NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="KarinsDad" data-source="post: 3729728" data-attributes="member: 2011">Inspire Courage is +1, not +4. At 20th level, it is +4. But, not at first level (and yes, there are Spell Compendium spells which boost it). Granted, it boosts attack rolls and damage rolls (and charm/fear saves), not just the attack roll.Inspire Competence is only +2.By high level, Inspire Courage is not as effective. Many allies have Mind Blank or other protections against Mind Affecting effects and it doesn't even work in those cases. In fact, the types of PCs that benefit most from Mind Blank are low Will save fighter types who also benefit the most from Inspire Courage.Inspire Courage is limited to once per day per Bard level (minus the number of times the Bard does other songs like Inspire Competence). At most once at first level. Not every single combat until later on.It can be overcome with a Silence spell, a pretty much bread and butter spell for Clerics.It can be overcome with a Calm Emotions spell.It can be (partially) overcome with a Deafness spell.It can be overcome with one or more Thunderstones.It can (eventually) be overcome with a Grapple/Pin.It can (eventually) be overcome with many spell effects (which prevent the Bard from performing), for example Stinking Cloud. Dazing or Stunning the Bard will finish up one of his charges per day (although the effect lasts for 5 more rounds).Stances are not stopped by any of these.Bardic Music doesn't completely stack with other morale bonuses like the Aid spell or Bless spell or Heroism spell or Heroes' Feast, etc. IGG stacks with everything.Bardic Music increases in potency and frequency as levels go up. It does not start out real powerful right away.The only two things that prevent IGG are not being threatened by the stance user or by making the stance user helpless. There are multiple ways to accomplish these, but it requires major effort on the part of the NPCs AFTER they discover that the stance user is using IGG.And, although Inspire Courage eventually becomes more powerful at higher levels (about the same power level and utility as IGG at level 8, higher at level 14), the Bard himself is typically a LOT less effective than a corresponding Crusader in combat.</blockquote>

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