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Guinea Anubis
2008-03-24, 10:53 AM
So I am going to be playing a bard in an up coming game because I have never played one. So I am looking for some tips on how to play a Bard well. Is there anyplace that lists the range of music played by an insterment?

I also do not lwant to be cheesy like play a half elf with an 18 charisma, max ranks in diplomacy, and the feat Skill Focus [diplomacy].

DrizztFan24
2008-03-24, 11:06 AM
Insane bluff checks for feinting if you want to get into melee? Otherwise you kind of sit next to the heal-bot and sing.

You can diplo-cheese every once in awhile without the DM getting too ticked, +10 or less bonus and he won't snap.

Otherwise you are a little bit of everything and good at nothing, except singing...so maybe you stay in town performing and gaining gold for the party when they come back.

DementedFellow
2008-03-24, 11:06 AM
For flavor, declare yourself the leader and refer to all other characters as your underlings. Ham it up. If you work it right, the other players will follow along.

As for the bardic singing, he doesn't necessarily have to sing, you can also give long speeches. It's always good to provide a couple little songs that sound like you made them up and still fit the medieval setting. Look up the Brobdingnagian Bards, they fit really well.

Also, for a little extra fun, if your party is captured, you can never be without a weapon, because of the summon instrument spell. El Kabong!

Bards are very fun and versatile class. They will not be a front-liner and at lower levels there will be times when you don't connect with a hit at all. You will not be the best spy, but that's now the way you can get information. You will not be the best spell-caster out there either. But if you buff your party members, they won't mind a bit. Besides, it kinda goes along the lines of my first paragraph. You could tell the others to "handle your light work" and just be support to their endeavors.

Bards are one of the few balanced classes in core. It's no wonder why they have such a devoted, albeit small, fanbase.

valadil
2008-03-24, 11:07 AM
A bard's strength is his versatility. For some odd reason when people optimize bards they like to ditch the versatility and make just one aspect of the bard really strong. Sure CrazyNewPrestigeClass gives you more spells, some of which are from the wizard/sorcerer list. But if that's what you wanted why not just play a wizard or sorcerer?

Basically you want to use each of your strengths without giving any other strengths up. A bard's strengths are spells, songs, and skills. PrCs that advance your casting usually give fewer skills and no songs. On the other hand a feat like spell focus enchantment will help your casting without hurting your other abilities. Playing a bard well means max without min.

Shishnarfne
2008-03-24, 11:07 AM
Playing a bard requires actually, a fair bit of planning (especially at low levels).
First priority: know your strengths. Figure out what you can do that the rest of the party can't or won't want to.
Social skills are a high priority (even without full diplo-cheese, if you take these, the rogue will thank you).
Know when to use your bardic music relative to your spells and weapons. A point on bardic music: your buffs last after you stop, so sing for a round and then figure out how to best help your friends.
Take spells known that the Wizard and Cleric won't want to cast as often (the Cure spells are a trap... if you insist on curing, borrow the wand and tell the Cleric he can do real stuff, and you'll stabilize the fallen... otherwise, let him handle it). If you focus your spells known on Enchantments and Illusions, you can use your feats to specialize on that, allowing the Wizard to try other spells (just coordinate with your party members so that you don't all take the same spells).
Combat: frankly, medium BAB, d6 HD, and limited proficiencies limit your role. I prefer rogue "flanking buddy who uses aid another while fighting defensively" as a way to help out a fair bit. Damage is not your style unless you go White Raven (ToB, which I don't count as a bard build).

The main caveat is to figure out how to pace yourself:

You don't get many abilities/spells, especially at low level. Don't waste them. Know when the group will want your song versus a flanking partner. Figure out when to drop that one 1st level spell you get at level 2... Guess whether Sleep or Hideous Laughter will help more.

You are still a nearly full caster. Don't forget it. You have more jack-of-all trades abilities than some other casters, but you are better off, IMHO, downplaying those in favor of casting than trying to be second-best at everything.

