[Help] Bard 10 + battle tactics

[doghead]

I am trying to make a hobgoblin bard 10 Song Speaker (my own term)

Song Speakers begin life riding with the troops, inspiring courage and motivating the flagging with their chants and music, and their lash. During the nights they prowl the camps reciting the stories of the great warriors and rooting out weakness. Gather Info, Intimidate, Move Silently, Listen and Perform skills are most valued amoung the young Song Speakers, as are healing and psycological spells.

Song Speakers who survive long enough usually find themselve the war lords' messenger, negotiator and spy. Bluff, Diplomacy, Sense Motive as well as the sneaking and info gathering skills all become important.

At the moment, the character (anyone know any good hobgoblin names?) is still mostly riding with the troops. I am wondering what combination of spells would be best, along with the bards Bardic Music to do this. At the moment I have the following.

Spells Known (+ Cha Bonus)
3 x 0th: Detect magic, Lullaby, Read magic
3 x 1st +1: Cause Fear, Cure Light Wounds, Remove Fear, Indentify.
3 x 2nd +1: Calm Emotions, Cure Moderate wounds, Heroism, Scare
2 x 3rd +1: Cure Serious Wounds, Good Hope, Haste.
0 x 4th:

I was thinking along these lines.
1: Blur on self (1 min/level) before engagement for missile protection.
2: Heroism (10min/level) on self or leader (+2 Attk/Save/Skill rolls)
3: Good Hope on unit (1min/level) before engagement (morale: +2 attk/dam/save/skill rolls).
4: Haste on unit/leaders (1 round/level) before charge (additional attack, + 1 attk/dodge rolls).
5: Inspire courage (while chanting +5 rounds) (morale: +2 vs charm/fear, +2 attk/dam rolls).

Do all of these stack? I suspect that the morale bonuses do not, in which case it would one or the other of Good hope or Inspire Courage. Perhaps one then the other. Start with Inspire. Then cast Good Hope and charge in.

Scare and cause fear were for the enemy. I was wondering if there was something better for knocking down something more powerful like a high level leader or high HD monster.

 

[AnthonyJ]

Hm...clearly the focus of a 'song speaker' is improving the rest of the group, rather than directly fighting. Given this, my choices:

Level 1: alarm, comprehend languages, cure light wounds, identify
Level 2: calm emotions, detect thoughts, locate object, whispering wind.
Level 3: clairvoyance, dispel magic, good hope, haste

 

[Nifft]

Spells Known (+ Cha Bonus)
3 x 0th: Detect magic, Lullaby, Read magic
3 x 1st +1: Cause Fear, Cure Light Wounds, Remove Fear, Indentify.
3 x 2nd +1: Calm Emotions, Cure Moderate wounds, Heroism, Scare
2 x 3rd +1: Cure Serious Wounds, Good Hope, Haste.
0 x 4th:

First off: you've got the "spells known" and "spells per day" tables backwards. You get a Charisma bonus to SPELLS PER DAY, and if you have at least an 18 Charisma, you know 2 4th level spells -- you know 4 spells of each other level. (You know 6 different Cantrips.)

Tactical support spells by level:
0: Detect Magic, Read Magic, Light, Lullaby, Message, Resistance
1: Alarm, Cure Light Wounds, Silent Image, Tasha's Hideous Laughter
2: Cure Moderate Wounds, Heroism, Glitterdust, Suggestion
3: Cure Serious Wounds, Dispel Magic, Good Hope, Haste
4: Greater Invisibility, Shout

-- N

 

[The Souljourner]

I wouldn't take Heroism or Good Hope, they just duplicate two of your bardic abilities, which at 10 times per day, you have a heck of a lot more of than spells. Take lingering song and they'll last 10 rounds after you stop singing, which is usually longer than the length of a fight.

You're right about Good Hope and Inspire Courage not stacking... which is why I don't think Good Hope is worth it (if only they had made it some other kind of bonus.... it's a useless spell for Bards, even though it fits so well into their theme)

-The Souljourner

 

[JiffyPopTart]

I don't really think that Identify is a very good choice for this character either. Its doesn't really fit his schtick nor is it a good choice for a PC. You are much better off buying an identify scroll in the rare time you need to indentify something.

DS

 

[Bauglir]

Little off topic here but it's been my experience in any game that we need to Identify constantly. How do you determine what magic items do otherwise?

 

[Darklone]

No mirror image?

 

[The Souljourner]

Oh yeah, and suggestion isn't terribly useful either. Once again it's just duplicating what you can do with your bard abilities. Also I'd second the "identify isn't terribly useful" crowd... though most of our groups take it anyway (usually the wizard, since it's no drawback for him).

The thing is, when you have to choose which spells you know, you don't want to waste anything. For first level spells, you can get scrolls for only 25gp. That's really cheap. So basically anything that is done in down time should be done through scrolls. You have to have 100gp pearls anyway... so instead of going to find those, you can go and find scrolls (for 125 a pop).

-The Souljourner

 

[doghead]

Ah, apologies for the spells known vs per day tables. Its been a long time since I had to get my head around spellcasting.

The focus of the Song Speaker is battle support. As a character in a group, however, the needs will be a little different. However, as he developed as a Song Speaker rather than an adventurer, I wanted to try and keep the spells consistant with that schtick .

OK, Mirror Image looks like an interesting alternative to Blur. Message and Whispering Wind both fit the theme. Alarm comes up each time. I realise that Good Hope mimics Inspire Courage, but it allows the PC to cast and continue.

The Souljourner: What is lingering song? I couldn't find it in the Feats or Spells.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Grant_Stoom]

Another vote for losing Identify.

And another vote for taking Mirror Image.

I'm playing a Bard 10/Shadowdancer 2 in a steathy campaign. We went up against two stone golems this past Sunday and Mirror Image saved my butt. I was causing some serious damage with adamantite arrows and rapid shot + song.

Haste is a good buff spell choice, since now it works like a mass haste.

You've also got a lot of healing spells, when only a few are needed.

As far as battle tactics, singing takes a standard action and takes effect right away now. It used to take a full round before your group saw the bonuses. One good tactic is for your group to delay until after you activate your song. This will give them a much better attack. +2/+2 is nothing to sneeze at. It makes a noticeable difference in battle.

I like my archerbard. You'll need to stay in light armor to cast your spells with no failure, so you'll want a high Dex. High Dex lends itself to missile weapons. Point blank shot, rapid shot and precise shot for your feats. If you are an elf you get the composite longbow proficiency for free, plus a bonus to your Dex.

Another great flexible 2nd level spell is Glitterdust. Probably my favorite low level spell. It's like Group See Invis and Area Blindness and Area Faerie Fire all in one spell.

Lastly, you can max out Use Magic Device. It takes a long time before it's reliable, but it's great by level 10. Buy some scrolls and wands and now your a wizard + cleric + bard. You could get some divine scrolls with great group buffs on them from either the cleric or druid spell lists. That's STRONG.