I have to say I'm a fan of a Bard just well... singing, using magical songs to buff the party. I can't say I really like the old D&D approach to the bard, ie the Fighter/Rogue with some spells and streetwise skills. I thought the Chanter in Pillars of Eternity was a good take on the Bard.

I do think video games are going to come to a strong consensus that bards are musiccasters, just because it's just show in the visual+sound combo that they have.

FFX-2's bard-equivalent for a "modern looking" one. https://finalfantasy.neoseeker.com/wiki/Songstress Arguably the two most used ones are the enemy debuffs more than the party buffs. I particularly enjoyed the X-2 songstress because it, like some other classes explicitly does not have a basic "Attack" command.

Yep, that ordering was used for a flash in the pan over the years, and even some modern games with the same stats use it when they want to show how grognard-style they are.

And unrelated: We were having a fine, civilized conversation until the troll Mr. Orbán himself came in to derail it.

The Final Fantasy 3 (Famicom) bard also doesn't have a basic attack command, instead getting "Sing". However, it turns out that the command works just like "Fight", except that it only works if you have a harp equipped. (This can, theoretically, lead to a softlock; if you have no harps, no attack items, no way of getting more, and not enough CP to change to a different job, it becomes impossible to continue the game.)

Too bad original FF3's Bard is garbage, just like 2D FF4's. (At least FF5 *finally* made the job useful, only for the job and ability to be removed completely (along with other interesting abilities) in the next game.)

Can they play some musical instrument or sing? Can they make a witty quip in any situation or goad the enemy into doing something entertainingly stupid? If yes, it's a good bard.
Weapon, magic and criminal proficiences are altogether irrelevant.

Buffs, debuffs, charm, general cc stuff.
Maybe some charisma in crpgs.
I think Etrian or some drpg had an interesting bard class.

Ability to get a coin for the witcher. )

Etrian Odyssey 1's Troubadour was good.

Etrian Odyssey 2's Troubadour was not, as they took away some interesting and useful abilities (the ones that regenerate HP/MP) and made it so that many bosses would punish the player for using them (the second stratum boss would use an attack that dispels and does heavy damage, which I though was unfair when I played). Just one of the reasons I far prefer EO1 to EO2 (even if EO1 has that one problematic and potentially triggering plot point).

I've always enjoyed it more when bards are treated like undercover assassins rather than boring support buffers. So I'd say stealth, persuasion, light weapons, etc. They should always have stat boosting or lowering songs of course, but they should be a supplement to their assassin abilities and not the sole focus of the character.

That has always felt wrong, and is more of the role of the rogue to me.

In particular, I don't really like the association of music with the thiefly arts.

Basically play Bards Tale 1/2/3 and its what i would expect in any game since (have they appeared as an option in games since then?)

Does this include the ability to breath fire? (Remember the Fire Horn? Or that one song in BT3 that torches the enemies?)

I always thought Bard was just a Rogue cover story.

The only class able to wield and use magical instruments. Thus they can be either entirely useless or insanely overpowered depending on your gear and how you play them. Never runs out of spell points, doesn't have to prepare spells either, their crap always hits, always affects everybody in range, crowd control, buff/debuff which stacks with whatever your cleric is doing. But, unlike the mage, able to evade damage and offer some resistance if need be.

One of the classes that is most difficult to master, as--unlike playing a warrior, cleric, mage, or rogue--it is not immediately obvious what your role is on the battlefield.