Another character conpept that needs to be given classes

[DevilMcam]

Hello again, playgrounders.

An other grand character idea has flourished in my head, and once again I need you help figuring out wich classes would do it best.

The concept would be a frontline suporter(with healing capabilities, at least some), that enphasis on bolstering allies and cripling enemies.
But because I love swords so much I would also like ti to be able to swing a sword to great effect when it matters.

Paladin would fit the thing but the bolstering part of it comes online to lat to my taste.
Glamour bard works much better to this end but it is very squishy and not adapted to melee
Also I am more or less set on the race : Aasimar

So my first Idea was to go Paladin1 for the proficiency, then Glamour3 (or 4 if I really need warcaster), then progress to either bard or conquest paladin depending on the group/campain dynamic.
But there may also be some things to do with hexblade or cleric or maybe some other grand Idea you would have.

So how would you do this?

[iTreeby]

Sounds like war cleric to me.you get some extra attacks. Buffs like bless, enhance ability, circle of protection. Debuffs like banishment, blindness/deafness, hold person, silence. Heavy armor, decent weapons. Oh, and healing.

Another good thing about cleric is that you can change your mind daily with the spells if you need to change your focus.

[Helldin87]

If you are going through the trouble of starting Paladin 1 you should really go for 2. The best features of the class are all delivered at level 2 and they all synchronize with other full caster-classes (such as bard) in ways that other MCs don't.

I would consider using valor bard since their bonus action allows you to debuff enemies and buff your allies. Paladins don't have a ton of bonus action economy either so you just picked up efficiency.

Build for strength at least 15 for Heavy Armor (since you want to be up front) and then charisma for your spell resistance if you want to go ham on debuffing enemies.

Have Fun!

[MThurston]

There is a bard that can swing a sword pretty well also.

[iTreeby]

If you chose hill dwarf and picked magic initiate (druid) you could grab shillelagh and good berry for more healing, attacks keyed of wisdom and, no movement penalty for not meeting the strength requirement for heavy armor. All you'd need is con and wis and hill dwarf gets both plus extra hit points without making you commit to many build resources to attacking.

[Mercurias]

In my head, you kind of just described a War Cleric. They have martial weapon and heavy armor proficiency, a skill that lets them attack twice a number of times per day, a Cleric’s Spell list for great buffs/debuffs, and at higher level your weapons hit harder even while you heal and buff/debuff. You have some heavy hitting damage spells available also.

An alternative might be a Celestial Bladelock with a Paladin dip for heavy Armor proficiency. You won’t have a lot of Spell slots, but they would recharge on a short rest and you would have access to some pretty solid offensive and defensive spells.

[DevilMcam]

I feel like the mantle of inspiration feature from Glamour bard is such a good fit to the idea that I would like to build around this
My main concern is therefor :
What kind of feat/dip/proper multiclass (that need do be effectively doing what's intended at early levels) would allow a glamour bard to be a decent melee fighter and could contribute to the archetype ?

[Vogie]

For a "frontline Medic" type of character, Requiring

Healing,
Damage,
Heavy armor
Debuffs
I could see any of the following:

Paladin X - Probably Crown or Redemption
Order Cleric X
Fighter 2 / Lore Bard 6 - using Cutting Words to reduce damage, picking up Aura of Vitality with Additional Magical Secrets to weave healing in between attacks.
Paladin 2 / Celestial Chain Warlock X - In addition to Healing Light, your familiar can fly around delivering touch healing spells that refresh on short rest.
EK 3 / Grave Cleric X - The same as above, but long rest slot refresh and you have a Bonus Action Spare the Dying at range, your familiar isn't invisible, but all healing spells on any targets at 0 HP are maximized. Can go to Fighter 5 for an extra attack.
Gloomstalker Ranger 3 / Life Cleric X - You hit hard for the first round or two, then fall back and support/debuff heal
Gloomstalker Ranger 3 / Shepherd Druid X with the Heavily Armored feat - Same as the above, but using unicorn Spirit to turn all healing spells into AoE healing spell

[Sception]

Paladin would fit the thing but the bolstering part of it comes online to lat to my taste.

