Am I a powergamer? (or, a fine line between powergamer and being useful to the party)

[Mahiro Satsu]

Bards are hard to play in most groups, esp. those whose DM's arent very creative and just throw combat at the PCs. Stay with the bard, they're good characters. You'll be able to help more in combat if you follow Spenser's tips. He said everything i wanted to. Ask your DM if you can get roleplaying bonuses to Xp because you're playing a difficult class. That should help a lot.

 

[novyet]

Since Spenser already has it spot on, I'll just add something I learned from playing low strength characters. Crossbow Crossbow Crossbow! No strength penalty, and you get your dex to hit. Very good for 8 or less strength. Go Repeating Crossbow if you can spare a feat. I'd stay Bard as well. They are a fun class to play once you get the hang of it.

 

[der_kluge]

Repeating crossbow??

Did I mention that my PC is the D&D equivalent of Britney Spears?

Now, can you see Britney wielding a repeating crossbow? I didn't think so.

No, if the DM will allow it, I'll just redo her into a rog/sor or rog/wiz. But he still hasn't responded to my e-mail. Aaargh.

Thanks for all the input, though.

 

[Rashak Mani]

Inspire Courage could be more than singing uplifting songs... for taunting warrior types, for example, you could use:

"Insults":

"Your going to let a measly Vampire kick your butt !?"

Jokes:

"These hellhounds have a nasty bad breath heh ?"
" Why dont kobolds bark ?"


Wizards you could use other means like " Back at the Magical Academy I will tell them about your exploits if you kill this critter!"


As for Bards my personal opinion is that they stink unless you yourself are artisticly bent and able to roleplay well. Earthdawns Trobadour had a similar problem... but in my opinion filled a information expert niche that could be quite good.

 

[S'mon]

Repeating crossbow??

Did I mention that my PC is the D&D equivalent of Britney Spears?

Now, can you see Britney wielding a repeating crossbow? I didn't think so.

I can see Britney Spears wielding a crossbow

(S'mon closes his eyes)

mmm....



Actually, given that Britney looks a lot like Sarah Michelle Gellar, and she wields a crossbow a lot, it's hardly a huge stretch. If you're saying that your PC is a pop diva, shouldn't you be keeping her as a Bard?

Although I can see that when the orcs are closing in with their +3/d12+3 great axes, singing

"Hit me baby one more time!"

Might not be such a good idea.

If I were you, I'd say multiclass to Rogue, that Sneak attack damage is really not bad at all, especially if you can use 2 weapons or otherwise get multiple attacks - the Rogue/Monk in my game is pretty awesome when he Flanks & Flurry of Blows...
A level of Sorceror would be good for eg Mage Armour & Charm Person, also.

 

[Balrog]

I agree with others who have posted in support of the usefulness of the bard class in general. I think if you have a party of 5+ members, a Bard becomes very useful, and can shine in many ways. But alot of playing a Bard depends on being able to utilize your Charisma and Intelligence, and in combat heavy games, those abilities are for the most part overlooked, if not totally ignored.

In my own game, as an example, we recently finished the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, and one of the players was playing a Bard. He was quite frustrated toward the latter portions of the campaign because of the combat-heavy nature of tRttTEE. Sure, there were some moments for him to use his flashy high Charisma and wow NPCs and change attitudes, but largely he felt like a second rogue, a second arcane spell-caster, or a secondary fighter, and he grated at being in (what he felt was) a secondary role.

Responding to dieKluge's dilemna, go with your heart. You dont have to stick with being a Bard if you dont want to ....that is the beauty of 3rd Edition....sometimes as your character evolves you change the concept of that character, and in 3E, there is a mechanism(multiclassing) in the game to allow you to change your character's profession to match the idea you have for him or her. Now, if your DM allows you to retroactively change your class, that is cool and you should do it. Its not like you are changing stats or going to the opposite end of the spectrum and wanting to change her to a Paladin or anything radical. You are not powergaming, IMHO.