Savage bard options

[Jiruharudo]

Greetings fellow playgrounders

I need opinions on this:

Build:

Deepwyrm Half-drow, Chaotic Neutral

1 Dragonblooded Battle Sorcerer (Reason: martial weapon Greatsword, Intimidate Skill for Mindbender, Free dragonblood feat for acid Dragonfire Inspiration, and having mage armor doesnt hurt)
4 Savage bard ( Going for a gish build, and savage bard ups the fortitudes )
1 Mindbender ( I love being able to make snarky/compelling remarks to party members, and since this isnt a good PrC, im hoping my DM will let it be more bardlike, advance inspire courage and have a D6 and perhaps Cleric bab)
x Swiftblade

Skills:

Able to communicate with anyone, using soothing voice to end any battle without violence
At least xd6 Acid damage with items such as Vest of Legends, Badge of Valor, Harmonizing Crystal Echoblade / Bow of Songs, slippers of battle-dancing
Using spells like whirling blade sends a Great-sword in a line doing Cha damage + inspire courage/Dragon-fire inspiration damage. Greatsword will have crystal of return lesser to have quikdraw
Bard spells (yay)
Great fort/will saves

(Im aware that sublime-chord with virtuoso is a great way of adding Wiz/sorc spells into the mix, but I'm playing this atm and found I don't care for spelcasting that much, also i don't want to dip too much)


His forefathers where spawned by a Deepwyrm Dragon to infiltrate a Drow society, using the disguise self etc features of the race.
The Plan failed and PC's forefathers escaped vengeance by escaping to the surface, where their ability of blending came in handy.
The Deepwyrm Drow interbred with surface dwellers over time and PC was born. Raised as a Sorcerer at first as was the tradition, but PC eloped to find his own fortunes etc


I think its a waste to have alevel sorc, but it supplements all the features ill need for mindbender and acid damage for my Dragonfire inspiration and a martial weapon for swiftblade.


If i had my way, Id go for a simple smooth transition for Savage Bard / Swiftblade, but I feel I need the sorcerer for the bonus feat, skillset and martial weapon.

Anyone who can simplify would be great!

[Troacctid]

Mage Armor at CL 1 isn't going to do you much good. It only lasts an hour, and then you're unarmored.

You also don't qualify for Swiftblade, since you can't cast Haste.

[Jiruharudo]

Bards are able to cast haste eventually, can they not? And my bad, would Shield work instead?

Otherwise, do you know any sorcerer/prestige bard ticks that could do the trick?

[Darrin]

Otherwise, do you know any sorcerer/prestige bard ticks that could do the trick?

Trapsmith (Dungeonscape) can cast haste as a 1st level spell.

[Troacctid]

Bards are able to cast haste eventually, can they not?
Eventually, sure, but you need to be able to cast it before you can take swiftblade levels. On a bard base with a lost caster level, you won't be able to take your first level of swiftblade until level 9.


And my bad, would Shield work instead?
Depends. Do you want to spend a whole turn casting it at the start of a fight? Cuz I wouldn't.

[Jiruharudo]

Im actually ok with starting Swiftblade around lvl 10.

However, any advice regarding trickery adding intimidate / martial weapon greatsword / dragon heritage feat without too much hassle would be great.

Playing a sorcerer who is able to use dragonfire inspiration +2 would also be fine.

I was thinking about battle sorcerer / prestige bard/virtuoso for that one, but still seems a tad cheesish.

[Troacctid]

How about Battle Howler of Gruumsh from Dragon #311 (page 69)? It's full BAB, full bard casting, gives you rage 2/day, advances all bardic music (and even gives an extra +1 to Inspire Courage on top of that), d8 hit die, makes you proficient with all martial weapons and all armor, and has Intimidate as a class skill. The only catch is that it requires Power Attack and Cleave.

Or if you're on a sorcerer base, your first level of Heartfire Fanner (Dragon #314, page 23) gives you bardic music as a 5th level bard, although it is also fairly feat-intensive.

[Jiruharudo]

Wow. That battle howler of Gruumsh is PERFECT for a Orc warlord build! Thanks for that!

Dragon magazines are frowned upon by my dm, but that Howler is just so flavorful, im sure hed be ok with it.

Hearthfire fanner is something hed say no to though, but i shouldve specified. Sorry