D&D 5E Adjusting to an adventure, a bard's perspective.

[El Gallo Negro]

Hello all,

Thanks for reading my first post!

I'm looking for some feedback or insight to help me on my party's current adventure. We just started out a new campaign at level 1 and our party consisted of a Dragonborn Paladin, a Halfling Rogue, a Half-Elf sorcerer, and me, a Variant Human Bard. I say "consisted" because, due to a bit of bad luck and a timely ambush, the sorcerer was killed during our first session. Now he plans to roll up a fighter. I have no problem with this, but it does put me in an interesting spot.

My backstory painted my character as leaning more toward valor bard than lore bard. After reading through several guides and thinking about the choice myself, I was feeling pretty good about choosing valor for better armor, weapons, and the extra attack. I even chose the magic initiate feat in order to grab Hex and Eldritch blast. The idea was pretty simple: start off with a hex, go to town with the crossbow (eventually a longbow for ranged and rapier for melee), and give the hexed enemy disadvantage on whichever ability I found most pertinent at the time (usually Wis or Dex). Now that we lost the sorcerer, I feel I will probably have to assume the role of the party's primary caster. This means that the college of lore is looking like the more logical path to follow.

Here are my rolled scores with bonuses:

STR - 10
DEX - 16
CON - 14
INT - 11
WIS - 11
CHA - 16

Given the makeup of the party, if I go lore, which spells should I consider at 6th level? I frequently see the same handful of spells popping up on this and other forums: fireball, aura of vitality, haste, find steed, bless. I may have missed a few, but can you think of think of any other spells that would benefit this particular party?

Is their anybody who thinks I should go valor? If so, why?

I know a lot of this depends on the campaign and other factors, but any general advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[crashtestdummy]

Since you've picked up Eldritch Blast using Magic Initiate, you've covered the bard's primary weakness vs a sorcerer -- lack of consistent cantrip damage. From there, it's just a matter of picking appropriate spells for the role you want to play. Bards are weak when it comes to damaging spells, but they have some and if spell damage is your primary role, then that's what you should be looking for at level 6. However, your role may have changed by then, so I would hold off on making any decision on college until you actually reach level 3 and see what the party composition is at that point in time. After all, there may be another death and replacement character, and you might find you don't have to be the primary spellcaster.

In short, when you reach level 6 (assuming you pick the College of Lore), pick the spells that are needed to fill whatever gap your party has at that point in time. Don't overthink it before you reach that point If you decide at level 3 that the party doesn't need too much in the way of magical support, go back to your original idea of College of Valor, giving the party another front-line combatant, if needed.

 

[abirdcall]

With Eldritch Blast the advantages of Valor are a bit lost on you.

Overall Lore is the more powerful College but they are both still great so it doesn't really matter which one you choose.

I played a Valor Bard and had a great time.

Cutting Words is the superior ability but it is a lot of fun to give out Inspiration dice to your party members.

Remember that Hex is concentration which will limit what you can do while you have it up.

I would look into utility spells. Dispel Magic for instance is a very nice spell to have.

 

[Rhenny]

I'd just like to put in a word to encourage you to play the bard you wanted to play even if your party changes. 5e is so versitile that party configuration is less important than playing the concept you enjoy. I have t played a bard yet, but I've DMd for a few. They are all very fun to play and either build will add to the party.

 

[crashtestdummy]

Bard's already get Dispel Magic -- they don't get Counterspell. Counterspell is certainly one of the options I'm looking at for my lore bard when he gets to 6th level.

 

[bedir than]

Is their anybody who thinks I should go valor? If so, why?

Because you want to be a Valor Bard. I know the party needs are changing, but that's OK. The Party will find new ways to solve problems. Yes, attacking magic is going to be lighter, but there are more than one way to skin a cat. There's more than four even, so losing one isn't a big deal.

 

[El Gallo Negro]

Thanks for all of the insight! I think I'll just be patient and wait it out for the next couple of sessions. I'll need to get a better feel for the rest of the party and how the adventure starts to unfold. After all, the decision doesn't have to be made yet!

Cutting Words is powerful, but I like the feeling of giving my allies dice to use when they decide. The first die my friend used in combat may have actually saved his life. It's a pretty cool feeling to turn a hit into a miss, or a fail into a save. I guess I did my job there.

For now, I'll just work on my insulting skills and gathering a list of good short stories to tell as a complement to my musical performances.

Thanks all!

 

[spartanah]

so far I'm a 5/2 lore bardlock and im having a blast. sorcerer is more for a direct damage and blasting rather than buffing and controlling, so no, you can't substitute a sorcerer anyways...
if you wanna go valor you can do so, you still are in fact a full caster... so no need to change into lore (even though he's awesome)
I have a sorcerer in my group and I can say we do very different rolls, and I'm more like the wizard than the sorcerer