If you are using that metric, all of the basic classes are "crap". Therefore, I choose to judge the classes by the skills they learn, and by that metric, Bard and Shepherd are really good. (Shepherd gets Snooze (very good MP recovery skill) and Stampede (yes, not many can resist a herd of stampeding sheep).)

Edit: Also, from what I hear, in the 3DS version, you no longer keep all the abilities from old classes. I don't know what exactly you do and don't keep, but apparently you can keep abilities from monster classes that you can't keep from human classes.

Why would they change that? Worked fine in DQ VI and DW VII. Off-topic: how do vocations work in DQ IX? Can you master them and retain their abilities on switching like in DQ 6/7? How is the class (vocation?) system in comparison to DQ 6/7?

Here is how it works in Dragon Quest 9.

Levels: Each class levels up from 1 to 99. Change to a new class and you are back to level 1 with level 1 stats (but see the Skills section of this post). Change back to your old class and (unlike DQ3) you can resume from where you left off.

Spells: Each spell-casting class gets spells at certain levels. Those spells can *only* be used while you are in the class; there is no way to use a spell in a class that does not learn it naturally.

Skills: As you level up, you get skill points, like in Dragon Quest 8. Skill points are retained when you change class, as are skills you've already learned. A skill learned in one class can be learned in another, *unless* it is a weapon/shield skill for a weapon type your new class can't use, *unless* you have mastered the weapon skill, in which case you can use the weapon regardless of class. Note that there are passive skills that increase stats; get a skill of this type and it affects your stats in all classes. Note that skill points don't need to be spent in the class you learned them in.

If you level up every class to level 99, you will be 200 skill points short of mastering everything, but there is an option of "revocating", which will send you back to level 1 in a class. You can then get another 200 skill points by leveling the class to level 99 again.

OP said that he'd avoid D&D games, so this leaves BG and NWN out of the picture.
Hmm, doesn't sound that bad. Though I dislike the "level down" aspects.

I have never heard of the Dragon Warrior series before.

Yep, although Icewind Dale with a bard does not sound bad. I am probably one of the few that liked Icewind Dale more than BG.

The series was called "Dragon Quest" in Japan and is now called "Dragon Quest" elsewhere, but the older games in the series (at least those that actually got US releases) were released under the "Dragon Warrior" title.

In South Park: The Stick of Truth you can have a bard as your follower/companion :P

If it's a more serious game you want, I recall Pillars of Eternity having either a bard class or a bard-like one, you know, the kind that sings buffs and summons stuff with its songs. You can have it as your main class, too.

Other than that, obviously most DnD RPGs also allow this.

Several of the Ultima games allow you to play [nominally] as a bard. In Ultima III, the bard is instead called a Lark.

Elona has a pianist class. You must step carefully, as nearby NPCs will throw rocks if you do perform poorly, easily killing a new character.

Two Worlds II has no explicit performer class, but you can collect songs and instruments and play them near crowds of NPCs to earn money. The mechanic is like that of Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero. I never managed it well.

Helherron [url=http://web.archive.org/web/20071213145721/http://www2.lut.fi/~akuukka/helherron/main.htm]archived site[/url] has a bard class. I enjoyed it years ago.

Jimmy is the greatest character of all time, in any medium, bar none.

But...your avatar. Is that not Will Ferrell?

Chanters in Pillars of Eternity are essentially bards. ADOM (and no doubt various other roguelikes) has a bard class. The next release of Dwarf Fortress should allow you to play as a bard, albeit of the travelling minstrel variety rather than the spell casting support character variety.

A legal way to avoid the disc copy protection on The Sims Medieval would be to redeem the code on Origin. Of course this means replacing dics copy protection-DRM for a having-to-run-the-Origin-client DRM, so it might be not your cup of tea http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-Medieval/How-to-Register-The-Sims-Medieval-to-Origin/m-p/2528290#U2528290.

Haha! The firbolgs to me were always one of the less appealing races, but, I played hibernia myself 99% of the time I played (which was quite a bit, mostly on the same character, but I dabbled in trying all of them at one point or another, so I got the feel of a bard here or there sometimes, definitely the most targetable/noticeable class in the game, but also one of the most powerful when played correctly.)

Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy V allows your characters to turn into the Bard class.
Final Fantasy IV features a special bard... he makes me feel like saying...

"YOU SPOONY BARD!"

That is far as I'm aware from the FFs I played (from I to VIII).