More Warlock Gestalt Questions (Sorry...)

[Burley]

Yeah, I know: I'm lame and have a sick obsession with the Warlock. Also...I have Character ADD and I always want to start the build for a new one...over and over. Well, I've gotten to this point again, lately, and I'm missing my old invoking buddy.
So, I've got an idea for a Gestalt Warlock//Bard, who will later take up the Master of Masks PrC. I know it's not a horribly strong build, but I like Warlocks and the Master of Masks...so...nyah.
The backround would be something like: He's one of "those" actors who strives for realism in his shows, at all costs. While doing a play about a princess being kidnapped by an evil wizard who invoked the aid of a demon, he (playing the wizard) decided to get an scroll that would create an amazing illusions. Being the starving artist that he is, he couldn't afford to have the specific scroll made, and ended up shopping the bargain bins in the seedy side of towns. He finally found one that he thought would be perfect, but when the curtain opened and he used the scroll, he unwittingly summoned a real demon, and sold his soul to it, as per the script. He believes that he was given his powers by a diety who really enjoyed the show. Now, he travels the world, entertaining audiences with word and illusion.

So, his warlock side will be mostly Diplomalock, with the Bard skills boosting that and adding his illusions in. Of course, battle invocations will be necessary, but only enough to make him...not useless...?
So, what invocations and spells would you suggest? The party definately needs somebody who can speak (Our Barbarian//Scout is our front man right now, because he knows a lot of languages, not for CHA or Diplomacy).

[Mr. Friendly]

You definately want a level of Marshal in there for the Charisma aura.

That being said, Snowflake Wardance and Slippers of Battledancing are pretty sweet.

That's like 11th level though. Until then, hide in the back and lob Eldritch Blasts!

[hamishspence]

Concerning accidental sumonings of demons, one of my favourites was the second last Zogonia strip, where Kev the thief draws a fake warding circle in the hope of bluffing away any monsters that come near them.

"Zim, Zam! Zango Bango! My ruse is complete!"
"why has Zango Bango been summoned from the fiery pit of Hell?"

[Chronos]

I can't give much advice, I'm afraid, but I can say that that is an awesome backstory.

[Jimp]

I can't give much advice, I'm afraid, but I can say that that is an awesome backstory.

Agreed. Well done sir.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

May I pose a question? Why Bad? What is it about Bard that you like and think will run well with Warlock?

Rogues also get Perform as a class skill, it is entirely within the flavor to have Warlock//Rogue, which is a much stronger build. Sneak Attack with Eldrich Blast is nice synergy of class abilities. UMD wands of Golembane and Gravebane to sneak attack things normally unable to be targeted by precision damage. You can take 10 on UMD anyways, so you'll only need a +10 mod to never fail on a wand use. See the Unseen is good for this build, since you can then sneak attack things a lot, being invisible. Even better is HIPS which combined with Darkness.

Flavor-wise, it fits. Crunch-wise, MUCH more potent.

[Vortling]

What Shneekey said. Also have you looked into the chameleon class? It's the competent older brother of the master of masks.

[Reaper_Monkey]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x...041210b&page=1 is the Chameleon, which would give you the aforementioned sneak attack you want without giving up the illusions too.

It shouldn't be too hard to convince ya DM to let you have the schooling from acting school which you took too seriously, instead of having to mess around with the Mimic Mansion. And it would fit well with your character, giving it a little more diversity in some situations.

I would also suggest getting bard friendly invocation like Leaps and Bounds as soon as possible, and then pick up some of the mobility feats and skill tricks in complete adventurer. As you will ultimately end up in combat eventually anyway, but it can be used with perform with some great effects and fits in with the actor background quite well I feel.

Other than that I wouldn't worry about being too underpowered, the illusions and buffs you produce will make you a good for the support role, which to be fair with a character story as the one you've got you cant hope to get much better than. That being said, a good support character with an awesome background story rocks all the same, and you can just try to squeeze some extra XP from your DM for good role-playing =D

[Burley]

Well, my character is Bard first, and Warlock later. I don't want a Warlock rogue, because it's entirely too easy to deal massive amounts of damage, and I don't want to outshine the meat shield, who prides himself on his damage output. My entire party, I have realized, has been optimized for combat, but nothing else. I want my character to NOT be combat oriented. I want his blast to be a last resort. He's an actor, not a fighter.
Also, I don't want to cheese out my character with the Chameleon, as awesome of a class as it may be. Gaining a proficiency in all weapons is not gaining a different feat (and therefore, Invocation) everyday. I'm tempted to play a non-human, just to bar myself from that class.
It is a matter of what I'd enjoy, and I would not enjoy playing any class that deals precision damage. My party has one of every class I can think of that does precision damage, and it's getting old.

[nargbop]

Burley, you're awesome for understanding the first, the foremost, the absolutely quintessential rule of roleplaying : it's not all about how crazily you can game the book rules to make a powerful and all-smothering killing machine.

The second rule is, of course, powergame. Hard. One of my friends played the Best Liar in the World, a Wizard / Mindbender / Fatespinner. One of the fun things about bluff-increasing spells is that most of them are UNTYPED and can be stacked as far as you like. Hee! Abuse the rules and go through two dozen sourcebooks for more social-helper spells : he was regularly +110 on his Bluff and Diplomacy skills. Maybe half that on Sense Motive. He spent a lot of time parleying with Pelor on what the world governments should spend their time doing. :)