D&D 5E Bard + Warlock multiclass

[Ashrym]

If you want all the skills...

Half-elf (2 skills) background (2 skills, 2 tools) Rogue 1 (4 skills if you start rogue, thieves tools), knowledge cleric 1 (2 skills, 2 expertise), warlock 2 with beguiling influence (2 skills), lore bard 3 (1 skill for multiclassing, 1 instrument, 3 skills for lore bard)
level 7 = 16 skills, 4 expertise, thieves tools, 1 instrument, and 2 other tools. Not to mention plenty of cantrips.
And there's still the skilled feat as well.


10 Str, 14 Dex, 12 Con, 12 Int, 14 Wis, 16 Cha. Leaves you well rounded for all the skills. Or trade Str and Int for 14 Con.

Medium armor + shield, bless, eldrich blast, healing word, and cutting word to be competent ranged support in battle.

I would finish with bard 6, warlock 11, rogue 2, knowledge 1. With 20 Cha and inspiring leader. Though hard to say what order to go in.
Sorcerer 3 is also tempting for quickened bless.

The feat would add on 19 skills out of 18 choices. Why not go variant human and spend the bonus feat on skilled? That ends up with 18/18 skills and doesn't lose out on an ASI with a build that only allows for 3 ASI's (bard 4, warlock 4, warlock 8). I'd probably do the variant human as stated and then drop to rogue 1 taking warlock 12 for another ASI and invocation.

I consider it a novelty build anyway. Lore bards already have plenty of skill, jack of all trades, and peerless skill without all the hassle of multiclassing and the average bonus from peerless skill plus jack of all trades is higher than proficiency as well. Knowledge clerics with knowledge of ages can just add proficiency if needed to cover any skill or tool. Both are limited by BI dice or channel divinity but for how often it comes up as important I would call them better solutions to a desire for an all proficient skills style of character.
[MENTION=6802927]Inoeex[/MENTION], what you are describing sounds like you want lore bard 18 / warlock 2 and to spend the 2 invocations on agonizing blast and beguiling influence (maybe devil's sight). That's a ton of skills already with 3 from the class, 3 from the subclass, 2 from the background, 1 or 2 possible from race, and possibly 2 from the splash. That gives you more than enough to cover what is generally considered important and as I mentioned, jack of all trades half bonus still applies to the rest and peerless skill is available so it could already be in overkill territory.

That also keeps a person from delaying too much progression and only loses out on one ASI, and keeps all the magical secrets options plus progression is up to 9th level spells known. That's plenty of skill and spell support with eldritch blast for consistent damage. It's a common build. You might give up that last magical secrets for the 3rd level of warlock and use it for tome. More cantrips and more ritual access opens up options that won't cost spell slots but it's hard to say on that because it's giving up wish or other 9th level spells known as an options so depends on what you want from the character if you ever do get to those levels.

 

[mellored]

The feat would add on 19 skills out of 18 choices. Why not go variant human and spend the bonus feat on skilled? That ends up with 18/18 skills and doesn't lose out on an ASI with a build that only allows for 3 ASI's (bard 4, warlock 4, warlock 8). I'd probably do the variant human as stated and then drop to rogue 1 taking warlock 12 for another ASI and invocation.

That's possibly a better option.

I consider it a novelty build anyway.

Sure, but it's also a functional one. You have good damage and support and lot's of versatility.

I'd probably do the variant human as stated and then drop to rogue 1 taking warlock 12 for another ASI and invocation.

I find rogue 2 to be worth more than an ASI. Though maybe, depending on the invocation.


Bard 2/rogue 11 is another way to go. Jack of all trades + reliable talent = can't roll less than 10 for any skill.

 

[Ashrym]

Bard 2/rogue 11 is another way to go. Jack of all trades + reliable talent = can't roll less than 10 for any skill.

Can't roll less than 10 in any skill anyway because the build is proficient in every skill. ;-)

Jack of all trades only applies to checks that don't have associated skills in the build and still nice to have. I thought the two were mutually exclusive but I just checked Crawford's twitter and he did confirm that reliable talent does work with jack-of-all-trades and remarkable athlete. That means the build can't roll less than a 10 on initiative as well, along with any other check that doesn't include an associated skill.

I like it.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Has anyone mentioned that you also get a bonus skill from multiclassing to Ranger 1?

 

[Ashrym]

Has anyone mentioned that you also get a bonus skill from multiclassing to Ranger 1?

So rogue (thief for fast hands, second story work, and supreme sneak as skill benefits) 11, bard 5 (jack-of-all-trades, font of inspiration, lore skills and spell support), ranger 1 (an extra skill and skill benefits in favored terrain), knowledge cleric 1, and warlock 2 (beguiling influence and agonizing blast)? That gives 18 skills without needing variant human or half-elf with the skilled feat added. Going with either allows for taking extra tool proficiency instead with the skilled feat.

Point buy looks like str 8, dex 14, con 12, int 10, wis 14, cha 16 to meet MC ability score requirements and keeps scores even. Could swap STR and INT but not much point, or drop WIS to 13 and apply 2 more build points to STR or INT if a person doesn't mind the 13 WIS or gives up inspiring leader for a different feat to top it off.

Still only 3 ASI's so variant human is needed to add in the skilled feat and pick up 20 CHA plus inspiring leader which means 1 extra tool proficiency in the mix and a lot of skill benefits.

 

[jadeitejynx]

Starting as a Warlock gets you Wisdom + Charisma save proficiency; Bard gets you Dexterity + Charisma, and additional weapon proficiencies (hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords). Are you more afraid of Fireballs or Dominate Person? Are you planning to gish it up any with rapiers? (Probably not.) Do you think of your bard as more of a spellcaster or a warrior?

When I played a Bardlock I started with Warlock, in large part because I didn't want to have to explain in play why he suddenly started dabbling in Cthulu's brain. It was easier to just start him out that way and say that he branched out into other esoterica (Bard stuff) from there. Worked out well for me and was a lot of fun to play. I'd recommend it.

I just explained it as he accidentally made a deal with the devil in college

 

[Mad_Jack]

I just explained it as he accidentally made a deal with the devil in college

His singing was so bad he was literally dragged off to Hell for it? lol

 

[Older Beholder]

I once asked a DM if he was OK with me playing a Bard-lock
He asked what it was, when I explained it was a multi-class Bard/Warlock he said 'Sure, but you're not allowed to call it a Bard-lock again'

 

[Audiomancer]

My group may be starting up a new campaign next month. We often start at Level 5, and I’m considering playing a Bard 4/Warlock 1. The character concept would be a musician who cut a deal with an otherworldly entity for more talent/power (think, blues musician Robert Johnson).

 

[Krachek]

A death metal singer! Could make an interesting party.