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Awesome. Thanks armouredmonk.

Thanks guys. How would you guys do a 20 point buy for a Tengu Barb? Which 2 handed sword would use? Maybe something other than ECB.

I want to make a melee holy warrior that follows Cayden. So what I had so far was a Tengu who was raised in an orphanage that was operated by Cayden's followers. Later the character is enslaved, then freed by drunk dwarfs that jokingly said they were priests of Cayden. At this point my character decides to become an agent of Cayden and vows to to serve the Drunken Hero For Great Justice by any means necessary.

I was having trouble really getting into this character until I thought of a vigilante of beer and good times. Sort of like a Zapp Brannigan/Punisher. I don't want to be a batman using clever tactics and unwilling to hurt anyone. I picture an angry anarchistic bird beer monster kicking down the door and chopping the head off of a brewmaster that uses slave labor to make cheap light lager beer. Or scolding parents when they withhold tasty ale from children.

Also, Tengu are suppose to look a lot a like, and sometimes humans have a hard time telling Tengu apart, but my character doesn't really get that. So he wears a ninja turtle type mask over his eyes, and he thinks that his friends can't tell it's him. Sort of like the Rock playing Superman on SNL (http://www.trilulilu.ro/video-divertisment/the-rock-is-superman) It's very obvious that it is him, but he thinks he is getting away with it. So in the surprise round, my character changes from mild mannered Linguistic Professor to two handed Katana wielding defender of ale, thirsty for justice.

So where I am at with the concept sort of requires a Wisdom dump, right? Or would it be intelligence to be like Zapp Brannigan or Michael Scott? But then I realized no wisdom no inquisitor spells.

I thought of an Oracle, but they really serve a domain instead of deity right? And I really liked inquisitor because they are sort of like Jake and Elwood who decided they were on a holy mission. My calling card would be leaving a gallon of Double Dwarven Dopplebock.

Also... this will be a PFS character, so I have to be semi optimized. I do not want to be dead weight. My main focus would be a striker.

So any advice? Is there an archetype or something that would be based off of Int or charisma?

I don't want to play a ranged character, Cayden's justice needs to be served up close, so my slain enemies' last smell is the beer on my breath.

And the penalty for wearing a Medium Mithil BP would only be the ACP or would it also be arcane failure? I thought the mithril property made an armour one type lower. Would I only get a 10% reduction to arcane failure or would it be 0%?

Conman the Bardbarian wrote:

I think it's only -3 to ACP but it adds +2 to max dex and drops the armor one category so medium becomes light.

It does, but you still need medium proficiency wear mithral medium armor without penalty. Elven Chain is an exception in that it actually becomes light armor.

Thanks Fret. For PFS am I able to make the Elven Chain a +1?

So in PFS games I can use the -4 reduction putting the ACP at 0?

Thanks Akerlof. I thought all mithral armor was considered masterwork and was part of the 3 reduction to ACP.

Thanks Conman. I agree it would be nice if UMD was covered by VP.

I wasn't sure if I should necro my older thread that was about building a bard. Since I am done making my bard, I made a new thread about gearing up. And thank you everyone that posted on the build thread. There was a lot of great suggestions which gave me much to think about and a better idea of what kind of character to build.

This is for a PFS character, I just hit level 3 and am selecting new spells, skills and starting to map out what I should buy and save for. Now that I have a few levels and cash I have more questions. This character plays a support role.

Amor

I am not a combat bard, I am in the back casting. I am not sure what Armor to get? Should I get a mithral chain shirt or Mithral BP? Or something else? The BP gives better AC, but I will have a -1 penalty check to my skills. I have read other threads on this but I am not sure still what is better for a support Bard. Or should look at something else? I don't really intend to be on the front lines so not sure if the Medium Mithral BP is worth the extra AC. Also, should I look at getting a shield too?

Wands/Scrolls

MY current spells are charm, hideous laughter, and grease. I haven't chosen my new level 1 one spell. I do have a wand of CLW, but haven't purchased any other bard wands yet. Suggestions? I am not really sure which spells are better to get as class spells, wands, or scrolls.

How much should I invest in UMD? If I do what wands would be good to get? Color Spray or Mage armor? What does my UMD need to use non-bard wands/scrolls effectively.

All advice and discussion is appreciated.

I appreciate all of the posts on this thread. It has given me a lot to think about. Clearly everyone that is posting wants to help build a great character and get through PFS games. I haven't played an RPG in 14 years (AD&D) so I am rusty and Pathfinders is new to me. Playing at a table with random people with random characters is new to me too. I hope to continue to see more suggestions in this thread. What people have shared has been invaluable and I am glad Pathfinder has such a strong and supportive community.

My question was to general. "How do I make an awesome bard for PFS that contributes to the maximum? PS - I have only played 3 Pathfinder games total so don't me squishy/dead." That wasn't really fair. That balance of min/max will come down to how well I play my character. The better I handle myself, the squishier I can risk my build for min/maxing. So please continue with the advice and suggestions. I hope we can continue this with positivity.

I have some more I am not sure if I should start a new thread. Here goes.

How often do you play PFS games with 100% random people or not knowing the races/classes people are playing before you sit down?

How often do you have a bard in your PFS group?

