Bard tactics

[taliesin15]

For straight up fight, no bard is going to be teh equal of a fighter in fighting prowess, nor a wizard in casting prowess..its just not going to happen.

this to me seems to be one reason why Bard is problematic as a class whereas clearly in history and fantasy you have Skald types that were fierce warriors, and cultures (Celtic, Greek, Finnish) where fighting and bardic skills were aspired to and sought by many--maybe this could be remedied by having NPCs (or PCs) with levels in Fighter and Bard?

 

[pawsplay]

You can make a straight up bard that is a terror in a straight up fight, but starting off with satyr HD does not help.

One version is the invisible, Battle Caster bard in mithril full plate with mirror image, self-hasting, using touch of idiocy and Arcane Strike.

Another version has Greater Spell Focus in both illusion and enchantment, which can be a very bad day for someone.

Then there's the "surprise bard," like the one with the undead affecting feat who has ghasts serving him, an Arcane Disciple with the Fire domain, or a maxed out Use Magic Device skill and a wand of force missiles.