Song & Silence
Wizards of the Coast have expanded upon the role of the various character classes in the 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons game with the publication of a series of "classbooks" that contain new prestige class options, organization ideas, feats, uses for skills, equipment, spells, tips, and other ideas. Song & Silence is the latest in this series of classbooks, addressing rogues and bards.
A First Look
Song & Silence has a format similar to the previous volumes in the series: it is a 96-page perfect-bound softcover book. The cover is predominantly brown with an appearance similar to the 3e D&D Player's Handbook. The front cover bears a picture of a thief and a bard raiding a tomb, while a shadowy figure armed with a knife lurks in the background.
The interior is black and white. David Roach and Wayne Reynolds are listed as the interior artists; however, most of the illustrations of individuals are by Roach, whose work I do not find nearly as crisp or evocative as Reynolds. The illustrations are generally pertinent to the section that they appear in. The graphical presentation of the book is generally good.
The text density is normal for a WotC accessory, which is somewhat better than most d20 publishers. The book is priced at $19.95 US for a 96-page book; this is normal for a WotC product of this size but slightly high for the industry. Combined with the production values and text density, however, it delivers a fairly decent value.
A Deeper Look
Song & Silence is organized into six chapters.
Chapter 1: Prestige Classes
The prestige class chapter introduces 10 new prestige classes. This is a somewhat light load of prestige classes in comparison to earlier books in the series. The prestige classes are:
- Dread Pirate: Fairly straightforward in concept, the dread pirate is an experienced and successful pirate. The dread pirate has a slightly reduced complement of skills (compared to a rogue) in exchange for a slightly increased combat ability and class abilities that allow him to maneuver better on ship and command a crew of unruly pirates.
- Dungeon Delver: The dungeon delver is a character specialized in overcoming the threats associated with the classical trap-laden underground dungeon.
- Fang of Lolth: This unusual class is the victim of a hideous ruse. The fang of Lolth is created when a rogue or bard attempts the Use Magic Device skill on a booby-trapped magic item made by followers of Lolth, the dark elf spider-goddess. As the character gains levels, she slowly becomes more spider-like.
- Outlaw of the Crimson Road: This class is meant to represent a legendary highwayman or bandit.
- Royal Explorer: The first class to go really off the beaten path, the royal explorer represents a character charged with charting and exploring unknown realms. Class features include the ability to interface better with new cultures and to operate and avoid getting lost in uncharted territory.
- Spymaster: This is, quite simply, a character with a penchant for uncovering secrets - a spy. Class abilities assist the character in establishing a cover identity and avoiding detection in a fantasy setting with all too many means of magical divination.
- Temple Raider of Olidammara: This character is a follower of a thief-deity who spends time divesting other faiths of their treasures. The temple raider's class abilities are fairly standard for a rogue, but the class has a reduced skill progression (compared to a rogue) in exchange for divine spellcasting abilities.
- Theif-Acrobat: This prestige class represents an accomplished cat-burglar type character. The class abilities allow the character to maneuver better and use his acrobatic skills. For some reason, the character is required to be a member of a thief's guild. Is there no such thing as an independent cat-burglar?
- Vigilante: The vigilante is a character who has a burning desire to "take a bite out of crime." This is your Batman or Punisher type figure. The vigilante has a decent skill allotment, and some fairly gratuitous spellcasting and spell-like class abilities.
- Virtuoso: The virtuoso is a heavily musically inclined spellcasting character. Primarily targeted at bards, the virtuoso receives full spellcasting advancement and some music-related spell-like abilities in exchange for combat abilities that are less impressive than a bard's.
As you can see, the selection of prestige classes strongly leans toward current members of the rogue class. I think that the book could have used a few more classes that appeal to either rogues or bards (perhaps classes chiefly concerned with social skills). Further, there should have been more than one class to expand the options of bard characters.
Yet the classes that are here do seem fairly playable. Some DMs may take issue with how easily spellcasting and spell-like abilities are handed out, but such classes may well be at home in other games.
