3rd Level Character

[Fynn]

Hi All,

New campaign starting up and I'm tossing up what to go for. 3rd level entry and four players in the game. Only one confirmed at this stage is the cleric. I am thinking about having a fighter/bard and was wondering if there are any PrC out there that I should be working towards. Don't have all the books handy so would appreciate if you could source your suggestions for me to follow up later.

Mainly choosing that combination for flavor, but don't want the character to be completely without bite.

 

[Crothian]

well, what about the fighter bard are you going for? The duelist I've always liked as it is very swashbuckler esque. Do you want to continue casting as abard or are you look more for melee power?

 

[Fynn]

Hmm melee or casting really depends on the other players, if one of them chooses a barbarian or straight fighter I'm much more likely to go caster, if we have enough caster levels, more inclined to go for melee damage.

Just want to get an idea if there is something I should be working towards.

 

[Crothian]

there are classes you might want to work for but they are either caster or combat for the most part. You could eventually get Eldritch Knight from the DMG as a balance of booth though it would take a lot more Bard Levels. You could go Duelst from the DMG but that would favor fighter levels. Then there are even more options from Comple Warrior, Arcan,. and Adventurer, and plenty of other books. But you really need to know where you want the character to go first.

 

[Jack Simth]

A Fighter/Bard could qualify for Eldritch Knight (at Bard level 7 if Cha >= 16, bard level 8 if 13 <= cha < 16) - which could be nice - the spells of a bard, the Base Attack Bonus and saves of a Fighter - but that would take a while.

With Elf or Half-Elf (and a couple of feats) you could get Arcane Archer, which has some nifties.

If you don't mind being evil, you could qualify for Assasin at Character Level 5 (Disguise 4 ranks, Hide 8 ranks, Move Silently 8 ranks) provided you don't mind a little slaughter of a random person.

Could take Dragon Disciple at Character level 5 (8 ranks in Knoweledge(Arcana), Know Draconic Language)

A Duelist is well within grasp, starting at level 7 (1 bard level, 5 fighter levels, 1 bard level - to meet the skill requirements and the BAB).

A Shadowdancer shouldn't be too hard.

Don't know if you *should* be going for those, but you could fairly easily (non-feat pre-recs are all potential class skills/spells/abilities).

 

[Rhun]

The Spellsword from Tome and Blood might be a good choice. You gain both spells and combat ability (though not as good as either a true spellcaster or true fighter), plus you get to channel spells through your melee weapon and learn to lessen your chance of arcane spell failure while wearing armor.

 

[Shadeus]

There's a warchanter from CW; no spell progression, but you get some very cool new bard songs. For the Arcane side, you might consider Sublime Chord (focuses on spells) or Seeker of the Song (not sure about this one's title, some very powerful bard songs) both from Complete Arcane. Oh, and then there's Virtuoso from Complete Adventurer.

I've looked at playing a "warrior poet" myself, but the part where it always falls down is the fact you have low hit points from those bard levels, bad armor class because you have to wear light armor to cast bard spells, and you give up slightly on your attack bonus. A great secondary warrior, but not so great being the meat shield. Although I think there is a feat called Battle Caster in Complete Arcane that allows you to wear medium armor and cast spells.