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Heliomance
2008-12-12, 12:45 PM
How would one go about building a necromancer bard? The Dirgesinger springs to mind, but from everything I hear it utterly sucks. The concept I have in mind is the classic slightly insane jester feel, who speaks only in riddles and poetry, staying back as he lets his undead minions handle the enemy.

Starbuck_II
2008-12-12, 12:54 PM
How would one go about building a necromancer bard? The Dirgesinger springs to mind, but from everything I hear it utterly sucks. The concept I have in mind is the classic slightly insane jester feel, who speaks only in riddles and poetry, staying back as he lets his undead minions handle the enemy.

Dread Necromancer or Cleric.

Really, nothing you mention even needs the Bard class.

A Bard isn't a bard. A Bard can be a bard.
Bards are usually badass.

Gerrtt
2008-12-12, 01:00 PM
I seem to recall there being a feat that was like leadership but that it let you attract undead followers....it might even be called Undead Leadership.

Other than that I'd say choose any spells that fit the theme, possibly getting some DM approval for spells that would fit from other spell lists.

I say go for it.

Innis Cabal
2008-12-12, 01:01 PM
There are serveral feats that allow your songs to work on undead, and undead leadership would be another good one to go for feats wise

then fill with your favorite PrC and use feats with abandon.

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2008-12-12, 01:04 PM
Gestalt is the first thing that springs to mind, go Bard along side either Cleric or Dread Necromancer (Cha synergy FTW). That's not going to be very practical for most games, though.

I think you'd be best off either dipping Bard 1 in front of some other build, or adjust the Bard's spellcasting to better suit the concept. Command Undead or something similar would be good to have, probably just UMD a wand since it's low enough level. Take Arcane Disciple for the Death domain to get Animate Dead and Create (Greater) Undead. There's Dirgesinger (LM) but I haven't read any of its abilities so I don't know if it's what you'd be looking for, plus it doesn't improve your spellcasting. There's also Undead Leadership (LM) which could be extremely useful depending on how your DM handles undead with no listed level adjustment, such as Shadows and Wights.

Draz74
2008-12-12, 01:05 PM
Go Perform (Oratory) and chant poetry in some nasty hissing language. Dress all in black, obviously.

Cast illusions of disturbing, undead-related things. Maybe eventually pick up Arcane Disciple (Death Domain).

Yeah, I think with Undead Leadership a Bard wouldn't have too much trouble convincing people he was a necromancer, even if he has few spells that are actually Necromancy in school.

jcsw
2008-12-12, 01:21 PM
There's a metamagic feat in Dragon Compendium which lets your mind affecting spells affect undead. Might wanna look at that.

Keld Denar
2008-12-12, 01:55 PM
Hmmm, see if you can get a hydra zombie with leadership. Then take Requiem (so your IC affects undead) and Dragonfire Inspiration and sick your pet flaming zombie on the baddies. Each head will hit for base damage + like, 6d6 fire damage. Multiply that by 6-8 heads all striking as a standard action and you've got a pretty scary friend. Since its at least large, you could actually ride it around while making it eat people.

Adds a whole new dimension to "say hello to my little friend".

Plus, if you could get a bunch of misc skeleton, buffing them up with DFI would make them significantly more threatening. Granted, it would slow down play a lot, but a swarm of 2-3 dozen 1/4 HD rat skeletons that strike for +6d6ish bonus damage would be pretty potent. Some of them are bound to roll 20s!

Prometheus
2008-12-12, 05:11 PM
If you take the Bard/Cleric class with unmodified spellcasting for a sufficient length of time, be sure to pick up Spell Thematics (Undeath) (or something similar to undeath). That way, every spell you cast will be refluffed to fit your theme and every spell within that theme previously gets a small bonus. So maybe your Charm Person is more like an unnatural state of hypnosis, your Shatter spell causes metal to rot, and your Hideous Laughter gets a little more grotesque.

MisterSaturnine
2008-12-12, 08:00 PM
Awhile back I homebrewed a new spell list for a bard, taking out a lot of enchantment and replacing it with necromancy. It was for a specific concept, but it might suit yours, too. Take a look here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69293), if you'd like.