A co-worker of mine asked if I would like to join his gaming group to finish up a campaign they had been running for a couple of years as they only get together once every month or so, and the tank (Fighter) and one of the rangers had been flaky recently. I was tossed in and picked up a lvl 10 fighter. Through the times we played I tried to glean as much information as I could on how other classes function, but all of the acronyms and fast pace of combat kind of left me in the dust.
We have started a new campaign, and I have elected to play a bard. I get the basics of how the spells and such work, and feel like I have a relatively decent comprehension of the bardic performance aspect. My goal is to create a bard that is all buffs and debuffs, and avoids actually getting into combat almost at all costs.
I am looking for advice as to what items would assist with jacking up my charisma, and helping keep this goal alive.
I am open to any advice what so ever.
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You're starting at level 1?
Take at least 14 Con. That's your negative hitpoints. People who dump con die. JS.
Keep an eye on Versatile Performance. Decide what your first two selections will be and avoid putting ranks in those skills. (Beyond the first two, it's kinda silly to nerf yourself.)
As far as charisma-boosting items, look into headband of alluring charisma. You won't get it 'til later, but it's worth having. Also, at low level, carry a few scrolls of eagle's splendor.
There's also an ioun stone that increases your CHA, there is the Tome (buy it for crazy expensive, read it, and your CHA permanently increases)...that may be it. You won't get any of that for levels and levels to come.
Carry a bow or some kind of ranged weapon. When you're out of performance rounds and spells, you'll need to continue to be useful.
Bards can be CRAZY useful in a party if played well. And they're not that hard to learn. Have fun!
Extra performance --> master performer --> (lvl 9) grand master performer.
Flag bearer is also good, and for charisma headband + levels + tome (very late level due to expense) are the usual.
I would definitely Google the master performer feat line and see what your GM says.
Also, remember A.B.I.C.! (Always Be Inspiring Courage), assuming you have 2+ HP damage dealers in party of course.
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I'm a great fan of harmonic performance. Its about equal to versatile performance in stretching your bardic performance rounds but occassionally the ability to switch songs as a swift action can be a life saver. Assuming you max out charisma (which you should) one or the other should be enough in most campaigns to let you sing essentially all the time.
When you can afford it a banner of the ancient kings is more than worth the cost.
There are some bardic masterpieces worth using (this is a grey rules area, check with your GM how they interact with bardic performance). Especially Symphony of the Elysian Heart and Triple Time. Pageant of the Peacock is absurdly gamebreakingly overpowered, if your GM allows it to operate as written then take it (and watch any other skill based character in the party utterly loathe you).
As a human, getting extra spells through favoured class is very useful. Taking the human trait for skill focus pays off well. EXPECT your GM to NOT allow bluff and diplomacy to work as written, the rules just break with a mini maxed bard around.
Remember your other bardic performances, not just inspire courage. The rest are all situational but can be exceedingly useful when the occasion comes up. Those occasions are rare enough it is easy to forget them
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Lingering performance helps your bardic performance last longer. By 7, you should have more then enough rounds to last your adventuring day. Archer bards are cool and all, but if the OP really doesn't want to roll any d20s for attacks, its an interesting thought experiment on how many other things you could do in combat.
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Lingering performance helps your bardic performance last longer. By 7, you should have more then enough rounds to last your adventuring day.
They have plenty of rounds, but Lingering Performance is still handy in combo with Saving Finale.
I don't usually get it - but that's because I'm busy burning feats to make a combat bard. (generally tanky)
I love the Sound Striker archetype: at level 6, you give up Suggestion bardic performance for Weird Words (for 1 Bardic Performance, you get a sonic ray that does 4d6 damage as a ranged touch attack.).
I grab Extra Performance, Master Performer and Verbose Performer feats. Have more BP, all bonuses go up one with Master Performer and Verbose means your bardic effects reach out to 60' instead of the original 30'.
Can someone link master performer, and grand master performer?
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Hahaha...I wouldn't torture anyone with my singing (even if I like to sing off-key). And I'm a klutz, I don't dance. The only instrument I play, is one too big to carry around.
Some of the best debuffs are glitterdust, ear piercing scream and cacophonous call. Grease and liberating command are good get out of grapple free too.
