Buffing an entire army as a Bard

[Blackhawk748]

Precisely what it sounds like, how would you go about buffing an entire army as a Bard? I am aware of the Admirals Bicorn, but its pretty expensive. The reason im asking is because i will be playing in a game where all of our characters are Barons and i need to find a way to buff my army when its in the field.

[illyahr]

Inspire Courage doesn't have a maximum range, it affects all allies that can see/hear you. Just find a way to amplify your voice and be where everyone can see you. These are the only requirements for most of the bard's abilities.

[ComaVision]

Inspire Courage doesn't have a maximum range, it affects all allies that can see/hear you. Just find a way to amplify your voice and be where everyone can see you. These are the only requirements for most of the bard's abilities.

This. In the last campaign I played in, my bard helped stage a coup by having his horn amplified from the center of the town. I wasn't involved in any of the actual fighting at all.

[Blackhawk748]

Inspire Courage doesn't have a maximum range, it affects all allies that can see/hear you. Just find a way to amplify your voice and be where everyone can see you. These are the only requirements for most of the bard's abilities.

So stand on a tower and practice my Metal Yell? That i can do.

[illyahr]

So stand on a tower and practice my Metal Yell? That i can do.

That works. :smallbiggrin:

And for your viewing pleasure, one of the most metal dogs I have ever seen. Enjoy. :smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK5eDl9LfiY

[Deadline]

So stand on a tower and practice my Metal Yell? That i can do.

I believe there's an Alphorn instrument in one of the books. It's notable in that it can be heard for several miles around, which makes it an awesome bard instrument for buffing an army.

[Hiro Quester]

Dragonfire inspiration played on an alphorn and your entire army for miles around is dealing extra d6s with every hit.

[Blackhawk748]

Dragonfire inspiration played on an alphorn and your entire army for miles around is dealing extra d6s with every hit.

This kinda was the plan, though i made modify the Alphorn so he can sing into it. March into battle with The Trooper playing.

[Deadline]

There's also a Bard 2 spell in Heroes of Battle, Resounding Voice. It amplifies your voice so that you can be heard clearly up to 100 feat away per caster level.

Edit - And the Howling Helm (MMV, pg. 191). It lets you be heard up to 6 miles away in otherwise quiet conditions. Not sure how far it would let you be heard in battle though.

[Blackhawk748]

There's also a Bard 2 spell in Heroes of Battle, Resounding Voice. It amplifies your voice so that you can be heard clearly up to 100 feat away per caster level.

Edit - And the Howling Helm (MMV, pg. 191). It lets you be heard up to 6 miles away in otherwise quiet conditions. Not sure how far it would let you be heard in battle though.

Im not sure either, but 20 humans shouting is pretty loud.

[Chronos]

Alphorn? Bah. Play one of these (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Wartuba.jpg).

(OK, so the War Tuba wasn't actually a musical instrument, but a tool for Listen checks. You could probably still stick a mouthpiece in it, though. Close enough?)

[Jowgen]

The best/most reasonable ways to make this work that I know of have already been suggested.

So I'm going to suggest something very off the wall instead.

The "Listen to this" skill trick. It allows a creature with it to describe any sound it has heard in the last hour with such clarity that anyone who hears it is "treated as if they had heard the sound themselves". Abuse this wording so that soldiers in your army can transmit your inspire courage from earshot to earshot. As you are performing at the time, and the only requirement is that allies hear you perform, and the skill trick makes it so that recipients are treated as if they heard it; it should technically hold up from a RAW-perspective.

In essence, your performance becomes a massive choir of people chanting your battle-hymn.

[Blackhawk748]

The best/most reasonable ways to make this work that I know of have already been suggested.

So I'm going to suggest something very off the wall instead.

The "Listen to this" skill trick. It allows a creature with it to describe any sound it has heard in the last hour with such clarity that anyone who hears it is "treated as if they had heard the sound themselves". Abuse this wording so that soldiers in your army can transmit your inspire courage from earshot to earshot. As you are performing at the time, and the only requirement is that allies hear you perform, and the skill trick makes it so that recipients are treated as if they heard it; it should technically hold up from a RAW-perspective.

