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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kigmatzomat" data-source="post: 2227837" data-attributes="member: 9254">MC started 4 years ago at 1st level and has made it to 18th with a bard the whole time.  Ehrin, the Bard6/Rogue6/Arcane Archer4/Deepwood Sniper2, has been very helpful despite low hps.  (Not the fault of the class, he rolled 1s for 7 levels, ouch!)Being an archer gives him a lot of damage while staying at range.  Point Blank, Precise Shot, and Rapid Shot are 3 excellent combat feats.  he's sneaky, perceptive, and not as useless in melee as he thinks.  (he still acts like he has 40hps)  His AC is fairly good due to the mithral chain and a mithral buckler (10% total arcane spell failure) when he does get swept into combat.  His Inspire Courage provides a steady bonus that helps everyone (it's a party of 6 with 2 cohorts) without inhibiting his sniping.  Inspire Greatness is almost as good as a CMW as it can give the nearly-dead fighter (or cleric!) a fist full of hit points and bonuses to saves at distance.  Inspire Competence is nothing to sneeze at when applied to the Rogue trying to disable a lock, someone using the heal skill to stabilize the cleric, or when making an Escape Artist check to get away from the Tendriculous trying to eat you.  Bardic Knowledge is great for a DM because it provides hooks and direction.  If a player dislikes an NPC they tend to not use their information even if it is vital, bardic lore places a much more neutral appearance to some information.  I don't let my players abuse BN but it can be handy just walking into a town and knowing what inns are good to stay at, where to eat, and where to buy horses (DC10 - known to at least a sizeable minority of the local populace).  Try asking questions other than "What do I know about X?" as it tends to paralyze a lot of DMs.  For some reason they think it gives the bard the bad guys whole life story.  A secret only known by 3 people is unknown by the Bard unless he's one of those 3.  Pay attention to the descriptions on the Bardic Knowledge table as they provide a lot of guidance in a very few words.  In the beginning be specific to acclimatize the DM to bardic knowledge.  "Where do these bandits tend to hangouts?"  "Does the duke like the baron?"  It's pretty easy to decide "this is information that's hard to come by so DC25" and that "anyone who's been to the Duke's court when the baron was present could see the dislike so call it DC20 since most people won't have been to court."  I'm not partial to playing bards (not my style) but I have never been in a game with a bard where they were not thought to pull their own weight.</blockquote>

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