D&D 4E New to 4e, and D&D in general. Could use some help with my gnome bard build.

[Keldoz]

Hey, I've just started playing D&D. After another practice round, my group will be starting an Eberron campaign. All of us are new to the game, and we've got a party of 7, not including the DM.

Our setup for the campaign will be:
Goliath Earthstrength Warden
Some other defender, either a paladin or a swordmage.
Minotaur Monk (Most likely going to be stone fist)
Changeling Rogue
A druid of some sort.
An artificer of some sort.

And me. I was planning on going cunning bard, but what type of bard would go best with this party? And could I have some help with optimizing this character? I'm not really sure what I'm doing.

Basically, how do I be a credit to the party?
Oh, and does anyone have some tips for roleplaying a gnome bard? I'm not quite sure how I should act.

Bard, level 1
Gnome, Bard
Build: Cunning Bard
Bardic Virtue: Virtue of Cunning

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 8, Con 13, Dex 10, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 18.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 8, Con 13, Dex 10, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 16.


AC: 17 Fort: 11 Reflex: 15 Will: 15
HP: 25 Surges: 8 Surge Value: 6

TRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +10, Bluff +9, Intimidate +9, Diplomacy +9, Streetwise +9

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics, Dungeoneering +3, Endurance +1, Heal +3, History +4, Insight +3, Nature +3, Perception +3, Religion +4, Stealth +2, Thievery, Athletics -1

FEATS
Bard: Ritual Caster
Level 1: Advantage of Cunning

POWERS
Bard at-will 1: Vicious Mockery
Bard at-will 2: Staggering Note
Bard encounter 1: Blunder
Bard daily 1: Stirring Shout

ITEMS
Chainmail, Short sword, Light Shield, Implement, Wand, Adventurer's Kit
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&DI Character Builder ======

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I haven't tried a Bard yet, nor have i seen one in play, so about the only mechanical question I can ask is, "Why Ritual Caster?"

As for how to RP a gnome bard...well, the stereotype would be the jolly but dangerous trickster.

 

[Vadriar]

I haven't tried a Bard yet, nor have i seen one in play, so about the only mechanical question I can ask is, "Why Ritual Caster?"

As for how to RP a gnome bard...well, the stereotype would be the jolly but dangerous trickster.

Bards get it for free, including two rituals at first level.

As for your build, Keldoz: I played an Eladrin Cunning Bard from 1 to 5. It's a great deal of fun. I RP mine as a very charming (I have a lot of charm spells and a high Charisma), talking people into giving him what he wants kind of character. The first session, when the player characters met up in an inn, he was playing a lute in the inn to earn some money. After a raid on the town by goblins, he made a captured goblin believe the Barbarian in the party was going to eat him unless he told them where his leader was.

In combat, he pushes enemies around with Staggering Note and Blunder, or charms them into being less combat effective.

A Cunning Bard is a great fit for your party. Your friends are playing a Warden (which is Melee), another defender (melee), a monk (melee) a Rogue (melee most likely), a druid (melee and ranged), and an Artificer (ranged).

A Cunning Bard is ranged, rounding you out some more. Also, Cunning Bards are the best Bards at granting other people attacks. You should try giving your Rogue more attacks when he has Combat Advantage. You can do this with (for example) the Blunder power, or the Staggering Note power. He will hit for insane damage (and since you gave him the attack, you can see it as you doing the damage, the Rogue is a tool that you're wielding in that instance). So you're a very offensive leader -- you make stuff die fast.

The other bard builds are Prescient and Valorous. Precient isn't a very good build. It prefers to shoot a Bow at range.

Valorous is a more in your face build. Valorous leads by example, so to speak, so you don heavy armor and hit people in the face with a weapon. This is a dangerous job. They are a more defensive leader. You make your companions last a bit longer in combat, because every time one of them kills or "bloodies" (hit it so that it hit points drop under half of his maximum) an enemy, you grant him Temporary Hitpoints, which are a buffer on your actual hitpoints.

