Clarification. One is not like the rest. (bard build help) 3.5-PF

[Drackstin]

So I'm making a changeling bard and for her to fit my vision i found a few things, but features seem to do the same thing, and im not sure if i need just one, or all 3.

I was going to take a 1 level dip in Spellsinger (kingdom of kalamar) for spellsing, but these other options seem very similar.

Spellsing: Starting at first level a spellsinger does not need semantic components or conman material components to cast spells. all her spells however require a verbal component in addition to any exceptional material component.

Lyric Spell
( Complete Adventurer, p. 113)

You can channel the power of your bardic music into your magic, allowing you to expend uses of your bardic music ability to cast spells.
Prerequisite
Perform 9 ranks, ability to spontaneously cast 2nd-level arcane spells, Bardic music, Benefit
You can expend daily uses of your bardic music to cast any arcane spell that you know and can cast spontaneously. You must still use an action to cast the spell (following the normal rules for casting time), but using the Lyric Spell feat counts as part of the spellcasting action. Casting a spell requires one use of your bardic music ability, plus one additional use per level of the spell. For example, casting a 3rd-level spell requires four daily uses of your bardic music ability.
Special: Any spell that you cast using the Lyric Spell feat gains your instrument as an additional arcane focus, if you use one. You cannot use Lyric Spell to cast a spell improved by the Silent Spell metamagic feat

[B]Melodic Casting
Type: General
Source: Complete Mage
You can weave your music and magic together into a single perfect voice.
Prerequisite: Perform 4 ranks, Spellcraft 4 ranks, bardic music class feature.
Benefit: Whenever a Concentration check would be required to cast a spell or use a spell-like ability (such as when you cast defensively or are distracted or injured while casting), you can make a Perform check instead.
In addition, you can cast spells and activate magic items by command word or spell completion while using a bardic music ability. Bardic music abilities that requite concentration still take a standard action to perform.
Normal: A bard can't cast spells or activate magic items by command word or spell completion while using bardic music.

Now could i just use one or both of these feats and not take the level is spellsinger? or should i take all 3?

The build I'm looking at right not is based on my vision of a Girl that doesn't know she has powers. as she grows and performs her powers get stronger but she doesn't know she is doing them. Basically her Hag bloodline shining through and causing problems. so her spells would go off as she sings.

Ill be using the PF changeling race with the green hag alternate trait "Object of Desire" also the PF bard variant faith singer to giver her the temptation domain, ill be using the half-elf linage variant bard level from 3.5 for soothing song. This will give her mind-effecting spells and charms a very high DC.

I'm not sure how i would like to end with her but sibling chord seems like the best path. but would a different class dip be good somewhere in the build?

Some other feats im looking at are these, but im not sure if they are all worth it:
Captivating Melody
Enchanting Song
Haunting Melody
Misleading Song
Metamagic Song
Song of the Heart
Subsonics

The other question is, are there any items that buff singing, i see tones of interments and magic item like interments. But i haven't seen anything for singing, is there a magic microphone or something?

[Telonius]

Circlet of Persuasion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#circletofPersuasion) isn't song-specific, but it will boost your Perform (Song) checks.

Choker of Eloquence (source I found says it's in the Arms and Equipment Guide) gives a +5 to +10 Competence bonus (depending on whether it's Lesser or Greater) to Diplomacy, Bluf, and Perform (Vocal) checks.

[Psyren]

It might help to know which elements you're using from each game. For example, Pathfinder Bards don't need Melodic Casting, they can simply cast spells while singing baseline. Similarly, both 3.5 and PF have "Changeling" races, but they are radically different from one another. Which one is the base and which one is the add-on?

[Lapak]

If the thing you want is 'she uses singing to cast,' any of them do include that, but other than that they do not do the same thing at all, so I just want to make sure that's what you're going for. The first option is the only one that straight-up converts your spells to songs, though; the others build in options that happen to trigger through singing as a medium.

[Drackstin]

It might help to know which elements you're using from each game. For example, Pathfinder Bards don't need Melodic Casting, they can simply cast spells while singing baseline. Similarly, both 3.5 and PF have "Changeling" races, but they are radically different from one another. Which one is the base and which one is the add-on?

Sorry, I'm using the changeling from pathfinder that is a daughter of a hag and a male of a humanoid. I didn't realize 3.5s changeling was different.

What I'm looking for is that she casts spells as she sings, or uses her bardic music or fascinate ability.

I don't want her or anyone else to know she is casting.

I want to work it so she dosen't realize she is casting spells as she performs.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Haunting Melody is noteworthy for not actually being a bardic music effect. That means you can have it going simultaneously with an actual bardic music effect, which is normally impossible* without 5 levels in the War Chanter prestige class. Shaken is a nice condition to inflict even if you're not fear-stacking, so since you'll have more than enough uses of Bardic Music I'd definitely recommend taking the feat.


