Insult comic?

[BassoonHero]

A player in a game I'm about to start wants to play an insult comic — someone who spends most of their actions in battle insulting and demoralizing the enemy. The obvious (to me) implementation is a bard who uses fear effects, and possibly also something like Doomspeak. This should work well enough in this campaign, where a majority of opponents should be susceptible to fear and other debuffs.

The campaign begins at fourth level. The player wants something more support-focused rather than depending on physical combat. Also, it would be advisable to keep the complexity to a manageable level. Flaws are not available.

I know that fear is a well-explored mechanic, but it's not one I've really worked with, so I come here for advice. How good/bad is Inspire Awe? Doomspeak and Haunting Melody wouldn't kick in for a couple levels, and it's important that the character be able to do their thing right away. Is there anything else I should be looking at?

[noob]

A player in a game I'm about to start wants to play an insult comic — someone who spends most of their actions in battle insulting and demoralizing the enemy. The obvious (to me) implementation is a bard who uses fear effects, and possibly also something like Doomspeak. This should work well enough in this campaign, where a majority of opponents should be susceptible to fear and other debuffs.

The campaign begins at fourth level. The player wants something more support-focused rather than depending on physical combat. Also, it would be advisable to keep the complexity to a manageable level. Flaws are not available.

I know that fear is a well-explored mechanic, but it's not one I've really worked with, so I come here for advice. How good/bad is Inspire Awe? Doomspeak and Haunting Melody wouldn't kick in for a couple levels, and it's important that the character be able to do their thing right away. Is there anything else I should be looking at?

Inspire courage is far stronger than the fear inspiring variant it have but playing a theme can involve sacrifices.

[ciopo]

I'd consider a refluffed dirgesinger, perhabs with the requiem prereq handwaved

[Maat Mons]

I feel like having a guy around talking about how weak your enemies are could improve the moral of your allies. So regular Bard seems to fit the theme just fine.

[Cygnia]

Jester (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?357696-3-5-Dragon-Compendium-s-Jester) from Dragon Compendium might be what you want.

[Rater202]

The Jester Class from Dragon Compendium is a BArd Varient specializing in quips and satire when it comes to bardic effects and in terms of physical combat it's abilities ae more defensive(getting a bonus to armor class because people can't take you seriously enough to attack you properly, or being able to deflect and later catch arrows because you're a skilled juggler.)

The default abilities of the class, assuming you have three ranks in preform Comedy, including giving your allies a bonus by telling a joke that insults the enemies you're fighting or insulting a single enemy so savagly that they charge you in a rage on a failed will save. (they get plus 1 to attack but -2 to AC and must comes at you via the most direct route and must use a charge action if they can.)

Not every Jester's performance is based around insults, but enough of them are by default and the rest can be fluffed as such.

In terms of spells, the ester seems to have a pretty even mix of support and direct damage abilities.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Inspire Awe can't be optimized as far as Inspire Courage (in fairness, very little can), but it does make a great opener for a fear build. Most enemies being shaken means that your fear abilities that do escalate are starting one stage further. Gets much better with Haunting Melody, since that's technically a rider effect rather than a full-on bardic music and can be activated along with Inspire Awe, making all enemies that fail both saves frightened instead of just shaken on turn one, which is fantastic.

Bards can also easily enter Dread Witch, which won't help your song-based fear effects but is a phenomenal boost to your fear spells.

[ShurikVch]

Divine Prankster PrC have Comedic Performance: Enrage Enemies

Feats:
Master of Mockery (Dragon #333): Perform (comedy) check to force an enemy to attack you and only you; enemy gets +2 on attack/-2 on AC
Scathing Wit (Dragon #291): you belittle and insult a single creature with Intimidate check; humiliated creature suffers -1 on attack, damage, ability checks, skill checks, and saving throws

Dragon #294 introduced new "Reputation" subsystem, which incudes Reputation damage - via Perform (wit); the article have a number of supporting feats; most of them work only on Reputation, but one - also named Scathing Wit - causing nonlethal damage equal to the Reputation damage

[Darg]

5 levels in Scarlet Corsair gives you improved feint, feint as a free action, and a 30 ft AoE demoralize while increasing the duration. Add in Inspire Awe, Imperious Command, and the Fearsome armor property and you can cause panic in anyone within 30 ft of you.

Otherwise, the skill trick Never Outnumbered allows demoralize to affect anything within 10ft of you. Frightful Presence feat is another automatic way to get opponents shaken.

[Endarire]

Zhentarim Fighter4 + Imperious Command seems thematic.

[Bohandas]

Harbinger or Jester

[tiercel]

Inspire Awe can't be optimized as far as Inspire Courage (in fairness, very little can), but it does make a great opener for a fear build. Most enemies being shaken means that your fear abilities that do escalate are starting one stage further. Gets much better with Haunting Melody, since that's technically a rider effect rather than a full-on bardic music and can be activated along with Inspire Awe, making all enemies that fail both saves frightened instead of just shaken on turn one, which is fantastic.


Assuming your DM’s head doesn’t asplode from Rules Compendium fear stacking rules, it can get scary.

Intimidate as a move action (due to Fearsome armor, DotU), using Never Outnumbered skill trick, CS, and Imperious Command, also DotU, and all foes within 10’ are cowering for one round.

Fear stacking means when you smack them with Inspire Awe (DM), Rules Compendium rules say “When such multiple exposures occur, the worst stage of fear lasts until the duration of all the effects causing the fear expire.” Now all of those foes you intimdated are cowering as long as you continue performing.

Even if you aren’t getting yourself surrounded by mooks to crowd-lock, you can still lock down a fight’s boss by getting into melee range. Is it automatic? No. But it goes off your skill checks (Intimidate, Perform), so…

Fluff it as cutting insults and you’ve flummoxed your foes into inaction midfight.

Bonus points if you’re neutral, follow St Cuthbert as “the god of making sure people get what’s coming to them,” and land a cudgel that never forgets (tossing out free Intimidate attempts every round).

[Bohandas]

The Harbinger class from Dragon Magazine #337 is a reversed bard whose performances dishearten and unsettle enemies. That could work for an insult comic.

[Crazysaneman]

Inspire courage is far stronger than the fear inspiring variant it have but playing a theme can involve sacrifices.

No reason why an insult comic can't use Inspire Courage to bolster his allies by insulting the enemies, and without a language dependency. The insults wouldn't necessarily afflict penalties on the enemies directly, but boosts to allies attacks and damage is a roundabout penalty. +1 to hit is, in a roundabout way, a -1 to ac to the target.

[Darg]

No reason why an insult comic can't use Inspire Courage to bolster his allies by insulting the enemies, and without a language dependency. The insults wouldn't necessarily afflict penalties on the enemies directly, but boosts to allies attacks and damage is a roundabout penalty. +1 to hit is, in a roundabout way, a -1 to ac to the target.

The Neverwinter Nights games have a reverse bard song called curse song that instead of buffing allies it debuffs enemies by the same amount. Create a bard variant that inverses the inspires: Instill Trepidation (courage), Incompetence, Insignificance (greatness), and Mediocrity (heroics, Obscurity might be more insulting of a name). Just have them give penalties instead of bonuses and affect enemies instead of allies.