[3.P]Fochluchan Lyrist

[Rhaegar14]

Hey Playground,

I was trying to think of fun, but challenging-to-execute builds I could look into for an upcoming campaign, and one idea I had was to try and pull off a Fochluchan Lyrist. One thing I've often heard about it, however, is that its usefulness is significantly diminished if you have to dip Rogue for Evasion.

So my question to you, Playground, is what is a good way I can get Evasion without dipping out of Bard/Druid?

Any general build advice would be welcome as well.

[tyckspoon]

Either wearing a Ring of Evasion (somewhat questionable, because it doesn't actually say 'you have Evasion'.. it just says 'you can dodge damage as if you had evasion'- this is often denied by DMs both because of the wording and because a lot of people don't like using items for prereqs) or picking up Incarnum feats. Shape Soulmeld: Impulse Boots + Open Least Chakra: Feet; the bind effect of Impulse Boots is granting Evasion. I'm not sure if there are any other ways that don't involve dipping something.

[kardar233]

If you can convince your DM to let it count, you can burn two feats on Shape Soulmeld (Impulse Boots) and Open Least Chakra (Feet) which will get you Evasion.

[Feralventas]

If you're willing to trade class features around a little, it might be worth looking at Unearthed Arcana. There's a druid variant of which grants a number of Monk and Ranger abilities in place of Wildshape. Perhaps you could switch out the Favored Enemy, Tracking and Swift Tracking in favor of getting Lightning Reflexes and Evasion.

That said, while I understand it's sub-op to dip into Rogue, you're already playing a dual-progression class of which is half aimed at a less than full-progression class; if you're willing to do this, then what is such a disincentive about a die of sneak attack, a few extra skill points and some mundane anti-trap or similarly traded class features? Putting Rogue as your starting level will get you more skill points than almost any other class, and certainly more than starting in Bard or Druid, and having some mundane methods to fall back on or to use when you know your adversaries are looking for supernatural shenanigans can be a viable tactic. In addition, the larger skill pool can make it easier to arrive at the evidently skill-heavy prerequisites faster than bard would easily manage and the spellcasting requirements are fairly light; demanding only 1st level arcane and divine spells.

The Fochlucan Lyrist seems less a class of a spell-caster who decided to sing about nature, and more a rogue or thief based concept of which hides under the guise of a musician while in truth becoming a sage wise in the ways of nature, of mortals, and society and culture.

I am terrible at char-op, in case you haven't noticed, but it seems like the best way to make this work would be to emphasize Rogue, dip into Bard and Druid, then use your spells to supplement and augment your repertoire of skills and offensive capacity rather than focus on maximizing your potential as a 'caster while making a minimal contribution as a skill-monkey to get in the door.

[Elfinor]

The Spelldancer PrC from Magic of Faerun [3.0] provides evasion without losing out on caster levels. Unfortunately, it has some heavy feat requirements (Endurance, Dodge, Mobility & Combat Casting) and requires ranks in Perform (Dance) vs. the Perform (String Instruments) needed for Fochlucan Lyrist.

[Amphetryon]

Check this list (http://coboard.wikia.com/wiki/Tools_for_Fochlucan_Lyrist_Builds). Divine Oracle works if your DM sees the abilities as transparent. Combat Medic is essentially a no-argument entry method.

[Rhaegar14]

Check this list (http://coboard.wikia.com/wiki/Tools_for_Fochlucan_Lyrist_Builds). Divine Oracle works if your DM sees the abilities as transparent. Combat Medic is essentially a no-argument entry method.

A very helpful resource, thank you.

*Edit* Oh and relevant to this thread as well, what's a good Druid ACF for Animal Companion? Looking at likely level progressions, I see the thing as being the equivalent of a 9th-level druid's at most, and that's with the Natural Bond feat.