Bard Variants

[CiceroLelouch]

Im looking to make a Bard but with a heavy support type of spells. I'm looking to be the group support (heals, buffs, etc..) are there any bard variants/classes that fulfill this role better?
Starting level is 5

D&D 3.5 (all books) prefer no homebrew.

[Darrin]

Im looking to make a Bard but with a heavy support type of spells. I'm looking to be the group support (heals, buffs, etc..) are there any bard variants/classes that fulfill this role better?
Starting level is 5

D&D 3.5 (all books) prefer no homebrew.

You may want to be more specific about what you mean by "heavy support"... the Bard spell list already covers a lot of support/buffing. What specifically do you want the bard to focus on, or what do you feel is the area where bards are weakest?

That being said... War Weaver (Heroes of Battle) is pretty darned good at buffing the entire party, and Sand Shaper adds a bunch of known spells. How about:

Bard 4/Crusader 1/Spellsword 1/Sand Shaper 3/War Weaver 1/Sublime Chord 2/War Weaver +4/Abjurant Champion 4

Another option would be Prestige Bard, maybe on a Sha'ir chassis, using Apprentice to pick up Perform as a class skill:

Sha'ir 6/Prestige Bard 6/Geomancer 8

This gives you all the versatility of the wizard/sorcerer list, all the unique bard-only spells, and a selection of divine spells.

[Doctor Despair]

For generic support, you can't beat Heartfire Fanner.

Let's see.. my favorite bard PrCs are:

War Chanter
Heartfire Fanner
Dirgesinger
Sublime Chord

Of note is Virtuoso, although I'm not a big fan of that one. Also of note is Fochulan Lyrist and Evangelist for advancing Bardic Music in such a way that Bloodlines stack, although the classes themselves aren't the best without a lot of minmaxing. Finally, the Eberron Bard ACF is also something to consider in any bard build.

Overall, Heartfire Fanner or Warchanter probably fit your generic support build the best if you want a PrC

[Grod_The_Giant]

War Weaver and Heartfire Fanner are both excellent support-focused PrCs, the former building on spells and the latter on Bardic Music.

You'll also probably want the Healing Hymn ACF (Complete Champion)-- it'll replace the so-so Fascinate song with one that gives a massive bonus to healign spells. Would you like to heal level+4 hit points with Cure Minor Wounds? This is how. (Doesn't work with magic items, sadly.) Hymn of Fortification (same book) is also worth considering, trading Inspire Competence for a limited Protection from Evil effect.

[Xethik]

War Weaver is perfect for a healing/support Bard. It is a PrC that lets you turn single target buffs into (Cha Mod) targets. You'll lose a caster level, but when combined with Sublime Chord that doesn't matter too much.

EDIT: Swordsage'd. But yes, Heartfire Fanner is also fantastic. Doing both is probably a bit much, but Heartfire really shines when Inspire Courage isn't as useful.

[CiceroLelouch]

Thanks! i will now begin to work a new bard most likely a War Chanter or Heartfire!

[Xethik]

Thanks! i will now begin to work a new bard most likely a War Chanter or Heartfire!
Do note that the War Chanter and War Weaver are two different Prestige Classes. Despite the similar names, they are nearly opposites. War Chanters give up spellcasting for full BAB and powerful Bardic music while War Weavers drop Bardic music in favor of better buffing.

Both are good, but they are fairly different. If you want an emphasis on spells, I would avoid War Chanter.