Gnome Bard Illusionist Help Please

[Lunchbox3000]

We are playing WotR. We have 3 melee characters and one ranged other than me. The melee guys are Paladin, Fighter, Inquisitor. The ranged is a ranger. I have never made a Bard before and was curious where to go from here.

Tolfin Titanslicer:

Gnome Bard Level 3 CN
Str: 10
Dex: 14
Con: 10
Int: 14
Wis: 10
Cha: 18

HP:23(rolled very well)
Traits: Trap Finder, Reactionary
Alt Racial Traits: Gift of Tongues, Academcian
Feats: Trickster(Gnome), Lingering Performance

Skills: Disable Device 9, Knowledge History 7, Knowledge local 7, Perception 8, Perform Act 10, Perform Oratory 10, Sleight of Hand 8, Spellcraft 8, Stealth 12, Use Magic Device 10

Spells:
0 Level
Read Magic, Ghost sound, Prestidigitation, Detect Magic, Light, Spark
1 Level
Grease, Silent Image, Charm Person, Saving Finale

Class Abilities: Bardic knowledge, bardic performance, cantrips, countersong, distraction, fascinate, inspire courage +1, Versatile performance, well-versed, Inspire competence +2

Tolfin is a big story teller. Loves illusions and tricking people. My question is how can I make him better as I level?

[Xunal]

I like bards!

I'd say use versatile performance to give you good charisma skills via versatile performance. Picking perform oratory for your first versatile performance should serve you in good stead, with Diplomacy and Sense Motive. Every time you put a point a perform skill you've chosen as a versatile performance, you're essentially getting three skill points for the price of one (perform skill, plus the two associated skills). Very handy indeed!

Try putting at least 1 skill point in each of the knowledge skills. Having all knowledge skills as class skills is handy, and they'll all get better with bardic knowledge as you level up. After a few levels, you'll probably be the party "knowledge monkey." Even if you don't have stellar skill level in any one knowledge, you're likely to be able to have answers nobody else in your party has a chance at.

Stealth is always handy, especially as you get +4 for being small. Keep putting points in that! It should be pretty easy to rival any rogue in stealth with your character.

Chord of Shards and Cure Light wounds are also handy spells to have.

As you get higher up, Arcane Strike would be a good feat to have, so you can effectively make any weapon you're using a magic weapon.

Hope that's helpful.

[Lunchbox3000]

My intentions are to go that route and shore up all my knowledges at least for the +3. Our paladin has a strong diplomacy so I chose act as my first versatile. My guy is kind of a cheat. I think for combat I am currently using a shortbow. I tend to just try and aid another if I have nothing to do in combat or do something funny.

WotR Encounter Spoiler:

There were two Quasits getting a play together of sorts using terrified peasants with broken bits as weapons. Tolfin used ghost sound as a Quasit's voice to tell them to run for their lives or the PCs would kill them all. Hilarity ensued because of them arguing over how that was not what they said.

My biggest worries as far as progression is feats and spells. I am the only caster focused character and that is very loose.

[Xunal]

The nice thing about Versatile Performance is that you can use one round to get an inspire courage going to help your mates, then you have two other rounds to do other stuff (such as using your bow). That effectively triples the number of performances you have, and frees you up to do other useful things too.

One that might be useful to your character is the Scholar Feat to give you +2 to two key skills, which won't hurt any.

My personal preferences for first level spells, take Cure Light Wounds, and then Cure Moderate Wounds as a second level spell. Won't make you as good a party medic as a Cleric. But it it does come in handy!

If you can swap a cantrip up for Mage Hand, I'd recommend that; it's a very handy one! Taking the Extra Gnome Magic feat would allow you to have more useful spell like abilities to supplement your spells. I used to use those quite a lot.

Taking the Favoured Class Option of an extra bardic performance per day when you level up would probably be helpful too.

I also found this could be a handy feat for gathering up information out in the bush: Groundling.

Hope you have fun with your Gnome Bard. I always liked playing one of those! Just try to supplement your spells with the innate magic of Gnomes and you should be fine!

[Thaliak]

Lunchbox, have you looked at Treantmonk's Guide to Bards or the more recent All the World's a Stage, and You the Stage Director? Both should give you ideas for spells and feats.

For feats, consider Improved Initiative. It's boring, but it will help you go first, which means you'll be able to get Inspire Courage and eventually a buff spell like Haste or a battlefield control spell like Glitterdust up before your allies act.

If you're creative enough to get good mileage out of Silent Image and its more realistic brethren, I would also recommend Effortless Trickery, which would let you maintain concentration on an illusion as a swift action. This will let you keep up an illusion while continuing to shoot your bow. Personally, I think it also allows you to cast spells, but I've seen people dispute that, so you should see what your GM thinks.

If you want to focus on buffing the many warriors in your party, consider Extra Performance, Master Performer, and Grand Master Performer, a chain of feats will increase your Inspire Courage bonuses by two. However, the last two require you to be part of a faction and obtain a certain prestige within it, so you might need to talk with your GM before you take them.

As a story teller, you should have little trouble qualifying for Discordant Voice, which will add 1d6 sonic damage to each of your allies' attacks as long as you're within 30 feet. That can be a big if for an archer, but it's an option to keep in mind.

When you get access to second level spells, consider taking Glitterdust, which you can use to blind opponents and outline invisible foes; Mirror Image, a medium-duration buff that can protect you from attacks; Cacophonous Call, which can take a low-Will opponent out of the fight for several rounds; and Invisibility, which can be great for scouting. I would also recommend Silence, because it can keep many spellcasters from casting if you apply it to an ally who is nearby. However, I find it hard to imagine a bard who loves the sound of his own voice casting a spell that denies others the chance to hear it. Sound Burst would give you a save-or-suck that targets Fort rather than Will, a great boon against wizards and rogues.

At third level, Haste and to a lesser degree Good Hope are standout buffs. In addition to giving all of your allies an extra attack when they full attack, Haste will improve their attack rolls, armor class, reflex saves, and movement speed. Good Hope will give each of them a +2 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls. In conjunction with Haste and Inspire Courage, that should turn your party into a killing machine.

On the battlefield control side, consider Slow, which will limit most of your opponents to one attack and has no chance of harming your allies, and Confusion, which can take several enemies out of the fight and might cause a few of them to beat each other up as long as your party focuses its attacks on other foes. From a thematic standpoint, I'd also recommend Major Image.

I'm not as familiar with the higher-level spells because the Bard I played only got a few before the campaign concluded. But unless you're in a high-optimization campaign or your GM throws near-impossible challenges at you, I wouldn't worry about planning spell selection too far ahead. You'll evaluate spells different as you get experience with the class, the GM, and the group.

[Xunal]

Those are all good too! I'll have to keep those in mind next time I play a bard!