Pimp me a bard... {Optimization within limits}

[Stam]

...heading for the Swiftblade PrC.

She's a tiefling, with ECL bought off already, and is starting at level 4. Her background places her at a university where she's gotten a solid rounding of study, including fencing. So I'm thinking Weapon Finesse for at least one feat, and Oratory as her choice of Perform flavor for bardic stuff.

28-point-buy, initially, with three extra ability points to toss in on top of it afterwards. Preferably sticking close to Core and FR stuff, and making it to Swiftblade as soon as possible (or just after picking up Inspire Courage +2). As few exotic or weird sourcebooks as possible (and no ToB).

Ready?

GO!

[BardicDuelist]

Well, the first thing I recomend (if you DM will let you, as it could be qualified as a weird sorcebook) is the mage blooded template. It simply gives +2 Cha and -2 Wis. This helps, as it negates the Cha penalty for your bard, but I forgot the issue of Dragon it is from.

Earliest level you can take it is 7 (and you'll need a 16 Cha to pull that off, as you will need a bonus spell to be able to cast third level spells at that level). It is probably worth it to go Bard 8 for the extra inspire courage and spell.

Obviously, you will need Dodge, Mobility, and the ability to cast haste. I recomend Human for the extra feat.

I would take Able Learner from RoDestiny to keep increasing perform ranks.

The whip dagger is a good weapon to use as you are proficient with it anyway. I would use this as a back-up to your rapier.

[Stam]

(Did you read the first post, or just the parts of it you thought important?)

[Temp]

A Sublime Chord (CAr) level or two fits in well after Bard 7/Swiftblade 3 and would make far better use of the Swiftblade capstone than standard Bard casting does.

[BardicDuelist]

(Did you read the first post, or just the parts of it you thought important?)

Yes, I read the whole thing. The whip dagger was mentioned for a Zorro-esque idea, take it or leave it. The mage blooded was mentioned because a Cha penalty is bad for a bard, but if you DM won't allow it, or you consider Dragon weird, then don't use it.

I did read tiefling, and then recomend human...sorry about that, lapse in thinking I suppose. In that case, are flaws allowed? If not, your feats are gone with pre-reqs.

Sorry bout that, but I prefer to not be insulted. Sorry about spending my time trying to help.