Tides of War: Bard/X Feats (PFRPG) PDF

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest review.

Tides of War: Bard/X Feats is designed for multiclass bards, with most feats designed to be taken as early as 3rd level. It contains two pages of content after stripping out credits, cover, OGL, and introduction. They’re simple and straightforward, allowing combat bards easier access to Extra Performance and masterpieces, scholarly bards to stack class levels for Bardic Knowledge, and all caster bards to prepare bard spells as other class cantrips. Want to grant sneak attack to allies, boost performances while smiting enemies, or use percussive fists to increase your performance output? Does your bard have occult implements, a pet, or a favoured enemy? The last two talents allow extra uses of a talent, or – saving the best for last – allow a bard with the Order class feature to Bluff his way out of any consequences for violating the edicts of his order.

None of the feats particularly blew me away, but all are solid and work exactly as you’d expect. Fun options for multiclass bards at a low price makes me feel comfortable giving this 5 stars. Pick it up if you’re a fan of fun multiclass options.

This collection of multiclass-feats for bard-multiclasses clocks in at 6 ages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 3 pages, so let’s take a look!

This was moved up in my review-queue as a prioritized review at the request of my patreons.

All righty, after a brief introduction, we go through the feats alphabetically – you know the drill!

-Acting Over Action: Extra Performance is added to the list of bonus feats; alternatively, you can learn a bardic masterpiece you meet the prereqs instead.

-Bursting With Knowledge: Levels from a Knowledge (all) class skill class stack with bard levels for bardic knowledge.

-Cantrip Conversion: You reduce your bard cantrip array, but may convert a bard cantrip towards one of the other class when preparing spells. Interesting.

-Competent Precision: When using inspire competence, you can elect to expend twice the number of bardic performance rounds; if you do, an ally within 30 ft. targeted gains your sneak attack, while you lose it for that duration. This is amazing. Big time.

-Inspired Hymn: Designate smite target and start inspire courage higher; if the smite target is evil, treat the performance benefits as +5 higher. Neat.

-Inspiring Beatdown: When using a flurry (monk’s or brawler’s) while maintaining a bardic performance, you can spend 2 performance rounds as a swift action and make an easy Perform (Percussion) check – on a success, you increase the performance’s benefits as though your levels is +5 higher for 1 round. Nice!

-Musical Implement: When using an implement instrument while maintaining a bardic performance, the implement school spells are at CL +1. Mechanically simple, but makes SO MUCH SENSE. Oh yes, my violin’s haunted…

-Partners in Harmony: As a full-round action, have both you and linked companion (phantom, eidolon, animal companion, etc.) start a performance, provided the companion has Perform. Level of the performance increases by +5, but you consume twice the bardic performance rounds.

-Practiced Appel: Increases save DC of performances and penalty duration of performances and masterpieces versus favored enemies.

-Talent Show: 2/day, spend 4 rounds of performance to gain an increment of a talents-usage – these include kineticist talents, ninja tricks, alchemist discoveries, etc. and kineticist talents still cost burn and it only works for talents that work in increments of rounds and minutes – no cheese. Wide open…yet works. Nice.

-You Must be Mistaken: Once per 72 hours, as an immediate action, you can spend any number of bardic performance and make a Charisma check upon violating your order’s tenets – you get +1 to the check per round spent. On a success, you are treated as though you have not violated your edicts.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are top-notch, I noticed no hiccups on a formal or rules-language level. Layout adheres to a two-column full-color standard with thematically-fitting stock art. The pdf even has bookmarks, in spite of its brevity.

David S. McCrae delivers big time here – these could have been boring combo/hybrid-y mix-feats – instead, he has elected to go the extra mile and instead do something creative, unique with each of these feats, all while staying concise and precise. Being literally all killer, no filler, this humble supplement provides some seriously nice tactics for musically-inclined characters. Add to that the low asking-price and we have a great file, well worth of 5 stars + seal of approval.

Endzeitgeist out.