Figure out one thing where you can be pretty darn good, and let the other duties fall into line.

Most DM's are flexible about the instrument and the music that you play. A lute (or any string instrument) keeps your mouth open. Pure songs keep your hands free. Ask your DM... most won't worry too much about whether you prefer the fiddle or the flute... just don't take ranks in only perform: Piano, or some other non-portable instrument.

Oh, and, have fun! The rest of the party might forgive a lack of power if you keep things interesting at the table (just don't be a drag on your party with clowning around).

Keld Denar
2008-03-24, 11:08 AM
Why wouldn't you want as high a Cha as you can? Its your casting stat, and the basis for a few of your skills. Wanting a high Cha isn't powergaming....its smart.

Inspire Courage is strong, use it. Get Song of the Heart at 6, Melodic Casting (somewhere) and cast Inspirational Boost before you sing. After you start, pop a Badge of Valor (immediate activation) to boost your song up another point (get 2 badges, so you can swap them out, each is good for 3 uses). Also, aquire a Vest of Legends asap.

For casting, your best spells include creative use of Silent Image, Inspirational Boost, Glitterdust, Haste, Solid Fog, and a few others as you get higher. If you get those, pretty much everything else is gravy. Use Glitterdust a lot at low levels, it'll make your fighters and rogues happy. Solid Fog at medium levels allows you to divide and conquer foes, always a useful tactic.

If you want a fun disable, look at the spell Whirling Blade in Spell Compendium. It allows you to make a melee attack in a line in front of you. Get a +1 Sudden Stunning(DMGII) weapon that does slashing damage, like a longsword. Doesn't really matter. The DC for Sudden Stunning is based off your Cha score and your character level. Then you just Whirl your Blade out up to 60' and use your swift action to Sudden Stun one of the foes in the attack. You only get 1 per round, but the stun lasts for 1d4+1 rounds. Your team can then pounce on that stunned foe and beat it before it regains its senses.

If you play your bard like this, you will be a huge party benefit. You'll be able to grant large bonuses to hit and damage (helps facilitate Power Attack for your fighters and hit chance for your TWF rogues), you'll be able to disable single targets and groups, and you'll have social skills to help your party negotiate (you don't have to diplomancer to use diplomacy effectively).

DementedFellow
2008-03-24, 11:12 AM
Otherwise you are a little bit of everything and good at nothing, except singing...so maybe you stay in town performing and gaining gold for the party when they come back.

That doesn't sound very fun, and there is no reason why a Bard cannot dungeon crawl.

"Have fun fighting the gold dragon guys, I'll be back at the tavern earning some golds." A bard can do more than perform.

Bardic Knowledge is very handy and can reveal some big weakness of the Big Bad, or where to look for his stronghold, or even what the Big Bad is.

DrizztFan24
2008-03-24, 11:16 AM
That doesn't sound very fun, and there is no reason why a Bard cannot dungeon crawl.

"Have fun fighting the gold dragon guys, I'll be back at the tavern earning some golds." A bard can do more than perform.

Bardic Knowledge is very handy and can reveal some big weakness of the Big Bad, or where to look for his stronghold, or even what the Big Bad is.

OOOO i know, the bard is the guy that developes contacts during down time to help get your party more favors. Nothing says "Your friend is my friend" like a big heaping pile of cure wands or mercs.

Signmaker
2008-03-24, 11:18 AM
Depends on the kind of bard you want to be.
If you like the core's bardic music abilities, odds are you're a party buffer.

If you like to do your own kind of damage, bards have worthwhile spells, such as Bladeweave and Good Hope, that allow both versatility and general party aid, while not completely bogging you down.

There are also quite a few PrCs with inventive uses for Bardic Music. The stormsinger PrC, for example, lets you fire bolts of lightning at 3rd level, and do an amount of damage equal to your Perform(Sing) check.