It might be worth taking a second look at this. If you're looking to front-line-buff as a paladin, you've got Bless and potentially protection style kicking in at level 2, and bless in particular is good enough to carry you most of the way to aura of protection, which is about the best front line bolstering you're going to get on any character period. So yeah, how I'd do it is with a paladin, specifically Conquest or Ancients.

Both are heavily armored front line characters blending damage, buffing, and (mostly after-combat) healing. Ancient doubles down on damage mitigation via the level seven aura, is a bit more mobile due to misty step as an oath spell, and has generally better personal damage output since they don't cast offensive spells so much, so they can push their attack stat before their charisma and use more spell slots smiting. But they're not so good at debuffing, as their most notable option there is a channel divinity that they mostly aren't going to use because it mostly isn't that good, especially in mid levels when their charisma is lagging behind due to pushing attack stat first.

Conquest, conversely, has a super extra helping of debuff via their level seven aura, but even beyond that because that aura requires enemies to be frightened, the conqueror is probably already pushing frighten as a debuff option starting as early as level 2 with wrathful smite and level 3 with their excellent channel divinity, which means the conqueror will be a much more even split of buffing and debuffing even from early levels. But because those effects allow saves, the conqueror is pushed to max their spellcasting stat before their attack stat, or at least alternate between them, so their round by round attacks will be a bit weaker. And since they want to actually cast their spells, they won't be smiting so much either, unless they're up against fear-immune enemies, so their personal damage output will be a lot lower. They're a much more archetypical tank - hard to hurt, and enemies have a hard time getting away from them, but they're not the party's main damage source - though spiritual weapon on their oath spell list does pick up some of the slack in the mid levels.

Either one makes a fantastic front line support/control warrior who can also help patch up the injured after battle via lay on hands and the occasional cure wounds or revivify. Ancients will do better against spellcasters (who can mostly ignore the negative effects of frighten) and fearless foes, while conqueror will do better against mobs of mostly melee brutes.

If those aren't to your taste, I'd go for order, war, or life cleric, who have more spells to cast buffs with (though few will ever rival aura of protection in quality), and access to some actually useful mid-combat healing spells like Healing Word or Heal (most healing spells and abilities are better saved until after the fight is over).

[Porcupinata]

There is a bard that can swing a sword pretty well also.

College of Swords.

It was my first thought when I read the OP.

[Raynor007]

I think a War Cleric with a dip into Fighter (for dueling Fighting Style) would be the best option. The described build practically demands Warcaster as soon as possible, so probably Variant Human if allowed. By level three you'll have a high AC (assuming you use a shield as well), good attack damage, advantage on CON saves to maintain concentration (with proficiency in them if you go Fighter for first level), and bonus actions to attack with War Priest. I'd pick up Shieldmaster quickly as well for an additional choice of bonus action which will give your allies an opening (your emphasis on crippling enemies works well here).

If you're set on building around the Glamour Bard, I'd also dip into Fighter at least once for Heavy Armor/Shield proficiency, and a Fighting Style, which should be all you need there. As a bard, you'll have Bane for debuffing enemies, as well as cure wounds for healing. The problem with this build, as I see it, is that you'll be weighing the use of Mantle of Inspiration vs. basic Bardic Inspiration, which as a Bard would be your main way of buffing allies. If you dip Cleric, or pick up Magic Initiate as a feat, you'll gain Bless, which helps to manage that economy a little, but it's a level or a feat which could be used elsewhere to better effect (Resilient Con, Warcaster or Shieldmaster). One advantage you'd have with this build would be Expertise in Athletics, which makes shoving much easier. Combine that with Shieldmaster, and you'll be bonus-actioning your enemies prone as often as you want.

It comes down to theme, I suppose, as well as what level you'd be rolling the character in at. Malisteen makes a good point, in that Paladins really do epitomize the Tank-Support role (and the d10 hit dice don't hurt), but as you said, the auras don't come online until later, so you'll be waiting a while before you come into your own if you start at a lower level.