What Thea said.
As far as a Cleric/Bard build for Society play? Hmm... To be honest that's not a combo I've tried to put together before.
With the bard, you'll want a high Charisma. For a cleric, that gives you a powerful Channeling ability.
With a bard, most of your abilities are mind-affecting, so it'll be good to have a decent channel in order to affect undead.
You'll be a bit limited on armor (are bards limited to light for arcane spell failure?).
I wouldn't worry about a Wisdom over 14, and you may have better luck with a high intelligence (to function as a knowledge monkey).
Your best contribution to the party will be as "The Face" and as he who knows everything. That will help you accomplish Faction Missions and often progress the main-arc story-line. Beyond that, you won't be doing a lot in combat, except providing bonuses. Look at the Protection Domain (sub domain defense), and any other domains that give boosts. That way you can bless, inspire courage, pump AC, and other tid-bits for the party. Don't expect to be able to kill or stop anything yourself. (That's not necessarily a bad thing)
As far as specific ways to accomplish that, I'll take a look later if I get some time.
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I went and found something I posted awhile ago regarding a potential oracle/bard. I think it's all pretty applicable.
As a level 15 Bard(5)/Cleric(5)/Lyric Thamaturge(5) in 3.5, all I can say is "good luck". The character is thematically fun, but even with access to the 3.5 feats of practiced spellcaster and some of the more obscure feats available in 3.5 (bard/cleric levels stack for turning, neat uses for turning undead, and did I mention practiced spellcaster which doesn't exist in Pathfinder?) the character is WAY behind the power curve compared to the rest of the group. Really if there were a way to bold the word "way", write it in italics and 28 point font it still wouldn't give you an indication of how far behind on the power curve you'll be.
It's fun as hell in roleplay situations, and you'll be amazing when knowledge checks, diplomacy checks, bluff/sense motive checks, and the like are needed, but then again you'd be that cool if you were straight bard. The problem is when combat starts and 9 times out of 10 you'll find yourself inspiring courage (for a crappy +1 or +2) and then pretending you can actually help the group.
Your character's spell progression is downright terrible overall. As a level 5 cleric (which is in some ways better than a level 5 oracle because at least the cleric has 3rd level spells) what I have available is awful. Spell durations are short, offensive spells are virtually useless due to the low saves involved, and buffs provide very minor overall bonuses compared to the favored soul next to me who's throwing out amazing spells. I struggle feeling helpful with a couple 3rd level spells at my disposal, I couldn't imagine having less.
Same holds true to the bard (though interestingly at least the bard abilities make you feel like a bard, the cleric abilities just don't). You're going to be capped with low-level spells with a class that's already behind the leveling curve with their spell progression. What this means is that those DC 16 saves will be resisted by pretty much everything and your buffs will again be short duration and underpowered. Worst off, some of your cool song-singing abilities cap out and you're not even able to buff your party particularly well with those.
Then there's the problem that level 5 in the classes you've mentioned throws you off on the BAB and saving throw curves (I also have this problem), which trust me, makes you feel even more pathetic. It's fair to say I haven't made a fort save in a couple years. So you're stuck with buffs that are short duration and barely buff, heals that don't particularly heal well, offensive spells with low DCs, and a BAB so bad you can't hit the broad side of a barn, and absolutely horrendous saves.
This character is 15 years old, has a ton of history, and I have fun playing her when we're doing the off-track negotiation mission, but when it comes to a traditional dungeon delve or combat oriented session, I'd rather be playing a trained monkey.
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I went and found something I posted awhile ago regarding a potential oracle/bard. I think it's all pretty applicable.
As a level 15 Bard(5)/Cleric(5)/Lyric Thamaturge(5) in 3.5, all I can say is "good luck". The character is thematically fun, but even with access to the 3.5 feats of practiced spellcaster and some of the more obscure feats available in 3.5 (bard/cleric levels stack for turning, neat uses for turning undead, and did I mention practiced spellcaster which doesn't exist in Pathfinder?) the character is WAY behind the power curve compared to the rest of the group. Really if there were a way to bold the word "way", write it in italics and 28 point font it still wouldn't give you an indication of how far behind on the power curve you'll be.
