Is Half-Fey Good For a Bard?

[Gale]

I've heard the Half-Fey template from Fiend Folio is really good and was considering using it for Bard character; but I've always been hesitant about giving up class levels for any reason. If you don't know, Half-Fey gain the following for LA+2.

Hit Dice: Change to D6
Speed: Gain a fly speed equal to twice their base land speed with good maneuverability.
Abilities: +2 Dex, -2 Con, +2 Wis, +4 Cha
DR/5 cold iron: Source - Fiend Folio Update. (It’s written as iron but I’m presuming this was meant to be interpreted as cold iron, otherwise it’s mostly pointless.)
The following Spell-like Abilities based on their HD:
1–2: Charm person at will, hypnotism 1/day, faerie fire or glitterdust 1/day
3–4: Detect law 3/day, sleep or enthrall 1/day
5–6: Protection from law 3/day, Tasha’a hideous laughter or suggestion 1/day
7–8: Confusion or emotion 1/day
9–10: Eyebite or lesser geas 1/day
11–12: Dominate person or hold monster 1/day
13–14: Mass invisibility 1/day
15–16: Geas/quest or mass suggestion 1/day
17–18: Insanity or mass charm 1/day
19+: Otto’s irresistible dance 1/day
The bonus to charisma and dexterity are really nice as well as the DR/5 cold iron. But I’m less enthusiastic about everything else. The fly speed is okay, but I feel it’s only truly notable on ranged builds, otherwise it's mostly restricted to resolving issues outside of combat. (Admittedly, there are a multitude of problems that arise out-of-combat that flying can resolve; but it’s not explicitly necessary and there are arguably better ways to gain flight.) The spell-like abilities are tempting, but many of them already show up on the Bard’s spell list anyways and none of them seem particularly powerful when restricted to a once-a-day usage. Charm person at will is awesome especially combined with a high diplomacy, but I feel it's also likely to get a book thrown at you.
I really do like some of what the template has to offer, but I generally just dislike level adjustment for slowing down progression of spells, class abilities, etc. Would this template really be worth it for a Bard? I’m still tempted to try it, even if I had to build the character around it.

[Flickerdart]

Half-Fey is great when you can't already get flight, spells, or sex appeal. Bards get all three naturally.

[Troacctid]

It delays your entry into Sublime Chord, which makes it pretty awkward at high levels. And at low levels, having an LA is even more awkward, because you're already weak and squishy enough without being down two HD. I'm not sure there's a point in the game where it's worth having on a Bard.

[Gale]

If Half-Fey is bad for a Bard then what classes does it compliment well?

[Flickerdart]

If Half-Fey is bad for a Bard then what classes does it compliment well?
As I mentioned above, it works great with classes that don't natively have flight or spells. There's nothing quite like a fighter strutting into a bar and charming everyone around. The CON hit means you may want to stick to an archery-type character. There's a fey-only feat, Charming the Arrow, that lets you base ranged to-hit on Charisma, which works well with your beefy CHA boost.

[Jowgen]

First, do keep in mind that the d6 hd only comes into play if you have any racial HD, as it doesn't have the HD-override language that Vampire has.

Now, good maneuverability Ex Flight is something most things will want as soon as possible, and the Charm Person at will from level 1 makes any half-fey a very effective party-face. Getting Charming the arrow and going ranged works wonders when combined with that flight.

For class levels, Paladin of Freedom is nice in that it fits with the fey-chaos flavour, and the Cha to saves lets you optimize for charisma rather well. There is a ranged smite evil alternate class feature somewhere if you want to go with that and stay charming. Another class of interest (probably as dip) might be Battledancer of Monk-type Cha to AC.

[Ellowryn]

Half-Fey is another one of those templates that isn't worth its LA. So its not so much that the template itself is bad for bard or any other class, but rather the LA is. If you were to be allowed free LA at character creation, or start high enough to have bought off those levels, then it is a good template for party faces and other CHA based characters.

[Forrestfire]

I'm of the opposite opinion. Half-fey is one of the few templates that is worth the LA. It gives you decent stats, very good flight, strong mind control abilities (charm person at-will, and charm person + hypnotism from level 1), and some other useful abilities. It also gives you immunity to an entire school of magic; one of the more annoying ones to face as a PC, even.

It gives strong face abilities to characters who don't already have them, and is useful enough for characters who do (but not the best). One of the best LA +2 templates in the game.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Only if you can buy off the level adjustment (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/reducingLevelAdjustments.htm). It's even better if you gradually gain it (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040213a), each level of that counts as level adjustment and you don't have to take them in uninterrupted succession (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20030824a). Go Half-Fey 1/ [class] 3, buy off the +1 LA, gain the second level of Half-Fey, gain three more class levels, then buy off that +1 LA. It ends up costing you 9,000 xp instead of the normal 16,000 xp for starting with a +2 LA, and it's completely bought off by the time the party reaches 8th level, whereas starting with a +2 LA you'll have it bought off when the party is about 11th level.

[marphod]

I'm of the opposite opinion. Half-fey is one of the few templates that is worth the LA. It gives you decent stats, very good flight, strong mind control abilities (charm person at-will, and charm person + hypnotism from level 1), and some other useful abilities. It also gives you immunity to an entire school of magic; one of the more annoying ones to face as a PC, even.

It gives strong face abilities to characters who don't already have them, and is useful enough for characters who do (but not the best). One of the best LA +2 templates in the game.

It also Scales With Character Level, which is something most Templates don't do.


In a game without LA-buyoff, Probably Not. There are some martial non-gish builds that this is great for, but you better be starting at 6th ECL or higher (and 8th would be better) or your low HPs are really going to hurt. With LA Buyoff, again, I'd want to start at ECL6 or 8, but then it is a serious consideration.

[Socratov]

If Half-Fey is bad for a Bard then what classes does it compliment well?

I'd argue that it helps the Warlock in giving him various abilites he doesn't need at will, but woudl like to hav earound for once or twice a day.