Hey all! Going to be running RotRL campaign. Party makeup has been set, & includes a human cleric of Erastil who'll be the archer/striker + support-as-needed; a dwarf rogue focusing more on the traditional thief skills (not a party face) & backup melee; an elf wizard filling Treantmonk's GOD role (read his class guide); a human sword-&-board fighter as the primary melee'er; & a halfling bard to be the party face & buffer.
Today's question regards the halfling bard. We're trying to come up with his in-combat role, besides party buffing. The typical answer is to go archery - however, 2 factors are against this: 1) the human cleric is already doing it & 2) I've strongly encouraged the group to play roles outside their normal comfort zone - this player has played the archer/striker numerous times, so we really want to go with something new.
I've been reading around, & the 2 most likely options so far are either a dervish-type build, using acrobatics & the fleet of foot alt racial trait, or a longspear reach weapon build focusing more on positioning & aoo's to contribute.
Any other combat role suggestions for him, or any advice on the roles mentioned above? As always, I appreciate the help!
After talking to my son, the player, he likes the idea of a dervish dancer build. His opinion is that the Perform:Dance & Weapon Finesse would go better with a Halfling than a reach build, due to the racial attribute bonuses (DEX vs STR). He also likes the flavor of it - his Bardic Performance can essentially be done while he is attacking.
Versatile Performance will also sub for Acrobatics, so he can replace Sure-Footed with Fleet of Foot to improve his movment...
So after the Weapon Finesse/Dervish Dance feats, what would be good to pick up as he goes? Maybe Agile Maneuvers or the Dodge/Mobility/Spring Attack line? Or something else I'm missing?
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The dervish dance build can be done with a non-human bard as long as they take a level in Fighter to boost the feat progression and start with proficency with scimitar. It isn't optimal for the bard, but gives you Weapon finesse at level 1 plus another feat to use as you wish, and you are dervish dancing at level 3.
There's a couple ways around the weapon proficiency - he can always take Heirloom Weapon: Scimitar, for one thing. I'm also considering house-ruling that short swords can be used with Dervish Dance (I know, the weapon crit isn't as good, but he would already have proficiency & I don't think it would stray that far from the concept of the feat).
No, he'll never do as much damage as an archer build, but with using his DEX for both to-hit & damage, we can at least keep it respectable. Our idea is for him to be more a support-buffer rather than a main combatant anyway.
He's pretty experienced - he's currently in 2 campaigns with friends, this will be our 2nd family game, & two with his dad's side of the family (they play a lot as well). He's been playing for several years, even though he's only 18.
He's fully aware his damage output won't be anything to get excited about. He's more interested in seeing how much he can buff everybody up as well as trying out the party face role.
Or he could always go for the sling method. After all if you're going to be a party face, why would you want to risk messing it up by getting in someone's face. And slinging would be different than the archer build (even if they are both missile weapons).
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HELPFUL HALFLING!
Pick up a whip, the Helpful trait, and the Combat Reflexes and Bodyguard feats. Now you can stand behind your friends, Aid them on your turn to give them +4 to attack, and use your AoOs to give them +4 to AC on defense. All you have to do is hit an AC of 10 - combined with Inspire Courage, you'll be giving your allies HUGE pluses to hit. The Rogue in particular will surely appreciate the help.
Later, get Arcane Strike and the Gloves of Arcane Striking - you'll be able to have your Aid bonus scale with your level.
One of the things I like most about this strategy is that you don't need any particularly high stats to contribute effectively to combat. That means you're free to put your stats anywhere you like to represent your character.
Alternately: check out the Halfling Jinx ability and its associated feats. It's possible to just throw out save-lowering debuffs all-day long; there's one feat that lets you apply minuses to attack and initiative as well. If he likes save-or-suck spells like Hideous Laughter, it could be a very solid option.
There is another archetype called the "dawnflower dervish" that gets "dervish dance" at level 1 for free. Might be useful.
There is another archetype called the "dawnflower dervish" that gets "dervish dance" at level 1 for free. Might be useful.
IIRC, Dawnflower Dervish requires you to follow Sarenrae - he's already picked Cayden Cailean & doesn't want to change. But thanks for the suggestion!
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The Helpful trait + longspear - hmmm...
Thought I'd update everyone on status. The game got delayed due to schedule issues, and half the group deciding to change their minds on what they wanted to play. Here's what I've got so far:
* female human ranger (switch-hitter style in combat);
* male catfolk barbarian (using houserule alternate racial traits to represent lion-theme);
* female half-elf zen archer monk;
* male wizard, either elf or human (admixture evocationist with battlefield control)
* male human cleric (NPC: follower of Erastil- primarily support, healing etc. One domain will be Community for the barbarian)
With the increased focus on martial characters, I'm thinking the Helpful trait along with a longspear and Combat Reflexes will work well. He can also take Fleet-Footed as he won't be the party scout. This will prevent him from slowing the group down, as he'd be the only character with a slower base speed - in this role, Acrobatics and Climb won't be as important. The player very much wants to try out fulfilling the party support/buffing role, as well as being the party face. He thinks the Archaeologist archetype looks like fun, but I don't think it's geared as much towards party support - every time I read it, I hear the theme from 'Indiana Jones' in my head...
