Third-Partystravaganza 6: Weird Musician (Bard Archetype; Flaming Crab Games)
They say that magic can, with enough power, undo the very fabric of reality if given a chance, just as a cacophony can disrupt a symphony. Yet somehow, a cacophony can still follow its own strange logic.
Taking that metaphor to the extreme, there are some bards who seek to master the parallel between music and reality as a whole, or perhaps simply apply rules that are normally considered unreal.
These weird musicians are oftentimes dangerous and unhinged, warping the fabric of reality to their own benefit. Despite this, they can be quite helpful in the right situation.
With one bizarre performance, these mystical musicians an warp the nature of their allies, granting them a pool of changes in a way similar to an eidolon, making use of the strange bodies of parallel selves or other alien beings.
Mastering the strange magic of witches, these bards can blend hexes into their performances with a series of disturbing bars, though they can do so only as part of a performance, and burning that reserve of magical power to do so.
Finally, these mages also learn a variety of magics normally employed by shamans and witches, further increasing their otherworldly skillset.
This is a pretty simple archetype, and one that emulates what certain archetypes of the skald do. If you’re interested in a vaguely lovecraftian bard and don’t want to go the route of the mute musician, this may be exactly what you’re looking for. I recommend a mixed build, focusing on buffs, debuffs, and control, taking advantage of those expanded spells, but it really is up to you what you do with it.
As mentioned previously, this archetype does dip into the territory of cosmic horror, somewhat. Drawing upon alternate realities and realms beyond the three dimensional space considered normal to most creatures. As such, one might do well to roleplay them as being slightly, or extremely, unhinged, though it is important to avoid the pitfalls common to roleplaying those with a mental illness.
Once a devoted performer of the House of Wild Music, Ivita has not been the same since she crash-landed on the living planet of Pollibax. Now, her music takes on a more sinster, discordant tone, and those that associate with the unhinged lashunta find their bodies warping under its influence, filled with thoughts and emotions not their own.
Tasked with great purpose, Shinemax, a proud vortex dragon, has been sent to scour every trace of the Music of Helax from the stars. This includes not only copies of those cacophonous music sheets, but also the weird musician devotees who keep the tradition of that foul music alive.
In the reality of Arcu, the abberant music of weird musicians are the very body and mind of the qlippoth lord Unuhusumi, a living contagion of the mind which afflicts musicians of all sorts who hear those discordant notes, warping their own music into more of the same. Only the deaf, or specific paladin orders that have pattern recognition, rather than fear, expunged from their mind, are safe to face them without risking infection.