Here is what I’ve taken from my adventures playing PF bards through low-mid levels. I’m interested in hearing about others’ experience and opinions and how they compare.
Bardic Performance:
Inspire Courage – Obviously a powerful buff, but it’s a pain getting people to remember to include it in their math every time. Constant verbal reminders do sink in eventually though and is the only method I’ve gotten to work (visual aids had little effect). Even a small group is generally going to have at least two members using weapons/natural attacks.
Inspire Competence – Blah on paper, a lifesaver in practice. Now, it won’t come up much but if you can manage to remember it’s there when the moment comes, you can save the day. But, you need good communication with your group and ‘game-awareness’ to make it work to its fullest, not every check gets a retry.
Countersong – Again vary situational and easy to forget it’s there, but you’re all but guaranteed to encounter some nasty language/sonic-based effects and it’s basically an ‘I win” button for those saves.
Spells:
I won’t go into specific spell choices, but there are two spell selection methods I’ve used that worked out well. The first is to pick up only the ‘must have’ spells (will vary by group/game) because there isn’t a primary arcane/divine caster in the group or so that character doesn’t have to fool with memorizing them. The second method is to let the ‘primary casters‘ have all those boring spells and mostly pick up the bard-only and more situational spells that traditionally only come into play as scrolls if at all. A combo of these methods should work too. Whatever you do make sure you discuss it with the other casters.
Skills:
Use Magic Device - Starts as a nice boon that allows a bard to better fill the role of a primary caster in a 3-4 member party if need be. It eventually evolves into ‘I have the perfect scroll/wand/item for… everything.’ A bard in a 5+ person party is like the youngest son in a family with 5+ boys. The hand-me-downs will all eventually make their way to him and he always gets the irregular or discarded piece. At first it can be frustrating, but over time getting the pick of everyone’s ‘last-level’s fashions’ means you’re decked out without dropping a dime. Plus those fun, odd-ball items may actually see some use.
Knowledges – Possibly the single most useful aspect of the bard. ‘I know everything and everybody. No really, try me.’ It’s lame that players have to be so ‘aggressive’ to get the benefits from knowledge skills when they should be treated like perception, but until things change you’ll have to remember to initiate the check yourself anytime there is something you might want to know something about.
Performs – Other than the RPed benefits, they are required to fully utilize magical instruments. Some of which are quite useful and/or powerful.
Social Skills – Be proactive about cultivating relationships and contacts (heavy use of disguise and aliases helps. They can reap fruitful benefits in the form of information, prestige, propaganda, financing and even direct aid or support. If it at all makes sense try talking before fighting, you just never know.
Other Skills – There’s just nothing you can’t do, don’t forget it. The bard is like an understudy that knows everyone’s part.
Combat
The first few levels (more or fewer depending on your stats, race and feat choice) are all about staying alive while trying to either fill a primary role, find a specialized niche or become a jack-of-all-trades. But by low-mid to mid levels the bard can easily (proper feat/ability score choice) become a viable secondary melee or ranged warrior in addition to everything else they provide.
