Help on Bard Build - It's a matter of pride, folks.

[Synthetik Fish]

look at the shuriken for example.


i think what you are trying to do is Rapid Reload or TWF...


under the 2000ed rules it was on pg 100 of the PHB under the crossbow....

For TWF with daggers you would still have to take a feat or something to re-draw as a free action.
Just doesn't make sense to me, when you look at the bigger picture. At, say, level 10 an archer is making many attacks per round, at a farther range, and his magical bow bestows magic onto his arrows, and he Can be doing more damage per arrow, too. All this at no cost. Making drawing a dagger for the express purpose of throwing it a free action, in contrast, isn't that powerful. Feats are few and far between in D&D, and I consider them one of the most powerful things IN the game. You shouldn't have to waste on on throwing daggers. Archer's dont. Fighter's dont waste a feat to utilize their (normal) extra attacks.

 

[diaglo]

throwing anything in the rules is feat expensive.

look at lighting a flask of oil to throw it in combat....

 

[Synthetik Fish]

throwing anything in the rules is feat expensive.

look at lighting a flask of oil to throw it in combat....

amen to that.

my 1st level party just faced a swarm of beetles. everyone was scurrying to toss oil on them (well, they ended up tossing 2 different flasks of oil... no torch *smacks forehead* d'oh! one person toss oil, one person toss a torch! it's not that hard!)
so my 14 year old mage just ended up doing burning hands and pwn3d the swarm

 

[Synthetik Fish]

Oh yeah, btw... with my jester bard, if you can manage to get point blank, rapid shot, AND Two Weapon fighting by 4ht level, you'll be attacking at +10/+10/+10 Pair this with 3 levels of rogue, and your tumble skill... you'll be doing 3 sneak attacks at +12, doing 1d4 + 3 + 2d6 damge each attack... and at +12 most of those should hit (being sneak attacks)

 

[Christian]

Bluff - You can feint sure, but more importantly you can LIE! This one will come in handy if you have a Paladin in the group. With Skill Focus: Bluff and the right CHA boosting items you can tell people the sky is green and get away with it. Don't be afraid to use it on your fellow PC's either, especially if they are mocking you for playing a bard! I took this, and have had frst pick of treasure ever since.

Ah, yes, the ol' 'Haley gambit'.

http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?SK=129

 

[Synthetik Fish]

Ah, yes, the ol' 'Haley gambit'.

http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?SK=129

Order of the Stick Rocks!!! They need to do them more frequently lol.

 

[Synthetik Fish]

So what are you going to end up doing with your bard??

 

[Iku Rex]

Here's what I'd do. The point is to make a character that's effective becasue he's a bard, not despite it.

CN Half-Elf Bard 2 - Master Manipulator

"The bard is your friend. Trust the bard."

Ability Scores: Str 11, Dex 11, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 9, Cha 18

Skills: Minimum 5 ranks in Bluff, Diplomacy, Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) and Sense Motive. Some languages will come in handy and as a bard you'll probably want to max out Perform (Oratory).

Your most impressive feature will be a +20 (+4 Cha, +2 Half-Elf, +9 Synergies, +5 ranks) bonus on diplomacy checks. Get a +2 aid another bonus from another character if possible, and throw in the friendly face spell for an extra +5 bonus to an especially difficult check.

Feat: Complimentary Insight (RoD) (+3 rather than +2 synergies)
(Future feats: Skill Focus: Diplomacy, Negotiator, Sociable Personality [RoD], Spell Focus: Enchantment.)

1st level spells known: Friendly Face (RoD) and Charm Person.

(If you use charm person a lot you could try to convince your DM that you should be allowed to use your diplomacy skill rather than an opposed charisma check to make a charmed opponent do something he wouldn't normally do. Seems reasonable to me. )

Get the 1st level racial substitution level for Half-Elf Bard from Races of Destiny (calm emotions ability). You can use it to take the big bad out of the fight while the rest of the party gets rid of his minions, heal and buff themselves, and surround him for the final battle.

