D&D 5E Bardic Lore: A Basic College of Lore Bard Guide

[DocSharpe]

Completely agree. I think too many people think the lack of new abilities in the upper levels of the bard are a reason to ditch it.

I'll be honest, I am weighing the "slight" increase in the class features against brand new shinies. (an increase in a d8 to a d10 or d10 to d12 are not big changes) I think a lot of my decision will come down to me sitting down with the book and examining the 6th and higher level spells.

But ditching the class after L10 and going an entirely different direction? I don't see it. I don't know what class you would pick that wouldn't suffer by itself only having 10 levels in it.

The thought I had was sorcerer, possibly wild magic, and possibly a three-four level dip. With some of the save or suck spells at my disposal, metamagic like heightened spell feels like a good grab.

 

[mellored]

I'll be honest, I am weighing the "slight" increase in the class features against brand new shinies. (an increase in a d8 to a d10 or d10 to d12 are not big changes) I think a lot of my decision will come down to me sitting down with the book and examining the 6th and higher level spells.

The abilities you gain at high level are high level spells.

Mass suggestions, force cage, and foresight are all very good spells.
(8th level spells are a bit meh).

The thought I had was sorcerer, possibly wild magic, and possibly a three-four level dip. With some of the save or suck spells at my disposal, metamagic like heightened spell feels like a good grab.

It's a fair trade. Depending on what you fight.

 

[Inoeex]

Thank you all your efforts providing us this brilliant guide : )

I am about to start my adventures as a Bard in 2days and I will go College of Role.

My roll on stats are 18,16,15,12,12,5 and I am a High Elf

According to this post, my ability scores should be :

Ch:18
Dex :16+2
Con:15
Wis:12
Int:12
Str:5

But you have also mentioned that 12-14 is enough for Con, thus I am wondering if I should swap it with another stat ? Like Wis or Int.
I am also thinking that 18 is kinda too much for Dex, is it not ?

I also have a very big question mark above my head regarding the skills .... why Stealth is a sky blue one ? I does not make sense to me, a bard ? Go stealth ? Bard has nothing to be afraid of, they can manipulate people out of fights, why do they need to have Stealth ?

 

[DocSharpe]

Keep in mind that most players are using the point buy, not rolling. So they'll have a high state of 16, not 18. But if you can get a high Dex, go for it. It will help with your ranged attacks and AC.

As far as stealth goes, many parties end up rolling group stealth checks, so having a few trained people helps out the guys in heavy armor. And many parties have bards instead of rogues... Myself I have it so that my bard stays out of the enemy's attention until it's time to hog the spotlight. But you can definitely get by without it.

 

[Inoeex]

At this very moment I found most of non-pure damage spells useless in comparison to spells such as Fire Bolt which does make the player to cast a DC die for it : (

Let me give you my char as an example

He has 5 Charisma Modifier and he is level 4 Bard

According to book my spell save DC = 8 + Prof Bonus + Charisma Modifier, which will be 15 for me

Imagine me facing a Druid with 5 Wisdom Modifier , which has 7 wisdom throw

When I cast Vicious Mockery, he needs 15+ and he already has 7, with a D20 roll he has 60% chance of success :|

It really sux that he can roll for the DC but I cant roll to make it harder, my spell save DC is a fix number while he has the chance to roll against it and the chance my victory is 40%
:|

Not to mention that 1st I need to die in order cast my spell the same as Fire Bolt to see if it hits the target
Then the target needs to make saving throw die, but the target of Fire Bolt will get direct damage

 

[moardie]

At this very moment I found most of non-pure damage spells useless in comparison to spells such as Fire Bolt which does make the player to cast a DC die for it : (

Let me give you my char as an example

He has 5 Charisma Modifier and he is level 4 Bard

According to book my spell save DC = 8 + Prof Bonus + Charisma Modifier, which will be 15 for me

Imagine me facing a Druid with 5 Wisdom Modifier , which has 7 wisdom throw

When I cast Vicious Mockery, he needs 15+ and he already has 7, with a D20 roll he has 60% chance of success :|

It really sux that he can roll for the DC but I cant roll to make it harder, my spell save DC is a fix number while he has the chance to roll against it and the chance my victory is 40%
:|

Not to mention that 1st I need to die in order cast my spell the same as Fire Bolt to see if it hits the target
Then the target needs to make saving throw die, but the target of Fire Bolt will get direct damage

You need to use appropriate spells. You don't use Wis save spells against Wise opponents. Use Charisma Saves instead.

 

[DocSharpe]

You need to use appropriate spells. You don't use Wis save spells against Wise opponents. Use Charisma Saves instead.

What Mordie said. Also, Fire Bolt doesn't give the target a saving throw...you have to hit the target's AC. (You were a little unclear as to what you were saying)

As you take different attack spells, consider not just how much damage they do, but what defense they target.
* Against the druid in your example, Fire Bolt is a better attack than Vicious Mockery, since you're right...the Druid's Wis is going to be higher, but their AC is *likely* 16 (assuming barkskin)
* Against a heavily armored fighter, Vicious Mockery can be awesome, since Cha is often a dump stat, and applying disadvantage sucks for them.
* Spells which have Int saves are frequently good, since many classes treat Int as a dump stat.

 

[Darkwing Duck]

You should add Mystic Step to Magical Secrets @ 6th lvl. It is probably the best defensive spell available to the Bard in the lower levels. (For the Bard of Lore, fleeing is better than having a few more points of AC in almost every scenario.) Also, it has a lot of uses as movement.

 

[Zardnaar]

I did not add it because there are a lot of spells in the game and I do not have the time to go through every single one.

 

[LightningArrow]

It's important to note that Jack of All Trades applies to Counterspell/Dispel Magic, making the Bard better with these spells than anyone other than an Abjurer.