It's fun as hell in roleplay situations, and you'll be amazing when knowledge checks, diplomacy checks, bluff/sense motive checks, and the like are needed, but then again you'd be that cool if you were straight bard. The problem is when combat starts and 9 times out of 10 you'll find yourself inspiring courage (for a crappy +1 or +2) and then pretending you can actually help the group.
Your character's spell progression is downright terrible overall. As a level 5 cleric (which is in some ways better than a level 5 oracle because at least the cleric has 3rd level spells) what I have available is awful. Spell durations are short, offensive spells are virtually useless due to the low saves involved, and buffs provide very minor overall bonuses compared to the favored soul next to me who's throwing out amazing spells. I struggle feeling helpful with a couple 3rd level spells at my disposal, I couldn't imagine having less.
Same holds true to the bard (though interestingly at least the bard abilities make you feel like a bard, the cleric abilities just don't). You're going to be capped with low-level spells with a class that's already behind the leveling curve with their spell progression. What this means is that those DC 16 saves will be resisted by pretty...
This. So much this.
I LOVE both Bards and Clerics (my 2 favorite classes of all time), and I wouldn't try to combine them. 1 level of Bard might be cool for Bardic Knowledge, but even then, you are diluting both classes with the weakness of one. Nevermind the prime stats for a moment (Cleric: Wis, Str, Con, while Bards: Chr, Dex, Int), but what about armor? Bards need light or none, while Clerics tend to go Medium. What would you do during combat, aside from Inspire and be a Healbot? I think you would end up trying to do so many different things that you would do NOTHING well at all.
Since you mentioned that another base class might be a solution, I think you should take a good look at the inquisitor. It's the closest thing to a cleric/bard you'll find. Go with Shelyn and the Charm domain or something.
If you're referring to what to do with an existing Cleric 3/Bard 1, I'd say cut your losses and go all cleric.
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Since you mentioned that another base class might be a solution, I think you should take a good look at the inquisitor. It's the closest thing to a cleric/bard you'll find. Go with Shelyn and the Charm domain or something.
If you're referring to what to do with an existing Cleric 3/Bard 1, I'd say cut your losses and go all cleric.
This is pretty good advice. An inquisitor of Shelyn will be far more effective (and still thematically similar to the bard/cleric). Another concept (and I have to think this one through) is to go Paladin/Bard. If you're looking for a "rah-rah go team" kind of character, you're better off mixing fighter, cavalier, or barbarian with your bard.
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To be honest, I think you need to know what you are doing. In a game I am laying, I am working on a Cleric/Bard with intent to go Mystic Thaumaturge, which gives full spell progression in both base classes for those 10 levels of the PrC.
You will need to be careful of spell choice and use, but, in a non-PFSOP environment, you will have access to things like the Magical Knack trait and the Practiced Spellcaster feat.
So, 3 levels Cleric, 4 levels Bard, and then stay Mystic Thaumaturge for the next 10 levels. Magical Knack: Bard, Practy9ced Spellcaster: Cleric (5th level), and you will have the caster level, if not quite the same spell access, as a pure caster of the appropriate level.
YMMV
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To be honest, I think you need to know what you are doing. In a game I am laying, I am working on a Cleric/Bard with intent to go Mystic Thaumaturge, which gives full spell progression in both base classes for those 10 levels of the PrC.
You will need to be careful of spell choice and use, but, in a non-PFSOP environment, you will have access to things like the Magical Knack trait and the Practiced Spellcaster feat.
So, 3 levels Cleric, 4 levels Bard, and then stay Mystic Thaumaturge for the next 10 levels. Magical Knack: Bard, Practy9ced Spellcaster: Cleric (5th level), and you will have the caster level, if not quite the same spell access, as a pure caster of the appropriate level.
YMMV
Problem is, choosing bard for Mystic Thaumaturge is a terrible plan. They're not robust enough spellcasters in their own right to work with the reduced progression, heck wizards and sorcs are barely powerful enough to work with the PrC. Worst off though, the bard more than almost any other class is really a sum of its parts. Making it lose its extra rounds of bard song, extra bonuses, and the like more than anything makes them a terrible candidate.