
Ooga |
http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=527861
Want to be a catfolk bard who focuses almost exclusively on buffing and roleplaying. Have a few weapons just to have something to do between spells. Here's some of the important stuff:
(1) 25 point ability buy. (14S, 14D, 13C, 10I, 12W, 16CH) [16D, 10W, 18CH after racial bonuses].
(2) "Lingering Performance" feat since I have no idea what feat to get.
(3) chose "dance" as a performance, but I really have no idea if that's a good idea or if it matters what performance I get. I'd almost rather get something else, but it seems like it's the only performance that you can do before battle w/o alerting nearby enemies + maintain during battle super easy.
(4) spells? uhh.. grabbed some random stuff
(5) how does it work with spells after level 1? do i have to find a spellbook to learn a spell? Or do I just automatically learn spells when I level up?
(6) Sound striker archetype.
(7) 'Adopted' is a trait, so can I choose 'human' and 'bonus feat'? What would be the best racial trait to take?
Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

Paladin of Baha-who? |

Start by reading one of the existing well-written guides to bards.
1) Looks pretty good, but if you're focusing on buffing and social interaction you don't need a 14 strength. Get a 12 or even an 11 and put the other points somewhere else, such as intelligence.
2) Yes. No better feat available for a low-level bard. Basically triples your available performance rounds.
3) The in-battle performance doesn't require an actual performance skill. Dance is convenient but at level 2 when you get versatile performance another performance skill might be useful as well.
4) See the guide for more guidance on spells
5) You learn spells automatically when you level up.
6) Ok.
7) No, the adopted trait lets you choose a trait from the list of human traits, not one of the human racial abilities.

Petty Alchemy RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16 |

Hi, that definitely is not focusing almost exclusively on buffing, but there's nothing wrong with that. Personally I believe RAI for the Soundstriker wouldn't allow them to target the same person multiple times per use of Weird Words, but per RAW you can.
Adopted however doesn't work like you think it does. The wording is confusing but when it means racial traits, it doesn't mean things like a bonus feat or +2 to a stat or such that a race has. It means a trait such as adopted, that normally only that race can take.
Such as the Warrior of Old trait available to elves.
How you gain spells by leveling is described in the spells section, just read further.

Ooga |
Sounds like a very sophisticated individual, quite the aristocat.
...
sorry
Also arcane strike!
Ok, cool. So I should take arcane strike as my 2nd feat? What other feats should I consider as I level up?
What are some of the best racial traits I could get for this guy?
Are any of the spells I've narrowed it down to on the character sheet terrible? Did I forget any that should just never be skipped?

Ooga |
The extra strength is so that I can hit and do damage with my melee weapons. Also will add damage to my short bow when I make it compound.
Seems like with so few spells, I'll be doing a fair share of just swinging with my mace or shooting my bow.
I could also go down to 8 wisdom to get 1 more constitution, which would end up being -2 wisdom modifier for +1 constitution modifier. Worth it?

Paladin of Baha-who? |

Well if you want a combat bard, that's quite a different thing from a buffer and party face bard.
A bard's role in a party is partly dependent on the rest of the party composition. A bard can fit into nearly any party, but if you already have, say, a fighter and a melee-oriented cleric, or a barbarian and an archery ranger, you'll be more effective if you enhance those damage-dealers with inspire courage rather than doing damage yourself.
What other characters are being generated? or is this for PFS or another situation where you might find yourself in a random party composition?

Ooga |
Well if you want a combat bard, that's quite a different thing from a buffer and party face bard.
A bard's role in a party is partly dependent on the rest of the party composition. A bard can fit into nearly any party, but if you already have, say, a fighter and a melee-oriented cleric, or a barbarian and an archery ranger, you'll be more effective if you enhance those damage-dealers with inspire courage rather than doing damage yourself.
What other characters are being generated? or is this for PFS or another situation where you might find yourself in a random party composition?
random party composition.
Regarding the STR for the combat oriented bard, I feel like I don't really have a choice anyway. At least at levels 1-3, it seems like I can't go full-support even if I wanted to, so I have no choice but to man-up and wade into battle. So I might as well take some STR, right? Seems like a low opportunity cost...Am willing to listen to a better option though if you have one.

Makarion |

Paladin of Baha-who? wrote:Well if you want a combat bard, that's quite a different thing from a buffer and party face bard.
A bard's role in a party is partly dependent on the rest of the party composition. A bard can fit into nearly any party, but if you already have, say, a fighter and a melee-oriented cleric, or a barbarian and an archery ranger, you'll be more effective if you enhance those damage-dealers with inspire courage rather than doing damage yourself.
What other characters are being generated? or is this for PFS or another situation where you might find yourself in a random party composition?
random party composition.
Regarding the STR for the combat oriented bard, I feel like I don't really have a choice anyway. At least at levels 1-3, it seems like I can't go full-support even if I wanted to, so I have no choice but to man-up and wade into battle. So I might as well take some STR, right? Seems like a low opportunity cost...
Am willing to listen to a better option though if you have one.
The opportunity cost is in fact immense, as a high strength now means no way of getting that high Int (or whatever) later. In D&D style rolepalying, it is virtually mandatory to plan at least half a dozen levels ahead, I'm afraid. Personally, I make a quick sketch for level 1-10 and muse over how that looks to me, then usually change some details. Even if there's a change the character will never make level 10, it still avoids mishaps from time to time.

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Why not use throwing weapons like daggers since a dex of 16 gives you a +3 bonus and with ranged attacks you can get other feats to increase your skill and damage. You can also use a short bow and daggers since both use dex bonus. You can go like the old "El Cabong" and use a metal type banjo to wack people with lol"

Makarion |

To do any actualy damage with those throwing weapons you need strength. A Strength 8, Dex 16 character is going to do on average 1.5 points of damage when they hit with a dagger. A Strength 16, Dex 8 character may miss most of the time, but they will do almost 4 times the damage when they do hit. As a result, for archers and other ranged character (not counting using magic wands, firearms, etc), Strength is at least as important as Dex.