No reach for Bards?

[Neknoh]

As you may have figured, I'm new to 5e, coming in from a lineage of Fighters, Barbs and Paladins in various other games (Pathfinder being the most recent), I am looking to try something new that is, at the same time, not too far off.

The college of Whispers caught my interest, and I immediately started considering something like a Tiefling Whisper Bard with a reach weapon, acting as a team buffer, spellslinging stopgap and area denial with big reach hits from the psychic blades.

But... there does not seem to be any simple reach weapons? Is this merely a matter of taking it up with my DM and switching something like Longsword or Rapier proficiency for Glaive or Pike or another polearm? (if the DM consents), or is there some group of weapons that I have missed?

Otherwise, are there any fun reach builds to be recommended in 5e? I believe I saw mention of a reach-paladin somewhere that was, supposedly, "disgusting", and there's the whole Hexblade thing as well.

Any and all help is appreciated, thank you for your time.

Regards!

[sophontteks]

Whisper bards aren't really gishes. They have a proto-sneak attack for inspiration, but that's all they got. You may want to use a true gish archtype for this idea instead and probably taking a level of fighter for the weapon skills. If you are married to the idea of a whisper bard, take a level of fighter for the weapon skills.

[MrStabby]

Whisper bards aren't really gishes. They have a proto-sneak attack for inspiration, but that's all they got. You may want to use a true gish archtype for this idea instead and probably taking a level of fighter for the weapon skills. If you are married to the idea of a whisper bard, take a level of fighter for the weapon skills.

Depending on Stats a cleric may be a better option - keeps the spellcasting going a bit whilst (with the right domain) also giving heavy armour and weapon proficiency.

[MaxWilson]

Whisper bards aren't really gishes. They have a proto-sneak attack for inspiration, but that's all they got. You may want to use a true gish archtype for this idea instead and probably taking a level of fighter for the weapon skills. If you are married to the idea of a whisper bard, take a level of fighter for the weapon skills.

Or a level of Hexblade.

[mormon_soldier]

Valour bard gets you the right weapon proficiencies along with great support inspiration for battlefield control.

[rbstr]

I figure you can probably get a DM to trade your prof. in rapiers for a glaive or halberd. It's really not a swap that lends itself to cheesy stuff.
I think the concept works in a pretty cool way with Pole Arm master.

Making a strength-based bard is gonna be fairly tough since you need Dex for AC and Cha for your casting...and any bard archetype really is a caster first, regardless of archetype choice.
In that way I'm a lot higher on Whispers than a lot of people here. Whisper's blades are really cool for a character that's not going to use weapon attacks a ton but can really make them hurt.

[JakOfAllTirades]

Playing a variant Human (if they're allowed in your campaign) gives you the option of starting with a bonus feat. So if you really want reach weapons, I'd suggest the Weapon Master feat: gain proficiency in any four weapons you like, and a +1 in either Strength or Dexterity. I'd consider Dexterity a better option for most Bards, but the only weapon with both Finesse and Reach properties is the Whip. That would make for an interesting character, but it only does 1d4 damage. On the other hand, sometimes it's the bonus damage that does all the work, so maybe that's exactly what you need.

[Fnissalot]

Based on how 5e design their weapons, it would not be hard to Homebrew it.

Example:
Partisan
Simple weapon, 5gp, 1d6 piercing, 3lb., Two-handed, reach.

[Snivlem]

I'd consider Dexterity a better option for most Bards, but the only weapon with both Finesse and Reach properties is the Whip. That would make for an interesting character, but it only does 1d4 damage. On the other hand, sometimes it's the bonus damage that does all the work, so maybe that's exactly what you need.

You could follow up with spell sniper and pick booming blade as your bonus cantrip at lvl 4 and you will be good to go.

[Neknoh]

Thank you for the help so far. Would I be better off just running a straight hexblade?

And what on Earth is a gish?

[Fishybugs]

And what on Earth is a gish?

A gish is a warrior/caster hybrid character, originating from the Githyanki warrior/mages from older editions.

[Unoriginal]

And what on Earth is a gish?

A gish is a character who fights as well with a weapon as with magic.

Eldritch Knight Fighter, Bladesinger Wizard, Valor and Sword Bard, Paladin, etc, are all gishes

[Willie the Duck]

Thank you for the help so far. Would I be better off just running a straight hexblade?

And what on Earth is a gish?

Hexblade and whisper bard are vastly different character concepts and are best at vastly different roles. If you had your heart set on "acting as a team buffer, spellslinging stopgap and area denial with big reach hits from the psychic blades" go with whisper bard (with or without JakOfAllTirades suggestion on picking up a whip, just realize that either way, you are not doing huge amounts of damage with your weapon attack, as that is not your role). If you want a spellcaster/weapon-user hybrid ('gish,' as it has become known), then hexblade is a reasonable option.

[rbstr]

Warlock really doesn't come with much in the way of party buffs. Their list has some decent blasting spells, self-buffs, and some control stuff.
You get better at-will damage than most casters and can actually put out more max-level spells per day than others at the cost of having fewer spells per individual fight.

To be pure RAW rules, for your original concept you'd probably do well by starting with one level of fighter. That'll give you your weapon proficiency, Heavy Armor proficiency and a fighting style (IMO I'd take defense). There are several other one-level dips that'd work including hexblade and several cleric options. The other option is the Weapon Master feat.

[MilkmanDanimal]

Straight Hexblade is a way to do this, but, if you like Bards, both Bard and Warlock rely on Charisma as primary stats so they go together perfectly. Start Hexblade, then go Bard at some point.

[Malifice]

Yeah. Warlock (hexblade) 1, then Whispers bard after.

You get martial weapons from Hexblade. The Whip is a martial reach weapon, and seeing as it's also one handed, you can attune to it and get +Cha to hit and damage with it.

Take Hex, Eldritch blast, Booming blade and Armor of Agathys as spells/ cantrips.

Eventually you'll want 3 levels of Hexblade for Blade pact which lets you attune to a Pole arm so you can abuse the Pole arm master feat. You'll also want the Warcaster feat.

That combo lets you Booming blade as a reaction when a creature enters your reach and lets you spam your psychic blades as well. Big damage if they keep moving towards you.