Duel of the Bards

In the depths of The Brykass College of Lore, the floors of a small common room creak with the weight of every young first-year bard. The pungent scents of potent perfumes compete to overpower one another, falling short only to the smell of cheap wine. The crowd begins to push against the walls of the room as young dwarven girl stands opposed to a human boy in the central space, prepared for the first bardic duel that any of these fresh-faced students have seen. Their seconds step forward, instruments in hand. They spend a moment exchanging chords and agreeing upon a rhythm, before returning to their respective duellists. The music begins to rise as an assortment of instruments joins from throughout the crowd. The girl motions for the boy to go first. He knows this show of confidence only for the underlying insult that it carries, but decides to take the opportunity. This will be a quick match after all...

Bardic Duels

Sometimes for honour, though usually for ego, bardic duels are a mainstay of bardic practice and training. These battles are fought not with swords and steel, but with words and wit. In official competition and college environments, the duellists are accompanied by their seconds, who provide the music and magical flourishes in support.

Once a challenge has been called, the two parties agree on the stakes. Depending on the motivation, this can be anything from a round of beer, to a particularly beautiful instrument.

The bards find a place and an audience, and take turns slinging insults, assaulting each others minds until one bard gives in.

The Mechanics

The bardic duel is a great encounter for your bard, especially if your players are the type who love to tease and throw jokes around. To participate, your bard will need access to the Vicious Mockery spell.

Give your duellists time to prepare. Your party may choose to help their friend concoct insults to throw at the NPC, or they may spend their time trying to dig up dirt on said NPC.

Once the players have had time to prepare, begin the duel. Traditionally, duels will require the challenger to go first, in order to make their grievance formally known. However, in low stakes competitions, a coin may be flipped.

A bardic duel lasts seven rounds, with bards taking turns to throw insults at one another, casting Vicious Mockery as they do. The bards must succeed their Wisdom saving throws against the spell, or add the damage to a running tally. Especially brutal burns (as voted by spectating players) will result in the insulted party rolling their save with disadvantage.

A natural 1 on the save will count as a critical burn, and deals double damage.

The winner of the duel is the bard who dealt the most damage over seven rounds. If either bard is reduced to 0HP during the duel, the other player is declared the winner. In the event of a tie, the rounds continue in a sudden death format, with whichever bard does more damage in the 8th round winning the match.

A Note on Safety

These duels are all about having fun, and no one should leave the table feeling bitter or hurt afterwards. Before you run a duel, discuss no-go topics with any participating players, and make ensure that everyone is actually keen to participate in something like this.

Insults should be kept about the characters, not their players. Afterwards, I suggest a quick check in to make sure everyone is okay. Ideally, this is an encounter for tables who have been playing together for some time, or for tables with players who know each other very well.

This post is part 3 of my series for Whumptober 2021. The prompt for this post is "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but..."

View other parts here.