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Are you sure you want bard? The Mindchemist alchemist can get a crazy high knowledge bonus thanks to being Int-based, getting a +4 Int boost with a decent duration, and adding Intelligence twice to knowledge checks. You can build them pretty fragile if you want. If variant multiclassing is an option you can even pick up bardic knowledge at level 3.
A skillmoney who's a wuss in battle? I'd say, go with an Alchemist.
- Make Intelligence your primary stat.
- Take
- Take the Skill Focus (Linguistics) and Orator feats to use Linguistics in place of Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate (for the lying, convincing, and threatening aspects of those skills).
- Take the Pragmatic Activator or Clever Wordplay trait to move Use Magic Device from Cha to Int.
- Use remaining feats on improving your bomb-throwing abilities. So he's a wuss in battle, because he stays behind the line chucking bombs and potions, and using a crossbow if he runs out of bottles, but still effective in battle.
Let's say you have a starting 18 Int after the racial. With the +1 Human bonus and the Favored Class bonus, you should have 10 skill points per level. These can go into:
- Perception
- Sense Motive (PSA: Ser Brendan the Just didn't max out Sense Motive. Now he never has to.)
- Linguistics (covers your interaction skills and teaches you more languages)
- Use Magic Device
- Spellcraft
- Disable Device
- The Big Four Knowledges: Arcana and Nature are class skills, the other two are Religion and Planes. If you want a class skill bonus, there will be a Trait for it. Consult with your DM: If your campaign is more political intrigue than high fantasy, for example, Kn:Nobility may be much more important than Kn:Planes.
Does it have to be a Bard? Bards are great skill monkeys, mind you, but Investigator is worth looking into as well, since Inspiration gives them a 1d6 (or 1d8, with the potential for +1-+4 more) edge over ANYTHING the Bard can do. Discounting Pageant of the Peacock shenanigans.
However, if still being able to aid the party in combat is a concern, Bard is potentially a better choice. Investigators are solid combatants, but less good at party buffing. Might be good if you still want the ability to go into a "battle trance" with Studied Combat and occasionally kick ass and then be like "I'm alive? What happened? I don't remember!".
Or, possibly better, go Bard all the way except a 1 level dip in Investigator. They can use Inspiration on Knowledge checks for free, so that extra 1d6 is a STEAL for one level.
I forgot about Investigator. Inspiration is also free on Linguistics, so with the Orator feat, Inspiration is usable on those Bluff/Diplomacy/Intimidate checks as well.
How would combining the Investigator class with the Fast Learner line do?
It wouldn't be terrible, but I don't think it's worth it. For starters, Fast Learner itself is effectively Toughness with more restrictions. Two more feats in, and you have a +4 bonus to untrained skills and you can make their checks even while untrained.
But if you're an Investigator built as a dedicated skillmonkey, you have so many skill ranks that you can max out ten of them and still have plenty of points left over to pick up a bunch of one-pointers. Every skill is a class skill except Fly, Handle Animal, Ride, Survival, and Swim, so you will basically always have a class skill bonus. One point plus class skill bonus is the +4 right there. And don't forget that the Headband of Intelligence comes with a free maxed-out skill as well.
Athaleon's entirely right about the Improvisation line. The only reason I could see to take it is with a skillpoint starved class with poor class skills - having a mere handful of 1-point class skills invalidates the feats. So a Fighter might get net benefit from Improved Improvisation. But for a Bard, Rogue, Investigator or Alchemist - *insert Admiral Akbar quote*.
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Athaleon's entirely right about the Improvisation line. The only reason I could see to take it is with a skillpoint starved class with poor class skills - having a mere handful of 1-point class skills invalidates the feats. So a Fighter might get net benefit from Improved Improvisation. But for a Bard, Rogue, Investigator or Alchemist - *insert Admiral Akbar quote*.
"May the force be with us"?
"May the force be with us"?
Haha, the other one.
My favored skill-monkey build is an Empiricist Investigator with the Student of Philosophy trait. You get a ton of social and knowledge skills running off the same stat, which is one that directly benefits the build anyway. With a couple of Investigator Talents it's possible to get free Inspiration rolls to almost anything.
Just a point to the OP - try to have something you do in combat. It doesn't need the be damage. Not contributing at all, or plinking away for D6 damage with a light crossbow, is likely to irritate your party somewhat. Buffing, battlefield control, controlling an area with a Reach Weapon and Longarm, debuffing, Aid Another actions - any of these can be good options.
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"May the force be with us"?Haha, the other one.
"We have no choice General Calrissian, our cruisers can't repel firepower of that magnitude!"?
It's that one, right?
:)
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- Use remaining feats on improving your bomb-throwing abilities. So he's a wuss in battle, because he stays behind the line chucking bombs and potions, and using a crossbow if he runs out of bottles, but still effective in battle.
This is the exact reason I would recommend an Alchemist (Mindchemist) over an Investigator. The Investigator is somewhat better at skills, but its main combat abilities (studied combat and studied strike) improve melee ability. That makes it difficult to be effective in combat and still come off as a "weeny." Bombs are a more thematic tactic, and you can still have a pretty good set of skills.
Heck, you could even be an alchemist with a dip in investigator for Inspiration, extra class skills, and a will save boost. Consider Sleuth since the deeds will probably be more useful than one level of alchemy. Even if you dump Cha you can sit on your 1 luck point for +2 initiative.
Or, possibly better, go Bard all the way except a 1 level dip in Investigator. They can use Inspiration on Knowledge checks for free, so that extra 1d6 is a STEAL for one level.
That's also a pretty good idea and works especially nicely with Sleuth since you'll have lots of luck. Consider the Archivist bard archetype, which is a little more knowledge-focused than the standard bard.