[Tyhm]

Bards are too uber. Bards are peaceful, they should be either very weak in terms of attacks, have very low HP, or start without melee (in which case I say a lot of the tools should still not be considered melee...)

But yes, Mandolins. Programmed songs. A bard can sit on a corner in Bomboria and play for anyone passing by with his hat on the ground, and people can toss in a few silvers as they go. Maybe even they're compelled to - passing a bard without paying is bad luck. ^_~

Bards make good musicians, beggers, merchants, and minor wizards...what the heck, let's mix Bard in with Alchemists maybe? But then they'd have a cauldron and a mandolin...

They'd have to be a noncombat class in any case. Support characters, like priests are supposed to be but aren't. Their music slows monsters, stops or weakens them at higher levels, but they have to keep playing so their party-members have to do the actual butchering. They can't spar well 1:1, but make an Excellent choice in a 2:2 paired with a warrior or barbarian.

We have to rethink how G2K2 works et al before we can get a good Bard class, but this is a very good idea nonetheless.