Given your party make up, go Cunning. It's a very fun build to play, especially in a party that is already very loaded on Melee.

I have some comments on your build though. For starters, all characters get to add either their Dexterity (also called Dex) or Intelligence (Int) modifiers to their Armor Class if they wear light armor. You are wearing Chain, which is a heavy armor. It gives you a +6 to AC, but at a cost of -1 to speed (you walk slower) and a -1 to ability checks that have to do with physical activities.

You should start with wearing Hide Armor, which is a light armor. It gives you a +3 bonus to AC. But because it's light, you can add your Intelligence Modifier (yours is 3, right now) to AC. So in total it's +6, the same as chain. However, the Hide Armor does not slow you down. It still has the -1 to physical checks thing though. All in, Hide Armor makes you run faster than Chain and protects you the same in your case.

As for your Ability Scores: You do not want Wisdom so high. It's useless for you. Your Will defense keys of the higher of your Wisdom or Charisma modifiers (just like AC and Int or Dex). Wisdom does nothing for your powers as a Cunning Bard, and your Cha is higher, so you can put those points into something else.

You want your Charisma to be high. It gives you your attack bonus (makes you hit more often) and improves your damage, and improves your Heal (which is called Majestic Word). Your Intelligence is your secondary stat. Your build often can take powers which have certain side-effects called "riders" which increase with your intelligence modifier. For example: You took the Blunder power, which allows an ally of yours to take a swing at an enemy with a bonus to the attack roll of 1 + your Intelligence modifier.

All in, your Ability Scores should either be:

18 Cha, 14 Int, 11 Con, 10 Str, 10 Dex, 8 Wis
If you want the most damage and attack bonus, and the biggest heals.

or
16 Cha, 16 Int, 13 Con, 10 Str, 11 Dex, 8 Wis
If you want a better Armor Class (with your Racial Score boost, you get an 18 in Int, for a modifier of +4), a bigger range on your Virtue and better riders on your powers, 2 more hitpoints and an extra healing surge.

Remember, your Race, Gnome, gives you a +2 bonus to Intelligence and Charisma, which I have NOT INCLUDED in the Ability Scores above. I'd go with the second one. It's more well-rounded.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Your instincts all look good to me except one. Drop Staggering Note for Guiding Strike - Staggering Note is weak at low levels, Vicious Mockery is great fun, and Guiding Strike gives you a very good melee attack if you ever get trapped. And come to think of it the feat. For marking your character out, nothing beats Bard of All Trades. A +4 skill bonus to skills you aren't trained in (when the skill bonus for those you are is +5).

Edit: And Bards not only get Ritual Caster for free. They get a free Bardic ritual per day.

Also some of the best feats in the game are multiclass feats. Bards can take an unlimited number of them. Do so at higher levels.

 

[Vadriar]

Your instincts all look good to me except one. Drop Staggering Note for Guiding Strike - Staggering Note is weak at low levels, Vicious Mockery is great fun, and Guiding Strike gives you a very good melee attack if you ever get trapped. And come to think of it the feat. For marking your character out, nothing beats Bard of All Trades. A +4 skill bonus to skills you aren't trained in (when the skill bonus for those you are is +5).

Edit: And Bards not only get Ritual Caster for free. They get a free Bardic ritual per day.

Also some of the best feats in the game are multiclass feats. Bards can take an unlimited number of them. Do so at higher levels.

I strongly disagree on Staggering Note. With a Rogue and a Monk, Staggering Note is very nice. If he gets trapped in Melee (unlikely with at least 4 melee PC's in party), he can use Fade Away to become invisible.

