Since /u/jeb_ recently expressed interest in adding musician villagers I thought now would be a good time to revisit my suggestion for lutes. Lutes are a string instrument that would provide a new way to interact with villagers.

Boosting Reputation

Hurting/killing villagers and golems can harm your reputation with them, and currently the only way to restore it is by trading, or destroying a village and making a new one. Playing a lute correctly would provide another way to boost your reputation amongst villagers. Giving players more influence on popularity, would allow the system to be fleshed out even more, such as making villagers take less food to become willing to breed, or offering better deals on trades when popularity is high.

Leading Villagers

When played successfully, the lute could draw villagers towards the player. This would be far more sensible than the commonly suggested “hold out an emerald to lead villagers” suggestion since it requires the player to be actively playing the lute. This would be similar to the story of the Pan Piper. In that story a pipe was used to lure only the children, but a lute could have the effect of enticing all villagers to follow the player. The lute would not overpower a villager’s desire to flee from attack or go inside during the night, so villagers would still try to preserve themselves even if a lute was being played. Playing a lute could also alert hostile mobs, and a player playing a lute could be the highest priority target. This would allow players to draw zombies away from villages using a lute.

Bard Villager

A bard could be a new musician villager type, and could possibly utilize the green robe. Bards would trade in music related items such as string, note blocks, and records, and could be paid to perform a song and play a lute. New songs could be unlocked when certain achievements are reached, as if the villagers are chronicling your adventures. Holding a lute wouldn’t really require repositioning of the villagers arms, so it should be fairly simple to implement. Music note particles like those for note blocks could appear above the bard’s head while performing. Another possible sale could be looting books (because of the pun of lute and loot, although this might get lost in other languages). With a more detailed interface, bard villages could also be a way to create custom records.

Support Mobs

Skeleton bards could help add some strategy to mob combat. A skeleton equipped with a lute could support other skeletons by giving them increased strength and regen while they are playing. This would introduce some level of strategy into monster combat because it would be most effective to first kill the bard skeleton. Bard skeletons should be rare, and only spawn as part of a pair or group of skeletons. Bard skeletons would run from players when injured like how skeletons flee from wolves. This addition would be more substantial if skeletons would spawn with more weapon types, such as swords.

Function and Crafting

Lutes should require some skill to be played, but it should be simple enough to be played while moving. Something similar to how horse jumping works such as having to press a key at the correct time could work for lutes. Enchantments could be added to make lutes more effective or easier to use. A lute would be crafted like this: Lute Crafting.

Addressing Jeb’s Concerns

Jeb’s issues with musicians were that they would be a niche appeal, and don’t have a fitting residence. Having musicians/bards be associated to lutes would make them more important to villager interactions, and therefore appeal to everyone instead of just being a niche interest. Musicians are often travelers, so a house of their own is not really necessary. Given their wandering nature, a building such as an inn or tavern seems like the most appropriate lodging if they were given a building of their own. Example of an inn in the style of the current village. If new buildings were added to villages, time should also be taken to update the old buildings to have things like lighted interiors to guard against zombie spawns.