Quote from: Benoist;578738To come back to the actual topic of the thread, I think you should just go with what feels right to your players and game table. Just select one or the other, Dragon or core version, not both, and you'll be good from there.

In regards to monks, I think its a matter of the players expectations.

Mystic Monastic flavor, or Warrior Monk flavor.

Quote from: Bill;578692There are Bard and Monk classes in dragon magazine

Please provide the issue numbers.

Quote from: Rum Cove;578752Please provide the issue numbers.

Not sure about the bard, but the monk is issue #53

Quote from: Rum Cove;578752Please provide the issue numbers.

Bard is 56, Monk is 53

wasn't the monk also in best of dragon vol. 3?  if it's the same one, i like it much better than the original.

I earned a reputation in our old group for always playing monks. I might have done it a few times, but spellcasters were usually my thing. Don't recall ever getting over 8th, but I did find them a 'challenge' to play given the relative power disparity between them and the fighter classes. I certainly recall at least one of them snuffed it at about 5th and we were generally a pretty low body count group.

As for bards, I only ever tried one as per core 1E. It was fun, and other posters are correct about the fact that you had to switch class wasn't such a huge deal as you hoovered up XP at a rate of knots. In fact, sometimes the biggest problem was the fact you couldn't advance more than 1 level at a time - led to our old group's in-joke about going looking for an orc in a box. One thing that does stick in my mind though was they had a ludicrous number of HP. One of our group played one who went as far as he could in fighter before switching, and once he hit double figures levels in bard he was well into 3 figures without even a huge Con score.

The AD&D by-the-book bard can be a real pip to play.  They're essentially the James Bond of the game, with a dash of Lloyd Alexander's Ffewder Fflam from The Chronicles of Prydain throw in for good measure.  The dashing back and forth between fighter and thief then magic-user and at the last trying to "find" the Bard's Circle (or whatever organization you decide to put there for the training of the bard) practically creates adventures by itself.

I once had a guy run a character in a game of mine (T1-4) who said he'd wanted to go the bard route; I told him that was fine but that there'd be no "automatics" - that is, changing over, gaining levels, even finding out how to become a bard, etc. was in my hands.  We role-played it out and everyone, even the other players at the table, had a blast over the years we played through that.

So yes while the AD&D bard can be rather baroque if not down right Byzantine to try and "put together" just think of it as more opportunities for both DM and player to have new and different adventures along the way.  The character who makes it to be a Bard who can identify items just by handling them, sing the party to victory, fight like a myrmidon and so on has fought a long, hard road and deserves the benefits, and the boons the party who have supported him get likewise.  By that point most everyone is probably already 7th or 8th level so no-one is going to be outshone by the bard on a blow-by-blow basis, so I wouldn't sweat that.  The Instant bard from Dragon Magazine has its own charms, I just prefer the by-the-book one.

Nobody I know played a monk until Oriental Adventures came out. I liked the 1e PHB bard. I don't remember anyone playing the one from Dragon magazine.

I loved the monk in OA because the martial art rules made them much more interesting and varied.

I saw plenty of 1e monks over the  years, but no bards.

RPGPundit

Not really related to the topic, but why exactly does a 1E Ranger lose the ability to track if he performs an evil act?  

Quote from: Bill;580089Not really related to the topic, but why exactly does a 1E Ranger lose the ability to track if he performs an evil act?  

Because the Ranger's uncanny ability to track is based on his connection with Valinor err Forces of Good.

Quote from: estar;580105Because the Ranger's uncanny ability to track is based on his connection with Valinor err Forces of Good.

If only it was possible to learn tracking without supernatural means....

Quote from: Bill;580127If only it was possible to learn tracking without supernatural means....

It is. You can have the "hunter" secondary skill.

RPGPundit