I was looking at a bard for our current campaign recently and had a thought, wanted to get some input and see what people thought.
The character would be a traveling merchant crafting and peddling magical wares. She meets and joins the band of adventurers for protection and in turn gives them much useful support in their exploits. Additionally, she would entertain her clients with the many growing tales of adventure accrued on the road with her companions.
I wanted to do something different with her as far as combat was concerned, but greatly feared the steep challenge curves our DM has to muster to keep things interesting. I.E. she would not last if she had to get into melee, and since bards don't get any bonus feats I felt like she would never be that great at ranged support if I went with bows. After all she needs some of her feats for her magical crafting.
My solution? Two weapon fighting, craft wondrous item, craft wand, and dual wand wielder for her first few feats. Obviously she would not really shine in combat for a while but just be their to bolster the party. But with dual wands some interesting combos occur.
It was pointed out to me that the bardic performance bonus would add damage to each individual missile from a magic missile wand just like an additional shot from a bow. Add good hope spell plus inspire bonuses to two wands firing multiple missiles each and suddenly a bard is a damage contributor.
Any suggestions or thoughts how to improve this or continue this theme? I would love to hear.
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Not correct on the inspire courage.
An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.
It will add to attack rolls generally- so scorching ray for example will get a bonus to hit. For damage however it specifies weapon damage. That excludes spells. Magic missile is neither a weapon nor a spell that requires a roll to hit, so you get no benefit there.
Not correct on the inspire courage.
An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.It will add to attack rolls generally- so scorching ray for example will get a bonus to hit. For damage however it specifies weapon damage. That excludes spells. Magic missile is neither a weapon nor a spell that requires a roll to hit, so you get no benefit there.
Gah! I missed in my excitement. Thanks for pointing out. Still a good concept though. So now definitely need advice how to improve the build. It has good flavor, looking for a bit more function.
Thoughts?
Cool idea, although i see a few problems.
Mainly Problem: are not on a bard spell list. You would need to, Use Magic Device, every time you would want to use the Wand. Also, you would not be able to create the wands yourself, so you would be dishing out money to buy the wands.
Now for Secondary effect, like slow, haste, cause fear, etc. The wand idea sound solid.
Cool idea, although i see a few problems.
...Also, you would not be able to create the wands yourself, so you would be dishing out money to buy the wands.
I am going on the assumption that the character will lean very heavily on her Use Magic Device in conjunction with her crafting. There is a Wizard in the party who could provide the spell through scroll for her, then through use of Use Magic Device burn the scroll during creation. She will obviously have a high CHA being a bard, so that skill will be prime for her, not worried about missing rolls that much(not enough to discourage anyway).
My understanding is it only requires the proper spell to be cast, and that this would be a perfectly acceptable way to craft.
Is this not so?
Thanks Shane.
A much more accurate summary of what I was trying to get at.
wouldn't be cheaper just to have the wizard "cast" the spell for her? End result: down one daily spell slot per 1000gp cost of wand and no loss of scroll materials which cost more money
wouldn't be cheaper just to have the wizard "cast" the spell for her? End result: down one daily spell slot per 1000gp cost of wand and no loss of scroll materials which cost more money
Ya what i was thinking :)
So all he'd have to do is have enough scrolls of Magic Missle, or Charges left in a wand, or a party member with the spell to provide the 1 spell per day of 1000gp of the item. Even if he didn't have those the skill check to make it only goes up by 5 which for a wand of magic missles at say 5th level would then be only 15 (5 base + 5 for caster level + 5 for missing prerequisite)
""The only exception to this is the requisite item creation feat, which is mandatory. In addition, you cannot create spell-trigger and spell-completion magic items without meeting their spell prerequisites.""
Scrolls, Wands, and Staves fall under this category. So i do not think you can take +5 to DC for not having the listed spell available. Even if you get the spell from another source, unless it is from another PC, your looking at (caster level x spell level x 10gp) + Spell component cost.
Now if he wants to go with TWF Wands Bard, I wish him the Best.
Now for Secondary effect, like slow, haste, cause fear, etc. The wand idea sound solid.
But, this is still an expensive way to do damage. Bows, even magic bow, will be cheaper in the long run.
""The only exception to this is the requisite item creation feat, which is mandatory. In addition, you cannot create spell-trigger and spell-completion magic items without meeting their spell prerequisites.""
Scrolls, Wands, and Staves fall under this category. So i do not think you can take +5 to DC for not having the listed spell available. Even if you get the spell from another source, unless it is from another PC, your looking at (caster level x spell level x 10gp) + Spell component cost.
Now if he wants to go with TWF Wands Bard, I wish him the Best.
Now for Secondary effect, like slow, haste, cause fear, etc. The wand idea sound solid.
But, this is still an expensive way to do damage. Bows, even magic bow, will be cheaper in the long run.
I don't see it as a problem. Neither does our DM as far as the crafting is concerned. Will the item say poo-poo on you, I see you don't have that spell your casting through a scroll in your memory? And if someone who has the spell is assisting what's it matter?
To get back to the original point of this post...
I am looking less for reasons why a character can't craft (as its only part of what she will be selling) and more for things that aid her in sticking w. the dual wand route.
See like I had said, I wanted to make a bard that is a bit different than the same old boring role. Bard's will never be more than support characters (I accept that), but with the right flare they can be very interesting.
I was just looking for other ideas that contribute to that concept.
Sorry to interpose, but where did you find a feat that allows you to dual wield wands ? Or is it one from 3.5?
Anyway, be sure to grab Precise Shot and Point Blank shot anyway on lower levels and use that bow until you get to 5th level (to meet prereq for Craft Wands). Some other combo's you can pull of with wands beyond damage are Enervation + Ray of enfeeblement, etc. very nice concept and very doable with craft wands. Also be sure to get Glove of Storing at one moment so you can cast your own spells without losing actions to store/retrieve wands :)
A Bard with 3 levels of Arcane Archer is a solid ranged support. Also, Arcane Strike works with bows and it's a great feat for the Bard too.
Edit : Of course, she would need to have elven blood. :\
Sorry to interpose, but where did you find a feat that allows you to dual wield wands ? Or is it one from 3.5?
Yes, dual wand wielder is a 3.5 feat from the Complete Arcane.
Pre-Req: Two Wpn Fighting, Craft WandActivate 2nd wand by expending 2 additional charges.
Wish you good luck on the bard, hope it all works out for ya.