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Some historic examples of what "Bardism" was, particularly in Great Britain (more specifically Wales) can help in placing a Bard character in an adventuring party.

Bards were well-educated and were granted vast amounts of freedom in comparison to other people of the time. In fact, in the laws of Hywell Dda, it was illegal to train a non-freeman in the ways of the Bard because they would then become free and could not become slaves/servants.

So, a Bard could be a well-educated scholar who is searching for more knowledge (and like any grad student, FUNDS for finding that knowledge). Bards were also hired by lords and kings to write about their family's exploits, rights to rule, etc. They were also made to prosyletize this information throughout the countryside. So, a bard could be on an errand from his employer and having adventures along the way. In fact, a bard's mandate from his lord could be a quest/side-quest for the party.

Other bards grew in popularity due to their skill and other factors like their political ties and cunning. Taliesin was a bard who transcended the boundaries of a single court and has been vaulted into the status of national hero. Hundreds of years later, he's still venerated as a champion of Welsh culture and identity. In many respects, people regard him as a sage and freedom fighter - fighting with the quill moreso than the sword - but in any case, he is a heroic figure.

Granted, D&D isn't about history, but it has drawn on history and the archetypal figures in history for its class designs. There is a lot of great information about bards from the "real world" that would add an awesome amount of flavor in a D&D setting. It also would help in understanding how bards fulfilled important roles in their own particular settings. From there, you could develop your own rationale as to how and why bards travel with other adventurers.

D20Goose wrote:

A bard can make perfect sense in an adventuring party.

Haven't you guys ever heard of Hunter S Thompson, the journalist? I know someone already mentioned journalism, but he is an especially good example. He travelled with the infamous biker gang the Hell's Angels for around a year, just to get the scoop on a dangerous world that few people would ever know, and pass thier Strange and Terrible Saga on to others.

Sounds like a bard to me.

And although he was no gang member himself, and just a weird hippy writer, he wasn't foppish or a pansy. He was a loose cannon, and a complete gun nut.

You can easily take that attitude to the gaming table and play a realistic bard. Someone with a lust for danger, an artistic talent, and someone who surrounds themselves with adventerous types to get the biggest thrill he can

Now that you mention it, Hunter S. Thompson would be a great base for a bard.

It might be because religion in my campaigns is such a strong influence, perhaps also mixed with the fact that I don't consider 3rd edition bards a strong enough solo character, but any bard NPCs I've made have always been multiclassed and belonging to an order that is a subset of a larger organization, usually a church.

For example, the church of the goddess of magic has the Spellweavers, who are an order of wizards or clerics who express their faith through song. These songs have their own magical power, and are only taught to members of the order. The church of the lord of tyranny has the Dirgesingers, who articulate the church's profanity in macabre songs. The kings of a Norse-influenced kingdom frequently had at least one level of bard to augment their skills as a skald. The examples continue, but people tend to reserve bard as a supplementary class.

I've made one exception, and he was the founder of a school for bards, teaching the art of the minstrel and skald. This was mainly a flavour addition, though, as living the life of a courtier isn't conducive to an action-rich campaign that most players prefer.