In essence, your performance becomes a massive choir of people chanting your battle-hymn.

I didnt think my Dm would go for this, until you said that last part. :smallbiggrin:

[Hiro Quester]

That would only work if everyone in your army takes that skill trick.

[Red Fel]

That would only work if everyone in your army takes that skill trick.

Worth it for an entire army to chant this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCjkuCJrxq0).

[stanprollyright]

That would only work if everyone in your army takes that skill trick.

Or just one out of every unit.

[Blackhawk748]

Worth it for an entire army to chant this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCjkuCJrxq0).

You and I are in agreement, except my army sings this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1J5g-siCVw)

[Jowgen]

That would only work if everyone in your army takes that skill trick.

Well, not everyone. If the Marshal's aura class-feature is anything to go by, anything within 60 ft should be considered within earshot, requiring no listen check to hear. So really, you'd just need to have enough back-up singers so you can place them each 60 ft from each other throughout the army. Depending on how tightly you pack your forces, we'd be looking at line 1 singer per 100 soldiers or something like that.

Also, trinkets of trickery can buy the skill-trick and "only" cost 1000 a pop, so the real hard requirement is 5 ranks in listen. Which you'd probably want anyway to give yourself some lee-way in making sure they all hear the performance properly.


And since we're on suggestions for songs for this, a perpetual canon like row row row your boat would probably be easiest; not to mention pure psychological torture to your enemies.

EDIT: ninja's on the "not everyone" bit. Also, Around the World by Daft Punk :smalltongue:

[Blackhawk748]

And since we're on suggestions for songs for this, a perpetual canon like row row row your boat would probably be easiest; not to mention pure psychological torture to your enemies.

My character is Chaotic Neutral, not Chaotic EVIL!!!

[Talionis]

There's also a Bard 2 spell in Heroes of Battle, Resounding Voice. It amplifies your voice so that you can be heard clearly up to 100 feat away per caster level...

Just get this on a scroll, you won't need it often enough to learn it and for a mass war setting, the bonus is worth the GP.

[stanprollyright]

And since we're on suggestions for songs for this, a perpetual canon like row row row your boat would probably be easiest; not to mention pure psychological torture to your enemies.

Bonus points when used in a naval battle.

[Red Fel]

And since we're on suggestions for songs for this, a perpetual canon like row row row your boat would probably be easiest; not to mention pure psychological torture to your enemies.

My armies march to a slightly different (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT6LFOIofRE) "row row."

[Chronos]

Jowgen, did you come up with that trick? Because that's awesome. Epic enough for a bard to sing with literal dragonfire flowing out of his song, but for dragonfire to flow just from people quoting him?

[Jowgen]

Bonus points when used in a naval battle.

This whole idea actually would actually really well in a naval setting, thanks to the reduced distance penalties on listen checks over water (-1 per 20 ft if I recall correctly).

Speaking of which, you'd probably want to make sure to have a control weather handy. Storms give nasty listen penalties, and hurricane-strength winds shut listen checks down just as effectively as magical silence.

And on the topic of magical silence, this character would probably be well advised to have something like a Speaker's Trumpet (Dragon Compendium), to sing through the silence via use of Ventriloquism or similar (DM approval might be needed).

EDIT: Not Speaker's Trumpet, that's a thing from some dragon magazine that I vaguely recall to allow speech through magical silence. I was thinking of Ventriloquist's mouthpiece. Speaker's Trumpet might be better, possibly.

EDIT#2: Just checked for Speaker's Trumpet. Dragon mag 339 p. 42. For only 3500 gp you are heard by all within 100 ft, penetrate magical silence, AND get a +5 UNTYPED to diplomacy. It's an absolute steal for your purposes, way underpriced in the way only dragon mag can pull off. Seriously, get one if you can.

[Jowgen]

Jowgen, did you come up with that trick? Because that's awesome. Epic enough for a bard to sing with literal dragonfire flowing out of his song, but for dragonfire to flow just from people quoting him?

