tri class bard help

[garlend gray]

Level 10 Bard tri class need help.

[Starbuck_II]

lvl 10 bard tri class help

By Tri class... you mean you want 3 classes with one of which being Bard?

Or you can have up to 3 (and one needs to be a Bard)?

[RTGoodman]

Seriously, you gotta give us more than that.

Are you talking D&D 3.x? Or Tri-Stat system (which I guess is like "tri-class")? Or something else entirely? Capitalization, punctuation, complete sentences, and such might also help.

[garlend gray]

By Tri class... you mean you want 3 classes with one of which being Bard?

Or you can have up to 3 (and one needs to be a Bard)?

The first, thank you.

[Kroy]

So, what do you need help with?

[Temp.]

Half-Orc Samurai 7/Truenamer 2/Bard 1 FTW!


Take Monkey Grip, Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting and EWP (Warmace) for A 3d6 Weapon in Each Hand!!!!

Really. We're still going to need a lot more than that.

[garlend gray]

So, what do you need help with?

Tri geastalt (I think thats how its spelled).

[Keld Denar]

Bard4/Crusader2/Warblade14

Song of the White Raven keeps your bardliness up while you grab kickass maneuvers.

Space levels out to get whatever manevuers you feel are most important.

EDIT:

Oh, holy crap.

Bard20//Sorcerer6/Geomancer10/Archmage4//Cleric20

Runs exclusively off charisma. Take Melodic Casting and then anything else you want.

[Fan]

Umm, I'd go with Bard/wizard/Sublime chord personally. You get the highest arcane casting that way...

[RTGoodman]

For a relatively optimized and powerful character, go Savage Bard 8/Ur-Priest^CDiv 2/Mystic Theurge 10 or something like that.

EDIT: Nevermind, if it's three-class Gestalt. I have NO idea what to do for that.

[Olo Demonsbane]

Um, maybe give us a little more information? Like what you want to be doing?

For Melee Fighting: Bard//Warblade//X. Take song of the white raven.

Utility: Bard//Binder//Druid.

Spellcasting: Keld Dunar.

EDIT: Knew I forgot something:

Sneaky: Bard//Rouge//Sneak attack Fighter. Also known as 10d6 sneak attack at level 10!

[playswithfire]

Well, as with anything, it depends on what sort of role you're planning to fill.

Party Buffer
Bard//Marshal//Cloistered Cleric
Prestiging: to my knowledge, there are not Marshal prestige classes, so that leaves the bard side (probably Sublime Chord) or the Cleric side (your choice, maybe radiant servant of Pelor)
Multiclassing: general rule is 'thou shalt not give up spell levels', so, if you want to multiclass, it's probably in the marshal progression. Conveniently, marshal levels 9 and 10 are essentially dead levels. So, I'd suggest taking two levels in a ToB class, either swordage (for WIS to AC unarmored) or Crusader (for Song of the White Raven and CHA to will saves; also preserves perfect Fort save progresion). Take the ToB levels at 5 and 8, so you'll get a third level stance.
Pros: You can buff like nobody's business. You've got Divine Power to cover your lack of BAB and can even go with DMM:Persist cheese if you want. Three good saves, though I imagine that's a given in the tri-gestalt you have. Fourth level arcane and fifth level divine spells.
Cons: Your hit dice are all d8s, unless you dip Crusader, so CON's gonna be important.

There are some other options, but I won't go into as much detail

Bard//Duskblade//Crusader or Warblade for a pretty solid gish
Bard//Sneak attack variant Fighter//Swordsage with Ascetic Mage for a sneakier character

Sorry to only give detail for the first one, but you say bard and I think support character

[garlend gray]

Um, maybe give us a little more information? Like what you want to be doing?

For Melee Fighting: Bard//Warblade//X. Take song of the white raven.

Utility: Bard//Binder//Druid.

Spellcasting: Keld Dunar.

I don't really know, just bard blank blank. He's an NPC and needs to be combat ready by next sunday.

[Temp.]

idont realy know just bard blank blank he's an npc & needs to be combat ready by next sunday

Really?

Do you want it to be focused on fighting or casting spells? Do you want this thing to act as support for allies or as a monster of its own?

Is there a race you want? A concept of any sort? Anything?

If not, you may as well just throw a few random classes together and call it a day.

And why are you triple-gestalting anyway? If you want to actually make use of these rules, you're going to face an absolute nightmare of book-keeping.

[edit] Just for fun...

Spoiler

Show

Satyr 7/Marshal 3//Bard 10//Hexblade 4/Cleric 1/Dirgesinger 5
Feats:
1. Melodic Casting
3. Requiem
5. Travel Devotion (5 uses)
6. Doomspeak
9. Song of the Heart

Skills appropriate for Sublime Chord entry. And whatever else.

...Not the most powerful, but way Spoony. And not the three spell-list nightmare that most better builds will have.

[garlend gray]

1. Well, one of my players begged me so tri gestalt it is.

2. He is an enemy.

3. Gish, thank you.

4. I just now thought gish.

[dspeyer]

Bards tend to be a dubious choice for tri-gestalt. Almost any other classes you pick will wind up shadowing something they can do. You really want three differently specialized classes here, and bards are the ultimate generalists. You might consider something like sorcerer / loremaster // paladin / warblade // factotum. I think that combination includes everything a bard can do, but really good at all of it.

If you stick with bard, you might consider making one side a powerful race. If you were ECL 12, I'd say succubus, but I'm not sure what fits well in ECL 10.

