I am playing what I expect to be a "full support" bard, if one can call it that in one of my games, and we have recently lost our arcane caster.
As much as I think that odd built groups can be a challenge, I have always seen the presence of a solid Arcane character in them as extremly useful, not to mention the added power they bring either through control or sheer blasting power.
Of course I am aware that a bard is an arcane caster - that, combined with their abilities was one of the things that drew me to building one in the first place [well, that and some really interesting support bards I've seen around here in the forums :D], but he does not pack the sheer arcane massive versatile powers of a wizard or sorcerer.
My question would be if it is worth it to multiclass into sorcerer or wizard to make up for the space left by the departure of our wizard, while keeping in mind the support logic and coherence of the character itself.
Or if it doesn't make any sense, offering no added value, and the Bard could simply gravitate towards that position (even if not occupying it fully) without losing his staple capabilities.
From my perspective, the bard will always have a hard time filling a wizards' or sorcerers' shoes in their roles of versatility for one, and sheer capability in their areas of expertise for the other, but also I am not sure if it is worth giving up the bards' goodies for a multiclass character.
Thoughts?
I am playing what I expect to be a "full support" bard, if one can call it that in one of my games, and we have recently lost our arcane caster.
As much as I think that odd built groups can be a challenge, I have always seen the presence of a solid Arcane character in them as extremly useful, not to mention the added power they bring either through control or sheer blasting power.
Of course I am aware that a bard is an arcane caster - that, combined with their abilities was one of the things that drew me to building one in the first place [well, that and some really interesting support bards I've seen around here in the forums :D], but he does not pack the sheer arcane massive versatile powers of a wizard or sorcerer.
My question would be if it is worth it to multiclass into sorcerer or wizard to make up for the space left by the departure of our wizard, while keeping in mind the support logic and coherence of the character itself.
Or if it doesn't make any sense, offering no added value, and the Bard could simply gravitate towards that position (even if not occupying it fully) without losing his staple capabilities.
From my perspective, the bard will always have a hard time filling a wizards' or sorcerers' shoes in their roles of versatility for one, and sheer capability in their areas of expertise for the other, but also I am not sure if it is worth giving up the bards' goodies for a multiclass character.
Thoughts?
As much as I like to mult class I say No. Unless you take wizard 1 level and go enchanter or diviner with familiar.(AND ONLY ONE LEVEL)This give you a skill bump to all alot of Bard skill or skill reroll with foresight abilty and Familair skill bump. Also it let you use Wizard Wands and Scrolls with out making UMD rolls. Then if you want some Blood line power take Eldritch Heirage chian of feats. Other wise do not slow your 3/4 casting power down even more. This 1 level dip is manageable.
it depends a lot on what/how many levels you're talking about... if you're an 8th level bard thinking about taking your first wiz/sorc levels, there's no way that you'll be able to fill that role being 8 levels behind; if you're a 2nd level bard thinking about switching to wiz/sorc from now on it might be functional. full casters are classes that typically really don't benefit from multiclassing (with the exception of a couple 1 level-dip combos) so its probably not worthwhile.
if you want your bard to be more wizard-y there are other options... there are feats or favored class benefits (depending on your race) that will let you learn extra spells (increasing your versatility), or you can research new bard spells (in order to be able to do some wiz/sorc things that bard spells don't normally do). you could also talk to your GM and see if he'd let you pick up the Magician archetype even though it would require switching around some of the abilities you've been using- that would make you more wizard-y too.