Chapter 2: Skills and Feats
This chapter is actually quite large in comparison to similar sections in other books in the series. This may not surprise you, given that rogues are the primary skill users of the game. Thus, this chapter accommodates a lot more that is likely to be of direct concern to rogue and bard PCs.
The first matter the chapter covers is rules for the creation of poisons in the game. This task is represented by the Craft (poisonmaking) skill. I was somewhat surprised to see that Alchemy was not used in this billing; this was probably to make the vocation of poison making available to rogues as written. At the very least, I would expect Alchemy to provide a synergy bonus to Craft (poisonmaking).
The next section of the chapter is a system for making traps from scratch. The system provides a procedure for what is required to make a trap and tables describing the cost of various components of traps. The system is straightforward and provides for a broad variety of traps. Really, this system should have been in the Dungeon Master's Guide.
Under this system, the Craft (trapmaking) skill is used for non-magical traps, and the Craft Wondrous Items feat is used for magical traps.
In addition to the procedure and tables, 90 sample traps are provided, with some of each CR from 1 to 10. The trap write-ups are relatively simple; do not expect the lavish illustrations and descriptions that were the bread and butter of FFG's Traps & Treachery here. Some DMs, however, may not want or need detailed descriptions, which would be slightly out of place in this book. Further, if you would rather decide how a trap is laid out in your own adventure than trying to conceive how one of those illustrated in Traps & Treachery would fit, this section may be just what the DM ordered.
The next section is more in line with the format of previous books: new ways to use skills. It covers the use of the Hide skill to shadow others in a detailed fashion, the use of the Pick Pockets skill to conceal a weapon, and a variant of the use of the Tumble skill to avoid attacks of opportunity when moving through enemy squares that takes into account the enemy's abilities when doing so.
Finally comes the first section that players usually turn to after the prestige classes: the feats. The most basic sort of feat here are "double skill enhancers," i.e., feats that provide 2 to two skills. Presented here are Acrobatic ( 2 to Jump and Tumble checks), Athletic ( 2 to Swim and Climb checks), Charlatan ( 2 on Bluff and Disguise checks), Persuasive ( 2 to Bluff and Intimidate checks), Shadow ( 2 to Hide and Spot checks when following someone), and Trustworthy ( 2 to Diplomacy and Gather Information checks).
Some may debate the presence of these sorts of feats. Other d20 publishers have presented feats such as these, and some have complained that it makes Skill Focus useless. WotC has presented such feats as well, but until this book, they have always been limited to those who met certain requirements. For example, in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, such feats were restricted by the character's background region; in Oriental Adventures, such feats were usually limited according to the character's ancestral clan. It does seem to me, though, that these feats do a good job in defining a character's forte.
Some other feats of interest are:
- Alluring: A slightly different take on "double enhancers," providing 2 to Diplomacy checks and a 2 DC on mind-affecting spells.
- Arterial Strike: A character with the sneak attack ability may trade 1d6 worth of sneak attack to cause bleeding much as a wounding weapon does.
- Extra Music: This allows the bard extra uses of her music ability each day.
- Fleet of Foot: While running, your character can make one direction change.
- Flick of the Wrist: If you do a quick draw of a light weapon, you may do a sneak attack with it (once per combat).
- Jack of All Trades: You can use any skill untrained. (This reminds me of the Jack of All Trades skill in classic Traveller.)
Chapter 3: Bard and Rogue Equipment
Chapter 3 focuses on the tools of the trade of bards and rogues.
A significant part of the chapter is devoted to musical instruments and their use. On the surface, it is merely a laundry list of instruments to select from if you want something interesting for your bard. The listings, however, include benefits that may arise from using such instruments. For example, an alphorn lets the bard use bardic abilities at extreme range, and bagpipes can be used to inflict morale penalties on an enemy. On one hand, this can be seen as an interesting way to bring the unique aspects of the instruments to life in the rules. On the other hand, one might perceive it as a power boost for the bard. Yet the abilities of the instruments are of such a scope that I seriously doubt game balance is in jeopardy.
A number of new weapons are presented in the chapter of primary interest to rogues and bards. Okay, most are of primary interest to rogues, such as garrotes and grapnel-firing crossbows. The one item that appeared targeted to bards - a bayonet for deployment on musical instruments - seemed somewhat silly to me.
