
1. Comprehend Languages
2. Dancing Lights
3. Daze
4. Detect Magic
5. Ghost Sound
6. Influence
7. Message
8. Prestidigitation

1st-LEVEL SPELLS
1. Alarm
2. Animal Friendship
3. Charm Person
4. Hypnotism
5. Identify
6. Read Magic
7. Remove Fear
8. Sleep
9. Sound Blast
10. Ventriloquism

2nd-LEVEL SPELLS
1. Calm Animals
2. Command
3. Hypnotic Pattern
4. Misdirection
5. Scare
6. Shatter
7. Suggestion
8. Tongues

3rd-LEVEL SPELLS
1. Charm Monster
2. Dispel Magic
3. Emotion
4. Fear
5. Hold Person
6. Lesser Restoration
7. Remove Curse
8. Remove Paralysis

4th-LEVEL SPELLS
1. Dismissal
2. Dispel Illusion
3. Hold Monster
4. Legend Lore
5. Sending
6. Shout

5th-LEVEL SPELLS
1. Dream
2. Feeblemind
3. Mass Suggestion
4. Nightmare
5. Permanency
6. True Seeing

6th-LEVEL SPELLS
1. Awe
2. Geas
3. Insanity
4. Repulsion