Bardic Musings

[Thant]

Ok, so I'm about to start a new campaign with a new GM and he wants us to play an Iron Kingdoms adventure he prepared (3.5/Pathfinder) starting on level 1 with a very big possibility of E6 rules kicking into play or topping the level cap at 8th or 9th lvl. (no problem with that). Seeing that almost all other players instantly cried out "I call Journeyman Warcaster!" (some sort of "I-want-to-be-a-Jedi syndrome" I guess) I wanted to try something a bit different.

Now, one of my very favorite miniatures from Warmachine/Hordes tabletop game is the Dahlia Hallyr & Skarath (http://battlecollege.wikispaces.com/Hallyr+and+Skarath) and I want to attempt something similar with my current character (akin to the mechanics these two mercenary&minion solos are employing).

So I was wondering what would be the best (quickest?) route to mirror a similar if not the same effect in d20? Which class should I take and on what abilities or spells should I focus on? Would it be a good idea to max out handle animal and go for wild empathy or I can remedy all I need with spells (bard? sorcerer?). Any advice is most appreciated :smallsmile:

[Tyndmyr]

Im afraid I have no idea how Warmaster/Hordes work. What sort of character do you want? I presume bard of some flavor, based on the thread title, but outside of that, I don't know what you're after except for a giant worm of some kind.

[Thant]

Well the Dahlla Halyr is in Hordes an elven bard or sorcerer (more appropriate would be "lesser warlock", but that's WM/H terminology); her specialty is taming and controlling all sorts of wild animals and beasts with her music and using them in combat to fight for her while she provides spellcasting support (but never intervenes in combat herself). Her trademark is her minion Skarath, a deadly tazelwurm.

So, my idea is to create a bard (or sorcerer or whatever would work best) who can as soon as possible befriend or control (charm?) as much animals and beasts as possible (the higher the HD the better), preferably with his music, and command them in battle to do his dirty work. A good measure of diplomancy (for when dealing with npcs etc) could also come in handy. I imagine him as a pure pacifist - maybe even disdained of any kind of weapon entirely - but heavily relying on his music and spells as a mean of controlling others. Any ideas?

[Tyndmyr]

Check out Beast Heart Adept in Dungeonscape.

Basically, you walk into dungeons and make friends with the horrible gribblies inside. How practical this is will probably depend on what level you're capping at, though.

Pure pacifist most closely matches Apostle of Peace, with a Vow of Nonviolence or the like.