Dragon disciple bard build help


Advice

Sovereign Court

So, the thing is the next... In a game im mastering, my sister ask me to make his carácter because she is quite new in the game.
We talked about her carácter and after thinking about it she wanted to play a bard so i made her a thundercaller.
After two games she passed to level 3 (in the first one she almost reach level two and the second one ended with only two of the 6 original members)
Now she told me that she loves dragon disciples and want his bard to be a dd, and with the thundercaller archetype she can roleplay to be something like the dragonborn of the Elder scrolls.
Thing is the next: bard into dd is sub-optimal, i know it.. but whats the best way to go if i need to make one? focus on the spellcasting, give her some levels of fighter and go mele beast?
Any advice would help


If she likes the fluff then you can always use MIs to fill in some of the cool abilities and let her stay in the Bard class so she doesn't lose out too much. But, if she really wants to get into the prestige class focus on what you can do with the build to avoid too much in the way of sub par. That may require some retooling a little light hand waving so things go through.


It'd be handy to have at least 7 levels of bard to get it to be a move action to activate your performance. THen you can standard action spell and perform and be ready to go round two.

DD is purely for an increase in fighting, but you're fine to enter it with just Bard.


In order to take a Prestige Class, you must meet the pre-requisites set out by the prestige class.

For Dragon Disciple, you must be able to speak and understand Draconic, have 5 ranks in Knowledge (Arcana), you cannot be a Dragon-related race, and you must be able to cast 1st level Arcane spells spontaneously.

This means you cannot take levels in Dragon Disciple until level 6, at the earliest. If your Bard PC doesn't have the ranks or the language, then I suggest you tell them to work towards that straight away if they want access to Dragon Disciple in the proper time.

The best thing about Dragon Disciple is that it gives you a +4 Strength bonus at 4th level, meaning that's an extra +2 to hit and damage, shoring up the fact that it's 3/4 BAB like the Bard, and you'll still maintain 3 levels of Bard spellcasting. You also won't lose any net BAB going this route, and you'll pick up some interesting abilities through the Draconic Bloodline. In other words, I suggest not going past a 4 level dip in regards to Dragon Disciple, as it's not worth losing the BAB progression and further spellcasting, since the other benefits are mediocre at best.

The big thing with going Dragon Disciple usually means you're going to want to be more of a Natural Weapons Melee type character, as you can grow Claws and eventually get a Bite attack that gives 1.5x Strength. This isn't a bad idea, or, you can just take a big two-handed weapon, buff your to-hit and damage to the teeth and use the Bite in addition to your normal attacks. You'll still get 1.5x Strength on the Bite attack, as it's a specific rule regarding Dragon Bite Attacks, which that one functions as.

The only thing I can say I dislike about Natural Weapons is that you must invest in an Amulet of Mighty Fists +5, or you'll have to deal with high-powered Damage Reduction, which can be a real killer with your bite attack.

I honestly would've picked a Skald, or even Bloodrager, if I was going to go a more melee-based "Bard" route; granted, Inspire Courage is nice, but Spell Kenning is invaluable in its power. Being able to cast Divine Favor or similar buffing power on myself is an extreme boon, one that can certainly overturn the benefits of Inspire Courage. But a Bard can be almost as good a combatant if he has the right archetype(s).

If you're more interested in the Bloodline Powers, and not so much the other benefits of the Dragon Disciple, the Eldritch Heritage feat chain is something to consider. Using that in concert with Dragon Disciple may be pretty good, since you could take Improved Eldritch Heritage (Orc) for the Strength of Beasts ability, giving you an extra +2 to +6 Strength for melee. The Touch of Rage ability isn't bad either, especially since the Eldritch Heritage abilities scale equal to 1/2(Character Level - 2), and is shored with the Greater Eldritch Heritage feat (which may be worth it since the Power of Giants is pretty strong).

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Advice / Dragon disciple bard build help All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.