Okay, I may just be too close to this thing to be thinking clearly but, here goes.
My bard is the hostess for one of the Eldest, the fey lords of the First World, Count Ranalc. As she understands it, Ranalc basically OWNS the Shadow Plane. Last session before my husband and GM said he needed to take a break from our campaign, my bard called on Ranalc to save a one time party member from being sacrificed to a black dragon wishing to ascend to dragon god-hood. Ranalc answered, because my bard throwing herself in front of and talking smack to a huge, named black dragon amused him. In exchange for his assistance, he asked her to murder the cleric of Sarenrae for him, because he despises the light. If she did, he would give her back her lover who had died earlier in the night, implying that if she did not, she would not be able to bring him back at all. It was a really tough decision for a period of two minutes, because she really loved the guy and he died not five feet from her, torn apart by dragons because of her mistake (should have cast sculpt sound on the man in full plate to sneak passed dragons). In the end, though, she said "No."
After wiping out a host of black dragons, and organizing teams of survivors to help each other out, my bard passed out, and was transported to the Shadow Plane where Ranalc had prepared a cozy little spot for her and her lover to say goodbye to each other, while he watched, of course. My bard refused to placate him, bad idea number 3 of the night, and he turned the lover to solid ice and altered her memories so that she would continue to amuse instead of grieving. Also, Ranalc made it so that every time that she sees the priestess whose life she saved, she gets this awful feeling in her stomach like something has been torn out of it.
Prior to this, when I first encountered Ranalc, I was wondering how to portray his influence over my bard mechanically, and I thought, "hey, why not dip a level of Oracle, get the clouded vision curse and the Dark Tapestry mystery because thematically appropriate." Charismatic caster who comes into contact and can channel the power of something older than the gods? Oracle! Check!
So, problem is this, she resisted a pretty bold temptation to become evil and serve Ranalc's will before her own. But, she feels... changed.
She loves being a bard, for the social aspects, and the campaign would suffer if she were not as good at these things as she is now. Part of me is still thinking Oracle because the clouded vision curse is a great way to represent a new perspective of the world mechanically, but heavens mystery, while having a lot of the same revelations as dark tapestry, does not make sense with clouded vision. Like yeah, you are prone to staring up at the night sky, which you can no longer see... great.
Maybe a level as a variant paladin? or fey blooded sorchie? I am completely stumped.
Hmm, interesting story. Perhaps you could pick up some of the Eldritch Heritage feats? You could flavor it as more of a power coming to be due to your tainted experiences rather than an inherent bloodline. As a bard you're bound to have a good Charisma, and the requisite skill focus feat could be doable. A dip in Oracle would be interesting, especially with one of the archetypes like Stargazer, Seer, or Planar Oracle. If you did go the Sorcerer route, then the Umbral, Visionary, or Void-touched bloodlines might be the most thematically appropriate.
I assume you've looked through the Bard Archtypes including new stuff from UM and found no love ?
I assume you've looked through the Bard Archtypes including new stuff from UM and found no love ?
I was playing a court bard for a while, but my GM allowed me to switch to vanilla because she wasn't effective enough at her job. She had a wizard in party for knowledge skills for a bit, but... the way the storyline went, the BBEG made her super paranoid and distrustful of anyone who could actually help her succeed in anything so he could control her actions more effectively. Believe you me, having done it before, giving up bardic knowledge is a huge "no no."
@ SunsetPsychosis,
Many thanks for the contribution. The Void-touched bloodline variant is incredibly appropriate. Ranalc is chaos, and he is creation, and he has on two separate occasions now expressed nothing but derision for divine entities, so keeping with the arcane fits. Also, he doesn't give her visions, and enjoys keeping her in the dark... *ahem* almost literally, because he's fey at heart and finds it amusing.
And now I have something to plot at when the druid I am struggling to finish for my first time behind the GM's lappy screen. Thank goodness.