Bards are lucky enough to come in quite a large amount of varieties, should you look hard enough. The trick is not getting bored with your bard. If you think "Hey, I want something new", go for it.

Arbitrarity
2008-03-24, 11:21 AM
For mad skills, grab the PHB2 Bardic knack (replaces bardic knowledge with virtual 1/2 bard level ranks in every skill), and the spell compendium level 1 spell improvisation. This can result in being as good at any skill (when you need it) as someone with next to maxed ranks.
Eberron's song of the heart is nice, but campaign specific.

Versatile performer (Complete adventurer) lets you use many sorts of instruments, potentially keeping your options open in combat (dance if you can't speak, sing if you can't move, or need free hands).

Lairship
2008-03-24, 11:26 AM
Paladins fight for a cause. Wizards to gain more knowledge and find some forbidden scrolls. Rogues for the treasure.
To a bard, it should be a lifestlye. Remember that and you'll never feel like a spare wheel.
Be pirate, a con-man, a gypsy, a wanderer, seek adventure. Thats all I can say. :smalltongue:

DementedFellow
2008-03-24, 11:26 AM
OOOO i know, the bard is the guy that developes contacts during down time to help get your party more favors. Nothing says "Your friend is my friend" like a big heaping pile of cure wands or mercs.
I think you see the bard as more of an underling type role. But flavor-wise, it is a leader build. Even without the leadership feat, shouldn't a leader be able to inspire courage in his troops?

Bards don't get much respect because a lot of people see them as kinda dorky. "What kind of dummy would sing while exploring a cave with a horrible monster in it?"

Let's look at that though, if it were a real event, and you and your friends were going to face some 40 foot tall fire-breathing lizard, you would be scared. Wouldn't you want someone to get your mind off of it, or even pump you up for it? They don't hurt the verisimilitude, they help it.

Kurald Galain
2008-03-24, 11:33 AM
Bards don't get much respect because a lot of people see them as kinda dorky. "What kind of dummy would sing while exploring a cave with a horrible monster in it?"

Oh, that's easy. Take ranks in Perform (Mime) :smallbiggrin:

Hal
2008-03-24, 02:52 PM
Plan your spell selection carefully. A lot of my favorite Bard spells are not the combat heavy ones, or even the buffing ones, but the ones that can either be used in combat to screw with your enemy OR out of combat to make things happen.

For example, one spell causes the target to walk over to you and hand you whatever is in his hand. "Why, BBEG, you're handing me your 100,000gp Doomsday Staff? Thank you!" Another causes the target to dance uncontrollably in random directions.

Why cause damage when you can cause mayhem?

Adumbration
2008-03-24, 03:09 PM
I haven't tried them myself, but to give the bard a bit more flavor and fun, go and see if you can get your DM add incantations (Linkie (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/incantations.htm)) to your game. Something like the Call Forth the Dweller incantations could be very cool and helpful in certain situations.

Tengu
2008-03-24, 04:58 PM
I think you see the bard as more of an underling type role. But flavor-wise, it is a leader build. Even without the leadership feat, shouldn't a leader be able to inspire courage in his troops?

Bards don't get much respect because a lot of people see them as kinda dorky. "What kind of dummy would sing while exploring a cave with a horrible monster in it?"

Let's look at that though, if it were a real event, and you and your friends were going to face some 40 foot tall fire-breathing lizard, you would be scared. Wouldn't you want someone to get your mind off of it, or even pump you up for it? They don't hurt the verisimilitude, they help it.

Good point there. It also helps to think that Inspire Courage and other bardic songs are rarely foppish, lute-played love ballads - if anything, they are closer to heroic songs that fill you with adrenaline and/or hope.

Fhaolan
2008-03-24, 05:29 PM
Good point there. It also helps to think that Inspire Courage and other bardic songs are rarely foppish, lute-played love ballads - if anything, they are closer to heroic songs that fill you with adrenaline and/or hope.

