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General Tabletop Discussion
Character Builds & Optimization
Lore Bard Debuffer: Spell Selection and Choice of Dip
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<blockquote data-quote="Blue" data-source="post: 7478000" data-attributes="member: 20564"><p>I don't think your evaluation is complete. It looks primarily at the case of defenses of the caster.</p><p></p><p>First, the evaluation just pushed off to a later point that it can help others, which is a major bonus to the power as a whole.</p><p></p><p>Second, it does not count in the opportunity cost of getting shield, which is high. You are giving up a whole magical secret for something with only a minor improvement in protecting yourself.</p><p></p><p>Third, the evaluation ignores how it can also be used in other ways than attacks, such as causing an enemy for fail an abilty check, such as athletics while climbing or any number of ability checks to resist spells like web.</p><p></p><p>Fourth, the resource pool to use Cutting Word is much deeper than to cast shield. About 15 uses a day (assuming two short rests) with a 20 CHR and 5th level. It's a long time before you can get that many spell slots total, much less you want to devote to personal AC-only defense.</p><p></p><p>So in the end, you pay a high opportunity cost for something with only a limited delta of improvement that is used from a more limited resource pool. For one particular purpose shield is better and if it came for free it would b worth it, and if it was on the bard's list it would probably be worth a spells known. But it varies a lot by play if it's worth the cost of one of the magical secrets to get - it is not a clear winner.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Blue, post: 7478000, member: 20564"] I don't think your evaluation is complete. It looks primarily at the case of defenses of the caster. First, the evaluation just pushed off to a later point that it can help others, which is a major bonus to the power as a whole. Second, it does not count in the opportunity cost of getting shield, which is high. You are giving up a whole magical secret for something with only a minor improvement in protecting yourself. Third, the evaluation ignores how it can also be used in other ways than attacks, such as causing an enemy for fail an abilty check, such as athletics while climbing or any number of ability checks to resist spells like web. Fourth, the resource pool to use Cutting Word is much deeper than to cast shield. About 15 uses a day (assuming two short rests) with a 20 CHR and 5th level. It's a long time before you can get that many spell slots total, much less you want to devote to personal AC-only defense. So in the end, you pay a high opportunity cost for something with only a limited delta of improvement that is used from a more limited resource pool. For one particular purpose shield is better and if it came for free it would b worth it, and if it was on the bard's list it would probably be worth a spells known. But it varies a lot by play if it's worth the cost of one of the magical secrets to get - it is not a clear winner. [/QUOTE]
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