Jack of all Trades Spell List [PEACH!]

[Ziegander]

The spell list is for a Bard rewrite, imagined not as a wandering minstrel, but as a Thief/Warrior/Mage, a jack of all trades capable with skills, with weapons, and with spells. My aim is Tier 3, along the lines of other fixed-list casters like the Beguiler or Dread Necromancer, with a smattering of all sorts of different magical effects. Maybe a Tier 3 fixed-list generalist, if you will, with medium BAB and 6 + Int skill points per level. It would get Wizard number of spells per day with spontaneous casting and sorcerer number of spells known as well as level-based access (new spell levels at even levels). The (A) and (D) notations are for Arcane and Divine, respectively, and are there because the Bard requires Intelligence to cast Arcane spells and Wisdom to cast Divine spells. Being Charisma focused (spell DCs and bonus spells, class features), this will make him OAD (Omni-Attribute Dependent), which could be crippling on its own, but I will include class features to mitigate it such as Charisma to attack rolls, Wisdom to AC, and Intelligence to damage.

Please let me know what you think.

Spoiler: Bard Spell List

Show

0TH LEVEL - Arcane Mark (A), Cure Minor Wounds (D), Daze (A), Detect Magic (A), Know Direction (D), Purify Food and Drink (D)

1ST LEVEL - Burning Hands (A), Calm Animals (D), Charm Animal (D), Charm Person (A), Comprehend Languages (D), Cure Light Wounds (D), Endure Elements (A), Expeditious Retreat (A), Faerie Fire (D), Identify (A), Magic Weapon (A), Obscuring Mist (A), Shield of Faith (D), Shocking Grasp (A), Speak with Animals (D)

2ND LEVEL - Align Weapon (D), Animal Messenger (D), Bear's Endurance (A), Blur (A), Bull's Strength (A), Calm Emotions (D), Cat's Grace (A), Cure Moderate Wounds (D), Eagle's Splendor (A), Enthrall (D), Find Traps (D), Flame Blade (A), Fox's Cunning (A), Glitterdust (A), Gust of Wind (A), Invisibility (A), Owl's Wisdom (A), Remove Paralysis (D), Resist Energy (A)

3RD LEVEL - Call Lightning (D), Cure Serious Wounds (D), Daylight (D), Dispel Magic (A), Displacement (A), Fireball (A), Greater Magic Weapon (A), Haste (A), Magic Vestment (D), Protection from Energy (A), Remove Curse (D), Speak with Dead (D), Speak with Plants (D), Tongues (D), Vampiric Touch (A)

4TH LEVEL - Air Walk (D), Charm Monster (A), Confusion (A), Cure Critical Wounds (D), Dimension Door (A), Fire Shield (A), Freedom of Movement (D), Greater Invisibility (A), Imbue with Spell Ability (D), Lesser Planar Ally (D), Rusting Grasp (D), Shout (A), Spell Immunity (D), Stoneskin (A)

5TH LEVEL - Awaken (D), Break Enchantment (D), Call Lightning Storm (D), Commune with Nature (D), Cone of Cold (A), Feeblemind (A), Mass Cure Light Wounds (D), Overland Flight (A), Passwall (A), Permanency (A), Spell Resistance (D), Telepathic Bond (A)

6TH LEVEL - Chain Lightning (A), Find the Path (D), Greater Dispel Magic (A), Heroes' Feast (D), Legend Lore (A), Mass Bear's Endurance (A), Mass Bull's Strength (A), Mass Cat's Grace (A), Mass Cure Moderate Wounds (D), Mass Eagle's Splendor (A), Mass Fox's Cunning (A), Mass Owl's Wisdom (A), Mislead (A), Planar Ally (D), Stone Tell (D)

7TH LEVEL - Animate Objects (D), Animate Plants (D), Ethereal Jaunt (D), Mage's Sword (A), Mass Cure Serious Wounds (D), Mass Invisibility (A), Phase Door (A), Power Word Blind (A), Spell Turning (A), Wind Walk (D)

8TH LEVEL - Control Plants (D), Greater Planar Ally (D), Greater Shout (A), Heal (D), Iron Body (A), Mass Cure Critical Wounds (D), Mind Blank (A), Power Word Stun (A)

9TH LEVEL - Astral Projection (D), Etherealness (D), Power Word Kill (A), Teleportation Circle (A)

[AuraTwilight]

I can dig it.

[necroon]

I've always enjoyed moving away from the "taverns singer" stereotype and more towards the "spy" archetype.
The list looks good: perhaps the chance for advanced learning would help as well?
Either way a good improvement and a neat concept - do I see a full fledged rewrite on the horizon?

[Ziegander]

Either way a good improvement and a neat concept - do I see a full fledged rewrite on the horizon?

