Help me with my Lore College Bard please!

[bmc88]

My DM is starting a new campaign. We have 6 players. I feel like that is a lot, so I thought it might be fun to play as a lightfoot halfling bard who focuses almost 100% on buffing my party. Almost more of a cheerleader or entourage.

Stats are probably 16 cha, 16 dex, 13 Con, 12 Wis, 10 Int, 8 Stre

We are a group from a monster hunting guild. We are mostly orphans of monster attacks who were taken in by guild members. We have a half-orc barbarian, an aasamir paladin, a warlock, a monk and some sort of psionic character from unearthed arcana.

We each have a secret about our past that dictates our game play. Mine is that as a young halfling I witnessed the murder of my parents. I had the chance to help but I froze, I have always been terrified of committing violence and am almost incapable of fighting. The most I could ever do was learn to support my friends while they fight because I can't lose anyone I care about again. My DM says I can do non lethal damage like in 3.5 (not sure if that is a thing in 5e) and that even if I knock someone out I feel queasy when one of my team mates typically delivers the coup de grace.

I would like help picking my "magic secrets" at lvls 6, 10, 14, 18. I want zero spells that are primarily for damage like fireball. That being said, I kind of like animate objects and feel like it would be a good damage spell for my character because it might be more of like a defensive reflex. Spells like vicious mockery are fine even though they do damage because I see the damage as more of a side effect rather than the main purpose of the spell. I also don't really want to be a healer, my last two characters were clerics :)

For lvl 6 I was thinking Haste and Counterspell but I am open to suggestions. I have not thought any farther than that.

PS - My best friend is the barbarian so I want to help her as much as possible. But I want good ways to assist the whole party as well.

[Avonar]

Well, here are some fun suggestions I might throw out there:

Level 6
Haste - Great spell
Slow - Very underrated spell, can severely hinder enemies
Beacon of Hope - Useful if you're planning on taking healing spells and for the Paladin too.

Level 10
Contagion - Devastating support spell with multiple ways of using it. Disadvantage on all attacks? Potential to be permanently stunned? Double damage from everything? All from one spell.
Telekinesis - Extremely versatile spell for in and out of combat.
Wall of Force - Very powerful, many ways to use it
Awaken - Such a fun spell. Want a tree buddy? Just awaken it.

Level 14
Blade Barrier - You're creating a wall. If they choose to try and run through it and get cut to pieces, that's not your fault, is it?
Magic Jar - You're not hurting them. You're just borrowing their body.
Simulacrum - Enjoy having 1 Barbarian? How about 2?

Level 18
Wish
Prismatic Wall - Want to make something ridiculously safe?
Feeblemind - No physical harm, but can render an enemy entirely useless.
Clone - Always helps to have a backup plan

[Thunderbird]

Feeblemind is actually on the bard spell list. Counterspell is a very good choice, and you will be adding half your proficiency bonus to its check due to the Jack of all Trades ability (and eventually your Peerless Skill as well), so you will be really good at it.
You should also consider the Find Familiar spell, it has many uses and you will be able to cast it as a ritual.

[Specter]

6
Crusader's Mantle: the best buff you can get at this point.
Pass Without Trace: a massive out-of-combat buff.

10
Circle of Power: oh yeah.
Antilife Shell: 'don't touch me'!

14
Contingency: too good to pass. Plan for the worst and the worst won't be so bad.
Reverse Gravity: Perfect for your 'non-violence' approach coupled with Feather Fall.

18
Wish: duh.
True Polymorph: a nice buff, or nice debuff.

[Marvnmartian]

It will depend on if you have a healer in your party as healing is support magic as well. If you are able to Multiclass seriously look into multiclassing either Knowledge or Life cleric for 1 or starting out as that and then going bard rest. this also lets you pick up bless for free which is nice.

Level 6:
Counterspell is almost required as a support character
Slow is a good option since you have a large party and if I was your Dm you will be fighting large groups of enemies and 6 of them neutered per encounter is nice.
Conjure animals... arguably the best option for your first magical secrets but i dunno if you wanna bog down combat with 8 wolves or some giant owls to create meat shields for your party

Level 10:
Awaken, Constant stream of new NPCs that you control your front liners will be happy to have another being soaking damage already on your list but a good option nevertheless
Bigbys Hand: tons of options for 1 spell a good use of concentration
Wall of force: sequestering a few out of a fight is better then damage 9/10

Level 14
Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion, Situational but very effective at what it does.
Simulcrum its worth it simply to make another copy of your self for the extra round of spells
Reverse Gravity, Useful in situations where you have the ranged advantage

level 18
Wish... pick it
Mass heal, Will fully heal your entire party in a dire time good use for an oh **** buttone
Prismatic wall, a third option i would stick with the first two but a situational 10 minute break is huge but wont come up as often as wish/mass heal uses

[Potato_Priest]

I have but one thing to suggest.

For level 6 magical secrets, aura of vitality is amazing. Look it up.

[Citan]

My DM is starting a new campaign. We have 6 players. I feel like that is a lot, so I thought it might be fun to play as a lightfoot halfling bard who focuses almost 100% on buffing my party. Almost more of a cheerleader or entourage.

Stats are probably 16 cha, 16 dex, 13 Con, 12 Wis, 10 Int, 8 Stre

We are a group from a monster hunting guild. We are mostly orphans of monster attacks who were taken in by guild members. We have a half-orc barbarian, an aasamir paladin, a warlock, a monk and some sort of psionic character from unearthed arcana.

We each have a secret about our past that dictates our game play. Mine is that as a young halfling I witnessed the murder of my parents. I had the chance to help but I froze, I have always been terrified of committing violence and am almost incapable of fighting. The most I could ever do was learn to support my friends while they fight because I can't lose anyone I care about again. My DM says I can do non lethal damage like in 3.5 (not sure if that is a thing in 5e) and that even if I knock someone out I feel queasy when one of my team mates typically delivers the coup de grace.

I would like help picking my "magic secrets" at lvls 6, 10, 14, 18. I want zero spells that are primarily for damage like fireball. That being said, I kind of like animate objects and feel like it would be a good damage spell for my character because it might be more of like a defensive reflex. Spells like vicious mockery are fine even though they do damage because I see the damage as more of a side effect rather than the main purpose of the spell. I also don't really want to be a healer, my last two characters were clerics :)

For lvl 6 I was thinking Haste and Counterspell but I am open to suggestions. I have not thought any farther than that.

PS - My best friend is the barbarian so I want to help her as much as possible. But I want good ways to assist the whole party as well.
Hi!
Level 6 I would say is spot on, although Conjure Animals is another way to buff the party, and there is also Slow as one of the most nasty debuffs you could apply. ;)

For level 10 my usual suggestion is Circle of Powers, the best party buff you could ever want before reaching level 8 Holy Aura.

[8wGremlin]

6th Aura of courage. Definitely

[thereaper]

Aura of vitality is great, even without life domain.

[RSP]

If you're looking to support your party, I'd suggest taking Sanctuary with your level 6 Magic Secret (and Counterspell if your group doesn't have it already).

Sanctuary should work well with your RP, plus it's a fantastic way to prevent damage on your tank. I'm playing a Lore Bard that uses it all the time to help our tank, and when you can flat out stop a round of attacks on them when they're surrounded, as a non-concentration Bonus Action, it really helps keep them up. Initiative dependent to make sure the enemies go before the tank breaks it by attacking, but when the situation is right, there isn't a better use of a 1st level slot in my opinion.

Add in Cutting Words for when an attack gets passed the save and you should prove your worth to the party fairly quickly.