...a Bard like Loki (in Thor movie)
Ooh, sounds like I definately have a reason to watch this. Can you tell us what he does in the film in the meantime?
I have a lot of experience building bards and even more to say (such as a multiclass rogue/bard with no inspire courage will die pretty quickly) but it really depends on what you're going for.
I totally dig the above build, but no GM is going to let you talk your way out of every encounter, and while your spells will be deadly, you dont have that many per day, and you'll be really behind the curve thanks to the rogue dip. If you go the above route, I wouldn't advise taking any bard levels at all, and you can definately afford to shore up that strength score.
What are Loki's abilities in the film? I take it he's pretty good in a fight, being an Asgardian and all. What weapons does he weild and what magic does he use? Honestly, any bard can be an amazing liar, especially with enchantment magic and the glibness spell. I'd focus on what else he can do.
He could convince people that any idea he had was pretty much their idea. Even following their train of thought and making it go his way.
Suggestion perhaps? Along with Detect Thoughts.
Hmm... the more I think about this, the more I like it. A bard with an agenda. Every inspire courage, pat on the back or buff spell being all part of the act to get these smucks to serve your own ends.
I'd propose a str of at least 14, preferably 16, and a charisma about as high. Take Arcane Strike and Spell Focus (Enchantment) at first, (or maybe Skill Focus:Bluff) and Power attack and/or Deadly Aim as soon as possible. I tend to be pretty one-note with my build suggestions, but hey... What works, works. Inspire Courage (which you can drop along with your opening spell by level 7) will shore up your damage and to hit bonus, and you can really bring the hurt when cornered. Provided, of course, you can't weasel out of the fight.
A point buy of 15, 12, 13, 10, 8, 16+2 could probably serve, though you could drop wis (or perhaps str) by another point to shore up your defenses or pour 3 more points into Cha for a 19.
Go for enchantment spells first. Glibness, Good Hope, Confusion, Suggestion, Charm and Dominate. All seem to fit thematically. Mirror Image and Hideous Laughter are always solid in the low level ranges.
Hope this is helpful, I'm just musing, really.
Look at the spellsong feat from Ultimate Magic. You can use your bardic performance to mask the fact you are casting spells.
Even though the feat has the word "song" in it, the type of performance is not specified. It could be oratory, comedy, whistling, etc.
Observer's perception or sense motive vs your performance check to hide the fact you are casting a spell.
A good first level spell is Innocence from the APG.
Look at the spellsong feat from Ultimate Magic. You can use your bardic performance to mask the fact you are casting spells.
Even though the feat has the word "song" in it, the type of performance is not specified. It could be oratory, comedy, whistling, etc.
Observer's perception or sense motive vs your performance check to hide the fact you are casting a spell.
A good first level spell is Innocence from the APG.
Awesome.
One thing you might want to do is take a look at the 3.5 Beguiler, found in the Players Handbook 2. As it's a character class designed from the start around a trickster character like Loki, Coyote, or Anansi you should be able to get some good ideas at least.
Or you might be able to simply talk your GM into letting you simply run a Beguiler, as the general consensus seems to be that the class doesn't require much work in order to convert it to Pathfinder.
One thing you might want to do is take a look at the 3.5 Beguiler, found in the Players Handbook 2. As it's a character class designed from the start around a trickster character like Loki, Coyote, or Anansi you should be able to get some good ideas at least.
Or you might be able to simply talk your GM into letting you simply run a Beguiler, as the general consensus seems to be that the class doesn't require much work in order to convert it to Pathfinder.
But... so is the bard. There REALLY werent that many differences in the spell list. Nice class, though.
Aazen that'd depend what level you're looking at. Without knowing what level you are there's only so much we can do. Here's a few ideas, though.
At 1st you'd be looking at something like:
1st - Hideous Laughter, then a spell of your choice depending on your preferred style of mischief. Innocence, Charm, Disguise or Silent Image.
At, say, 7th, you can have something more like:
1st- Hideous Laughter, Innocence (apg), Charm Person, Silent Image, Timely Inspiration (apg)
2nd- Detect Thoughts, Mirror Image, Cure Moderate Wounds, Pyrotechnics
3rd- Confusion, Glibness or Good Hope
Hopefully that gives you some idea. It was a 5 minute job, though, so its by no means the be all and end all, but it should be pretty versatile. Good Hope is great because it essentially doubles the bonus from your inspire courage, and at 7th level you can use both in the first round. It's a huge boost to your dimwitted allies combat ability, and more importantly to your own.