Working on it! :)

Eventually I want to include a lot of other spells from more books to reinforce a sort of "blade dancer" type of magic to his repertoire, so things like Bladeweave, Whirling Blade, and Wraithstrike will appear eventually.

His class features will likely revolve around skill use and skill-based combat. Maybe throw in a handful of fighter feats for good measure.

[Just to Browse]

I know it's a sacred cow, but the invocations evocations are really sucky. Like, burning hands v. charm person? Shout v. Lesser Planar Ally?

EDIT: Word derp. Thank you AT.

[AuraTwilight]

You mean Evocations?

[nonsi]

Why do you feel the need to grant 9th level spells to a class that's also solid at martial combat and skills ?

Also, of the spells listed in SLs 7th-9th, I only find Ethereal Jaunt, Spell Turning, Mind Blank and Etherealness to be thematically in line with the Thief-Warrior-Mage theme. And you can put 3 of them into 6th level spell progression with a clear conscience:
5th: Ethereal Jaunt, Spell Turning
6th: Mind Blank


It's not that you can't work out T3 with 9 SLs, but do you really need it?
In my view 9 SLs should be reserved to spellcasting specialists.

Eventually I want to include a lot of other spells from more books to reinforce a sort of "blade dancer" type of magic to his repertoire, so things like Bladeweave, Whirling Blade, and Wraithstrike will appear eventually.

His class features will likely revolve around skill use and skill-based combat. Maybe throw in a handful of fighter feats for good measure.

If you're gonna ditch poetics, then 'Factotum' seems more appropriate a name than 'Bard'.

[The Dragon]

It seems to me that making classes that scale this muc with attributes will create a situation where bard is a class that people are only allowed to play if they roll godly stats.

I disliked this back then, and I dislike it now.

The spell-list looks thematically appropriate.

[Ziegander]

It seems to me that making classes that scale this muc with attributes will create a situation where bard is a class that people are only allowed to play if they roll godly stats.

I highly doubt that will be the case. At 1st level they will get Cha to attack with Bard weapons and Bard spells. At 3rd level they will get Wis to AC and Int to damage with Bard weapons.

Also, remember, that they need not cast both arcane and divine spells if they'd rather focus on one or the other, or they don't even need to have a super high Charisma if they are okay with fewer spells per day and stick to no-save spells. The goal would be to allow varied builds that can still be effective with no more than a primary, secondary, and tertiary score (along with a little Con like everyone else) meaning its really no worse than a Paladin or something similar.

The spell-list looks thematically appropriate.

Thanks, good to hear from you and so many others.

@Nonsi: I know I don't need 9th level spells, but then without them I'd feel compelled to put a lot more high-level spells into lower Bard spell levels and even grant some sort of spell save DC boost class feature, cluttering up the table and taking space away from other, more interesting abilities. I decided to just go with 9th level spells.

I may well call the resulting class something other than Bard, but I do still plan on giving them the Perform skill. Does a Bard really need to have supernatural poetics as a class feature to qualify to be called a Bard? I'm not sure. I've just always felt it very jarring and disingenuous the image of combat with some terrible demon or monster stirring up and one of the heroes pulling out his mandolin and playing a tune. Doesn't seem right to me, does it you?

@Just to Browse: Yes, I know most or all of the evocations suck, but it's just core at the moment, what can you do. I plan to include other evocations from other books later that will hopefully be more useful/more powerful.

[nonsi]

@Nonsi: I know I don't need 9th level spells, but then without them I'd feel compelled to put a lot more high-level spells into lower Bard spell levels and even grant some sort of spell save DC boost class feature, cluttering up the table and taking space away from other, more interesting abilities. I decided to just go with 9th level spells.

There's always the option of upping the spells-known quota and spells-per-day/spellpoints.

I will may call the resulting class something other than Bard, but I do still plan on giving them the Perform skill. Does a Bard really need to have supernatural poetics as a class feature to qualify to be called a Bard? I'm not sure. I've just always felt it very jarring and disingenuous the image of combat with some terrible demon or monster stirring up and one of the heroes pulling out his mandolin and playing a tune. Doesn't seem right to me, does it you?

If you're taking about a more martially-inclined character then I most definitely agree that pulling out a violin is somewhat eye-poking. For that role I find Oratory/Dance/Weapon-Drill far more appropriate.
But for someone that stays behind and buffs his allies, I'm OK with that image.
When examining the concept of this class, I'm in favor of granting a character with one maximized Perform of the player's choice at no skill-points cost. This serves as the character's main role.
A player is always at liberty of investing skill points on a contingency branch of perform (e.g. the demon gets pissed off on the bard's tune and sundering his mandolin - a relatively easy task to pull off).