need help picking spells

Negative Zero · Jun 3, 2002

unsure if this should go here or in General, if so, please feel free to move it ... not like you needed me to tell you that

at the end of our session tonite, my half-elf bard (the first one i've ever played) hit 2nd lvl, and i'm a little lost as to what spells to pick, all two of them

right now i'm leaning towayds hypnotism and maybe ventriloquism or perhaps mage armour tho, the character isn't really the fighting type at ALL.

stats are good, tho mostly in the mental ones (18 CHA and INT, 14 WIS and CON, 15 DEX and 13 STR). she has two feats (one from a disadvantage house rule) obscure knowledge (from S&S) and point blank shot (lil bit of military training). at 3rd lvl i plan on taking precise shot coz she uses a whip.

with bards spells so few, they're kinda precious and i want spells that'll be usefull for a long time. oh, she's more of the entertaining, storytelling type of bard. i plan for her to actually publish a book or two ingame. any thoughts?

~NegZ

fba827 · Jun 3, 2002

Mage Armor:
If she's not really combat oriented, I have to ask if she's wearing any kind of armor at all?

If yes, some form of armor being worn, then my opinion would be not to take mage armor: you've already said she's not "in the thick of things" all too much when she can help it and her mage armor won't stack with what she is already wearing.

If no, she is not wearing any form of armor already, then, my opinion, would be to take mage armor. Simply because it has such a good scalable duration - the extra +4 AC will no doubt help when she is unavoidable caught somewhere. Besides, if you have any monks or other characters that do not wear armor, they will love (in the purely innocent sense of the word) you.

Ventriloquism:
I think this would be a good choice for you. Both for the character concept you've described plus it is a fairly versatile spell! Not to mention it doesn't necessarily hinge entirely upon the success of a target's save - after all, if all your spells rely on a target failing a save then you'll be in trouble after a while when the cretaures get really good saves in a short while. (not to say your DC isn't probably a good one given your high Cha

)

Hyptnotism:
I must say, I've never personally been a big fan of this spell.. but that's nothing more than a personal bias with little basis on fact for the campaign your in. ...
The spell can be useful.. both offensivly and as a utility spell (stop the xenophobic mob from attacking your half-orc companion !

)

So, basically, what am I saying? If these are the spells that jumped out at you for your character then, my opinion, is to go with it

none of them would be bad choices. I'd just say make the decision about mage armor first for the above reasons and then if you don't take that then take the other two.. otherwise, if you do take mage armor go with only one of the others

Anything mentioned above is entirely my own opinion - I am far from an expert on Bard spells.

fba827

PS. I know, I'm not much help.

Thanee · Jun 3, 2002

Cure Light Wounds?

Bye
Thanee

laiyna · Jun 3, 2002

There are 4 real catogories of spells. And I could suggest to choose atleast your spells from the difrent catogories. I will also post some suggestions of fairly good spells. But everybody will have an other opinion about that

1) Offensive spells:
Sleep (generly effective spell, and you can CtG)
Magic Weapon (very usefull when surprised by lycantropen, etc)

2) Deffensive spells:
Mage Armor (it raises your AC by 4 so it works...)

3) Misc. spells:
Charm Person (very usefull bard spell if used correctly)
Silent Image (more uses then I can describe, incl e perfect hide for you)
Expediteus Retreat (works also on other forms, horses, etc)

4) Group Spells: (generaly importand for your group instead for you)
Cure Light Wounds (it does the trick, mybe best 1st lvl spell)

laiyna

ps: I would go for (charm person/silent image) and cure light wounds

Negative Zero · Jun 4, 2002

Thanee said:
Cure Light Wounds?

laiyna said:
...I would go for (charm person/silent image) and cure light wounds

already got two clerics in the party. also, it doens't really fit with my character concept. and the party Wiz already has silent image. i think i'll wait for minor image in a few lvls

fba827 said:
Mage Armor:
... Simply because it has such a good scalable duration - the extra +4 AC will no doubt help when she is unavoidable caught somewhere. Besides, if you have any monks or other characters that do not wear armor, they will love (in the purely innocent sense of the word) you.

