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I know, I know. Dwarf is not a good race choice for a bard. A bard is a charisma-based caster and the dwarf has a penalty to charisma.
But can it work? After all, casting is only one of the things a bard can do. I plan to choose buffing spells, avoiding spells that allow a saving throw. I want to do mostly buffing other party members, skills and some melee.
Here's my starting build:
STR: 14
DEX: 13
DON: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 12
CHA: 14
Traits: Sacred Touch, Reactionary
Feat: Extra Perform
Skills: Perform (Oratory), Perform (Dance), Perception, Use Magic Device, Knowledge (Arcana), Spellcraft
Spells:
Level 0: Detect Magic, Ghost Sound (or Resistance), Open/Close, Light
Level 1: Cure Light Wounds (or Comprehend Languages), Feather Fall
With sufficient optimization it could turn out to be... Okay? I mean it will obviously never be good but I think you can pull it off as decent.
Does “PFS CORE” mean that you want to make a build for PFS using the Core Rules only? If so I wonder why. It limits your options quite a bit though.
Anyhow, if you plan to avoid spells which allow saving throws then having a very high Charisma isn't necessary. Since Bards don’t wear heavy armor I’d try to improve your Dex to at least 14 though. I’m also very partial to the Shield Slam feat, and Bards are reasonably well suited to two weapon fighting since the damage bonuses from their songs and Arcane Strike apply to both weapons.
If you're interested in such things I could post a build. If not I'll just advise you that Extra Perform is a feat you might regret taking after a few levels.
A Dex that low seems likely to get you killed. A Witch is also probably better at the coup de grace trick.
Does “PFS CORE” mean that you want to make a build for PFS using the Core Rules only? If so I wonder why. It limits your options quite a bit though.
Anyhow, if you plan to avoid spells which allow saving throws then having a very high Charisma isn't necessary. Since Bards don’t wear heavy armor I’d try to improve your Dex to at least 14 though. I’m also very partial to the Shield Slam feat, and Bards are reasonably well suited to two weapon fighting since the damage bonuses from their songs and Arcane Strike apply to both weapons.
If you're interested in such things I could post a build. If not I'll just advise you that Extra Perform is a feat you might regret taking after a few levels.
PFS Core means that the OP is planning to play in the Core Campaign, which is Core only. It's a separate play track from standard PFS.
Frankly, any race can do the BUFF BUFF BUFF routine on a bard. I think the initial spell choices are quite reasonable given the objective and will be well suited to many PFS scenarios. Re: skills, I would cut down to 1 perform skill at level 1 to diversify slightly - probably to take a generally useful skill, like climb or diplomacy (you can rebuild out of the point in diplomacy once you finish level 1 if you plan on using Versatile Performance for that skill). Also, Sacred Touch is not really worth the trait slot if you have CLW. It would be better to have Indomitable Faith, Dangerously Curious (even though it's only +1 for you, UMD is kind of all or nothing), or Focused Mind.
I'm always skeptical of Extra Performance at level 1 when not automatically granted. I think you would get more mileage out of Arcane Strike. If you just want Extra Performance for level 1, you can certainly swap it with the rebuild rules.
Does “PFS CORE” mean that you want to make a build for PFS using the Core Rules only? If so I wonder why. It limits your options quite a bit though.
At the beginning of this year, PFS Organized Play introduced a new subsection for Pathfinder Society, called PFS Core. You're only allowed to use three books: the Core Rulebooks, the Character Traits Web Enhancement, and the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play book.
So it is an official style of play for PFS, and it expands the number of PFS modules you can get credit for.
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You're fine with a 14 Cha. My PFS bard's Cha is only 14 - it's plenty - just avoid most spells with DCs. Extra Perform is handy until 3-4 when you have plenty of performance rounds - I would recommend against it unless you do as Serisan suggests and retrain it.
Gah - I keep being on the verge of suggesting feats/spells that my PFS bard likes... but they're mostly not Core! (Fencing Grace/Arcane Strike/Saving Finale/Lingering Performance) Lol
Try something like this -
Str:16
Dex:12
Con:14
Int:10
Wis:9
Cha:14
Make sure to take the Armor Expert trait - it lets you wear a mithril breastplate without proficiency. Hardy is good too if Core allows it.
For a feat I'd suggest going with combat stuff such as Weapon Focus - without a decent Cha you'll mostly be a combat bard. It can work - though not as well in Core since a normal combat bard now would generally go for Fencing Grace and/or Arcane Strike.
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Does “PFS CORE” mean that you want to make a build for PFS using the Core Rules only? If so I wonder why. It limits your options quite a bit though.At the beginning of this year, PFS Organized Play introduced a new subsection for Pathfinder Society, called PFS Core. You're only allowed to use three books: the Core Rulebooks, the Character Traits Web Enhancement, and the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play book.
So it is an official style of play for PFS, and it expands the number of PFS modules you can get credit for.
Yeah - though I don't think that it was NEARLY as popular as they anticipated. At Origins they'd scheduled quite a few, but they had quite a bit of trouble actually filling them even as they added extra normal PFS tables.
You're fine with a 14 Cha. My PFS bard's Cha is only 14 - it's plenty - just avoid most spells with DCs. Extra Perform is handy until 3-4 when you have plenty of performance rounds - I would recommend against it unless you do as Serisan suggests and retrain it.