Remember to be helpful.
Try to flank if you do get into melee. A reach weapon can help with that.
You will be proficient in the whip, so you can use that to try to disarm and trip opponents up to 15 feet away from you.
Try to use the Aid Another action. Especially with skill challenges. It might not be worth it in combat, but might depending on the circumstances.
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Bards don't have enough BAB to trip. There's the thing, if you don't have full BAB, don't attempt combat maneuvers. CMD goes up really quick with levels too. If he doesn't want to make any d20 attack rolls, its fine. Its a matter of playstle.
Magus and battle mystery oracles do not count as non full bab as they have magus arcana and revelations that lets them function as full BAB for specific maneuvers.
Be aware of the lots of ways you can be useful beyond Inspire Courage, Flagbearer/Banner of Ancient Kings, and buff spells. Many spells can be amazing when used right. Browse the spell list and get a bit creative.
Saving Finale is an amazing first level spell if used right. It can literally prevent party member deaths.
Aura of the Unremarkable can let you get away with murder. Again, literally.
Blistering Invective is a great spell - demoralise, damage and set folks on fire with your insults! It's pretty much a better version of the feat Dazzling Display.
There are many more.
Sound Striker + Dirge Bard archetypes make for an effective (if a bit gloomy) bard who never uses a weapon. You can buff, debuff and deal damage all with your performance depending on the situation. Use spells to buff your party or use SoS enchantment and fear spells. Enchantment spells are pretty nice for a dirge bard because he can affect undead with those, negating like 75% of enemy immunity.
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I also find Blistering Invective to be amazing.
Why drop feats when you can simply cast a spell to do the same thing and even damage people too? Bard can have an incredibly high intimidate too, as Cha will naturally be high, and will have items boosting it such as a headband of charisma and a circlet of persuasion. And it will probably be running off your perform skill via versatile performance.
Speaking of, if you have the feats to spare then Prodigy or Skill Focus in your primary versatile performance skill can have an incredible effect.
Couple a high intimidate with Blistering Invective and Improved Dirge of Doom and you can frighten pretty much anything thats not immune to fear with no save or SR check.
I'd also agree that a Dirge Bard would probably be the best archetype if going full Controller and just doing the buffing and debuffing.
Personally I'd suggest an archer bard, as you can still contribute in combat without having to risk getting in the middle of everything, and you only need to keep your Dex and Cha high. Take the basic archery feats (Pt. Blank, Precise Shot, Deadly Aim, Rapid Shot) and you can buff, debuff, or do decent damage every round. If you want to go full controller than you'll want Spell Penetration plus Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus in Enchantment. The issue the bard has with using spells to debuff is that he gets higher level spells at a slower pace, thus the save DCs aren't as high as what a full caster will throw out. So you really need to invest in boosting these as much as possible.
Just to agree with Corvino, Blistering Invective is great fun. Not the most optimised spell, but great fun. What is better then intimidating your enemies until they catch fire!
Joey does bring up a good point about bards, that they don't have the spells per day to cast a spell every round of combat. So if you are a bard focused solely on spell casting/performing, you are probably going to run out of options fairly often. In which case you would likely want to fall back on wands/UMD or some way to contribute to combat.
Bards are good at a lot of things, only great at inspiring courage. So, don't rely completely on spells--you will run dry.
Don't rely solely on tricks (CMB for 3/4 BAB cannot keep up).
Don't expect to be a front-line damage dealer--you haven't the feats/BAB/HP to pull it off.
Instead, diversify! Always inspire courage and then see what else you can do: a spell here or there, ranged attack (archer bards can be fabulous!) or find an archetype niche you like to help you out. I believe Dirge Bard and Sound Striker were recommended? I definitely endorse Sound Striker--doing sonic damage with Bardic Performance (Weird Words) is Awa-some. It's Supernatural, so ignores Spell Resistance. Sonic Resistance is not very common, either.
Personally, I combine Sound Striker with the Feat chain to get Verbose Performer so your Bardic Performance (including Sound Striker's Weird Words) now reaches 60' instead of 30'! And, your Inspire Courage will be that much stronger (Master Performer).