Warriors bring the sword,
the Bard makes it Metal.

Clerics bring the holy,
the Bard makes it Hymn.

Rogues bring the shadows,
the Bard makes it Punk.

... it was going so well, and then I lose it.

Keld Denar
2008-03-24, 05:49 PM
For inspiration for bardic inspiration, take ranks in Perform:Air Guitar and go buy a Manowar CD (or 3).

People everywhere, throw your hands into the air!
We're warriors, warriors of the world!

Like thunder from the sky, sworn to fight and die!
We're warriors, warriors of the world!

Chronos
2008-03-24, 06:26 PM
For inspiration for bardic inspiration, take ranks in Perform:Air Guitar and go buy a Manowar CD (or 3).That would work. For other examples, the great works of literature (Shakespeare, etc.) contain many examples of Perform (Oratory) inspirations. "Once more unto the breach, my men", and so on.

Many professions feature one man on a crew whose job is to sing or otherwise perform to coordinate the other workers. Sea shanties, for instance, were songs to help sailors work.

And every army in history has included musicians, whether they played the drums, fife, bagpipes, or some other instrument, to keep up the soldiers' spirits and possibly demoralize the other side.

Corsec1337
2008-03-24, 07:10 PM
For flavor, declare yourself the leader and refer to all other characters as your underlings. Ham it up. If you work it right, the other players will follow along.

That... that was beautiful man. Never before have I thought about playing a bard like that. For a year now I've thought about playing a bard but kept talking myself out of it. That comment makes me want to play one! :elan:

DementedFellow
2008-03-24, 07:19 PM
That... that was beautiful man. Never before have I thought about playing a bard like that. For a year now I've thought about playing a bard but kept talking myself out of it. That comment makes me want to play one! :elan:
That's what I did with my last campaign. I also adopted a foppish lilt to my voice and referred to the rest of the party as Children. "Come along children, come along."

But see they were all elves and would respond, "We're elves, we're older than you." Not missing a beat, I responded, "It's not about age, it's about mileage, come along children, come along."

The Faceless
2008-03-24, 07:32 PM
Warriors bring the sword,
the Bard makes it Metal.

Clerics bring the holy,
the Bard makes it Hymn.

Rogues bring the shadows,
the Bard makes it Punk.

... it was going so well, and then I lose it.

Druids bring the nature
the Bard make it Folk

Barbarians bring the rage
the Bard makes it Death Metal

Wizards bring the glitterdust
the Bard makes it Glam

Sorcerers bring the fireworks
the Bard makes it stage pyrotechnics

RebelRogue
2008-03-24, 07:46 PM
Here's a few quick ideas from my limited experience as a 3.5 bard:

When choosing the Perform skill(s), you can think up a number of interesting variations of the standard lute-playing bard. Oratory (making great inspirational speeches), Comedy (how about a fantasy stand-up comic who humiliates the monsters in a dungeon?), Percussion (I once played a bard with this who loved to make noise. He eventually multiclassed to Barbarian, which is about as un-optimised as it gets, but he was fun!) or if you own the BoEF: sexual (actually, forget about that one! I've always found this idea highly disturbing!)

As for stats, of course you should seek to optimise Cha, but don't forget Int: you want to have high modifiers for your Knowlegdes (bardic as well as ordinary).

Spell choices are important of course. At lower levels Inspirational Boost (SpC) is great, and Enchantments + Spell Focus can also be a good idea. Again, I encourage you to choose spells that will be fun and supportive of your concept rather than uber-munchkined.

As far as combat goes, I've found disarming people from behind the frontline with a whip (15' reach!) can be an annoying tactic. Of course you could also focus on archery (works well for elven bards).

Hal
2008-03-25, 12:17 AM
or if you own the BoEF: sexual (actually, forget about that one! I've always found this idea highly disturbing!)


