Seems like a channel a good chunk of us nerds would enjoy!
Also would love to see tips for Players / GM’s.
I hope someday i get to play!
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Oh, I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong. Bards being portrayed as inept, useless, and/or a waste of space in a party has always been a pet peeve of mine, probably since both the bards I’ve played (which includes the one I’m playing now) have seriously kicked ass and saved the party’s ass more than once.
Summoned celestial bisons for the win!
Half Orc archery bard here, did slam poetry for performance. Usually had a couple fewer arrows in the air than the ranger, but with shivering (quivering?) song mine did an extra d8 in damage plus the fact that I spent money on magic burst arrows instead of armor and a better magic bow.
I thought about doing a half orc bard whose main instrument was bagpipes. 
In my current Pathfinder campaign I’m playing a human bard with a summoning focus, hence the celestial bison. My DM hates me, because I’ll use Summon Monster outside of combat. Deep pool of water? Summon a water elemental to scout it out. Need to go way out of the way to get around a rock slide or make difficult (for some) acrobatics checks to cross it? Summon a bunch of earth elementals to create a path. 
I’ve also maxed out my Diplomacy and Use Magic Device, and I have a Handy Haversack full of wands I can automatically activate. My favourite is the Wand of Vampiric Touch. “Lady Anthea” has an interesting backstory - she was forced to flee her home country and take on a new identity because she was going to be arrested for writing seditious plays about the queen of her country. Making it worse, her parents (whom she disagrees with on pretty much everything) are highly placed nobles in the court of the queen.
So, not useless or inept.
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I’d argue ‘worthless bard’ was a 2e or 3e thing where they tended to be the choice for a ‘face’ character and couldn’t contribute much otherwise. In those I think they tended to be spread thin with trying to cover a little of a spell caster, a little of a thief, and a bit of a warrior.
The 5e Bard is generally solid. It’s more of a ‘knowledge character’ than anything else.
Also the trope of Bards trying to seduce everything, which is more a weird teenager-mindset-player thing I think.
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1st edition Dungeons & Dragons:
To become a bard, a human or half-elf has to begin with very high ability scores: Strength 15+, Wisdom 15+, Dexterity 15+ and Charisma 15+, Intelligence 12+ and Constitution 10+. These daunting requirements madk bards one of the rarest character classes. Bards begin the game as fighters, and after achieving 5th level (but before reaching 8th level), they have to change their class to that of thief, and after reaching 5th level as a thief (but before reaching 9th level), they have to change again, leaving off thieving to begin clerical studies as druids; but at this time they are actually bards and under druidical tutelage.
I had a bard who recited epic poems once, with a drum he had to lug around everywhere. He was fun to play, though.
I had a mage in AD&D 2E who was really a scribe/historian who could cast a few spells. I spent more time writing my history of the campaign (heavily editorialized) than we actually did playing. He only ever memorized ‘expeditious retreat’ for the first few levels.
[My roommate told me reading my histories were more fun than actually playing, which said more about the campaign than my writing, alas.]
Never saw a real bard in 1E. That was back when multiclassing meant you couldn’t use any of your former abilities in your new class. At least you could retain HP if I recall correctly.
The useless bard I learned from OoTS. I have always seen them as very good 5th characters in a group, and OK stand ins for either healer/caster/rogue roles in smaller parties.
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Are the minis worth it? I’m thinking of just having a whiteboard map mat and player tokens.
I hate painting on things that small and don’t even paint my Gundam models.
You can use anything. I’ve been known to use dice for players and a basic pack of d6s for monsters.
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Very optional. Some groups like them, some don’t. I didn’t use minis for D&D until the early 2000s and I started playing in the 80s!
5e does expect ‘position tracking’ in many cases, but no need to buy minis.
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From my understanding, 5E is more of a guideline set.
Yes, but I’d recommend new players try the rules as written before getting wacky.
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They’re all guideline sets. How closely you want to follow them depends on the GM.
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Personally, Im just trying to get a game going, rules be dammed if i can get a game going. I just want to play. I dont care if its as DM/GM or as a player. i just want to play mannnnn.
That’s how I started GMing. I wanted a game. I couldn’t find a group to join, so I started one.
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I’m more of a Pathfinder gal because the character customization options are insane. I do have a 5e character with levels in bard but she’s a warlock and a sorceress first so probably not the best example.
My favorite character right now is my Pathfinder elf sorceress dragon disciple. She’s specialized in fire magic and a bit of a pyro.
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Honestly with their recent behavior the only thing keeping me interested in actual made-by-WotC D&D is the various IPs, and they tend to be treating them poorly at best. Especially if it’s a setting that doesn’t rhyme with bore rotten blems.
I enjoy RPGs, but I admit 5e is not my favorite even if it’s the best D&D from WotC.
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WotC is doing a Final Fantasy collab set for MTG and as much as i love both properties, WotC is ruining magic with all the cross-over sets, and how fast they are putting new sets out. it’s at like six sets a year now.
All though id get a final fantasy dnd book or 3…