Thoughts on Bards?

[CronoDekar]

I can't say much about mechanics, since I haven't played a bard for any length of time. But one of my favorite character concepts has been Laskaw, a ghostwise halfling (FR) bard. He came from a tribal community, but has an unusually high eloquence, calm demeanor, and respect for varying peoples and traditions. Because of his personality, he's good and empathically understanding people, being diplomatic, and, well, lying, when it'd be advantageous.

Despite his simple nature, his tribal drums and powerful war chants stir his allies into battle (I was able to convince my DM to allow a category for Perform (Primitive), since that's what I best viewed as his style). He rarely himself enters the fray though, acting primarily through support abilities/spells and influencing enemies through enchantments.

As far as Worldspeaker, I considered having him take it, but never got to a point in the camp where he would. It's in Dragon 311, along with the Mourner, Memory Smith, Battle Howler, and Green Whisperer prestiges.

 

[Yeoman]

Oh yeah, one other feat I forgot. Song of the Heart, from the Eberron Campaign setting. It's really useful whether you are a single or multiclassed bard.

 

[Gruns]

Thanks so far!

Lots of good suggestions so far!
I guess I'm 99% set on Bard now...

To clear some things up:
My allowed sources are the 3 Core books, the 4 Complete Books, and the Forgotten Realms book(though unfortunately I don't personally own this and haven't seen it yet.). That's it. No Dragon magazines, no 3rd party splatbooks, not even Eberron or Frostburn. The rule isn't so much for the overpowering, but because none of our group owns these books and we don't want to have to shell out the dough to buy them. We can make do with the books listed.

Also, I've since chatted with the DM about the campaign expectations and he assured me that a faceman kind of bard would definately NOT go to waste. As for combat effectiveness, meh. Not a concern at all. We have a 20(24) strength half-orc and a halfling outrider type to take care of that. Not to mention a druid that should be a bear most of the time in a few levels. No, melee doesn't have to be my fortee'. I'll probably make use of the whip and trip attacks

While I'm not so much a fan of the music thing, I really like Bardic Knowledge and plan on basing my character concept/backstory around this. [WhateverMyNameIsGoingToBe, the Loreseeker] This also gives the DM a hook for any adventure.

Human, or Half-Elf? I LOVE feats which makes me want to be human, however we have a houserule that gives Half-Elves a bonus feat at level one, but only from the list of Skill feats. (i.e., Skill Focus, or one of the +2/+2 like Alertness or Persuasive etc). I think I'll go with Half-Elf and focus totally on information gathering.

Thanks!
Gruns

 

[The Sigil]

get The Enchiridion of Mystic Music and convince your gm to allow it. Still the best suplement on Bard (in my opinion, that is).

Shameless link: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=134&src=EnWorld - 144 pages of Bardy Goodness.

To clear some things up:
My allowed sources are the 3 Core books, the 4 Complete Books, and the Forgotten Realms book(though unfortunately I don't personally own this and haven't seen it yet.). That's it. No Dragon magazines, no 3rd party splatbooks, not even Eberron or Frostburn. The rule isn't so much for the overpowering, but because none of our group owns these books and we don't want to have to shell out the dough to buy them. We can make do with the books listed.

And if money's an issue, look at the free demo (a complete work in and of itself, this is actually the "old, unrevised" version of the above): http://www.cooleys.org/publishing/demos/stc001.zip - a "mere" 76 pages of Bardy Goodness.

--The Sigil

 

[molonel]

Bards blow.

I think someone just had to jump in and say that admidst all the group hugs for bards.

If you want to play the REAL jack of all trades base class, you play a rogue.

 

[davidschwartznz]

Base your bard on Alexander the Great.

Choose Oratory as you Perform skill and inspire your troops. You have bardic knowledge becuase you were schooled by the world's greatest philosphers. Don't call your spells by that term - you just have a knack for things, like combat medicine and getting people to agree with you. Bards can use most of the weapons and armor typical to a Greek, so kit up and fight alongside your warriors.

Just becuase you're a nancy boy doesn't mean you can't conquer the known world!

 

[Miqaxd]

I've played a human bard with a whip, and used it to trip and disarm. Take the feats and get +4 to each of those. Sing/oratory and give yourself and whole party bonuses to attack. While they aren't as straightup powerful as the other classes, they have the advantage of being close to several of the other classes combined. They can't heal as good as a cleric, but they can heal. They aren't as good as spellcasting as a wizard, but they have spells. They don't have skills like a rogue, but they have lots of skill points, and a wider selection of skills than rogue's do. All in one class, all at the same time. That's a bard.

 

[IndyPendant]

One option I haven't seen come up here: take a UMD/support/magic/face bard. Go for the typical jack-of-all-trades type! Here's the concept:

Face: Social skills.
Spells: Cha-based spellcasting synergizes well with social skills. Take spells the bard gets early or exclusively, like Laughter, Heroism, and Good Hope. But don't forget the heals and Dispels!
Support: Bardsong. Easy. Sing it up (or use poetry), don't bother with instruments unless you can spare the skill points.
UMD: don't bother with this until at least level 8 (or higher). Until then, use Xbows. Then start exploring wands. Get a wand of MM, caster level 3rd if you can handle it, and zap in combat. At higher levels, get a wand of Scorching Ray. It has 50 charges, so it will last a *long* time, since for half the battles you will be bardsinging and casting spells. And get a wand of CLW.
Toss in a few other skills, whatever you'd like.

Stats: Min str! 14 Dex and (if possible) Con, Int 14, Cha 16 (or if possible 18), and Wis whatever's left.

Fun class to play. Not spectacular in combat--but then, that's not what bards are about. If I ever played a bard, this is what I would try.