Madness Bard idea

[Mr. Whatever]

Hi all thanks for stopping by.

I am currently in a pathfinder group that is just starting out (We haven't even really begun, just forming ideas really) and as I was looking over the various information (Ultimate Magic is in use here) I had an idea; What if my Bard was less focused on direct combat, and more focused on stuff outside of combat, mostly with crafting, namely Rods and Wondrous Items (Though not to say not the others as well) and I just wanted to know;

Is this a REALLY stupid idea? Is it a good idea, or a mixed idea, and any tips, hints, guidelines and the like. I also have an Alchemist in the group, which would probably make more sense, but Extracts/Not being a caster kind of confuse me a bit as far as spell requirements go.

And obviously there are only so many crafting feats and Potions is already covered, so it's not like I'd be dedicating to them 100%, just mostly.

Thanks!

[hivedragon]

:smallconfused: You sound as though bards normally shine at combat.
Bard is a really poor choice for making items.
If you want to make items the best choice is an artificer.
And of coarse there is the wizard if you are stuck with core.

[Mr. Whatever]

Well sadly I don't get to play a lot so my experience is mostly limited to what I read. Like OOTS! Lol. I know they don't normally shine in combat. What I meant was pretty much ignoring things to improve my combat at all.

And I am only just now reading on the Artificer for the first time lol

And why are Bards poor craftsmen? I mean, I understand them not being the best, but why poor?

[hivedragon]

Crafting magic items (not just alchemy) requires that you know specific spells. The bard has a very restricted spell list. Non-spontaneous casters have a much more diverse spell list and wizards gain free magic crafting feats. However the Artificer (regular & psionic) and the warlock can "fake" spell prerequisites, so they can make magic items even if they don't know the prerequisite spells.

[Treblain]

Yeah, since bards have a limited number of spells and no free crafting feats, it takes considerable effort to be a bard crafter.

Don't be discouraged and switch to Artificer, though. My advice? Bard 5/Chameleon (Races of Destiny). They are meant to be an all-around character like the Bard, and they can switch out their class features to mimic other classes as needed. They can learn both arcane and divine spells up to level 6 (higher if you cheese it) and best of all, get a "floating feat" they can change daily. That means you can take whichever crafting feat you need on that day, and switch it out whenever you like. Or, you can use it to get Extra Spell to learn a spell you need, scribe it into your spellbook, and then switch feats again!

It's a very versatile class, so you don't even have to be locked into crafting, and you can do lots of other things. I wholly recommend it.

[Mr. Whatever]

Awesome, I'll look it up. Though I was pleased to learn that in Pathfinder, you don't need the necessary spells to craft an item, it just adds to the DC.

Thanks! I might just stick with Rods, which look like fun, muaahahahaaaa