PseudoPanda
2015-01-31, 03:31 PM
So it looks like my current campaign is winding down and we're getting ready for our next one. My DM has ruled that the Initiate of Milil feat: provides bardic music without bard levels, increases the bonus from Inspire Courage and can be adapted for one of our homebrew deities. This makes me very happy since I've been really interested in bards lately and (cloistered) cleric is my favorite class.
The party consists of three beginners, a long-playing but non optimizing player and me. Our DM likes to keep things challenging so it's usually up to me to carry the weight of the encounter (which no one really minds). That being said my character needs to be good at buffing (so they don't feel useless) and have some good spells at the ready. We're starting at level 9 and typically level up slowly so some starting power is important. We use all books except ToM classes and Incarnum (shouldn't really interfere), we don't allow homebrew stuff and usually not dragon (Though sacred performer and divine inspiration were OK'd). Here's my thoughts so far;
Human CG; Cloistered Cleric 9
10 Str 12 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 18 Wis 15 Cha (after leveling, before items)
Domains: Planning, Illusion, Knowledge (Options were Nobility, Charm, Good, Planning, Illusion, and Community)
Feats:
1; Persist spell, Apprentice (entertainer)
3;DMM [Persist]
6; Initiate of Milil
9: Sacred Performer
Assuming my DM lets me (I think he will) I'm switching out Fascinate for Healing hymn and suggestion for song of the heart. With a masterwork natural horn, vest of legends, casting of Inspirational boost I can inspire courage for +6. The thing is, I'll probably persist Righteous Wrath of the Faithful which already gives a +3 morale to attack and damage plus an extra attack on a full attack. Healing hymn isn't too useful since I'll also persist Mass lesser vigor (fascinate doesn't seem much better to me, even with suggestion) Sure I can inspire greatness but I don't find that useful enough to justify the investment.
Overall I'm starting to feel that this isn't worth it and that I'm better off with a full cleric or full bard or even a bard 1/ Cloistered Cleric 8 so I can start taking bardic music feats like DFI early on. What advice does the playground have?
The party consists of three beginners, a long-playing but non optimizing player and me. Our DM likes to keep things challenging so it's usually up to me to carry the weight of the encounter (which no one really minds). That being said my character needs to be good at buffing (so they don't feel useless) and have some good spells at the ready. We're starting at level 9 and typically level up slowly so some starting power is important. We use all books except ToM classes and Incarnum (shouldn't really interfere), we don't allow homebrew stuff and usually not dragon (Though sacred performer and divine inspiration were OK'd). Here's my thoughts so far;
Human CG; Cloistered Cleric 9
10 Str 12 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 18 Wis 15 Cha (after leveling, before items)
Domains: Planning, Illusion, Knowledge (Options were Nobility, Charm, Good, Planning, Illusion, and Community)
Feats:
1; Persist spell, Apprentice (entertainer)
3;DMM [Persist]
6; Initiate of Milil
9: Sacred Performer
Assuming my DM lets me (I think he will) I'm switching out Fascinate for Healing hymn and suggestion for song of the heart. With a masterwork natural horn, vest of legends, casting of Inspirational boost I can inspire courage for +6. The thing is, I'll probably persist Righteous Wrath of the Faithful which already gives a +3 morale to attack and damage plus an extra attack on a full attack. Healing hymn isn't too useful since I'll also persist Mass lesser vigor (fascinate doesn't seem much better to me, even with suggestion) Sure I can inspire greatness but I don't find that useful enough to justify the investment.
Overall I'm starting to feel that this isn't worth it and that I'm better off with a full cleric or full bard or even a bard 1/ Cloistered Cleric 8 so I can start taking bardic music feats like DFI early on. What advice does the playground have?