Or shift away and Staggering Note a guy into one of the 2 defenders he's rolling with, or one of the tough melee guys. There's a reason that it's regarded as the best Bard at-will, bar none, and that is because its awesome with a cherry on top.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Staggering Note would be great with a thief - especially at high levels. But neither Rogue nor Monk has a melee basic attack worth talking about. At paragon and above when there are class features and feats being thrown at the extra damage by the strikers it absolutely rocks - this I don't disagree with. But monks don't get extra damage offturn so he'd be using just the strength of a stone fist - or the strength of the rogue. He's better off in that party giving the MBA to the Warden.

Like Direct the Strike and Guiding Strike it's awesome with a cherry on top in the right party. That isn't the right party, and the level is a little low for the party to have developed in the right way, feats being tight at the bottom of heroic tier.

 

[Vadriar]

Staggering Note would be great with a thief - especially at high levels. But neither Rogue nor Monk has a melee basic attack worth talking about. At paragon and above when there are class features and feats being thrown at the extra damage by the strikers it absolutely rocks - this I don't disagree with. But monks don't get extra damage offturn so he'd be using just the strength of a stone fist - or the strength of the rogue. He's better off in that party giving the MBA to the Warden.

Like Direct the Strike and Guiding Strike it's awesome with a cherry on top in the right party. That isn't the right party, and the level is a little low for the party to have developed in the right way, feats being tight at the bottom of heroic tier.

Your point is valid, but I think we will keep disagreeing on this. A rogue is already very accurate (especially with a dagger), and if he's Strength based, it'll be even less of an issue. The forced movement part of the power isn't mandatory, so a Rogue flanking the target will still have a respectable attack bonus. And will get his Sneak Attack damage in, which is huge. And he's just a Melee Training (Dexterity) feat away from being awesome.

Let's also not discount the druid. 2 of the 4 beast form powers can be used as MBA's.

And pushing people off ledges or into fires is just too much fun in my book.

However, your point is true, the party make-up does not "require" Staggering Note and Guiding Strike is a good power.

 

[Ryujin]

Vadriar has laid things out very well and I don't have a lot to add, to that. My own preference, as his, is for Staggering Note with something like Guiding Strike, for melee use. Staggering Note is just plain fun, in combat, even though it does pitiful damage.

Bards have one great ability, that you can use to good effect; the ability to take multiple different multi-class feats. With my own Changling Cunning Bard I took two Warlord multi-class feats which turned my character into an automatic (something like) +7 to damage for any character that could see him, was willing to give up combat advantage, and spent an action point. That's very handy to your fellow party members, when they want to go nova.

 

[Neonchameleon]

A rogue is already very accurate (especially with a dagger), and if he's Strength based, it'll be even less of an issue.

A rogue gets only +1 to hit from weapon talent at low levels. A Brawny Rogue can live with that. But I've seen far more Artful Dodgers and Cunning Sneaks than I have brawny Rogues. If the rogue has a dex of 18 and a str of 12, that's -3 to hit compared to baseline. -2 after the weapon talent. Pretty inaccurate (and I've seen Str 8 rogues a few times). Feats like Nimble Blade that make the rogue absurdly accurate come later.

And will get his Sneak Attack damage in, which is huge.

2d6 damage. The first part is counteracted by the dagger, and the second by the low strength. A Str 12 rogue does 2d6+d4+1 damage at 1st level with sneak attack for 10.5 on average. A Str 18 warden with an axe does d10 + 4 for 9.5. With extra accuracy.

And he's just a Melee Training (Dexterity) feat away from being awesome.

Agreed. But he's first level. He won't have Melee Training. There are so many feats to take first. Light Blade Expertise springs to mind, as do Nimble Blade and Backstabber. And a multiclass feat. As I said, with a thief things would be very different. That +7 to hit, 3d6+6 damage (at dex 18) before you have started is genuinely impressive (especially as it goes up next level to +9 to hit even before Expertise).

 

[Keldoz]

Thanks for all the help guys, I'm really looking forward to playing this bard. I could use some help thinking of a backstory/personality for him, does anyone have some suggestions? Also, is Summer Rhymer a useful paragon path, or would I be better off taking another? It seemed pretty good to me.