How important is knowledge and face skills at the different stages of PFS. At one of my games no would could disarm a trap, do a knowledge roll, or do diplomacy or bluff. At later levels does this matter in PFS? Are the later levels just dungeon crawls and face skills are not really needed?

Thanks again for everyone's help.

I will keep that in mind. Thanks guys! For a caster bard.

Thanks Fin. I didn't see the 1/4 bonus to enrich any for their favored class being a bard. Maybe that's for Sorc, or I might be missing it.

Thanks for the post Redclaw. And everyone else too. You guys have been great. I like the builds that have been posted and all the suggestion.

Thats what I was guessing you were thinking of, but it is a divine spell so I did not add it.

I think at level 5 I would dump the great spell focus and get elder heretiage arcane and get a familair.

You would need skill focus in ANY knowledge skill instead of UMD. But a greensting scorpion gives you +4 inaitive(thats the Improved Initiative), alertness(thats another feat), a creature that coudl assist you in your skills since they have as many ranks as you do, and by that level the ability to cast spell from it.

Thanks Fin. If I did something like this, what would you get for the first 5 feat?

This is great advice, thank you. Should I change my race from half elf to human or a different race?

master_marshmallow wrote:

Your Inspire Courage is Morale and won't work with your flag, you are essentially wasting a feat. Extra Performance and Lingering Performance are basically staple feats for any bard who plans on using his bardic music.

Flagbearer = Morale

Inspire Courage = Competence
They do stack.

If these stack, is it still worth getting this feat?

Have you played at level 2 yet?

You must have a free hand to cast. So if you have the flag and a weapon out. You can not cast. I will recommend you take Quick Draw. So you can keep the flag out, and cast. Then have a weapon in handed when you need it.

From where you are now feet's I suggest.
Improved Initiative, Lingering Performance, Discordant Voice. That leaves 2 feet slots still open. This is just off the top of my head, and with how your bard is built now.

I will recommend a rebuild from the start. For this character if you have not played them at 2nd level. So you can pick a direction you want to go. Support, and skill's are a given for Bard. Your current lay out dose not let you focus on your primary combat focus. Casting, or Combat. You can pick either of the two and make a good bard. With out a focus from the start it will be very hard to make up the difference later. In terms of feet's, and spell selection.

Thank you for the response. I have not played this character at level 2. Was trying to finalize him before he is locked in.

If I focus only on casting what feats would you suggest? Other build advice suggestions for a casting bard?

Should I play Human for the extra feat?

This class is very spread out, and that is fine.

You speak about a lot of Roleplay reasons why you picked what you did. So I would strongly suggest to anyoneelse thinking of giving character advice is that this person has a specific idea and will ignore any advice outside of that

Thank you for putting that out there. I probably should have not said so much about RP, I haven't played many society games, I don't have a real feel the types of people that play. I guess I would rather get in line with min/maxing and keep up than being spread out and filling my role because I don't have the skills.

I can still play clever.

Your Inspire Courage is Morale and won't work with your flag, you are essentially wasting a feat. Extra Performance and Lingering Performance are basically staple feats for any bard who plans on using his bardic music.

I totally missed that. Thank you. That would have really messed me up.

Thanks for the suggested build for stats, I think I will use that. And not carrying a flag, I can use a bow. Thanks for the advice.

I am new to Pathfinder and Pathfinder Society. I am working on finalizing my Bard now that he is level 2. I have read Treantmonk's guide and a lot of other threads about bards and PFS builds in general, but I still have some questions. My goal for my bard is to be support in 2 ways. First with songs/spells and second with skills.

After that I am trying to figure a good balance of combat vs. survival. To much focus on combat and I will be dead. To much focus on survival and I am not doing any damage when I am not casting, just sitting there out of danger or swinging and missing.

I am playing a Half-Elf because they lean towards Chaotic Good (if I recall correctly) similar to the way I see myself role playing a bard. I am taking Flagbearer as my first feat (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/flagbearer-local). Below are the stats I have come up with.

Str 13
Dex 12
Con 14
Int 14
Wis 10
Char 16

Charisma at 16 for extra spells and help for face skills. I also am planning on adding my stat points to that attribute as I level.

I did 14 Int for additional skills and the bonuses to them.

Wisdom at 10, not sure if I should switch it with Dex and make it 12. I am not sure if I am open to going lower than 10 for RP reasons.

After reading threads about PFS builds, I have read that 14 con is a minimum, or I will be to squishy and would drag the group down because they will either waste actions healing me or I am dead and they are short a member. I don't plan on being to close to front lines.

Would having 13 str and 12 dex even have a noticeable benefit? I know the extra str helps with weight limit, but should these to other stats?

I plan on using the flag bearer trait (it compliments Inspire Courage) so I couldn't use a bow. I also didn't really want to use a bow either. I do have a sling though, is that one handed?. So flag in one hand and the other hand I have a whip? Will that 13 str and 12 Dex help that much? Or help me be a little safer?

Or if I move some out of Con or int and put it in Str and/or Dex and pick a weapon specialization feat, could I potentially have decent damage output when I am not casting at the cost of being more squishy and having less face skills not in combat? Is whip really the only weapon that would help me contribute to the group?

I am still learning and new, but I want to make sure I am carrying my weight and not hindering a group, I appreciate any suggestions and advice. Please let me know if you need additional information.