Help with a custom item for a Bard?


Advice


In a new game I'm running I'm giving everyone a unique item tailored to their character that is meant to remain useful to them throughout the levels and may scale. Right now they are level 4. Two players had good ideas of what they wanted so they are done, but the Bard player has no idea what he wants so it is difficult.

His general backstory is that he is a lost scion of the recently fallen royal line of a Northern kingdom. He fled South as a child to escape his enemies while also hoping that someday he can return to his homeland and right the injustices done to both his house and country. Or so he says. A teller of tall tales and a conman, he is no prince. He aspires to nobility through stealing the renown of others, as quite simply, it is easier that way. Currently he serves as the squire of the party's warpriest and espouses (and exaggerates) his "lord's" deeds.

As far as the items for the other two characters (warpriest and arcanist), here's what I have in order to give a sense of scale.

Arcanist = Handy Haversack that is also filled with random miscellaneous papers that seem to change when not being observed and reappear should he take them out. Item has 3 charges per day dealing with these papers:

1 Charge: Pull out a scroll of any spell in his spell book that is at least 2 level lower than his highest.
2 Charges: As above, but one level lower.
3 charges: As above, but of highest spell level.

These scrolls disappear if not used within an hour and if they have any costly material components the arcanist mysteriously finds that amount of gold or materials missing afterward; if he can't afford it, the scroll fails to materialize.

Warpriest = An ancestral holy symbol that allows him to cast Blood Crow Strike 1/2 level times per day as a full round action, except the damage is half divine and half common element of his choice. This can also be triggered by spending a blessing. Also 1/day as a standard action it grants Augury with 100% chance of success.

Grand Lodge

Crystal Rapier: +1 Rapier made of a special crystal. This crystal acts as a tuning fork while using or under the effect of bardic performance involving audio components. While under those effects, the rapier deals an additional 1d4 sonic damage (+1d8 sonic on a critical).

I either price it as a +2 weapon or a +1 weapon made of a special material. Thus, it is possible to upgrade the item later. ALso, sonic is a rarely used attack type, but even less often used defense type.

If you do not feel the above is enough, adding on Lingering Performance from the crystal resonance is also an option.


That scroll thing is very powerful. Probably about 2.5 * Arcane Bond (item) that the wizard class gets. Does not seem much now, but 3 * (N-2) means 3 * 3rd level spells at CL 9, of whatever spell is needed & known. 3 * 7th at CL 17. The more he adds to his spellbook, the more versatile he becomes. Defiantly abuseable.

For the Bard, how about an instrument that can cast Suggestion at DC=10+N+Mod, and he can use it up to a sum(N) of CL. Ie, at 6th level, use it as +2,+2,+2 or +4,+2, or +6. [DCs before Cha Mod = 12,12,12 / 14,12 / 16]. The tougher the suggestion, the less it can be used, but it scales with level.

/cevah


Yeah I figured the Arcanist's was going to eventually be very powerful; chances are it's never going to get an upgrade except to maybe working like a bag of holding while the Warpriest's and the Bard's most likely will get some definite new goodies as they level.

Also I should have mentioned that the Bard is going act/oratory, so instruments would be less fitting.

Sovereign Court

A mask, give him the scaling item rules from unchained, make it essentially give an enhancement bonus to charisma and the ability to disguise self at will. The mask just fuse with his face... it should be simple enough. You can add other powers...just look at his playstyle and make it work.


A sword or bow that has strings strategically places that one can strum. obviously masterworked.


It's too bad the Bard isn't an Arcane Duelist, then he could pick up Arcane Bond (weapon) which would scale with the game. My AD is 7th level and has a +1 keen Katana. But it could be anything.

I like the Bow idea.

What is the PC's instrument of choice?


ngc7293 wrote:

It's too bad the Bard isn't an Arcane Duelist, then he could pick up Arcane Bond (weapon) which would scale with the game. My AD is 7th level and has a +1 keen Katana. But it could be anything.

I like the Bow idea.

What is the PC's instrument of choice?

He uses Act and Oratory actually. No instrument needed.

As it looks like he aims to be spend most of his time lying his ass off to try to fake his way into nobility, I'm thinking maybe I should go with something in that direction, like his lies are so convincing that they give him social power that he most definitely shouldn't have.

Maybe at will Command (once per target per day), increase the number of targets he can Fascinate at once by a number equal to his charisma modifier, and give him back the Suggestion performance which he lost from an archetype?


How about Beguiling Bangles? Neck slot item that:

Originally created by the Varisians, this elaborate silver and glass necklace renders the wearer immune to any magical effect that detects lies and grants the wearer a +2 bonus on Will saves to resist any magic that would compel him to tell the truth.

The necklace grants the wearer a +5 competence bonus on Bluff checks made to deceive (but not create a diversion or feint).

Would fall into his lying scheme really well!


Swashbucklersdc wrote:

How about Beguiling Bangles? Neck slot item that:

Originally created by the Varisians, this elaborate silver and glass necklace renders the wearer immune to any magical effect that detects lies and grants the wearer a +2 bonus on Will saves to resist any magic that would compel him to tell the truth.

The necklace grants the wearer a +5 competence bonus on Bluff checks made to deceive (but not create a diversion or feint).

Would fall into his lying scheme really well!

I like where you are going with this, but perhaps flavor it a little different. During a night of heavy drinking the bard got into a one up-manship contest with a fellow weary traveler who happened to keep his/her (strangely enough what the stranger sounded like is something PC could never remember after) black hood up for the entire evening. Eventually PC came up with something so wild, so obviously impossible, yet told with such conviction that the stranger admitted defeat, clearly impressed.

He/she had seen some great liars before he/she tells him, but PC, PC has the potential to be something really special. And so the stranger buys PC another drink and starts telling him all about the politics up North, with all these noble houses falling and crumbling... They drink more, go bar hopping a bit, and PC wakes up naked and very hung over in some random person's barn the next day with only bleary memories of the night before.

But oh wow, he has a great idea. Something about lost nobility and, but then pain and nausea, and it's gone. Oh well, it will come back to him once the hangover abates. Besides that, the lack of clothes, and the "oh wow where the hell am I?" everything seems to be normal. Except for that tattoo of two crossed skeletal fingers on his inner thigh. That most definitely wasn't there before.

tl;dr Possible unknowable extraplanar or weird guy in a hooded robe or hopefully a hot chick in a hooded robe given that PC woke naked and doesn't like the alternatives, was so impressed with PC's antics that he/she/it planted the seeds or at least introduced the basic cover story to him for PC's great ambition and left his/her/its mark on him.


chaoseffect wrote:
I like where you are going with this.

Thanks!

Another suggestion (haha) would be to later let his perform (acting), since it can substitute for Bluff, acts as if he were using a Harp of Charming, re-skinned kinda like this:

Your tongue is of such glibness that when you lie with intent to deceive, you may work one suggestion (as the spell, Will DC 14 negates) into your perform (acting) performance for each 10 minutes of performance. You must make a DC 14 perform (acting) check. If the check fails, the audience cannot be affected by any further performances from your lies for 24 hours.

This would allow him to use Suggestion on a whole crowd at the same time (albeit probably at a lower DC) instead of the bard's normal Suggestion ability, which only targets one individual...


The above would have to work off of Mass Suggestion, so about 13th level; it does take 10 minutes, however, =)


Yes, an ability instead of an item, as you suggest, would be the way to go! It could be the ability in a magic tattoo (the brand you speak of)...

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