pukunui
Legend
I think that I need to start with bard 5 / paladin 8 / fighter 1, otherwise I'll only have two ASI/feat slots.
It's been suggested to me that I look at going into eldritch knight and making use of shield to boost my AC. I would need War Caster to make that feasible, though, since my hands will be full. Speaking of which, I need to be careful about my bard spell selection, as I won't be able to hold an instrument along with a shield and longsword - I'll have to avoid spells with a material component as much as possible, which is a pity because Tasha's hideous laughter is so much fun and fits the character well.
EDIT: Given my PC's low Str and high Dex, I wonder if perhaps War Caster would be better than Shield Master anyway. It certainly synergizes well with Sentinel, insofar as it would allow me to cast spells with my OAs.
EDIT 2: Dang! Many of the more fun and/or useful bard spells require a material component. For some of them, like invisibility, it's probably not a big deal because I most likely wouldn't be using them in combat, but for others - like hold person, heat metal, Tasha's hideous laughter, and hypnotic pattern - it is a big deal, because I can't hold a musical instrument and a shield and weapon.
EDIT 3: To be honest, warlock is starting to seem rather attractive after all. However, instead of going the obvious route and picking the archfey patron, what if I chose the Great Old One patron and described as her hearing voices in her head? Could make for some interesting inner conflict.
I could take 4 or 5 levels, since that was what I was going to do with bard anyway. For cantrips, I could take some combination of chill touch, eldritch blast, friends, mage hand, and prestidigitation. For 1st level spells, how about dissonant whispers, Tasha's hideous laughter*, and arms of Hadar? 2nd level: invisibility and detect thoughts. 3rd level: fly. For invocations: Armor of Shadows, Beguiling Influence (more skills!), and either Agonizing Blast (if I took eldritch blast) or Devil's Sight. Not sure what pact boon I'd take. It's a pity you can't use a pact blade as an arcane focus (not that it matters, since you can't turn a sentient weapon into a pact blade anyway) ... Perhaps I could take pact of the chain and see if the DM will let me have a flumph as my familiar or something.
Mage armor (13) + shield (2) + 20 Dex (5) = AC 20. If I can get a cloak of protection, that becomes AC 21. Not too bad. No need to MC into fighter for an extra fighting style as Defense is useless (although Action Surge would still be nice). I'd miss out on getting to add half my proficiency bonus to Initiative (thanks to Jack of All Trades) and Expertise in two skills, plus Cutting Words and Bardic Inspiration. Hmm. Bard 5 / warlock 5 / paladin 10, with my bard spells mostly being cure wounds and that sort of thing? Maybe just bard 5 / warlock 4 / paladin 11. Could still be kinda overly complicated that way.
*I'd still have to figure out what to do about the material component, though.
It's been suggested to me that I look at going into eldritch knight and making use of shield to boost my AC. I would need War Caster to make that feasible, though, since my hands will be full. Speaking of which, I need to be careful about my bard spell selection, as I won't be able to hold an instrument along with a shield and longsword - I'll have to avoid spells with a material component as much as possible, which is a pity because Tasha's hideous laughter is so much fun and fits the character well.
EDIT: Given my PC's low Str and high Dex, I wonder if perhaps War Caster would be better than Shield Master anyway. It certainly synergizes well with Sentinel, insofar as it would allow me to cast spells with my OAs.
EDIT 2: Dang! Many of the more fun and/or useful bard spells require a material component. For some of them, like invisibility, it's probably not a big deal because I most likely wouldn't be using them in combat, but for others - like hold person, heat metal, Tasha's hideous laughter, and hypnotic pattern - it is a big deal, because I can't hold a musical instrument and a shield and weapon.
EDIT 3: To be honest, warlock is starting to seem rather attractive after all. However, instead of going the obvious route and picking the archfey patron, what if I chose the Great Old One patron and described as her hearing voices in her head? Could make for some interesting inner conflict.
I could take 4 or 5 levels, since that was what I was going to do with bard anyway. For cantrips, I could take some combination of chill touch, eldritch blast, friends, mage hand, and prestidigitation. For 1st level spells, how about dissonant whispers, Tasha's hideous laughter*, and arms of Hadar? 2nd level: invisibility and detect thoughts. 3rd level: fly. For invocations: Armor of Shadows, Beguiling Influence (more skills!), and either Agonizing Blast (if I took eldritch blast) or Devil's Sight. Not sure what pact boon I'd take. It's a pity you can't use a pact blade as an arcane focus (not that it matters, since you can't turn a sentient weapon into a pact blade anyway) ... Perhaps I could take pact of the chain and see if the DM will let me have a flumph as my familiar or something.
Mage armor (13) + shield (2) + 20 Dex (5) = AC 20. If I can get a cloak of protection, that becomes AC 21. Not too bad. No need to MC into fighter for an extra fighting style as Defense is useless (although Action Surge would still be nice). I'd miss out on getting to add half my proficiency bonus to Initiative (thanks to Jack of All Trades) and Expertise in two skills, plus Cutting Words and Bardic Inspiration. Hmm. Bard 5 / warlock 5 / paladin 10, with my bard spells mostly being cure wounds and that sort of thing? Maybe just bard 5 / warlock 4 / paladin 11. Could still be kinda overly complicated that way.
*I'd still have to figure out what to do about the material component, though.
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