Creating a Bard - Tough Choices...

[Dave G]

Howdy,

I'm working up a bard character for a new game and I have come to realize that this is one of the tougher character classes as far as decision making is concerned.

The obvious tough choices come with spell selection. How did you go about making this decision for your bards? Is it safe to go with the old stand-by of one offensive, one defensive, one read/detect type and one performance based?

How do you decide which spells you need?

The next area of difficulty (for me at least) was spending skill points... Should I just give up on hiding/sneaking/climbing/jumping so I am more diplomatic and a better information gatherer? Is it important that I have a bunch of knowledge skills? I guess what I am asking is: Is it better to have several maxed out skills or a variety of skills with one or two ranks each?

Just to add to the information overload of my post I thought I'd mention that this is a multiclassed (or apprentice level) character (DMG p. 40) starting out as a Bard/Cleric with Bard as my primary class. Which means I am pulling double duty, but it's a strong character concept and I like it.

Our party (thus far) consists of

Human Rogue (who'll multiclass to fighter soon)
Druid
Elven Ranger
Psion
Sorcerer
and me, the Strongheart Halfling Bard/Cleric

What do you think? Do YOU have a rule of thumb for character expenditures? What about spell selection, escpecially in light of what we're going to have as a group (only one of us is not some sort of power user... interesting eh?)

Thanks for any insight or comments!!!

 

[Crothian]

First off, Bards are no longer Jack of all trades. Specialize in an area. You don't have the skill points or the spells to be good at a little bit of everything. As for spells, I went with versatilitiy because I knew my Bard was going to be useless in combat, so I didn't even try early on.

I built the wandering minstrel and it worked out great. Skills, I saelected a few that I knew I would use and maxed them all (Perform, Bluff, use magic device, concentration and a few others).

 

[Randolpho]

I think it depends entirely on the character's personality what spells and skills you take. What's your character like? Does he fancy himself a "master of disguise, able to blend into any situation"?

So, what's your bards personality and background? If I knew that, I could help out with your selections.

 

[der_kluge]

You're having the same problem with the bard that I had. I'm playing a Bard now in a new campaign (she's still first level), but I had a difficult time trying to pinpoint the class into its strengths and weaknesses. It's certainly no 2nd edition Bard!

Clerics and wizards are easy - you have a predefined concept, and you can work within those bounds and make the class like you want. Bards are so open-ended that you can make them into just about anything you want.

I think most will agree that the Bard really shines on enchantment and charisma-based abilities. Plus, the Bard gets certain spells at earlier levels like suggestion. For some crazy reason, they gave the Bard a lot of scrying spells and the scry skill. I guess they just couldn't get away from the stereotype of a Bard sitting around a crystal ball spying on their enemies (huh?!).

Since you're a Halfling, focus on your strengths - hide, move silently. Disregard disguise (you can't change your height after all). And don't do like I did and put all your points into Bluff, but have very few in Sense Motive. So, I can dish it out, but I can't take it!

 

[Dave G]

Okay, here goes!

Marlo Llewellyn is a halfling Bard Cleric of Milil. He received his bardic training and his clerical initiation in Silverymoon. He love studying old culture and peicing together forgotten lore and song fragments to bring a part of the past into the future. As a follower of the god of bards and songs, he feels it is his duty and his priviledge to share knowledge where ever he finds a chance.

He is about the most happy-go-lucky creatures you'll ever meet, and enjoys flirting bravely with about any female (no matter the species) he comes across. He's a lover of life and a liver of loves.

A couple of small in-character bits I have planned for him...

"The Learning Tree" Whenever he goes to a new place, he will constantly find people who want to learn from him and hear his stories. When he goes to a new town he will tell people to meet him outside of town at the learning tree. When students would arrive they would find him playing a tune on his simple wooden flute, sitting cross-legged in front of a freshly planted sapling tree. He will spend several hours working on literacy skills and showing others how to carve and play the recorder (flute) He then tells them that for payment, they must find a time to meet at this tree and share something they know (be it a story, a song, or a skill) with anyone who cares to hear it, and to charge the new student with the same task of teaching something to another, at the learning tree.

He plans on planting a network of learning trees and planting the seeds of education whereever he may go.

Being from Silverymoon, he has seen how valuable education is to people at large... his only problem is that most academies and schools are not within reach of commoners who cannot afford tuition, so in a dream/vision he has decided to find a place to build a school of his own... a working school with artists and craftsmen taking on students to learn a trade, a place with representatives of many religions, schools of magic and warriors of skill. There will be no fee for tuition, however all students must spend 3 days a week working on the campus or the fields around the grounds...

So that's a glimpse inside Marlo... he is as much a tavern bard too, he loves to perform to a bawdy crowd and to find a lovely young wench to cuddle up with at night... Mostly he's just about the best personality you ever met...

hope this helps!

 

[Darklone]

Hmm.

Tough choices.

Well. My bards tend to fit the holes of the group. So you got a psion and a sorcerer. Means the bard is likely to take spells they "forgot".

Multiclass: You are brd/clr. Tough choice (what about MC penalty?). I would have advised barbarian bar or bard/fighter since your group is without a tank so far.

Ranger is the only fighter... Hmm. Fighter rogue will be good at that too... You are likely the best healer in the group at first (keep a backpack full of goodberries from the druid!)

Simple. Take whatever spell you need. Don't plan too much. Play.

 

[Randolpho]

Yes, that helps a bunch. For skills, I'd suggest concentrating on the following:

Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Perform, and Knowledge (various, depending on what you want him to know).

For spells, I'd suggest diviniation for the most part, but illusory spells to enhance your storytelling are always good. Hypnotism, Silent Image, Ghost Sound, Identify, etc. are all good ways to start your quest for the transfer of knowledge.

It sounds to me like your party is already well rounded. Stick to a roleplaying character, and you'll have tons 'o fun.

 

[Dave G]

Thanks Randy!

Anyone else ever face this dilemma? I'm just wondering if there are any other perspectives?

Thanks!

 

[Crothian]

Here is a really cool spell from AEG's Dragon. I think it might fit your character. It is not powerful at all, and I have it purely for role playing reasons.

Sharing the Ancient Lore
Alteration, Divination
Level: Bard 0, Knowledge 2, Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 20 minutes
Range: Touch
Targets: one
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: None
This spell transfers a single memory from the caster to the target. The memory can be no longer the twenty minutes in length, and the target must be willing. Upon successful casting, the target remembers the incident as clearly as the caster does, complete with any magical tampering of the original memory.
When Bards cast this spell, it has an area effect of 10ft and may affect all who listen.

 

[Shadowdancer]

I'm currently playing a bard/sorcerer, but publicly no one knows she's a sorcerer -- everyone thinks her spell casting is just part of her bard abilities. I started out with a few ranks in a lot of different skills, but as things have progressed I've concentrated on building up the skills needed for the campaign. Arianna is becoming quite skilled at behind-the-scenes manipulation and information gathering. This works well in our campaign, which is primarily urban based and revolves around five siblings and their supporters fighting to be named heir by their father, the king. She has a spell focus feat in enchantment spells, so I have concentrated my spell selection on enchantment spells and illusions which can be incorporated into her performances. I have supplemented my spell selection with wands of offensive spells, such as magic missle and burning hands.