Bard/War Weaver/ ?

[Blackstarlsd]

so, i have been set on the path to awesomeness that is Bard. (or so i hear)

the party of rogue, paladin and warrior recently buried their warblade ally, finished the campaign, and are now sitting in the aleguildhouse waiting for something to happen.
bard/war weaver is by request, and i could see it work in this kind of pure melee party very well.
now, i havent played bard myself ever (or seen war weaver before, for that matter, looks kind of op if you ask me, but thats fine) and its been actually a few years, so yeah 3.5 is new to me. have been reading some guides, a tome and compendium or two.

so now im kinda looking for advice and opinions;
sublime chord, seems like too good spell progression for not to dip at least one level?
after initial 'research' i was about to go something like
Bard7/Virtuoso1/War Weaver2/Sublime Chord1/War Weaver3/Sublime Chord1/Virtuoso++
but!
could i make bard/crusader/war weaver/sublime chord/jade phoenix mage work? kinda looks like it doesnt leave me too many spells or very powerful maneuvers?
or!
is there any other awesome classes or combos that could be made to work, bard+war weaver is a must..
anything that gives me something more to do after buffing than just whipping (which im looking forward too, but itl get old at some point :smalltongue:

it would need to be viable starting from 11, with at least 1-2 war weaver levels.

dragonfire inspiration was recommended and chaos music i got to take.
Incantatrix, heartfire fanner and words of creation is banned, probably some other stuff that i cant remember too.

Thanks :smallbiggrin:

[CyberThread]

throw in a level of sandshaper, trust me, you will love it.

[eggynack]

You may want to swap out the second level of war weaver with uncanny trickster (CS, 67), and move that level to right after sublime chord. That way, once you're done with war weaver, you can use the two levels of uncanny trickster to advance war weaver to seven, and pump the level of spell you can put in the weave. Other than that, that build is my preferred one for sublime chords.

[Blackstarlsd]

sandhaper looks like would be fun and would fit the character (i was planning to mess around with prestidigitation, unseen servant and such)

uncanny trickster, +1 level of existing class features, thats a must have for war weaver now that i know about it! thanks :smallbiggrin:

Edit: so after checking it out with DM, unless i can find warweaver epic level progression somewhere the maximum class feature progression stays 5
Edit 2: and now he tells me that epic level handbook states that advancing 5 level prestige classes beyond that, is not possible even at epic levels so thats a nogo :smallannoyed:

[Socratov]

ehm, if you truly want to be a god for your party, get DFI, and enter War Chanter. At the capstone you give everyone the highest BAB that is present in your party. Coupled with DFI muchos bonusos in terms of fire dmg (or what other type you can get). The upside? Once you have perfomred your heart out you can enter the fray and fight as well as the next guy. Just don't take leadership becuase with War Chanter every follower gets the BaB and dmg bonus. It will get out of hand real fast...

[dspeyer]

Bard 7 / War Weaver 1 / Crusader 1 / Jade Phoenix Mage 1 / Sublime Chord 1 / War Weaver 4 / Abjurant Champion 1 / JPM 4

should work if I recall all the rules correctly. Sublime Chord earns back all the lost caster levels. You get lots of 3rd level maneuvers and a few through 7th, which doesn't quite make you competitive with a primary melee build but is worth taking seriously. The Abj Champ level is there to avoid losing a caster level at JPM 6. Skip it if you aren't worried about level 20.

A totally unrelated option is Incantrix. The persist trick is usually thought of for self-buffs, but it works on ally-buffs too.

[Blackstarlsd]

Bard 7 / War Weaver 1 / Crusader 1 / Jade Phoenix Mage 1 / Sublime Chord 1 / War Weaver 4
seems good but, after re-reading crusader recovery mechanics i suddenly dont like it too much :smalltongue: rather have the warblade one.

bard 5/ warblade 1/ JPM 3/ war weaver 1/ sublime chord 1/ war weaver 4 / JPM+X
could work as well?
chaos music (from dragon mag)+ song of the white raven would push effective bardic music level to 10

actually bard 4 + 1 lvl of some easy access prc that advances spellcasting instead bard 5 would be even better, maybe.. hmm. well, unless theres something i missed i guess this will be it, thanks :smallbiggrin:

[dspeyer]

That should work, except that IIRC JPM requires Devoted Spirit, so you'll have to spend your 6th level feat on Martial Study. Quite possibly worth it. Warblade has advantages.

Also, beware JPM 6.

And double-check everything I said before using it, because I haven't.