Sublime Chord/Bard/Ranger

[afata5]

Hey all,

My character (which i will refer to "I") is a Ranger1/Brd5. I am looking into taking the sublime chord Prc. Can anyone tell me their thoughts on this Prc? Are there any Prc's that you think should be better. My group is all about Fighting (Paladin,Ftr,Cleric,Bard) and so i feel like my Bard is pretty useless in combat after the initial buffs are made to the other party members. So a little diversity like Sublime might be a welcome addition. I'm not the type to rush into combat and i am pretty much always surrounded by my big guns (they take care of me..they like their +2 to attk,dmg,etc... ) But after like 2 rounds, i get kinda...useless So any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,

-Alex

 

[HighlandsBear]

Its like starting over so the ranger level doesn't hurt that much, but it helps if you are set up for it in the other ways. What feats do you already have? Presumably you have a solid charisma, like a 16+ since you aren't fighting much.

 

[afata5]

Thanks for the reply.


My character is focused more on the interaction side of things. Not combat orientated, although at the begining i wanted to do some cool bow stuff(hence the feats) but another character is already doing that very well(in another game, we have high levels and low levels for characters...these are the low levels) so i didn't feel like copying....

Now i know i've made some bad decisions with my skills, but i'll just have to bite it and catch up even though it won't be fast..just don't want to make any mistakes for a while in palnning...

I have 20 Char thanks to a cloak of Charisma +2.
10 str
16 Dex
11 Con
14 Int
10 Wis



As for feats,
Point Blank Shot
Precise Shot
Rapid Shot
Caft Wonderous Item
Track(Ranger skill, been pretty usefull so far)

Skills (main ones anyways):
Bluff 13
Diplomacy 14
Gather Info 13
Knowledge Acana 7
History 7
Nature 9
Religion 2
Perform (Sing) 13
String 5
Spellcraft 9
Use magic Device 15
Search 7
Intemidate 7


I'm about to get my lvl 7..so thoughts?

Thanks again,

Alex

 

[Evilhalfling]

Sublime Cord is extremely powerful, it turns your bard into a full caster - its downside is the huge amount of skill points it takes to qualify. (28 pts from where your pc is now)

thats quite a few levels away -

 

[afata5]

So basically it will take me another 5 levels unless i raise my inteligence quite a bit(, i am Human, with int + 2..so that makes it 6 skill points per lvl..right? do you get more skill points if you raise your intelegence with lets say a headband of intelect for example).

Lets say i keep this path (unless you have another suggestion ofcourse) what should I do with the level progression(mabey another prc in the mean time?, example, Ranger/Brd/Chameleon then sublme chord..and the chamelion is just an example, i didn't look at the prc requirements).

Also, what feats should i be aiming for? Btw, for me 5 levels equals about 7-8 months of weekend play..so it would be nice to do something different in the mean time... hahaha

Thanks,

Alex

 

[FireLance]

Since your party seems to be lacking in arcane spellcasting, Sublime Chord is a good addition as it possibly the best way for a bard-oriented character to get access to powerful arcane spells.

In addition to just taking levels of Sublime Chord, you might want to ask your DM if he's willing to allow you to take a level of Eldritch Knight (you should qualify at Rgr 1/Brd 7), take one more level of bard (Rgr 1/Brd 8/ElKn 1), take two levels of Sublime Chord (Rgr 1/Brd 8/ElKn 1/SuCh 2), and then use Eldritch Knight levels to increase Sublime Chord spellcasting. This way, you get the benefit of the extra spells and a better BAB as well.

Technically, the Eldritch Knight PrC allows you to add levels to an arcane spellcasting class that you had before you added the prestige class, but many other recent PrCs with +1 level of spellcasting allow you to add levels to an arcane spellcasting class that you had before you added the prestige class level, including the very similar Knight Phantom from Five Nations.

 

[afata5]

This sounds great...only one problem. I don't have the skill points. So if i get it, i would have to take 2 levels of bard (i'm Rng1/Brd5, going to Brd6 then Brd7), then go for 1 round of Eldritch knight, then more bard levels 2, then go for the sublime chord then back to knight? Just want to make sure i get it..

Thanks,

Alex

 

[rowport]

Your skill points are going to be your biggest obstacle, as far as I can see. Increasing your INT will give you more points, but (unfortunately) does not do so retroactively for earlier levels as raising your CON would. You might try to talk your DM into bending that rule for you... that would help... Another option is the Open Minded feat from Complete Adventurer. It gives 5 skill points immediately. It will hurt for you to give up a feat slot for skill points, but that might be worth it to limit your delayed levels to get to Sublime Chord.

 

[Urbanmech]

Simply spending more skill points can't get you into the PrC any quicker, you still have to follow the required ranks for the class. 13 Ranks for Knowledge (arcana) and Listen mean you can't take your first Sublime Chord level till lv 11. Rng1/Brd9 should work fine. Rng1/Brd8/Spellsword1 could also be pretty nifty.

 

[FireLance]

So basically it will take me another 5 levels unless i raise my inteligence quite a bit(, i am Human, with int + 2..so that makes it 6 skill points per lvl..right? do you get more skill points if you raise your intelegence with lets say a headband of intelect for example).

3.5e bards and rangers both get 6 skill points per level. If you've been allocating 4 skill points per level, maybe you can ask the DM nicely to let you put the extra skill points in Listen, Knowledge (arcana) and Profession (astrologer) .

Humans get an extra skill point per level, and if your Intelligence is 14, that's another two skill points for a total of 9 skill points per bard level. Non-permanent boosts to Intelligence, such as from a +2 headband of intellect, don't grant extra skill points, so if you have an Intelligence of 12 boosted to 14 by a +2 headband of intellect, you only get 8 skill points per bard level.

Even if you only get 8 skill points per bard level, that should net you 24 skill points for 3 bard levels. That and the 4 skill points from a level of Eldritch Knight should get you 28 skill points. Will that be enough? It's hard to tell since you didn't provide the actual skill ranks, just the overall bonus.