[holywhippet]

What race is the NPC? If they are an elf or half elf, make the NPC: bard 2, ranger 5, arcane archer 3. Have them using their bard song to boost himself and his allies while firing arrows at the PCs.

[Temp.]

Okay. A simple-ish gestalt Gish is probably going to look something like this:

Note: For best results, add in some lower-level Rogue and debuffer mooks.

Human Bard 2/Crusader (ToB) 8
//Sorcerer 10
//Fighter 2/Hexblade 4/Blackguard 3/Marshal 1

Spoiler

Show

Feats:
1. Draconic Heritage--Force Dragon (DM)
1H. Dragonfire Inspiration (DM)
1F. Power Attack
2F. Cleave
3. Song of the White Raven (ToB)
6. Improved Sunder
9. Combat Brute (CW)
10M. Skill Focus--Diplomacy

BA: +10/+5
HD: 10d10
Base Fort: +7
Base Ref: +5
Base Will: +7
Adds Charisma to all saves (Blackguard 3). Twice against spell effects (Hexblade 2).
Adds Charisma to combat maneuvers (Marshal 1).

Variants:
Hexblade--Dark Companion (PHB2)
Sorcerer--Divine Companion (CC)

Valuable Equipment:
Badge of Valor (MIC)
+1 Sizing Adamantine Sudden Stunning Maul (Sizing from MIC, Sudden Stunning from DMG2, Maul from CW)
Gauntlets of Ogre Power +2
Amulet of Natural Armor +1
Cloak of Charisma +2

Spells:

Spoiler

Show

Bard 0--Whatever
Bard 1--Inspirational Boost (SpC), Shock and Awe (SpC)

Sorcerer 0--Whatever
Sorcerer 1--Benign Transposition (SpC), Swift Expeditious Retreat (SpC), Mage Armor*, Nerveskitter (SpC), Protection from Good
Sorcerer 2--Mountain Stance (SpC), See Invisibility, Whirling Blade (SpC), Wraithstrike (SpC)
Sorcerer 3--Anticipate Teleport* (SpC), Heart of Water* (CM), Greater Mighty Wallop* (RotD)
Sorcerer 4--Greater Mirror Image (PHB2), Heart of Stone* (CM)
Sorcerer 5--Draconic Polymorph (Drac)

*Always active

Stances:

Spoiler

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Bolstering Voice
Iron Guard's Glare
Thicket of Blades

Maneuvers:

Spoiler

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Charging Minotaur
Stone Bones
Foehammer
Revitalizing Strike
White Raven Tactics
Divine Surge
White Raven Strike
Flanking Maneuver

Strategy:
Polymorph into an Annis Hag or something. Drop a Dragonfire Inspiration for +4d6 Force damage to all of your and your allies' attacks. Use Wraithstrike and Power Attack for damage, use maneuvers to support your Mooks, Sunder whatever the players love. Just by being there, you give nearby enemies -4 to all saves, so your mooks' low-level effects should have a chance of getting through.

If Nerveskitter wins Initiative for you, Shock and Awe will give your mooks a chance to act early--possibly throwing in some early sneak attack dice they'd otherwise miss.

If you have the jump on your enemy, drop all your short-duration buffs (Protection from Good, Polymorph, See Invisibility and Mountain Stance). If not, Polymorph might have to be enough.

And the Divine Companion does something defensive that I can't remember off my head -- but it's less paperwork than a familiar.

...There are also a couple Blackguard and Hexblade spells to toss in and Skill Tricks (CS) are almost always nice. Frankly, though, I'm done playing with this.

'Course you might get more mileage out of Bard//Cleric//Binder or somesuch, but this is about all I'd be willing to manage in an actual game.

[edit:]
Another take:

Spoiler

Show

Silverbrow Human Spirit Shaman 10
//Bard 10
//Fighter 2/Duskblade 3/War Chanter 5

Feats:
1. Dragonfire Inspiration
1H. Melodic Casting
1F. Weapon Focus
2F. Power Attack
3. Song of the Heart
4D. Combat Casting
6. Knowledge Devotion
9. Arcane Strike

Crazy MAD, but it's an NPC so nobody cares. Can channel from the Druid list, Arcane Strike from the Bard's, stacks Inspire Recklessness with Dragonfire Inspiration, has some nice smaller boosts like Knowledge Devotion. This would mostly be useful to skip the whole "building spell lists" step to jump right in with a couple buffs and touch spells and to channel everything.

Or mix in 3 levels of Arcane Duelist with Power Attack and Elusive Target for some nice Defensive abilities (Charisma to AC and Elusive Target's normal stuff) and a free damage source for those times when you can't profitably Power Attack.

Or a one-level Cleric dip for Domain and Divine feats.

Or some Binder/Knight of the Sacred Seal, if you're willing to play with the extra abilities.

[Occasional Sage]

Garlend, several people have asked for information from you; rather than making them pull teeth for details, would you please give some idea of the scene where the NPC will appear, their role, and such? It will make this whole process much faster and more useful for you in the long run.

Also, there's a bit of the Forum Rules you might want to read:

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[vrellum]

How about bard/druid/sorceror. Not too complicated. Druid gives boost to physical stats, natural spell for spell casting, focuses on cha and wis. A wizard would have been nice, but then you'd need int.

This guy could rule in social and wilderness settings... Scouting -- check, tanking -- check (wild shape plus animal companion plus summoned creatures plus bardic music), blasting (if wanted) -- check, healing -- check, social -- check, utility spells -- check, saves or dies -- check

I'm not saying its the best combo, but it could easily be very powerful

Could go bard/favored soul/wizard for cha and int focus.