Rolled Some Unusual (for me) Stats...where to put them?

[The Aboleth]

Hey, all! I decided to roll stats with the intention of applying them to a Kenku Bard concept I had been outlining...however, the stats I rolled were unusual in the sense that I really have no idea what to do with them (caveat: I've only rolled for stats a couple times, so perhaps these numbers are more common than I am inclined to believe). Here are the numbers:

12, 13, 13, 11, 12, 15

As you can see, not really anything one might normally consider "high" but nothing below an 11, either. This is before race modifiers and such come into play, as well, so there's some potential to beef those numbers up. However, I had my heart set on that Kenku Bard but they only get a +2 to DEX and +1 to WIS (the former of which is useful but the latter is less so for a Bard).

Basically, my question is two-fold: First, if I am to stick with the Kenku Bard concept, how should I arrange these stats to best work around the limitations of both the "average" numbers and the challenge of early levels? Second, if you have a better class/race pairing idea for the numbers I've rolled, I want to know what you would do instead?

Thanks in advance for your help!

EDIT: I should add that the reason I feel like this is "unusual" to me is because so many numbers are either the same or close to the same...normally I'm used to a bigger swing of high and low numbers, which would make it easier to determine what stat to beef up and what to dump. This arrangement, though, has me perplexed insofar as nothing really screams "DUMP!" to me...which is probably a good thing, but it means my tendency to over-think is now beginning to take over. That make sense?

[polymphus]

Kenku Bard is still workable there, I think. Drop 13 into Dex and 15 into Cha, first ASI you get, grab +1 to both. Bard gets 5 ASIs, so it's possible to eventually get 20 Dex and 20 Cha.

The rest of your stats don't really matter -- Dex has damage, to hit and AC all covered, and you lean on Cha outside of combat. I'd be tempted to go Valor Bard with a rapier/bow, and do a 1-level Rogue dip for sneak attack and those sweet expertise. You'd get decent damage/survivability and a ton of double proficiencies.

Whatever proficiencies you grab, definitely get Acrobatics: you'll rely on it a lot.

edit: I'd probably drop the other 13 into Wis, then grab the perception proficiency from Rogue. 11 Int, 12 Con, 12 Str.

[Matrix_Walker]

I'd say that what you have there is a common enough distribution, and certainly above average distribution. Quite serviceable.

STR 12 DEX 13+2 CON 13 INT 12 WIS 11+1 CHA 15

Level 4 Stat boost for +1 to CHA and DEX and you're rocking 16's for your fighty stat and your casty stat.

(ninja'd... )

[The Aboleth]

Kenku Bard is still workable there, I think. Drop 13 into Dex and 15 into Cha, first ASI you get, grab +1 to both. Bard gets 5 ASIs, so it's possible to eventually get 20 Dex and 20 Cha.

The rest of your stats don't really matter -- Dex has damage, to hit and AC all covered, and you lean on Cha outside of combat. I'd be tempted to go Valor Bard with a rapier/bow, and do a 1-level Rogue dip for sneak attack and those sweet expertise. You'd get decent damage/survivability and a ton of double proficiencies.

Whatever proficiencies you grab, definitely get Acrobatics: you'll rely on it a lot.

edit: I'd probably drop the other 13 into Wis, then grab the perception proficiency from Rogue. 11 Int, 12 Con, 12 Str.

Thanks for the advice! Two follow-up questions:

1.) Why would you go Valor Bard over Lore Bard?

2.) Why would you put the other 13 into WIS instead of CON? My understanding for Bards is that WIS isn't that useful to them, but CON is useful for everyone...my understanding may be flawed, however, due to my limited experience with Bards.


I'd say that what you have there is a common enough distribution, and certainly above average distribution. Quite serviceable.

STR 12 DEX 13+2 CON 13 INT 12 WIS 11+1 CHA 15

Level 4 Stat boost for +1 to CHA and DEX and you're rocking 16's for your fighty stat and your casty stat.

(ninja'd... )

Thanks for this! Will definitely use my first ASI to boost CHA and DEX. Should I be looking at any feats later down the road, or should I just take every ASI when it comes along?

[Matrix_Walker]

It's a matter of personal taste really... A Bards duties lie in other places than dishing damage, so I would be more concerned with getting CHA to 18 or even 20. It's not required to be effective, but each extra use of Bardic Inspiriation is gold.

