[3.5] Build help: bard/ashworm dragoon

[jiriku]

Need build suggestions for an NPC bard/ashworm dragoon. I'm looking for a level 10-12 character who would be the commander of a large squad of level 6-10 NPCs of mixed types, able to buff them with Inspire Courage and defend himself with lance and ashworm. Multi-classing out of bard to get into AD faster is ok, but Inspire Courage needs to be stout enough to make a measurable impact on what will probably be an EL 14 encounter.

An obvious start would be bard 7/ashworm dragoon 4, but I'm also looking at bard 4/crusader 2/ashworm dragoon 5.

Advice?

[Gametime]

Your bard levels aren't going to be high enough to get Inspire Courage above +1 naturally, so Song of the Heart (feat), Inspirational Boost (spell), and Badge of Valor (item) are your go-to ways to buff it. If +4 is high enough for you, you're set; I assume the NPC isn't going to be good, but if he is Words of Creation will take him to +8.

Also consider using the Harmonious Knight substitution levels (Champions of Valor web enhancement) and entering as a paladin with Inspire Courage. The class doesn't advance Inspire Courage like a bard, but at your level that wouldn't matter anyway, and a generous reading of the Badge of Valor and Song of the Heart requires would still allow you to use those, anyway. As a paladin, your Ashworm should be considerably more imposing, gaining an additional 2 HD and 4 natural armor.

[desmond1323]

If +4 is high enough for you, you're set; I assume the NPC isn't going to be good, but if he is Words of Creation will take him to +8.

For most DMs and standard interpretations, Words of Creation would not double that to +8...it doubles the natural Bard bonus, not any of the others, in this instance the +1 to a +2. Then you add all the extras, making it a +5 total.

Saying elsewise is bad potential for much brokeness.

Edit: Don't forget Vest of Legends, a magic item that gives a +5 to Bard level when determining the effectiveness of Bard Song.

[The Glyphstone]

For most DMs and standard interpretations, Words of Creation would not double that to +8...it doubles the natural Bard bonus, not any of the others, in this instance the +1 to a +2. Then you add all the extras, making it a +5 total.

Saying elsewise is bad potential for much brokeness.

That may be more balanced, but it is a houserule - by RAW, you are allowed to stack bonuses in whatever order is most beneficial to you, which would be all the static +1's before doubling from WoC. It's also one I've rarely seen ruled - most DMs seem to think that bards deserve the ability to give a huge boost to party effectiveness, primarily because it doesn't make one character awesome and broken so much as the entire party awesomex10 (except the casters).

[jiriku]

Groovy. I'm thinking a valorous lance and a couple of charge-related maneuvers from his crusader levels will give him a credible melee deterrent, especially with ride-by attack and improved overrun to help him get out of melee. A couple of white raven maneuvers and stances and a few of the bard spells from SC and I think I've got me a good general.

Correct, he's not good. +3 to +4 would be great on the inspire. Those are good suggestions!

Do I correctly read tactical strike, the white raven maneuver, to grant allies a bonus 5-foot adjustment? If so he could use it as a neat little scoot against adjacent allies, using tactical strike plus the worm's move action or 5-foot step to get out of full-attack range without having to withdraw.