Bardadin

[Nalistri]

Hey folks so a friends homebrew campaign I am playing in plans to take us up to level 13 or 14 we are only level 1 at the moment. My question is how should I look to split my levels wanting to go Oath of the ancients paladin not decided on what type of bard yet.Any advice is apreciated

[Man on Fire]

Hey folks so a friends homebrew campaign I am playing in plans to take us up to level 13 or 14 we are only level 1 at the moment. My question is how should I look to split my levels wanting to go Oath of the ancients paladin not decided on what type of bard yet though the only reason Im not choosing sorcerer is because I dont want more bs from another player about optimization and being a power gamer.Any advice is apreciated

What race and what method of generating Ability Scores?

I would suggest College of Swords as most combat oriented, but College of Glamour or Lore would be great if you want to prioritize flavour, they woudl fit well with Ancients Paladin

[Nalistri]

Its a half elf we rolled for stats they werent terrible but I got a 15 str,10 dex,13 con, 12 int,11 wis, 13 cha

[Fnissalot]

What race and what method of generating Ability Scores?

I would suggest College of Swords as most combat oriented, but College of Glamour or Lore would be great if you want to prioritize flavour, they woudl fit well with Ancients Paladin

Whispers also gives a nice extra boost to your smites if you want them to hit even harder.

[Nalistri]

The whispers one sounds interesting. He is a follower of a god of lore always loved hearing tales of explorers and the tales of adventurers

[Quietus]

I played a dex based bardadin a while back, had a lot of fun. Your stats are leaning more the Str side, which is still fine. I do hope that those stats are before the half-elf stuff gets applied, though; otherwise, that's going to be rough with wanting two stats plus con.

Swords bard was the way to go for me, and probably will be for you as well. Largely because, it gives you the ability to cast your Bard spells that have material components using your sword as a focus. That goes a LONG way. You aren't going to have room for things like Warcaster, you will want stats for every ASI for your planned career, and Swords bard reduces your need for feats. Also, with your setup, you clearly will need to start out with Paladin, to get that heavy armor proficiency - my recommendation with a build like this is to get 2 Paladin and the rest into Bard, but there is always the option to get Paladin up to 6 and then shift over. Do you know what sort of level split you're aiming for?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Its a half elf we rolled for stats they werent terrible but I got a 15 str,10 dex,13 con, 12 int,11 wis, 13 cha

Hopefully those rolls are before the Half-Elf adjustments, otherwise it's worse than point buy.

Take Paladin at 1st level, it's the only way to get heavy armor proficiency from this multiclass and your Cha can't really support taking Bard at 1st.

You really want Paladin 7 for the aura, but Paladin 8 gets another ASI and another level of spellcasting since multiclass Paladins count half your level toward your total spell slots. However, Paladin 9 gets access to 3rd level Paladin spells, but there's not really anything crucial until you hit 4th level spells for Find Greater Steed.

I'll agree that College of Swords is the way to go, I'd start taking Bard after either Paladin 2 or Paladin 5, depending on how many Bard levels you expect to get and how soon you want Extra Attack. Consider that you'll likely get the dueling style from Swords Bard 3 so you'll want to pick Defense or Protection for your Paladin fighting style. Protection is super useful for defending allies, but if you have another reaction like PAM or Cutting Words from Lore Bard it ends up competing with that.

Something like Paladin 5/ Bard 3 or 4/ Paladin 3/ Bard+ would be ideal. Take PAM at your first ASI and use a spear and shield.

[OldTrees1]

Hey folks so a friends homebrew campaign I am playing in plans to take us up to level 13 or 14 we are only level 1 at the moment. My question is how should I look to split my levels wanting to go Oath of the ancients paladin not decided on what type of bard yet.Any advice is apreciated

Paladin 7-9-11 / Bard 7-5-3
Probably Paladin 1-7 for ancient's aura, then either Paladin 8-9 for 3rd level spells (paladins do have nice 3rds), or start Bard

[loki_ragnarock]

What is the goal of the multiclass?

If it's just to smite a bunch? Paladin 2, Swords Bard X.

If it's to have a broad base of skills? Paladin x, Lore Bard 3.

If it's to expand your spell casting? Paladin 8, Lore Bard 6.

If it's to maximize your boost to allies and utilize your bonus actions? Paladin 8, Glamour Bard 6. Pump up charisma ASAP.


The goal really defines the split.

[Nalistri]

I played a dex based bardadin a while back, had a lot of fun. Your stats are leaning more the Str side, which is still fine. I do hope that those stats are before the half-elf stuff gets applied, though; otherwise, that's going to be rough with wanting two stats plus con.

Swords bard was the way to go for me, and probably will be for you as well. Largely because, it gives you the ability to cast your Bard spells that have material components using your sword as a focus. That goes a LONG way. You aren't going to have room for things like Warcaster, you will want stats for every ASI for your planned career, and Swords bard reduces your need for feats. Also, with your setup, you clearly will need to start out with Paladin, to get that heavy armor proficiency - my recommendation with a build like this is to get 2 Paladin and the rest into Bard, but there is always the option to get Paladin up to 6 and then shift over. Do you know what sort of level split you're aiming for?

I am hoping to play Oath of the Ancients so either 7 or as others have recomended 8 so I dont miss the ASI currently the campaign should hit between 13-14 level not sure after that.

[Nalistri]

What is the goal of the multiclass?

If it's just to smite a bunch? Paladin 2, Swords Bard X.

If it's to have a broad base of skills? Paladin x, Lore Bard 3.

If it's to expand your spell casting? Paladin 8, Lore Bard 6.

If it's to maximize your boost to allies and utilize your bonus actions? Paladin 8, Glamour Bard 6. Pump up charisma ASAP.


The goal really defines the split.

It would be to expand his spell casting and boost allies I guess

[loki_ragnarock]

It would be to expand his spell casting and boost allies I guess

Then I'd recommend Ancients Paladin 8/ Glamour Bard 6.

Why glamour?

All bards get inspiration, which is rad in a system with bounded accuracy. Glamour bards get the ability to use them to spread a bunch of temp HP as an alternative.

Fighting a bunch of Flame Skulls? Ancients for half damage aura and saving throw boost, Glamour for a bunch of extra temp hp as a bonus action to multiple targets. Never worry about fireball formation again.

[Sorinth]

It's hard to beat going Paladin until your split (7th or 8th) and then Bard until the end of the campaign.

Swords bard grants 2 fighting styles which is nice, but I'm not sure the Blade Flourishes will help you that much assuming you plan to tank.
Whispers might bet better if you are more interested in straight nova damage.
Lore is as always just great.

But honestly all the Bard subclasses offer something cool, so go with whatever flavour feels good for your character.