"Inspire Competence" indeed.

bignate
2008-03-25, 09:39 AM
here is an example of two very different but effective bard concepts from my groups current game.


bard 1(half-elf, bard 10/sublime chord 1), is our casting focused bard who is our main healer and actually pulls it off pretty well thanks to healing hymn(complete champion), go go cure light wounds for 1d8+19! he is also our buffer with song of the heart and inspirational boost, +4 to hit and dmg is nice. and now with sublime chord i am sure he will be nuking also. this is all on top of his insane diplomacy. he is also a decent archer with a songbow.


bard 2(human, bard 7/ranger 4), is our melee/skill focused bard. he is a DPS person through duel wielding and deadly defense which works nicely with inspire confidence from bard 1. to survive the dangers of combat(along with a good AC and, con bonus) he has focused on swift cast defensive spells like swift invis, instant diversion, bladeweave, etc. he also runs high on skills with bardic knack and most of the synergistic skills he has at least a +5 to all skills with many at +10 or higher and has 6 skills maxed. he also serves as the secondary healer because his healing spells also benefit from the healing hymn above.

they also both have lyric spell which i feel is an absoulute must for bards.

Fhaolan
2008-03-25, 11:10 AM
Got it:

Warriors bring the sword,
Bards make it Metal.

Clerics bring the holy,
Bards make it Hymn.

Rogues bring the shadows,
Bards make it Punk.

Barbarians bring the fury,
Bards make it Rave.

Paladins bring the shine,
Bards make it Classic.

Druids bring the land,
Bards make it Country.

Wizards bring the magic,
Bards make it Chant.

Rangers bring the path,
Bards make it Offbeat.

Monks bring the moves,
Bards make it Dance.

Sorcerers bring the blood,
Bards make it Goth.

Bards bring the rhythm,
Bards make it Blue.

Adventurers bring the party,
Bards make it Rock.


Okay, some of them are a bit of a stretch, but the theme is there. :smallcool:

BardicDuelist
2008-03-25, 06:01 PM
Well, when it comes to building a bard, the best bet are PrCs (Lyric Thaumaturge, Sublime Chord, and Virtuoso, to be precise).

But that's not what you asked.

Strategically, playing a bard is generally about doing three things: Buffing, Talking, and Helping. The "jack-of-all-trades" thing is really a myth. Factotums and even rogues have you beat there, by a long shot. By focusing on social skills and using your bardic knowledge at every oppertunity, you do what you are good at. Sadly, that is how D&D works.

In combat, you do well with helping everyone do what they do better. Inspire courage gives nice bonuses to everyone. You spells should be selected to either nerf enemies (although remember that your DCs will be lower because you get higher spell levels slower), or better yet: give you enemies more bonuses. Sublime Chord gives you Sor/Wiz spells, and helps to mitigate some of the weaknesses in your spellcasting, and Lyric Thaumaturge gives you a wider spell selection.

Utility spells can help you fill holes in you party's strategy, and having a couple cures is never a bad idea.

Don't underestimate Fascinate+Suggestion. It is perhaps your strongest aspect (Virtuoso gives you dominate!).

Max Perform (duh, right?), UMD, Diplomacy, and Bluff as a rule. Spellcraft and Knowledge (arcane) should be high on your list. If you plan to PrC (not a necessity, really, as regular bards are nothing to scoff at if played creatively) make sure you have all the skills needed for pre-reqs.

Extra Music (CAd) is a great feat. Song of Heart (ECS) boosts your inspire courage. Those are usually must-haves for me.

mabriss lethe
2008-03-25, 08:56 PM
A few things to think about.