*As far as I know the rules never actually specify that you can't have multiple (non-concentration) bardic music effects going at once, weirdly enough, but I've never heard of a game that didn't assume that was the intent of the rules.

[Psyren]

I want to work it so she dosen't realize she is casting spells as she performs.

You want your character to cast spells without realizing they're doing it? That is going to take some homebrew and a very permissive DM. If nothing else, casting spells requires both concentration and the Cast a Spell action, so it's pretty impossible (mechanically) to do so by accident unless you mean inadvertently activating a command word item or something. Or having her possessed by something that casts spells and her losing her memory of the times she's not in control, or something.



What I'm looking for is that she casts spells as she sings, or uses her bardic music or fascinate ability.

I don't want her or anyone else to know she is casting.

As mentioned, I can't really help you with the "she doesn't know she's casting" part of that, so let's look at the rest.

You didn't say whether you're using 3.5 bard, PF bard, or some combination of the two, but I'll reiterate that the PF bard can cast spells while performing (including singing) baseline, no feats required.

So that leaves the "hide your casting from onlookers" part. Both 3.5 and PF have several ways to do this - e.g. skill tricks, expanded skill usages, and feats - it all depends again on which game is the base and which one your DM is most okay with.

[Drackstin]

You want your character to cast spells without realizing they're doing it? That is going to take some homebrew and a very permissive DM. If nothing else, casting spells requires both concentration and the Cast a Spell action, so it's pretty impossible (mechanically) to do so by accident unless you mean inadvertently activating a command word item or something. Or having her possessed by something that casts spells and her losing her memory of the times she's not in control, or something.

As mentioned, I can't really help you with the "she doesn't know she's casting" part of that, so let's look at the rest.

You didn't say whether you're using 3.5 bard, PF bard, or some combination of the two, but I'll reiterate that the PF bard can cast spells while performing (including singing) baseline, no feats required.

So that leaves the "hide your casting from onlookers" part. Both 3.5 and PF have several ways to do this - e.g. skill tricks, expanded skill usages, and feats - it all depends again on which game is the base and which one your DM is most okay with.

the game is 3.5-PF so any rules that work, or sources that work together from both can be used. What ill be going with is PF changeling (counting as a half-elf for the bard racial 3.5 option of soothing voice). from here ill be taking the PF bard with the archetype Faith Singer to gain the Temptation domain from Malcanthet.

If bards in PF don't need any feats to cast as they perform i think i can skip spellsinger and Melodic Casting, eschew materials might be worth taking though since i want it to seem like she isn't casting anything. Now spellsinger has this built into the class, and a few other classes have this feat, are they worth a dip for it?

Subtle Spell or Disguise Spell feats from 3.5 would make hiding the spells work. she can even hide them from herself if her spot isn't high enough.

How she will be working is that as she sings/performs/bardic music she will be casting spells, these spells will only be mind-effecting or compulsion spells such as charm or to that nature, they might get a little different as events occur. the reason she is casting these spells is due to her race, she is of age and she can now hear "The Call" when her mother Hag is trying to lure her back to turn her to a hag. Also the Hag herself made a deal with Malcanthet and the mayor of a town, and that's where the changeling came from.

Now I'm the actual DM for this character, she is a NPC/ PC tag-along. So I'm working in the god's compulsion to cast spells in myself. so that's not a problem, but i"m going to work it as if holding a intelligent weapon with an ego. The PC are going to be uncovering a corrupted town government, that is in power due to demonic interference. and as they go down the rabbit hole and at the same time trying to help this young performer out from what seems to be a curse, they find out she is the daughter to the mayor, and owed to Malcanthet as payment for the towns success.

For this fact i was just thinking about maybe dipping into Sorcerer or something else, but the Accursed Bloodline of Infernal Bloodline seem to fit very well.

Haunting melody seems to fit, as it shows part of the other side coming out. Captivating Melody might also meet the flavor, and also subsonics.

Since PF and 3.5 are both open for her, what else should i consider. The PC will be meeting her at a INN when she is performing, so they might be the target of some said spells, if they investigate feather, and actually talk to her after the show, she might be willing to talk about the new voices in her head. they will also find a very mob like government, that should lead to more investigations. so this has many ways it can go. but im hoping they try to "save" the girl from a "curse" and then find out the other things as they go.

I like to make real builds for my NPC so that if anyone wants to play them of if i do or might need them later on, i have a full build of every level. I don't like to pull the whole, im DM so stuff works no matter what. this also helps my PC be more creative with builds.