And personally, I'm a lore bard lover... Find Steed and Find familiar and you become a very helpful managerie at 6th when the Lore Bard's first Magical Secrets pops ;)

[The Aboleth]

It's a matter of personal taste really... A Bards duties lie in other places than dishing damage, so I would be more concerned with getting CHA to 18 or even 20. It's not required to be effective, but each extra use of Bardic Inspiriation is gold.

And personally, I'm a lore bard lover... Find Steed and Find familiar and you become a very helpful managerie at 6th when the Lore Bard's first Magical Secrets pops ;)

Yeah, I'm VERY excited for Magical Secrets! Being able to select spells from ANY class is a great feature that opens up a world of possibilities. Frankly, I'm surprised they put it in the game...has that always been a thing with Bards or is this unique to 5th Edition?

[polymphus]

Thanks for the advice! Two follow-up questions:

1.) Why would you go Valor Bard over Lore Bard?

2.) Why would you put the other 13 into WIS instead of CON? My understanding for Bards is that WIS isn't that useful to them, but CON is useful for everyone...my understanding may be flawed, however, due to my limited experience with Bards.

1) It takes better advantage of the Dex, and it's more fun to play. Lore Bards are more powerful, but it's a much more static playstyle. Lore Bard would still totally work, it's just more passive. Valor + Rogue (1) is great fun.

2) You're a kenku, so you can get it to 14 without burning an ASI. Con 12 and Con 13 are mechanically identical, but Wis 13 to Wis 14 has an actual effect on gameplay.

[Finieous]

Kenku bard is cool, but to answer your second question, I love a Hill Dwarf Life Cleric 1/Lore Bard X.

Con 12+2=14
Wis 13+1=14
Cha 15

At 5th level, get +1 Con (15) and +1 Cha (16). At 9th level, pick up Resilient (Con 16). Then max Cha.

Start with chain and shield for AC 18 (the bard's real downfall) and 11 hp. By 8th level, you've likely got AC 20 and 75 hp. Cast bless and other buffs, heals (with 2 + spell level bonus), battlefield control, throw out inspiration and Cutting Words. Pick up aura of vitality and counterspell at 7th level. You're hard to hit, tough as rocks, and own the battlefield.

[djreynolds]

12, 13, 13, 11, 12, 15

With these stats you could become.... a true bard and jack of all trades

Begin rogue, grab ranger, bard, and knowledge cleric. And still be able to max out dexterity

Throw in some wizard, why not?

The great thing about 5E is that your proficiency bonus keeps up with that fighter.

Its better than standard array 15/14/13/12/10/8 .........15/13/13/12/12/11

[sky red hunter]

Variant Human, with the actor feat, and charlatan background.

Kenku allows you to mimic sounds and voices, actor covers that.

They are experts at forgery, the charlatan background covers that.

They get proficiency in two of the following: acrobatics, deception, stealth and sleight of hand; charlatan gives you deception and sleight of hand and variant human grabs you any skill you want.

Kenku gives you common and auran but you can only use mimicry to talk: variant human gives you command one extra language of your choice...auran?

so you aren't losing anything really other than the look of the character ( which i understand could be a big part of the original choice- just giving you an option)

so the stats array would go:

str 11 (+0)
dex 14 (+2) 13 +1 from human
con 14 (+2) 13 +1 from human
Int 12 (+1)
wis 12 (+1)
cha 16 (+3) 15 +1 from actor

Cantrips:
Prestidigitation/minor illusion/mage hand
vicious mockery: caw caw caw!!!

Bard has 4 fist level spells known at first level:
disguise self: wear a hooded cloak and then cast this on yourself to look like a kenku when you want.
Dissonent whispers: the discordant cawing of a 'kenku' :)
Illusionary script: works wonderfully well with forgery for tons of fun. also a ritual so excellent!!
Tashas hideous laughter: like how crows cawing sounds like creepy laughing sometimes...

Skills
background: deception +5, sleight of hand +4
human variant: persuasion +5
Bard class: acrobatics +4, stealth +4, history +3 ( might be useful when forging documents )

equipment
rapier + 4, 1d8+2
leather armor 11+2= ac 13
diplomats pack: a chest, 2 cases for maps and scrolls, a set of fine clothes, bottle of ink, ink pen, lamp, 2 flasks of oil, 5 sheets of paper, vial of perfume, sealing wax and soap. ( all of this seems perfect for forgery masters!!)

and just for fun i rolled a trinket ( cause i love trinkets! ): 54 a candle that can't be lit? :) a keepsake? a ruse from your charlatan past? a future tool in deception? a reminder that everything is not always what it seems....

anyway this is just a variant idea, hope you like it.