ToB Advice Lovingly Inquired.

[Kyace]

I've been pondering a Bard 4or6/Warblade 1or2/Jade Phoenix Mage Gishish build.
Feats so far: Weapon Finesse to boost rapier, whip and Melee Touch.
Clap of Thunder at level 9 for basic damage dealing, Touch of Healing for quasi-fast healing out of combat.

I figured I'd pick up Wall of Blades to provide AC boosts in a clutch, Disarming Strike and Blood in the Water with a Keen Rapier for the ever increasing bonuses.

And that's generally where I stumble. I can see the pieces but am unsure which parts of the character aren't worth fighting for and which are. Is Uncanny Dodge as needed as I think it'll be for a very dex-based and parry-based meleer? Will Clap of Thunder/Touch of Healing not be worth the feats? 3d6 sonic as a melee touch attack seems low at level 9 since I /think/ you can't use strikes with it, but sonic /and/ touch attack seems too good to pass up (plus it fits the character). 6 hp healing at will if target is at less than half HP seems good but am I better off with wands of Vigor? Is Warblade a terrible class for this build (Crusader would use Cha, Swordsage shares Desert Wind with JPM).

It'd be great to be able to peg down this character idea into a build while I can. Thanks all.

[Keld Denar]

Sounds like you are trying to blend 2 classic builds, but its not really workin out for ya. The builds are the Bardblade, which looks something like Bard4/Warblade16 and uses Song of the White Raven to stack Bard and Warblade levels for your Inspire Courage ability (which is elemental damage thanks to Dragonfire Inspiration). Then you use Tiger Claw maneuvers like Xing Mongoose and Pouncing Charge while duel wielding short swords or daggers and shed folks.

The other is a JPM gish. JPM is more of a blaster PrC, which is kind of disorienting. Bard really isn't that great of a base for it unless you can nab a level in Sublime Chord at some point, perferably so it doesn't hit the dead levels of casting in JPM. Lemme look a bit more at JPM, especially the prereqs and where the dead caster levels are and see if I can't whip you up a lil somethin somethin with that. It'll be a bit wierd, and very late game, unlike the above build, which really takes off after about level 3-4 and gets good at level 6-8.

Oh, and you probably would be better with a Crusader base for JPM, because the recover method is better. Then again, Crusader doesn't get Diamond Mind or Iron Heart, which would be powerful defenses while your spellcasting provides the offense. Hmmmm...

EDIT:

Well, unfortunately, JPM has one stupid prereq, and thats 9 ranks in Concentration. That means you need 6 levels prior to taking it. You need at least bard4 to get 2nd level spells, and bard7 to get 3rd level spells to get into SC at 11...hmmm.

Bard5/Warblade1/JPM4 brings you to 10th level, but there is still the dead level at JPM at 6, which is ****ty. You might have to not take as many levels of JPM as you'd like...

Maybe something like Bard4/Warblade1/Spellsword1/JPM2/EldrichKnight2/SublimeChord1/JPM3/AbjurantChamp5/EK1

That gets you 9th level casting from Sublime Chorde, 19/20 BAB, but only a mediocre initator level. You could get 10/10 JPM progression in there, but then you'd lose out on 1 level of SC casting, which gets you really nice stuff. Bout the best I can do...hope you like it?

[Kyace]

A funny fact, Bard 4/Warblade 1 almost but doesn't quite qualify for Spellsword. They are proficient with every single martial weapons /except Longbows/. (And lack heavy armor as well, but that's not as funny). Great advice for the Sublime Chord.

What I'm currently looking at a Bard 4/Warblade 1/X 1/JPM 3/Warblade 1/Sublime Chord 1/JPM 7/Y 2 build. To allow the Clap of Thunder feat at level 9 and qualifying for Sublime Chord after level 10, X needs to progress Bard spellcasting, having fighter BAB would be nice too. Picking up the second level of Warblade at level 10 hurts my caster level a bit (but not my spells known or spells/day since it's followed by Sublime Chord) and I'm taking Jade Phoenix Mage to it's end for Emerald Immolation (trading a level 9 spell known/day hurts but I think it's worth it, for this character).

My reasoning behind the interaction of Clap of Thunder ("a melee touch attack as a standard action") and Warblade is that since Strikes use your standard action, you can't have a Clap of Thunder + Strike but it counts as a melee attack allowing you to boost it or use it recover your Maneuvers.

Hmm, I might drop Warblade 2; I had misunderstood the rules of Immediate Actions while denied dex and thought you needed Uncanny Dodge to counter an invisible rogue, for example.

[Aneantir]

You might want to consider Crusader instead of Warblade for the build, since JPM only advances Desert Wind and Devoted Spirit maneuvers. It also gains you heavy armor proficiencey and all martial weapons, so you could take a one level spellsword dip.

[Keld Denar]

A funny fact, Bard 4/Warblade 1 almost but doesn't quite qualify for Spellsword. They are proficient with every single martial weapons /except Longbows/. (And lack heavy armor as well, but that's not as funny). Great advice for the Sublime Chord.


Sorry, I tried. Guess I missed that about Spellsword. If you were an Elf, it would work though :P

Or, like someone said, use Crusader. That way you aren't starting from 0 maneuvers known in Devoted Spirit to try to meet prereqs for mid level manuevers. That always hurts.

Oh, and if you do go Warblade or Crusader, try to time one of the levels at IL5, and get White Raven Tactics. Its that good. Your friends will thank you.

[Rad]

I'm still not sure about the whole JPM/Bard thing, but Abyurant Champion would be good for either X and Y (at the cost of a feat). If not I think your best bet would be Bard 5 (at the cost of of 1 BAB).