What a great story! And great advice.

>After a few battles, he took me aside and
>told me he should maybe "explain" to me how bards worked, "The bard buffs
>are worthless." ???
>
>He just wanted two songs, and only two: accelerado and hymn of restoration,
>"the only worthwhile bard songs." What I did? I laughed in his face.
>
>Then I explained to him how MAGES should work: Stated I actually hated
>waiting around for five minutes as he recharged after every skirmish with a
>gnoll pup, so he shouldn't do anything at all--nada / zilch / stand there
>stiff / do nothing--except in dire emergencies! Told him a mage
>should--never--cast spells (except for a pet), until that rare time the
>battle is turning for the worse.

This IS good advice. Not only that, it will keep the creatures from
frenzying on the mage and ignoring the fighters. Seen a lot of fights go
bad like that. People don't understand that, yeah, maybe our buffs aren't
all super awesome like the clerics, but they are FREE and they affect
EVERYONE.

>Keep this in mind: it's your character, not the leader's. Personally, if I
>find myself in a group with a bad "general," I either disobey (and see how
>he reacts) and/or leave. You can be arrogant, see, because you are a

BARD,

>special, who needs the rest of them, eh?

Very good advice. Keyeon, my bard, is an exteremely arrogant and
overconfident guy. But I try to do it in a fun and entertaining way: making
incredible boasts, etc. It's way fun! 8-)

Keyeon