avr |
A ring of spell knowledge II or higher is the first thing to spring to mind. You can cast spells not on the bard spell list with it.
If you don't have a circlet of persuasion for some reason, you might like a plume of panache for an extra panache point.
With dervish dance you can't hold a weapon in your off hand but you can carry some items. A swordmaster's flair or a padma blossom or a mirror of guarding reflections for example.
A sipping jacket is useful when you've got swift actions spare. Maybe a blouse of the boastful if you don't.
Mnemonic vestments allow you to reuse scrolls.
You might like a scabbard of the lost kiss for style if nothing else.
And of course the usual - weapon, armor, ring of protection, amulet of natural armor, cloak of resistance, belt of +dex, headband of +cha.
BadBird |
Swordmaster's Flair: Blue Scarf is an awesome item for any character that can take Amateur Swashbuckler and put it to use. Bards are in a good position to benefit from Amateur Swashbuckler: Dodging Panache anyhow; bonus reach with weapon + ability to move away with an immediate action while boosting AC is a really fantastic tactical combo.
BadBird |
Interestingly enough, you don't have to wield the Banner of the Ancient Kings as your weapon; you can use the Banner mounted on a pole in one hand while you go Dervish with the other, and you only lose the initiative and save bonuses. If you don't need a dex-damage feat, you can wield a sword in one hand while you carry the banner with a light shield in the other hand. You need Quick Draw to do these things efficiently with spellcasting, but with Quick Draw it's also easy to start combat with your banner in two hands for the initiative bonus and then instantly draw your weapon when it's time.
Chess Pwn |
Are you guys sure there is no way a bard can benefit from their own inspire competence? I still find this to be so odd otherwise
Inspire Competence (Su): ... A bard can't inspire competence in himself. ...
It's right there in the ability itself.
Though the lion blade prestige class can do it for himself I think.
Malkin the Magician |
I don't think everyone reads the banner the way Badbird does. Just a warning YMMV. The reason is that it says in two hands. Then the follow sentence says "In addition, when so wielded," saying the following ability require the the prior clause about wielding in two hands to be true.
The bard level boost is in a different paragraph but it still requires wielding it so it may be best to keep holding it firmly in two hands because as it is written you are not depending on a rule but the absence of one. To take out and use a different weapon. It is all very silly but that is how I have seen it ruled.
BadBird |
The bard level boost is in a different paragraph but it still requires wielding it...
Nope. It says 'carry', like it does at the start. It says nothing about 'wield' in the second paragraph. There's no question about the grammar here, though it seems like every day, everything just becomes a bit more 'controversial'. Even when it's plain text.
The text says "When carried into battle, a banner of the ancient kings confers several benefits".
Then it list two benefits that you gain "as long as the longspear or pole to which the banner is attached is firmly wielded in two hands", specifically attaching that condition to each of those benefits.
Then after a whole paragraph break, it lists benefits you gain if you "carry" the banner.
The idea that you gain zero benefits from carrying the banner unless you wield it in two hands is a bit bizarre, considering that the phrasing specifically attaches that condition to only two things. They even go out of their way to specify it as a special condition again, with "in addition, when so wielded," and then toss-in a whole paragraph break between the conditional benefits and the ones that list no condition.
And of course, the entire text could have simply begun with "When wielded in two hands, a banner of the ancient kings confers several benefits", which would have been far simpler and saved a ton of text/room if that's what they were saying.