Voi_D_ragon
Explorer
Aight, this was inspired by a Baldur's Gate 3 mod that buffs the Valor Bard b/c Swords Bard is totally busted in BG3.
Essentially, the mod's goal is to turn the Valor Bard into a buddy for your frontliner who can hold their own while buffing the party's tank (and of course, remaining a full caster).
I liked the idea, but looking around the interwebs I noticed Valor Bards were actually being theorycrafted as mega DPS characters (Conjure Minor Elementals + Eldritch Blast on Extra Attack).
So, starting from the mod, I tried to make a Valor Bard that's stronger on defense (for themselves and the party) and weaker on DPR (I hope).
Level 3
-Whenever you inspire an ally with your Bardic Inspiration, you also inspire yourself so long as both you and the target are within 5 feet of a hostile creature. (There's alternatives to this, such as it triggering off of both being within 5 ft of the same hostile creature or within 5 ft of each other - and layering these on top of one another could make the restriction more meaningful).
-Combat inspiration dice doubled on crits with combat inspiration (Maybe, dunno, it's not a great feature offensively). Otherwise unchanged.
Level 6
-Fighting Style: Archery (?), Defense, Dueling, Protection, Interception
-(Once per round?) Whenever a creature expends one of your bardic inspiration dice, you gain one additional reaction which lasts until the end of your next turn. (Strong, but requires some setup. Don't know if this allow for crazy busted combinations.)
-Once per turn, after you take the Attack Action and make only a single attack, you can use a reaction to cast a cantrip with a casting time of 1 Action that requires you to roll one attack roll or forces an enemy to make a saving throw (No more Eldritch Blast Extra Attacks, proofed it against stacking with other Extra Attacks, gave it a resource cost to balance out the addition of fighting styles - though it is a plentiful resource).
Level 14
-Basically unchanged: Whenever you cast a spell with a casting time of 1 Action on your turn (disallows the risk of people looking for pesky War Caster interactions), you can make a weapon attack as a Bonus Action.
Hopefully this take on the Valor Bard incentivizes a protective/retaliation style of play and isn't the gateway to some crazy nova-blender combat beast like some of the builds I've seen. Let me know what you think!
Essentially, the mod's goal is to turn the Valor Bard into a buddy for your frontliner who can hold their own while buffing the party's tank (and of course, remaining a full caster).
I liked the idea, but looking around the interwebs I noticed Valor Bards were actually being theorycrafted as mega DPS characters (Conjure Minor Elementals + Eldritch Blast on Extra Attack).
So, starting from the mod, I tried to make a Valor Bard that's stronger on defense (for themselves and the party) and weaker on DPR (I hope).
Level 3
-Whenever you inspire an ally with your Bardic Inspiration, you also inspire yourself so long as both you and the target are within 5 feet of a hostile creature. (There's alternatives to this, such as it triggering off of both being within 5 ft of the same hostile creature or within 5 ft of each other - and layering these on top of one another could make the restriction more meaningful).
-Combat inspiration dice doubled on crits with combat inspiration (Maybe, dunno, it's not a great feature offensively). Otherwise unchanged.
Level 6
-Fighting Style: Archery (?), Defense, Dueling, Protection, Interception
-(Once per round?) Whenever a creature expends one of your bardic inspiration dice, you gain one additional reaction which lasts until the end of your next turn. (Strong, but requires some setup. Don't know if this allow for crazy busted combinations.)
-Once per turn, after you take the Attack Action and make only a single attack, you can use a reaction to cast a cantrip with a casting time of 1 Action that requires you to roll one attack roll or forces an enemy to make a saving throw (No more Eldritch Blast Extra Attacks, proofed it against stacking with other Extra Attacks, gave it a resource cost to balance out the addition of fighting styles - though it is a plentiful resource).
Level 14
-Basically unchanged: Whenever you cast a spell with a casting time of 1 Action on your turn (disallows the risk of people looking for pesky War Caster interactions), you can make a weapon attack as a Bonus Action.
Hopefully this take on the Valor Bard incentivizes a protective/retaliation style of play and isn't the gateway to some crazy nova-blender combat beast like some of the builds I've seen. Let me know what you think!
