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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Souljourner" data-source="post: 1649849" data-attributes="member: 1622">(I played a bard up to 10th level, so here's my suggestions from a very successful and very fun character)First and foremost, don't dump your strength!  Bards get melee buffing spells, light armor, and 3/4 BAB for a reason!  Contrary to popular belief, you *don't* need an insanely high charisma.  14 is fine, 16 is ok too, but 18 is way overpriced for point buy, don't bother. Str 16 (14)Dex 12 (14)Con 12Int 12Wis 10Cha 14Kinda sucks that you get -2 to strength, but I really don't like a bard with less than 14 strength.   They really need to be able to attack to help out in a battle, and 12 strength with small weapons just blows.Don't do thrown weapons.  They suck at higher levels, because they either have to be enchanted individually (expensive), or count as ammunition and do crap for damage (like darts etc).  I suggest taking a longsword and a buckler - it fits the theme, and works pretty well mechanically.You get very few feats, so don't bother with feat chains.... get feats that are good all on their own.  By having decent strength, you save a feat on weapon finesse.  I like Lingering Song... it makes your songs last twice as long after you stop singing, which is great, since that means inspire courage lasts 10 rounds after you stop singing.  Sing it at the beginning of battle, and it'll almost always last the entire thing.  You can then cast spells and stuff afterward.Don't spend feats on out of combat things - the bard's natural abilities already exceed pretty much any other class'... focus feats on combat, where you need the help.Don't multiclass... bards get a *ton* of abilities that are dependant on level, and I wouldn't delay them.  The +2 inspire courage at 8th is *amazing*, not to mention spellcasting (bards really are pretty decent spellcasters).Don't take spells that duplicate what your bardic songs can do... you only get a few known spells, and thus you don't want any overlap with what you can already do without spells.The number one rule when building a bard is to not put all your eggs in one basket.  Don't forgo one part of the character to the exclusion of the rest.  Bards aren't the best at anything, but can be pretty decent at many things.  If you try to focus just on enchantment spells or just on combat, you'll fall far short... but if you spread your abilities across the bard spectrum, you can be successful at almost anything.Have fun with the character... of all characters, bards have the number one best roleplaying opportunities built in.  You can really go over the top, and if you're nice about it, no one will mind. Compare that to over the top druids or paladins, who just piss off the rest of the party <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />-The Souljourner</blockquote>

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