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View Full Version : What's an epic bard/pirate to do?



Caysyka
2009-03-15, 10:59 AM
The campaign I'm in is about to go epic, and I have no idea what to do for levels 21 and up.

I'm currently a Bard 8/Heartfire Fanner(Dragon #314) 3/Dread Pirate(CAd) 9. My current party role is to open with Inspire Courage/Rally the Crew (currently a +14 bonus through a combination of a magic item, a spell, and some feats), then hit stuff by dual-wielding while using Snowflake Wardance(Frostburn) and pray to the gods that I don't get hit too much.

I am completely stumped on what class levels I should take now. I'd like to be able to buff the party in other ways besides hit and damage (and the pirate's Fight to the Death ability), but I don't know of any class features that do that. Being able to hit stuff better would be nice, too, but other members of the party are much better at that than I am, so it's not a priority.

I could take more levels in bard, but then I'd be taking 5 nearly useless levels just so party members can get an extra +1 to hit and damage. Not really worth it in my opinion.

I'm just not sure where I want to take the character from here.

EDIT: This is D&D 3.5, in case you couldn't tell from the sourcebooks referenced.

woodenbandman
2009-03-15, 11:48 AM
Virtuoso could be good for you. Eventually you'll want to go into sublime chord, from Complete arcane. Get your skills to meet the prereqs, then for the next 11 levels or so, go Virtuoso 1/Sublime Chord1/Virtuoso +9 or something like that. Epic spellcasting is your eventual goal, because in epic play apparently epic spellcasting is epic win.

Other than that you're pretty set. +14 to hit and damage is nothing to sneeze at, especially when the fighter-type can turn it into Power Attack.

Eldan
2009-03-15, 01:57 PM
You could try a class that further improves your bardic music while also giving you a few useful other abilities. I'm of course talking about the

Disciple of Metal (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=852283)

which can easily be refluffed if you don't like the concept.

JoshuaZ
2009-03-15, 04:58 PM
Depending on how you want to take your character I'd recommend any of the following PRCs.

Sublime Chord (from Complete Arcane). Major increase to spellcasting ability with a heavy bardic theme. You might have trouble qualifying though.

Seeker of the Song (from Complete Arcane): Improves bardic music ability and allows you to do some really nasty stuff. You almost certainly will already meet the prerequisites.

Dirgesinger (I don't remember if this is from Heroes of Horror or Libris Mortis): Adds a necromancy theme to your bardic music abilities (everyone wants to play music that wakes the dead). Libris Mortis also has a few magic items that fit thematically with this that allow you to play music to do various necromantic effects. (I'm in the process of homebrewing some feats specifically for this class including epic feats. I'll probably be posting them here in a few days)

Scarlet Corsair(from Stormwrack)- if you want a really evil pirate this class will help. Fluff wise you will be really evil and probably need to captain a ship or a fleet though.

Edit:Punctuation, grammar and noted that Scarlet Corsair was from Stormwrack.

Starscream
2009-03-15, 08:21 PM
I second both Sublime Chord and Seeker of the Song. Both give a bard a ton of cool tricks.

Seekers get more new musical goodies out of the deal, but Sublime also greatly improves your spellcasting, so it's just a matter of what you wish to focus on.