Bard Items

[TheEditor]

Ok - in our current campaign, we just accomplished some really awesome things. I have a lv 10 bard (soon to be a 10 bard/ 1 sub chord).
All our gear was lost, but we have 50K gold to spend on new gear. I need ideas for pimping my bard out.
His focus is 100% support. He's Silverbrow Human (dragon subtype).

[TheEditor]

We are using D&D 3.0 & 3.5 btw

[Amnestic]

Vest of Legends (DMG2) gives you +5 to Diplomacy and Perform, and +5 effective levels to your Bardic Music. At level 10, that puts you up to effective level 15, giving you another point to your Inspire Courage.

Badge of Valor (MIC). 3/Day use +1 to Inspire Courage. Pretty damn cheap too. Maybe consider buying two depending on how many encounters you're facing.

Harmonising Weapon (MIC) maintains your Bardic Music for 10 rounds (one minute), unless you make a new Bardic Music effect. Also gives +2 to Perform (Sing).

Crystal Echoblade (MIC) gives extra damage to your attacks while Bardic Music is active. If you have a Harmonising Crystal Echoblade, you can offer support while also stabbing things in the face.

[Gullintanni]

Crystal Echoblade (MIC) gives extra damage to your attacks while Bardic Music is active. If you have a Harmonising Crystal Echoblade, you can offer support while also stabbing things in the face.

Harmonizing is overrated IMHO. Lingering song is much better, assuming you're going to be taking at least 9 levels of bard. The correct application of this feat is:
Round 1: Activate Inspire Greatness.
Round 2: Cease Inspire Greatness and begin Inspire Courage.
Round 3: Continue Inspire Courage (Which doesn't require concentration) and fight! ...This of course requires that your hands are free so you'll have to activate IC using Perform (Sing) for this to work.

If you're planning to PrC out before Inspire Greatness, then Harmonizing is an acceptable substitute for the feat, but stacking Bardic Music effects is awesome.

[Keld Denar]

Hmmmm, 50k?

Cloak of Cha +4 of Resistance +3 (25,000g)
Badge of Valor and +2 Con (5,800g)
Circlet of Rapid Casting (15,000g)
Anklets of Translocation (1,400g)
Wand of Lesser Restoration (750g)
+1 Chain Shirt (1250g)

That leaves you 800g in misc goods like scrolls or wands.

[Amnestic]

True, Lingering Song is better than Harmonising, I don't disagree - but if you're feeling particularly feat starved and don't have the space for Lingering, Harmonising can be a decent enough replacement.

[Gullintanni]

Yeah, Bards (And just about every other non-fighter class) can be pretty feat starved. IMO a pure support bard is going to want to stack songs though. Especially with 10 levels of bard.

...to address the more specific question of what to buy...Keld and Amnestic both had good suggestions. You may want to look at CAdv for Masterwork instruments. A Masterwork Lute adds to IC...can't remember if it's +1 to IC or +1 to effective Bard level for IC, but either way it could be useful.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

An Eternal Wand (MIC) of Hound of Doom (CW) is pretty amazing for any Cha-based arcane caster who has a decent BAB.

The Raiment of the Four set in MIC is pretty good. Note that you can add certain abilities to an existing item at no more than the cost of the individual items, such as adding +Dex to the Gloves of the Starry Sky for the cost of Gloves of Dex. See MIC page 234 for more details.

The Robe of Mysterious Conjuration (MIC) is decent for some summoning utility, especially considering they'll benefit from your music, but remember that you can't wear both armor and a magical robe.

A +1 Mithral Buckler is pretty good, since you won't suffer any arcane spell failure for using it.

A +1 weapon with the Sudden Stunning property in DMG2 is pretty amazing.

For 50,000 gp, I'd go with the following set of items for a good mix of buffing allies better, general bonuses, and cool abilities:
Vest of Legends (DMG2) 16,000 gp
Badge of Valor (MIC) 1,400 gp
+1 Mithral Buckler (Core) 2,015 gp
Mithralmist Shirt (MIC) 3,400 gp
+1 Sudden Stunning Spiked Gauntlet (Core, DMG2) 4,305 gp
Ring of Sustenance with +1 Deflection to AC added (DMG, MIC) 4,500 gp
Gloves of the Starry Sky with +2 Dex added (MIC) 5,100 gp
Goggles of the Golden Sun (MIC) 4,000 gp
Crown of Flames (MIC) 8,500 gp
and 780 gp remaining for mundane gear.

[Keld Denar]

Biff, there is a disturbing lack of +cha in your list. He's a primary support bard by way of casting. +cha gives more spells/day, higher DCs on AoE disables (disabling is like support in reverse), and also boosts Perform/UMD which is useful for various abilities.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Biff, there is a disturbing lack of +cha in your list. He's a primary support bard by way of casting. +cha gives more spells/day, higher DCs on AoE disables (disabling is like support in reverse), and also boosts Perform/UMD which is useful for various abilities.

The Crown of Flames gives +2 Cha, and allows him to activate a Fire Shield effect as an immediate action. It's a great deterrent for opponents who get quite a few attacks/round.

The Badge of Valor and +2 Con on your list should be 5,400 gp, not 5,800 gp. You could put the +Cha on the Circlet of Rapid Casting, and maybe fit in a Vest of Legends with +Resistance to saves. He could also just get Greater Resistance and cast it every day, and eventually get Superior Resistance and a Rod of Extend and cast it on half the party each day.

[El Dorado]

Personal favorites:
cloak of charisma
hat of disguise
boots of striding and springing
mithral buckler
crystal echoblade (harmonizing sold separately)
ring of protection
eyes of the eagle

[SilverClawShift]

You're a bard. An instrument is all you need. A masterwork instrument. A magically hardened masterwork instrument. With Flaming Burst and Spell Storing. With Mithril filigree and an admantine cap.

Spend the rest on rope, hooks, and a bag of holding for it all :smallwink:

(Note that this is coolest with guitar like instruments. And possible Shocking Burst instead of Flaming).

[begooler]

They aren't really optimal because the effects are based on a DC 14 will save, but Pipes of Pain (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Pipes_of_Pain)are fun.