Gah - I keep being on the verge of suggesting feats/spells that my PFS bard likes... but they're mostly not Core! (Fencing Grace/Arcane Strike/Saving Finale/Lingering Performance) Lol
Try something like this -
Str:16
Dex:12
Con:14
Int:10
Wis:9
Cha:14Make sure to take the Armor Expert trait - it lets you wear a mithril breastplate without proficiency. Hardy is good too if Core allows it.
For a feat I'd suggest going with combat stuff such as Weapon Focus - without a decent Cha you'll mostly be a combat bard. It can work - though not as well in Core since a normal combat bard now would generally go for Fencing Grace and/or Arcane Strike.
Arcane Strike is Core.
Re: popularity, I've found that there are three groups that take advantage of Core: those who have played out most of the scenarios out there in standard, new players who haven't purchased much source material, and players who tend towards Old School/Grognard play styles. I have a Core character that I made exclusively to support a VL that was starting up at a new store. He fills tables just fine now.
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Re: popularity, I've found that there are three groups that take advantage of Core: those who have played out most of the scenarios out there in standard, new players who haven't purchased much source material, and players who tend towards Old School/Grognard play styles. I have a Core character that I made exclusively to support a VL that was starting up at a new store. He fills tables just fine now.
I'm not saying that it isn't played at all - just that it underperformed in comparison to their expectations. If they'd only scheduled 1-2 tables of CORE at Origins at a time they'd have likely had to start more on the fly and I'd say that it over-performed in comparison to their expectations.
Yeah - though I don't think that it was NEARLY as popular as they anticipated. At Origins they'd scheduled quite a few, but they had quite a bit of trouble actually filling them even as they added extra normal PFS tables.Does “PFS CORE” mean that you want to make a build for PFS using the Core Rules only? If so I wonder why. It limits your options quite a bit though.At the beginning of this year, PFS Organized Play introduced a new subsection for Pathfinder Society, called PFS Core. You're only allowed to use three books: the Core Rulebooks, the Character Traits Web Enhancement, and the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play book.
So it is an official style of play for PFS, and it expands the number of PFS modules you can get credit for.
While I can certainly see that, I also see (or at least feel) that the opposite is true on the play-by-post boards. I haven't participated in PFS at my local gaming store in quite a few years, so I can't judge my local gaming community.
I did see one thread a bit back that was discussing how theynwere worried that it would split the community, and have been pleasantly surprised that not only did it not split the community, but people have been engaging in both PFS and PFS Core. So that's good news.
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While I can certainly see that, I also see (or at least feel) that the opposite is true on the play-by-post boards.
That doesn't really surprise me - I'd guess that the type of people who do play-by-post are among the most likely to have played most scenarios through normally and are taking advantage of being able to re-play them.
Personally, I'd recommend these stats:
16 Str
14 Dex
14 Con
8 Int
10 Wis
13 Cha
That gets you solid Strength to do melee fighting, and passable Dex for defense. 13 Charisma means you can put your +1 at level 4 into it, and raise it to 14 just in time to pick up your bonus second-level spell (and you should be able to afford a headband in time for your bonus 3rd-level spell). Good Will saves + heroism makes a lower Wis OK, and 8 Int hurts, but Bardic Knowledge and a decent amount of skills helps make up for it.
For feats, I'd go with:
1: Extra Performance
3: Power Attack
5: Weapon Focus, retrain Extra Performance --> Arcane Strike
The other option is to go full support: dump Strength, and pump up your Charisma and Int.
7 Str
12 Dex
14 Con
14 Int
10 Wis
16 Charisma
You won't be attacking, but you'll have great skills and bonus spells for every level you can cast.
I would tweak it a little bit, but that looks pretty good.
Str 15 (7 points)
Dex 14 (5 points)
Con 16 (5 points, +2 race)
Int 10 (0 points)
Wis 9 (-4 points, +2 race)
Cha 13 (7 points, -2 race)
Traits: Armor Expert, Indomitable Faith
Feat: Toughness
Skills: Perform (Sing), Perform (Dance), Diplomacy, Knowledge (Arcana), Spellcraft, Perception
Spells: Mostly a matter of personal preference, what you have looks fine.
Equipment: Chain Shirt, Heavy Wooden Shield, Battle Axe, Javelins, clothes and other stuff.
18 AC is decent and most of the ways to improve AC are core. You can upgrade to a darkwood shield and a mithral breastplate and then just buy up the enhancement bonuses.
Bards favor both reflex and will and you have a good con score. You also get bonuses for being a Dwarf. Buy a cloak of resistance and you should be fine here.
HP is actually not bad at all between toughness and favored class bonus you will always have more than 10 hp/level. Things like Mirror Image will keep you alive and well combined with good saves, AC, and HP.
Going Forward you will want to get a magic axe or hammer and only buy enhancement bonus for it. I would avoid Power Attack unless you are using a two handed weapon, as the combination of 3/4 BAB and a one handed weapon makes Arcane Strike better. Weapon Focus is also a good choice once you settle on a weapon.
The reason I changed your oratory to sing and UMD to diplomacy is because you can't use the countersong performance without sing, wind, keyboard, string, or percussion. You use oratory, act, comedy, and dance for distraction and you had two of these and none of the other. Then you need diplomacy for real because you aren't getting it from versatile performance anymore. UMD isn't all that useful until mid level and even then if you want to use it you want it very high. If you do want to go that route you can start maxing it out by putting in multiple ranks per level around 4th or 5th and possibly taking Skill Focus and/or Magical Aptitude.