D&D 5E Best Magical Secrets spells for DMPC Bard?

[Xeviat]

Hi everyone. I've been running "Red Hand of Doom", converted to 5th Edition. We're in chapter 2 right now, and the party has an opportunity to have an NPC bard join them. As luck would have it, one of the players has been playing a bard and isn't really liking it, and he's been wanting to make a new character (he almost died last session, and he wasn't too worried about it). His bard was a valor bard, but I'll be building a lore bard to keep her out of the spotlight too much, focusing on support spells for the group. I'll also be having the group control the NPC, rather than having me do it, as that's always weird.

The party is 7th level (diviner, eldritch knight, totem barbarian, and probably a rogue). The NPC bard is going to be 5th level. But I'm not sure which spells to pick. Anyone have any good ideas for the 8 bard spells and 2 magical secrets a support NPC should know?

Thanks.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Conjure Animals and Aura of Vitality. Both of them are handy for emergency party support. But don't pull them out except in an emergency--in normal situations, just cast Heroism and Faerie Fire and similar low-level spells.

But if you're 5th level, you don't have any magical secrets yet.

 

[Charles Rampant]

I'd just use the Bard statblock from Volo's. It's a hell of a lot simpler for you to run in combat, and gets enough Bardic stuff that he'll look like a Bard without needing you to flip through loads of PC combat options. If the players wonder why he changed or became weaker, just observe that protagonists stand out for a reason.

 

[Olrox17]

Revivify could also be very useful.

 

[Xeviat]

Conjure Animals and Aura of Vitality. Both of them are handy for emergency party support. But don't pull them out except in an emergency--in normal situations, just cast Heroism and Faerie Fire and similar low-level spells.

But if you're 5th level, you don't have any magical secrets yet.

As a wild (wood) elf, conjure animals would really fit. Aura of vitality would be a nice "oops" spell too.

As for secrets ... I don't know why I misread that. Probably because I had just built an 8th level bard. So many bards.