1. with 3/4 BAB, they won't ever shine in melee combat. That doesn't mean they can't participate. using weapons like whips and sickles to perform trips and disarms will help take the sting out of that drop in BAB. If your DM allows it, look at the whip dagger from sword and fist as a possible weapon. (all the benefits of a whip, relies on the same proficiency as a whip but deals lethal slashing damage and isn't fouled by armor)

2. Spellcasting: Bards get full caster level progression, but a stunted spell list. Choose wisely. When I've played a bard, I've gotten good milage out of cure x wounds and summon monster spells, but I don't focus on them, just take one or two of each and forget about it. The shadow spells can be useful in a pinch, since they can be used to mimic a host of other spells at the drop of a hat. If you go that route, it's probaby better to only Summon monster I early-ish and just rely on shadow conjurations to mimic SM 3 if you need it. Don't forget the sorceror/wizard standby spells like glitterdust. you might think about what reserve feats you could qualify for taking. It would give you a much needed boost in spellcasting potential. Offhand, I know you can qualify for dimensional jaunt, I'm not sure about most of the others. Again, choose wisely.

3.Feats: Anything to make you more useful, especially in early levels. I like Domain feats and they would fit in if you're playing a more devout sort of bard. sure, you get a 1/day ability, but they scale with your level and generally last for 10 rounds. (knowledge devotion is actually a pretty darned good feat for a bard if you don't mind doling out lots of skill points into random knowledge skills.) As I mentioned before, reserve feats can make you into a passable full time spellcaster, if you choose your spells wisely.
The SLA feats in Complete Arcane can be used to give you a quick spellcasting boost early on, but they become relatively insignificant once you get into mid-level play. most direct melee oriented feats will be helpful, but will pale compared to other options. Picking Obtain familiar/improved familiar isn't a bad option and you can get a worg or hell-hound buddy pretty early on if you try. (great for small bards). The problem is that you'll have access to far more useful feats than you'll ever be able to take. decide what niche you want your bard to fill before you just start picking feats at random.

Bardic music:There are a host of PrCs that allow you to do nifty things with your music/day abilities. feel free to exploit one of them if it's to you liking. There are also some feats that give you access to different music effects or rely upon m/day as a source of fuel. I can't remember names, but one or two of them directly involve beefing up your spellcasting.

Ascension
2008-03-25, 09:19 PM
I've been meaning to ask this for a while, and now is as good a time as ever... Of course you can't benefit from masterwork instrument bonuses when you do this, but can you maintain a bardic "song" while fighting in melee if you're using Perform (sing), (oratory), or the like? The songs that don't require concentration, that is. It says you can't cast while doing it, but what about fighting? I've always wanted to play a bard (probably multiclassed with something to keep my melee from completely sucking) with maxed out Perform (oratory) who got down and dirty as a frontline melee combatant while constantly quoting epic poetry in combat.

Oh sure, he'd probably die pretty quickly, but it'd be an awesome death.

Actually, I might have to take Perform (sing) in addition to (oratory) so that he can switch to singing "The minstrel boy to the war has gone..." right before he dies. Extra cool points for sundering his own harp with his last action at 0 HP.

BardicDuelist
2008-03-25, 09:26 PM
I've been meaning to ask this for a while, and now is as good a time as ever... Of course you can't benefit from masterwork instrument bonuses when you do this, but can you maintain a bardic "song" while fighting in melee if you're using Perform (sing), (oratory), or the like? The songs that don't require concentration, that is. It says you can't cast while doing it, but what about fighting? I've always wanted to play a bard (probably multiclassed with something to keep my melee from completely sucking) with maxed out Perform (oratory) who got down and dirty as a frontline melee combatant while constantly quoting epic poetry in combat.

Oh sure, he'd probably die pretty quickly, but it'd be an awesome death.

Actually, I might have to take Perform (sing) in addition to (oratory) so that he can switch to singing "The minstrel boy to the war has gone..." right before he dies. Extra cool points for sundering his own harp with his last action at 0 HP.

Yes, you can do that. And melee bards are viable with snowflake wardance and some ToB stuff.

Ascension
2008-03-25, 09:28 PM
Where is Snowflake Wardance, by the way? I keep hearing it referenced without a book citation. Frostburn, I would imagine?

Yeah, the warrior poet's definitely gonna get played one of these days.