A number of items of non-magical thief gear are presented. They include relatively mundane items such as double-sided clothing, collars used to protect against garroting, long distance thief tools, and slightly more remarkable toys such as the mechanical burglar (automatically picks simple locks) and reverse locks (a lock that tricks the thief into locking it).
Finally, the chapter introduces a number of magic items of special interest to thieves and bards. Some examples are breaker bottles (bottles that are normally difficult to shatter, but break when the command word is uttered), jumping caltrops, and a variety of magical instruments. These instruments have a Perform requirement and have some spell-like abilities, similar in concept to the magical bard instruments that were in 1st edition AD&D and were reintroduced in Magic of Faerun, but they are not the same instruments.
Chapter 4: Organizations for Bards and Rogues
This chapter presents ten thieves' guilds and seven bardic colleges for use in the campaign or as a resource for character backgrounds.
The thieves' guilds, unlike organizations presented in the previous classbooks, are actually quite generic and can be easily added to most D&D campaigns. The concepts are fairly basic and widely applicable, such as the standard guild, the mob, the neighborhood gang, smugglers, assassin's guild, and so on. Each has ideas for rules in the guild, advancement, assets, goals, conflicts, and hooks, and many have example guilds with NPCs.
The bard colleges are perhaps a bit more specific, owing in part to the particular angle WotC has taken on the bard in this book. You should, though, still be able to use most of these organizations in a standard game, and there are few painfully campaign-specific items.
Chapter 5: You and the World Around You
This section provides some snippets of advice for players of rogue and bard characters. Each character class has a similarly organized section devoted to it. Role in the Campaign provides some general insights to what types of activities such a character will be suited to in the game. Role in the Game takes a look at the more mechanical aspects of the character class in the game and dispenses some specific advice for getting the most out of your class abilities and things to watch out for. Motivation provides some ideas for what might drive the rogue or bard character in a campaign. Relations with Other Classes gives a class-by-class breakdown depicting how a rogue or bard might view members of other classes.
Ultimately, these sections are of the most use to inexperienced role-players, though the mechanics-oriented sections may provide the more experienced players with some insights to the system that they might have missed.
The last part of the chapter is a section entitled Special Combat Options. It provides advice on handling flanking and sneak attack situations, and provides new rules for handling garrote attacks.
Chapter 6: Spells
Yes, this book has spells in it! Not only are new spells provided for bards, but new spells are also provided for members of the assassin prestige class.
The attention paid to assassins is minimal. Assassins only receive one additional spell of each level. They are of good utility to an assassin, however. Absorb weapon allows an assassin to hide a weapon inside his body. Sniper's eye affords the assassin keen senses, giving him darkvision and extending the maximum range for sneak attacks.
The bard receives 3-6 new spells per level. The bard spells are likewise of good utility, and there are a lot of good ideas among the spells. Follow the leader sounds like the spell the pied piper must have used: it compels those hearing the music to follow the bard (I'll forgive that the number and type of creatures following the character in the illustration seem to exceed the limits of the spell . . .). Zone of silence keeps people outside of the area of effect from eavesdropping on those within.
Summary
I found the quality of the content of Song & Silence to be very good in general. I saw no classes or feats that stuck out as being abusive or confusing, nor did I see out of place "artifacts of previous versions" that plagued every single classbook to date.
Further, I was impressed that, for the most part, this book was rather campaign-neutral - with the glaring exception of the fang of Lolth prestige class. Most of the material should be suitable for a wide variety of campaigns.
I was, though, taken aback by how much this book was slanted toward rogues vice bards, and how it seemed to be of more use to a DM than a player. It seems as if the bard, overspecialized as it is, really could have used more material to expand it; this book seemed merely to funnel it further down the same path. There are plenty of loremaster and singer concepts that spring from other cultures that could have been used to give the bard more options, some of which were examined in the 2nd edition AD&D Complete Bard's Handbook. Song & Silence doesn't dare to stray to far from the basic bard concept.
-Alan D. Kohler
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