D&D 3E/3.5 [3.5] Help my bard contribute [Thanks guys!]

[Roland Delacroix]

Wait a min, why do you need Weapon Finesse for the Whip Dagger? It's a ranged weapon so uses DEX, right? Is that another change?

 

[Darklone]

Bards got a lot of morale bonus to combat spells now... not stacking with their song .... cool.

Magic Weapon and GMW are gone. Really bad for combat oriented bards.

 

[Olorin]

Re: Strategizing a Singer.

I've never played a PC who invested in Use Magic Device. How many skill points are needed to reliably access other classes' scrolls? Is UMD worth it for other purposes?

In my campaign, UMD has proven very valuable to the party's bard. She is the only arcane caster in the group (bard 8/arcane archer 3), and they have no cleric (barb, druid and ftr/rog/guild thief).

She has max ranks in it (at least 11, maybe some more cross-class from archer), and a charisma of 20, so +16 at least. Plus synergy bonuses from Spellcraft and Decipher Script for checks with scrolls. She has a variety of wands and scrolls that she uses to great effect. In the last session, a scroll of halt undead saved the party's bacon.

So if you are in a group lacking some of the more traditional classes, UMD can go a long way to filling the void.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Wait a min, why do you need Weapon Finesse for the Whip Dagger? It's a ranged weapon so uses DEX, right? Is that another change?

They changed this in 3.5. It's now a melee weapon that provokes an AoO, doesn't threaten, and can be finessed.

Old Whip: Bow feats work, uses dex, range. But no threatened squares, provokes an AoO.

New Whip: Range, uses strength but can be finessed. But no threatened squares, provokes an AoO, bow feats don't work.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Bards got a lot of morale bonus to combat spells now... not stacking with their song .... cool.

Magic Weapon and GMW are gone. Really bad for combat oriented bards.

I noticed that. On the other hand, the second level Alter Self can change you into a lizardfolk...with +6 to natural armor.

 

[Roland Delacroix]

Bards lost Haste too, one of their best spells. Well, you know what I mean....

Damn, sounds like WotC changed EVERYTHING. They might as well called it 4e.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Re: Re: Strategizing a Singer.

So if you are in a group lacking some of the more traditional classes, UMD can go a long way to filling the void.

This is a good point, and I'll keep it in mind. At this point (because we're still pre-campaign) I don't know for certain what the party makeup will be. There will be six of us, but that doesn't guarantee that all of the traditional classes will be filled. From what I understand, three of the PCs will be a fighter, fighter/rogue, and ranger/druid. So if there's no cleric or arcane caster, UMD may very well be a great way for my bard to pull his weight.

I'm gathering from this thread, though, that UMD doesn't really come into play until you have a +15-20 in the skill, so that you have little chance of fizzling cross-class scrolls. So I probably won't take any UMD to start (at 5th-level), but start boosting it at 8th, 9th, and 10th, so that by 10th-level, I have it maxed out and usable.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

I'd suggest the high strength route too. You get a reach weapon, Expertise, Improved Trip, Combat Reflexes and Expert Tactician... any 5ft step back and Soundburst might give you another attack vs your stunned opponent(s). Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack may come later. One or two level of fighter might be nice.

I'll roll for my stats on Sunday (the DMs using a special system where we roll for stat sets that he has charted out) and that will determine a lot. If I have good enough stats to put a 14 or so into strength, I may start out taking Dodge, Mobility, Expertise as my starting feats, and just using my strength with the whip as my standard attack, and a longsword if I need to help flank (I plan on buying a spiked gauntlet to threaten when using the whip). Then pick up Improved Trip (or Disarm? Is one better than the other?) at 6th, and push Spring Attack back to 9th. Though I would prefer not to take fighter levels at this point (at least until 10th so I can get my greedy little hands on Dimension Door,) if the campaign winds up being more hack-and-slash than anything else, that'll be my first move.

For AC, get a chainshirt (no mithral one, AC enhancements are your schtick) and a shield if you wanna go defensive with Expertise.

I agree with you absolutely. A Mithril Chain Shirt isn't really necessary for my PC. Eventually, though, I'd like to get a mithril medium armor (which would then be light) for the added AC bonus. Note that my DM has come up with custom armor stats, and the medium and heavy armors provide a slightly better AC bonus than the core rules. Celestial mithril scale is what I'll be shooting for.

 

[Wippit Guud]

Cost of item that grants +10 to UMD = 2000gp

UMD at level 5:
Ranks - 8
Decipher script +2
Spellcraft +2
Magic Item +10
Total = +22

Guarantee casting of sscroll up to level 2
Guarantee use of wand
Guarantee emulate class
Emulate race on a roll of 3

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Cost of item that grants +10 to UMD = 2000gp

Is this according to the 3.5 rules? If so, I may have to change some things around...