Bard / Horizon Walker

[AuraSeer]

For my next PC, I plan to make a Horizon Walker. But though the class seems ready-made for rangers, I'm thinking it would also fit well for a bard. With all the Knowledges as class skills, a bard can get in at 5th level, just as early as the ranger can.

My question is, will this character end up being totally underpowered? I like the flavor, but I'm rather attached to the idea of being useful to the party.

There's definitely a tradeoff between Brd5 and Rgr5. The bard's main advantage is spells. Not counting bonus spells he gets 3/3/1 slots, compared to the ranger's "0" first level. (I'm liking the idea of alter self to a form with a Swim or Climb speed, to take advantage of the HW terrain movement bonuses. Expeditious retreat is also nice.) There's also bardic music, which my current party has always found very helpful.

In comparison the ranger gets an extra 2 points of BAB, an animal companion, a combat style, two favored enemies, and effectively an extra feat slot (since he needn't spend a feat on Endurance). Plus he has a larger hit die, and martial weapon proficiency. That seems like quite a lot for a character to give up.

They have the same skill points, they're both restricted to light armor, they're both about equivalent in the number of good ability scores they need.

Is this a good idea? Have I gone insane?
Comments?
Suggestions?
Anyone for tennis?

 

[gfunk]

Well, if you have a standard 4 member party then going for a Bard/HW build is a bit risky. A Bard is, by definition, a support class and its primary strength is spellcasting. By multiclassing to what is basically a combat PrC you are kind of flushing your Bard levels down the toilet.

Personally, I think your reasoning is sound -- HW is meant to go with a Ranger. Though other combat classes could go the HW route, esp. the Fighter it seems tailor made for the Ranger.

However if you have a relatively well-balanced party already, you can give it a shot.

 

[jgsugden]

It can work, though you'll want to stay away from the typical bard build. You'll want to focus on your fighting skills rather than on spellcasting and singing. Your bard spells should be combat assistance spells (Expeditious Retreat, Cure Spells, Blur, Mirror Image, Rage, etc ...) You'd probably be better of with an archer type character (point blank at first level, endurance at 3rd (for prerequisite), rapid shot or precise shot at 6th, etc ...)

The horizon walker is not a very good option for most PCs. It has a lot of favor, but not a lot of gusto. Grabbing 1 level for the darkvision is a nice option for a human ranger, but it is otherwise a rather weak class, at least until you have 6 levels in it and get some of the nifty higher abilities.

 

[The Souljourner]

I like the class a lot, my main problem being that straight rangers are so cool, I'm hesistant to give up so many levels. Funny, isn't it, compared to rangers in 3.0 where after 2nd level you really didn't care anymore? Heh. New rangers rock.

However, at epic levels, the horizon walker starts sounding a lot cooler. Several of the planar abilities are better than what you can get with epic feats! And the +1 to hit and damage never stops being useful.

-The Souljourner

 

[Argent Silvermage]

Has it occured to ay of you that a Horizon Walker is a Divine Caster? A Bard would not qualify.

 

[The Souljourner]

What? The Horizon Walker has nothing to do with casting. The requirements are Endurance and 8 ranks of Knowledge: Geography.

We're talking about the one in the 3.5 DMG.. what are you talking about?

-The Souljourner

 

[Argent Silvermage]

What? The Horizon Walker has nothing to do with casting. The requirements are Endurance and 8 ranks of Knowledge: Geography.

We're talking about the one in the 3.5 DMG.. what are you talking about?

-The Souljourner

D'OH I'm thinking Heirophant. Ignore me. I'm just an illusion. nothing to see here.