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<blockquote data-quote="Rystil Arden" data-source="post: 2055360" data-attributes="member: 29014">Most of the successful bards I have seen have been human, but from this list, gnome is definitely the way to go.&nbsp; The CON bonus effectively changes your d6 hit dice to a d8, allowing you to go toe-to-toe without dying as often (although most bards do better to stay in the back and use ranged weapons), and the AC from size small also helps.&nbsp; Don't forget the DC bonus to Illusion spells that stacks with Spell Focus.&nbsp; Tasha's Hideous Laughter is an excellent choice, but go for good Save-based Illusion spells to take advantage of the racial ability.&nbsp; That being said, I've seen a large number of 3.x bards fall by the wayside because they were completely overshadowed by clerics or druids.&nbsp; In order to prevent this, take advantage of the bard's unique abilities:&nbsp; Take 5 ranks in Knowledge [History] ASAP.&nbsp; Then, whenever the DM mentions something new, ask to make a Bardic Knowledge check.&nbsp; Chances are, the DM is happy to provide you with some of their carefully-crafted backstory, and this information is often quite useful to the party, especially at lower levels when there aren't many divination spells to be used (or at high levels when you don't know what question to ask yet!).&nbsp; Also, you are probably your party's best user of Charisma-based skills (almost as many Skill Points as the Rogue, and you are raising Charisma anyway for DCs and those important bonus spells at the3 3....2 0 levels), so make sure to purchase some of those, if your campaign uses them (if it doesn't use social skills very often, you may want to rethink class options).&nbsp; As mentioned above, a few Knowledge&nbsp; skills never hurt, and if you want to use wands of a variety of spells, make sure you can reliably make a DC 20 Use Magic Device check.&nbsp; &nbsp;Finally, if your DM allows them, check out some of the great bard prestige classes.&nbsp; Bards' jack-of-all-trade nature (and the other, stronger classes that share it) has perennially made them a slightly suboptimal choice (hence the stereotype of Elan from Order of the Stick), so some of these prestige classes are really neat and fun ideas.&nbsp; Others, like the War Chanter, have an overwhelmingly powerful capstone ability that your DM is sure to ban if you also have Leadership, so steer clear of those unless you talk it over first with your DM.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Rystil Arden, post: 2055360, member: 29014"] Most of the successful bards I have seen have been human, but from this list, gnome is definitely the way to go. The CON bonus effectively changes your d6 hit dice to a d8, allowing you to go toe-to-toe without dying as often (although most bards do better to stay in the back and use ranged weapons), and the AC from size small also helps. Don't forget the DC bonus to Illusion spells that stacks with Spell Focus. Tasha's Hideous Laughter is an excellent choice, but go for good Save-based Illusion spells to take advantage of the racial ability. That being said, I've seen a large number of 3.x bards fall by the wayside because they were completely overshadowed by clerics or druids. In order to prevent this, take advantage of the bard's unique abilities: Take 5 ranks in Knowledge [History] ASAP. Then, whenever the DM mentions something new, ask to make a Bardic Knowledge check. Chances are, the DM is happy to provide you with some of their carefully-crafted backstory, and this information is often quite useful to the party, especially at lower levels when there aren't many divination spells to be used (or at high levels when you don't know what question to ask yet!). Also, you are probably your party's best user of Charisma-based skills (almost as many Skill Points as the Rogue, and you are raising Charisma anyway for DCs and those important bonus spells at the 3 3....2 0 levels), so make sure to purchase some of those, if your campaign uses them (if it doesn't use social skills very often, you may want to rethink class options). As mentioned above, a few Knowledge skills never hurt, and if you want to use wands of a variety of spells, make sure you can reliably make a DC 20 Use Magic Device check. Finally, if your DM allows them, check out some of the great bard prestige classes. Bards' jack-of-all-trade nature (and the other, stronger classes that share it) has perennially made them a slightly suboptimal choice (hence the stereotype of Elan from Order of the Stick), so some of these prestige classes are really neat and fun ideas. Others, like the War Chanter, have an overwhelmingly powerful capstone ability that your DM is sure to ban if you also have Leadership, so steer clear of those unless you talk it over first with your DM. [/QUOTE]

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