Another Building a Lore Bard Thread

[Discord]

Currently I am playing in Princes of Elemental Evil

I am level 3, damn near level 4.

My stats consist of str 10, dex 14, con 14, int 14, wis 10, 17 cha.

I rolled for these stats, and of course they ended up being even after I added racials.

Our current party consists of: Wood Elf Assassin Rogue, Earth Gensai War Cleric, Dragonborn Devotion Paladin, Fire Gensai Evocation Wizard and myself.

Yuan-Ti Lore Bard.

At level 3 the spells I have are:

Cantrips: Vicious Mockery, Friends, Poison Spray (racial)

1st Level: Dissonant Whispers, Thunderwave, Healing Word, Faerie Fire

2nd Level: Heat Metal, Suggestion

It sucks a bit that I am at all even stats, it would probably be better of I took a feat like Actor, but our Assassin Rogue is going to take Actor and I really don't like doubling up on feats. So at level 4 I really should take an ASI, so I can get my Cha up to 18, that way I have 4 Bardic Inspirations to play with per a long rest until level 5 when they refresh on a short rest.

I was considering taking the Lucky Feat as well since this almost acts like Bardic Inspiration as well even if it is only for myself.

I was almost considering picking up Magic Initiate as well picking up things like Eldritch Blast / Lightening Lure, then the Level 1 spell being Hex of course.

For my level 6 Magical Secrets Counterspell is a must have, although for the other spell I am not sure what I am going to pick. It's very tempting to pickup a spell like Pass without Trace, Call Lightening, Hunger of Hadar, Stinking Cloud (Immune to Poison, I could cast this on myself), and there is many other good spells I could pickup as well.

My character is definitely supporting his group, despite being Chaotic Neutral / Neutral Evil.

The reason he helps his party is because of: "I pity those who cannot be Yuan-Ti. I help those around me because I know they cannot be superior to me."

Oddly enough despite my characters alignment he has become almost like a 'mother' figure to the group, and I have supported them a lot through the short time we've been together. Our Paladin got critted and died in a single hit in a recent battle, my character having quite a bit more gold than the others due to some great Persuasion checks which let him sell some other items for a great deal more. I paid for a good part of the resurrection for our dear Paladin, because we have factions and such.

I am unsure how to proceed on my Level 4 that we are closely approaching.

[Tauguy628]

I would probely take +1 cha, +1 con now, and +2 cha and resilient (con) at some later level, letting you be really good at concentration (and get more HP). If you are fine with bard, then keep being an awesome bard (there are some nice guides out there for helping with magical secrets) or, if you want to do something else, take warlock 2 and blast everything to death with EB.

[agnos]

For now, I'd grab +1 Con/Cha and take Resilient Con at Bard 8; at 12 and 16 I'd boost Cha to 20 and take Medium Armor Proficiency. You could take a level or two in Fighter/Ranger, but losing casting level(s) that late hurts and the AC bump is huge.

You might also want to replace Fairie Fire with Bane; you have a solid front line that Bane protects while also making them succeptible to the Wizard. Blindness/Deafness is a great level 2 Spell to add as well.

For Magical Secrets, there's no good spell that's bad to have; that said, I'd recommend Aura of Vitality. It's like spending a 3rd level slot to get 10 free Healing Word casts; it's much worse without Life Cleric benefit, but it's still as good as Heal but in divided doses of 7. Magic Weapon, Elemental Weapon and Spiritual Weapon are pretty solid options too. While Stinking Cloud doesn't affect you, because it's so wide it can be just as bad for your party as it is then enemy; it would be better if you had 2 dwarves in the party (for advantage vs poison). Also, Counterspell isn't as auto-pick as you think it is; it uses your reaction which competes with Cutting Words which you will often use at that point. I've found Counterspell to be a better pick at 10 and instead grab things to have a use for your bonus action. Either way, YMMV regardless of how you go.

[Discord]

For now, I'd grab +1 Con/Cha and take Resilient Con at Bard 8; at 12 and 16 I'd boost Cha to 20 and take Medium Armor Proficiency. You could take a level or two in Fighter/Ranger, but losing casting level(s) that late hurts and the AC bump is huge.

You might also want to replace Fairie Fire with Bane; you have a solid front line that Bane protects while also making them succeptible to the Wizard. Blindness/Deafness is a great level 2 Spell to add as well.

For Magical Secrets, there's no good spell that's bad to have; that said, I'd recommend Aura of Vitality. It's like spending a 3rd level slot to get 10 free Healing Word casts; it's much worse without Life Cleric benefit, but it's still as good as Heal but in divided doses of 7. Magic Weapon, Elemental Weapon and Spiritual Weapon are pretty solid options too. While Stinking Cloud doesn't affect you, because it's so wide it can be just as bad for your party as it is then enemy; it would be better if you had 2 dwarves in the party (for advantage vs poison). Also, Counterspell isn't as auto-pick as you think it is; it uses your reaction which competes with Cutting Words which you will often use at that point. I've found Counterspell to be a better pick at 10 and instead grab things to have a use for your bonus action. Either way, YMMV regardless of how you go.


Something to keep in mind. The people I am playing with are pretty green.

I'm the only person in my group besides the DM that has any experience playing D&D.

So spells like Fireball are an obvious pickup for the party members, while things like Counterspell are not so obviously picked up by our new Wizard.

I thought Counterspell and Hex, might do well, especially with my expertise in persuasion and deception, I could hex someone's investigation against my disguise, or I could pickup something like Call Lightning or Pass Without Trace to help the Rogue be even sneakier and the rest of the party to be passable at sneaking (our Cleric and Paladin wear heavy armor)

While Cutting Words is usually a better use of my reaction, sometimes it's better to Counterspell a spell, especially if your DM let's you make Arcana checks to know what it is while you attempt to dispel it.

We have fairly good damage between my other party members so I suppose I should definitely stick to a more supportive roll then one for DPS since everyone more or less has that coverered.

[Specter]

Well, as said, definitely take Resilient (CON). Concentration is major, as is saving against cold, necromancy, exhaustion etc. and an extra hp per level.

And counterspell, definitely. With jack of all trades you'll be the second best in the game at it.