Ventriloquism:
... it is a fairly versatile spell! ... it doesn't necessarily hinge entirely upon the success of a target's save...

these are the two i think i'll likely go with. mainly for the reasons you outlined here fba827 (...what does that handle mean anyway?) after playing a half-orc fighter who, at lvl 6 did 50+ points of damage in one round with no crits, i kinda wanted to steer away from combat

as an aside, i'd like opinons on the Joyful Noise spell from S&S. what do you think of it? balanced? overpowered? weak?

~NegZ

fba827 · Jun 5, 2002

joyful noise

Negative Zero said:
these are the two i think i'll likely go with. mainly for the reasons you outlined here fba827 (...what does that handle mean anyway?)

My initials and B-day - I mean, I couldn't possibly do something without it being concieted in some manner or form!

See, it all comes back to me. :-D

Negative Zero said:
as an aside, i'd like opinons on the Joyful Noise spell from S&S. what do you think of it? balanced? overpowered? weak?

In my opinion (not that my opinion is anything to be noted as special) the spell is quite usful but very limited in application... How often are you in the area of silence? And, even then, when you are in an area of silence, how often are you hindered by said silence?

I'm not knocking the spell though - i mean, duration of concentration and negating the hinderance of silence is a good thing...

Oh, note that this is more for a "group" thing - after all, it is fellow spellcasters who will benefit the most if they stand right next to you - after all, if you're busy concentrating, you yourself can't do much else let alone cast other spells.

Negative Zero · Jun 5, 2002

Re: joyful noise

fba827 said:
My initials and B-day - I mean, I couldn't possibly do something without it being concieted in some manner or form! See, it all comes back to me. :-D

ah so it's not the Federated Basketball Association as i originally thought. fancy that

... this is more for a "group" thing - after all, it is fellow spellcasters who will benefit the most if they stand right next to you - after all, if you're busy concentrating, you yourself can't do much else let alone cast other spells.

well my character is deffinitely more of a support-role player for many reasons. she's got an agenda ... sort of. she's with the group on assignment from her organisation. she's mainly to observe and record. she's not barred from helping, but getting the stories back to HQ is priority one.

also, she's not really "one of the boys" the rest of the group is a military reserve unit now doing merc work. she was tacked on to them when they finished their training, and coz of her royal heritage, has an honorary officer rank. so there's quite a bit of resentment to her presence.

so she has to find ways to make herself useful, otherwise, she won't be able to get much out of the group when it comes time to write home.

~NegZ

Uller · Jun 5, 2002

I've found that with Bards and Sorcerers, 'tis best to plan out your spell selection over the next several levels(maybe through 10th or 12th level). This allows you to plan on spells that work well together and be sure that you have all your bases covered.

I generally pick a concept and try to have half my spells support that. So you've got an entertainer/story-teller who also doubles as an archer...

Spells that support entertainer/story-teller:
Cause Fear
Charm Person
Grease(very entertaining)
Hypnotism(not a particularly use full spell, IMO)
Silent Image
Sleep(becomes nearly useless at higher levels...beware!)
Unseen Servant(great for performing all manner of "tricks")
Ventriloquism(same).

Spells that support Archer concept:
Exp. Retreat(help stay away from bad guys while you shoot them)
Grease(to slow down/disrput enemies who try to get close)
Mage Armor(an all around useful spell in games where combat is common)
Magic Weapon(we've house ruled that you can affect 50 arrows as well.)
Protection From Evil/etc.

gamecat · Jun 5, 2002

For ranged combat, why not Silent Sound from BoEM? It has excellent damage scaling and is a bard spell. Cure Light Wounds would be an excellent choice as well.

Belares · Jun 5, 2002

stats are good, tho mostly in the mental ones (18 CHA and INT, 14 WIS and CON, 15 DEX and 13 STR). she has two feats (one from a disadvantage house rule) obscure knowledge (from S&S) and point blank shot (lil bit of military training). at 3rd lvl i plan on taking precise shot coz she uses a whip.

Then Mage Armor and Magic weapon are very good ideas. Just my 2 coppers.