To my knowledge, yes, this little piece of free sample cheese on a toothpick is of my own creation. I'm flattered you approve. :smallredface:

Always figured it was a bit too out there for me to suggest it till now (lest Curmudgeon smite me). But yeah, it should work by RAW just as long as the DM isn't stingy in their reading of the "hear the bard perform" and the "is treated as if had heard" parts of Inspire Courage and Listen to This.

[Jack_Simth]

There's also a Bard 2 spell in Heroes of Battle, Resounding Voice. It amplifies your voice so that you can be heard clearly up to 100 feat away per caster level.

Edit - And the Howling Helm (MMV, pg. 191). It lets you be heard up to 6 miles away in otherwise quiet conditions. Not sure how far it would let you be heard in battle though.
Combine with Amplify, Bard-1, Spell Compendium page 10.

[Deadline]

Combine with Amplify, Bard-1, Spell Compendium page 10.

Sadly, this spell amplifies sounds for those in the area, which makes it less useful for the Bard in question (because the people within his casting range will easily be able to hear him with either of the other spells). However, if there is another Bard out near the edge of the performing Bard's range, and he casts this spell in that area, then it should help the folks there hear the first Bard's performance.

The skill trick thing is interesting, but comes with a couple of issues:

1. It requires 5 ranks in Listen, which means only 2nd level characters with Listen as a class skill can learn it.

2. It's only useable once/encounter, which means that you're looking at needing a series of 2nd level characters to repeat the chant, one after another, if you want to keep it going.

Still, it's a neat idea.

[Jowgen]

The skill trick thing is interesting, but comes with a couple of issues:

1. It requires 5 ranks in Listen, which means only 2nd level characters with Listen as a class skill can learn it.

2. It's only useable once/encounter, which means that you're looking at needing a series of 2nd level characters to repeat the chant, one after another, if you want to keep it going.


Granted on the first, although on the second it's very debatable.

Skill Tricks can only be used 1/encounter unless otherwise specified. Listen to this starts off with the wording "Whenever you make a successful Listen check to hear a noise". The "whenever" part can easily be considered as a specific override to the general 1/encounter. This reading would wave all concerns.

Alternatively, one can argue from the "usually piggy-backs" rule. If you if you consider Listen to This to "piggy-back" on the initial listen check (the only check mentioned), and consider a bards song to be a single continuous noise, then hearing it and thus clearly describing it only takes a single listen-check/skill-trick use. Essentially, with your first listen check, you hear and keep hearing the noise until something stops you, making it one noise that you can describe following you initial listen check. However, this does mean that the back-up singers have a 1-hour limit (if combat and the song were to last that long).

Or, if you consider it to "piggy-back" on the actual description of the noise, then all one needs to do is take a single free action to speak and just keep that action going, which works thanks to free actions having the ability to be done alongside all other actions, even outside one's turn in the case of speaking.

Beyond these two, there is nothing else that the skill-trick could piggy-back on for the purposes of adjudicating what sort of action it might be tied to for the purposes of use. So yeah, the only way to rule-block this use is to disregard the "whenever" and arbitrarily divide up the checks/actions needed to hear/describe the song. Well within DM's right, but not specified by RAW.

And then of course there is the option of just ignoring the Listen to This aspect and arguing for "Perform (Chorus Leading)" as a valid bardic perform skill. :smalltongue:

[tiercel]

Honorable mention goes out to insignia of healing (Races of Destiny): buy each of your soldiers a 10gp insignia, and you can target ALL of them within Long range with d8+CL(max10) healing in a single cast.

It's kinda like mass cure light wounds for your whole army (or a good chunk of it, depending on the size of your army/the battlefield), and as a 3rd level spell you can cast yourself as a bard or just let your army's 5th+ level clerics load up on.

[Chronos]

On thinking about it a bit more, Listen to This isn't used all at once: There are two points at which you're using it, separated by up to an hour. Assuming the 1/encounter applies, does that mean you can listen to one thing per encounter, or does it mean that you can repeat one thing per encounter?

[Hamste]

People keep mentioning dragon fire inspiration but remember that sometimes your regular inspire courage is better, particularly if your army is low level facing another low level army that has a high ac. Not likely better in most cases but something to remember.

