Help with Lore Bard spell selection (RP appropriate)

[jaappleton]

A little backstory is required for this.

In a previous campaign, I played Wyatt, a very not-good Goblin Ranger that, before meeting the party, lived by himself in the woods. But he occasionally needed info on stuff happening in the town, and to trade and the like.

In comes Hank. Hank was a NPC the DM made up on the spot, when I asked, “Would Wyatt have someone in town who he could get info from? Someone he could maybe hunt for, in exchange for a flow of information?” “Yeah, he’d have someone like that. Lives by the town gate.”

And so we went off to meet Hank, who it turns out was a conspiracy theorist that believed all Undead were actually Lizard People, the various faiths and gods are all cover ups, everyone is a sheep (possibly literally), etc.

——

So now Hank is my next character!

Hank had a safe room (Tiny Hut), was charismatic enough to convince some people to believe his crazy theories (Expertise: Deception), etc. So Lore Bard it is!

So he was always thinking people were out to get him. I figure lots of ‘trap’ spells to slow people down, and for defense.

Shield
Absorb Elements
Slow
Stuff like that

Now, the Ravnica book introduced backgrounds that linked spells to the background itself. Thematically appropriate stuff. The DM is willing to work with me in that, adding certain spells to his list (aside from Magical Secrets) that’d be appropriate to Hank the crazy conspiracy theorist.

So, any suggestions?

2 Cantrips, and two spells each levels 1-5.

[AdAstra]

So first off, if he genuinely believes in his conspiracies, wouldn't it be persuasion, rather than deception, to convince other people (unless he also needs to convince himself, where I guess would probably be self-deception)?

You could reflavor Vicious Mockery as him confusing people with his convoluted logic, and Friends as his "Debate Me!" cantrip, or Minor Illusion so he can just bring up powerpoint presentations in real life, complete with clipart diagrams and MSPaint depictions. Leomund's Tiny Hut would be thematic for him to sleep without fear of anyone beaming brainwaves into his head. Nondetection for obvious reasons (though watch that material cost! Everyone knows the diamond cartels are in league wi-). Locate Object might be used in his searches for bugs and wires ("See! Insects=Bugs! It all makes sense now!"). Maybe he records all his theories with Illusory Script or Magic Mouth, or stores them in a Leomund's Secret Chest in case he gets too close to the truth and his memories are erased (again, component cost, and honeycomb means more bugs).

In fact, all of these except for the chest are already on the Bard's spell list, so you should be good to go (unless that's what They want you to think...). Hopefully since this is an ongoing campaign you're at least level 5, so these should all be available, and if not, you can probably make do until then.

[Huwman]

I like the idea of dissonant whisper being hank either scaring people by revealing "the truth" equally zone of truth for exposing conspiracies

[Wizard_Lizard]

I wonder how he feels about GOOlocks?

[noob]

So he was always knowing people were out to get him. I figure lots of ‘trap’ spells to slow people down, and for defense.

Fixed for you.
do not forget the gm is here to kill your characters.

[Wizard_Lizard]

Fixed for you.
do not forget the gm is here to kill your characters.

the dm is secretly a lizard!
*nothing like me at all...

[Corran]

Contact other plane, for an added touch of madness while in search of the truth!
Legend lore perhaps, so that he can mix in some real and rare knowledge with his conspiracy theories?
Dispel magic, and any other spells that can force shapeshifters back to their true form!
Detect thoughts and scrying perhaps, cause one can never be too careful when everyone is out to get them? Disguise/alter self for the same reason.

Just an idea. The more I think about such a character, the more convinced I am that he would make an excellent goolock. Opening your mind to eldritch horrors can break it. You need pact of the tome of course, so that every time Hank wakes up he can write down in his conspiracy book all the weird things that he dreamt of... eh, I mean, the truth!

ps: Like AdAstra, I think expertise in persuasion is more fitting.

[jaappleton]

While I agree GOOLock fits conceptually, I don’t like the play style of the short rest casting for this table and the adventure.

Have to talk to the DM about Persuasion VS Deception. If Hank believes it, is it really Deception...? That’s a fair point.

[AdAstra]

While I agree GOOLock fits conceptually, I don’t like the play style of the short rest casting for this table and the adventure.

Have to talk to the DM about Persuasion VS Deception. If Hank believes it, is it really Deception...? That’s a fair point.

Thinking about this further, I would say it has a lot to do with how Hank goes about his convincing. Does he at least try to use sound logic and collect genuine evidence, and not actively ignore when things don't fit, and changing his assessments accordingly (even if it's just changing them into a different conspiracy altogether)? Or does he use little conversational tricks to get people thinking his way, fabricating or assuming the existence of evidence that supports his position, sticking to his theories even in the face of contradictory personal experience, or having (or at least describing) theories so vague that they outright can't be verified or disproven (possibly even changing from telling to telling)?

The former, Genuine Hank is probably using Persuasion imo, while the latter, Controlling Hank would probably be more Deceptive. Most likely these would be different in intent as well as methodology. Genuine Hank's approach would indicate a distrust of the truth as presented, and believes there's something more going on. Controlling Hank wants to be right about something other people are wrong about, and/or wants other people to be change their mind because he said so.

You're pretty much deciding between a conspiracy theorist as they are often depicted in media/how they often see themselves vs. how conspiracy theorists usually are in real life.

[jaappleton]

Thinking about this further, I would say it has a lot to do with how Hank goes about his convincing. Does he at least try to use sound logic and collect genuine evidence, and not actively ignore when things don't fit, and changing his assessments accordingly (even if it's just changing them into a different conspiracy altogether)? Or does he use little conversational tricks to get people thinking his way, fabricating or assuming the existence of evidence that supports his position, sticking to his theories even in the face of contradictory personal experience, or having (or at least describing) theories so vague that they outright can't be verified or disproven (possibly even changing from telling to telling)?

The former, Genuine Hank is probably using Persuasion imo, while the latter, Controlling Hank would probably be more Deceptive. Most likely these would be different in intent as well as methodology. Genuine Hank's approach would indicate a distrust of the truth as presented, and believes there's something more going on. Controlling Hank wants to be right about something other people are wrong about, and/or wants other people to be change their mind because he said so.

You're pretty much deciding between a conspiracy theorist as they are often depicted in media/how they often see themselves vs. how conspiracy theorists usually are in real life.

Hank is more of a caricature.

So....

[AdAstra]

Then you could pretty much go either way. Either play up the idea of the beleaguered man trying desperately to decipher an incomprehensible and uncaring world, or the dramatic irony of someone who sounds like a crackpot, but is actually correct, either in-world or in a metagame sense ("There are these giant people at a table, see? And they roll dice to decide what happens! Any one of us could just be a puppet for one of them! And what vile master sits at the head of the table?"). Or you could play up the genuinely disturbing and infuriating aspects, and have him be insufferable, arrogant, and worst of all, followed by an unreasonably large number of people who believe him wholeheartedly.