As for further advancement, a level of Mindbender (CA) lets you communicate telepathically with any creature that has a language. The Sublime Chord PrC (CA) gets you access to high level Sor/Wiz spells. A level of Marshall (MH) for a bonus on charisma based skills might work pretty well too.

 

[Magesmiley]

As far as stats, I'd opt for block B and dump the low score into Wisdom.

One notion I haven't seen mentioned here is using a reach weapon of some variety. My personal favorite is, of course, the spiked chain. The nice thing about a reach weapon is you get to whack the enemy before they whack you usually. It makes a good equalizer against opponents when you are wearing lighter armor. I'd consider:

Human
S15, D17, C15, I14, W4, Ch16
Exotic WP (Spiked Chain)
Combat Reflexes (or Combat Expertise to be followed by Improved Trip at 3rd, in which case switch STR and DEX)

Get a masterwork chain. You end up with +4 (+5 with the option) to hit and 2d4+3 (2d4+4 with the option) damage, plus the option to trip or disarm. This allows you to be ok in fighting, particularly at breaking up a charge at your group. Hang around the archer and the cleric/wizard and break up any attacks header towards those individuals. The cleric is probably going to be a better tank than you are, but if he's in the thick of things you can lend a solid hand of support using a reach weapon without endangering yourself too much. The spiked chain is good for getting into flanking spots too.

With two divine casters in the party you might be ok with healing (although with the true necromancer type it might be a bit skimpy). Consider trying to get ahold of any cure wands you can (or possibly get a low-charge one from your starting gold). Clerics always like to know who is going to heal them when they get into trouble.

Make sure you use your music when appropriate too. Extra bonuses here and there help immensely.

Obviously your Will save is going to suck for a bit. I'd suck it up and live with it. Bards have good Will saves (if I recall), so it'll get better over time. You won't be any worse than most characters with just a single good save.

Skills: With the stats above you end up with 45 skill points at 2nd level. This is probably more than anyone else, possibly excepting the rogue.

I kind of get the impression that you are in a combat-heavy game. If that is the case, the bard's best forte is kind of useless. Others have mentioned Diplomacy, Bluff, and the other social skills already, so I'll take a shot at some of the others.

I definitely recommend maxing the Use Magic Device skill out. Get a good variety of skills too while you're at it. You might consider Hide and Move Silently - if the rogue doesn't have them, you get the ability to scout ahead and if he does you can go with him. Tumble is another good skill to pump up - you'll be in lighter armor and it can be a lifesaver to be able to move around without provoking.

One last skill item, if you do get to talk once in awhile, make sure you sink more than a few points into languages.

Hope this helps.

 

[Synthetik Fish]

Here's what I'd do. The point is to make a character that's effective becasue he's a bard, not despite it.


Your most impressive feature will be a +20 (+4 Cha, +2 Half-Elf, +9 Synergies, +5 ranks) bonus on diplomacy checks. Get a +2 aid another bonus from another character if possible, and throw in the friendly face spell for an extra +5 bonus to an especially difficult check.

For the record, my Jester is very much a good bard Because he is a bard, not Despite it. Don't know who that comment was aimed at.

How do you figure +9 synergy bonus? Sounds more like bogus to me, but if you can show me where you got that i'll be much impressed.

Personally, I find half-elf's next to useless, unless you're choosing them only for roleplaying. A half-elf doesn't get anythign that an elf doesn't get- an elf just gets more, and a +2 Dex (yeah, I'm willing to make and even +2/-2 trade... I think any "even" stat trades like this in the long run end up benefiting you more than hindering you.)

A half-elf gets low-light vision, you say? And no negatives to stats? Well, at low levels tehy have these things in the PHB called lanterns and Light spells... and seeing as chances are slim to none that everyone else in the party will have darkvision, your part will need SOME source of light. Even low-light requires light.
-stats. A small negative is always easy to compromise for. Its really hard, however, to up your stats, and I personally would take any bonus availible.

Humans are great because they get an extremely valuable extra feat, and extra skills.

I am NOT trying to rip on your choice, btw. Just trying to throughly explain mine