[Jowgen]

On thinking about it a bit more, Listen to This isn't used all at once: There are two points at which you're using it, separated by up to an hour. Assuming the 1/encounter applies, does that mean you can listen to one thing per encounter, or does it mean that you can repeat one thing per encounter?

Yeah, that strange split in use is part of the reason I very much favor the view that the "whenever" (and the "any time" afterwards) make listen to this being one of the few skill-tricks that's an exception to the 1/combat. Every other skill trick just says "when".

Also, the behind the curtain sidebar on skilltricks is clearly written with the assumption that there are skill tricks that can be used more than 1/encounter; but looking at the all... Maybe one could argue Assume Quirk to fall into this, but really, Listen to This is the only solid candidate by elimination.

So yeah, as far as I'm concerned, the answer to the question of how frequently can one listen and/or describe a sound with this skill trick is very literally "whenever" and "any time", no questions asked.

[Fuzzy McCoy]

Inspire courage is an excellent way to buff, I'm certainly not going to deny that. However, it's not the only way. A bard with war weaver can also buff a lot of people very quickly. For example, haste is a weavable spell, but under normal conditions would be pointless to weave. However, if you've got an army, you can weave together your subcommanders and cast haste on each of them, and they would haste their troops. At the minimum level, you're hasting 9 * (CHA mod + 1), and assuming a CHA of 22 (16 base + 2 level up + 4 enhancement) gives us 9 * 7 = 63. All from one spell. It's not quite as good as DFI'd alphorns, but with a little caster level optimization or more CHA boosting (or both), you can start hitting hundreds buffed.

How big is your army?

[Doctor Despair]

Personally, I'm a fan of the war chanter PrC. Take that, and then start charming, deplomicizing, or dominating creatures and people with high BAB to join your party. Anyone within like 60 feet gets their BAB. Cue archers.

[Blackhawk748]

How big is your army?

Dont have one currently, but it will most likely be in the hundreds of men.

[Jowgen]

So to surmise:

- Try and get a Speaker's Trumpet for reliable 100 ft range ignoring silence and weather (3.500 gp)
- Take perform (chorus leader) or something similar
- Get your DM on board with Listen to This chaining (pick a catchy battle tune (https://youtu.be/c98gIxCe1zo?t=55))
- Optimize your inspire courage.


The last bit is a bit trickier without words of creation, but song of the heart feat (via ACF), inspiration boost spell and badges of valor items can at least give a +3.

On a different topic: for keeping your army healthy and super-well-rested every day, the Healing Hymn ACF from Complete Champion would to be handy. Better than fascinate at least.


Also, in the absence of Words of Creation, consider getting Music of Making via Eberron bard ACF (same as with Song of the Heart). Pick Unseen Crafter as one of your 2nd level spells. Your crafters will have a 2 levels/day duration and at least a +6 to craft anything (can take 10), so by spending your remaining spell-slots at the end of the day you'll quickly build an army of crafters that'll take care of making siege engines, fortifications, weapons, whatever. Very handy. Far less cheesy than a lyre of building.

Next, it might not be of real use to your campaign, but if you get to bard 12, consider the Planar Bard subsitution level at 12 for Planar Dissonance. With 2-3 uses of bardic music, you can then create a greater planar breach through which you can march your armies to other planes. Much fun. The Portal Dissonance ability from level 6 is also nothing to sneeze at.

On the side: easy math is a cool cantrip from Song and Silence that ought to help with the administrative aspects of running an army.

[Chronos]

Quoth Hamste:

People keep mentioning dragon fire inspiration but remember that sometimes your regular inspire courage is better, particularly if your army is low level facing another low level army that has a high ac. Not likely better in most cases but something to remember.
Oh, sure. I calculated once that plain ordinary unoptimized Inspire Courage, at a +2 bonus, is a force multiplier of approximately 1.6 for typical low-level armies. That is to say, a thousand soldiers with a bard inspiring them are about an even match for 1600 soldiers without the inspiration. This was part of figuring out what each member of the Order of the Stick should have been doing during the Battle of Azure City.

But you can't deny that dragonfire inspiration is cooler, and Rule of Cool is important to a bard.