Renegade Paladin
2008-03-25, 09:29 PM
Apart from diplomancy, illusions are your friends. What level are we talking here?

SamTheCleric
2008-03-25, 09:37 PM
Well, you guys can tell me if I've completely failed at building my bard... :P


Half-Elf (Aquatic) Bard 3

Name: Jaer'nimavel Connell (Goes by Jaren)
Region: Waterdeep
Age 20
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 150lbs
Eyes: Aquamarine
Hair: Blue-Black

STR 12 DEX 16 CON 15 INT 16 WIS 12 CHA 17

HP: 20
AC 17 (4 armor, 3 dex), touch 13, flatfooted 14
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30ft / Swim 20 ft (can breathe water)

Fortitude: +3
Reflex: +6
Will: +4

Masterwork Shortbow +6 atk 1d6 dmg
Longsword +3 atk 1d8+1 dmg

Feats: Cosmopolitan [Regional], Water Adaptation, Versatile Performer

Skills (the major ones)
Craft Musical Instruments: +5
Diplomacy: +11
Gather Info: +12
Know (History): +8
Know (Local): +8
Perform: +9 (Wind instruments, String Instruments, Sing and Dance) (+11 with masterwork instrument: wind.)
Sense Motive: +9
Swim: +13
Tumble: +8
Use Magic Device: +9

Spells Per Day: 0 - 3, 1 - 2
Spells Known:
0-
Dancing Lights
Detect Magic
Message
Prestidigitation
Summon Instrument
Stick

1-
Cure Light Wounds
Inspirational Boost: Swift spell: +1 to inspire courage abilities
Ironthunder Horn: 30' Cone, all in area must make reflex save or fall prone.

(I'm still working out what equipment to get, I still have about 2300ish gp to spend)

Townopolis
2008-03-25, 09:39 PM
As a bard, you have 3/4 BAB, ask swordsages and psywars how they do it and emulate them. This will also make your BAB more useful, and even adds to the Jack-of-all-Trades flavor while doing so.

Do not forget about bardic knowledge (unless you take bardic knack), roll it on anything applicable. Don't stop unless you think your DM may be getting annoyed with it, generally try not to annoy the DM.

If you're inspiring courage for +2 and the leap attacking barbarian power attacks for 2 more points and hits, you are partially responsible for the damage he deals.

mabriss lethe
2008-03-25, 10:29 PM
Note on reserve feats.

Here are the ones I've found that you can qualify for as a bard (using srd, nothing else handy.)
Dimensional Jaunt -(via Dimension Door)
Clap of Thunder - (via Shout)
Touch of Distraction (via hold monster or dominate person)
Magic Disruption (via dispel magic)
Face Changer (via hallucenatory terrain)
Dimensional Reach (via summon monster 3)
Magic Sensitive (via Clairaudiance/clairvoyance)
Sickening Grasp (via Fear)
Summon Elemental (via Summon Monster 4)
Mystic Backlash (via greater dispel magic)
Sunlight Eyes (via Daylight)
Touch of healing (via Cure moderate wounds)

In other words...most of them. I think you might be able to qualify for winter's blast, fiery burst, and all the damage dealers if you have access to the energy substitution metamagic and apply it to soundburst or shout, but that might wind up being the DM's call. (I'm undecided if I'd allow it as-is, but I'd definitely allow it if the bard had also invested in that spell preparation feat)

A caster bard should definitely take the lyric spell feat as soon as you qualify, (6th level I think). It allows you to burn bardic music to cast your spells at a rate of 1 + the spell level of the spell you cast. Sure that only amounts to two or three of your highest level spells, but it's as good a use for bardic music as any once you start getting into mid/high levels. (ie the point where you're only using a small fraction of your music in a given day)

Snowflake wardance is neat, but I've found it really shines when you combine it with the Epic of the Lost King (it allows you to burn music to restore you from the fatigued state that the wardance puts you in.)