Arcane Healer / Thundercaller Bard with Variant Channeling

[Grandlounge]

I was thinking about using the Art/Music Variant Channeling harm ability to give penalties to a lot of bard spells. This should include that thundercaller’s Thunder Call (Su).

Quote:

Art/Music: Heal—Creatures gain a channel bonus on Perform checks and on saving throws against illusions, sonic effects, and language-dependent effects for 1 minute. Harm—Creatures take a channel penalty on saving throws against illusions, sonic effects, and language-dependent effects for 1 minute.

Thoughts on the build for PFS. I was thinking Halfling (Cha > Con=Dex > Wis = Int > Str) with feats like extra channel, Flagbearer.

I would appreciate any thoughts on the build.

[Red Griffyn]

If you pick the right deity for something like a longspear you can also get weapon focus, and dip 1 level into Unchained Monk (Scaled Fist) to get Crusader's Flurry (grab combat reflexes from the monk level) and have a good reach build. Then put the banner of the ancient king on your spear around level 7-9 to buff your flag-bearer. Alternatively you can wait until you get an white opalescent ioun stone for weapon proficiency/weapon focus before your dip and grab a glaive or better reach weapon. If you do a Sohei monk you'll lose a BAB and have a -1/-1 on the flurry, but you'll be able to flurry in light armour (no armour bonus though).

I really think that is a cool concept though and provides some additional usage to the channel. Just remember you don't have a lot of channels.

I think the channel penalty would also stack with Arcane Strike/Riving Strike if it is simply a free action to keep your thundercalling going. Add in Spear Dancer to cause them to be dazzled and up the DC as well. I'd probably build something like this:

Human UnMonk (Scaled Fist) 1 / Bard (Arcane Healer/Thunder caller) X

Racial Trait:
- Adoptive Parentage (grab Weapon Focus longspear without proficiency with first level as the UnMonk to get the max HP).

Deity:
- Arqueros (Alignment LG required, but you're not a Paladin so you can be a bit more chaotic of unlawful).

Stats (Level 1):
STR - 16
DEX - 14
CON - 12
INT - 10
WIS - 7
CHA - 17 (15 +2 from Human)

Stats (Level 11):
STR - 18 (16 + 2 Belt)
DEX - 16 (14 + 2 Belt)
CON - 14 (12 + 2 Belt)
INT - 12 (10 + 2 Ioun Stone)
WIS - 8 (7 + 1 at L8)
CHA - 22 (15 + 2 from Human + 1 at L4 + 4 Headband)

Traits:
1 - Carefully Hidden (+1 Trait to Will and +2 against Divination effects on all saves, great trait to compensate for your wis)

2 - Reactionary (+2 to initiative) or Exalted of the Society (1 extra channel)

Feats:
1R - Weapon Focus (Longspear) - from adoptive parentage
1C - Combat Reflexes
1 - Phalanx Formation
3 - Crusaders Flurry (Longspear)
5 - Arcane Strike
7 - Rivelling Strike
9 - (Flagbearer + Buying Banner of Ancient Kings) or Spear Dancer
11 - Discordant Voice

From level 2-7 you move to within 15 ft, start your bardic performance as a standard or channel as a standard. Collect your AoOs on the enemies turn if your team doesn't charge past you. Next turn start performance or channel and bring bardic performances with the DC lowered. On subsequent turns you can flurry with your longspear while maintaining your performance. You have the monk level to threaten within your spear's reach.

For more of a channel focus you could swap later feats to look like:
1R - Weapon Focus (Longspear) - from adoptive parentage
1C - Combat Reflexes
1 - Phalanx Formation
3 - Crusaders Flurry (Longspear)
5 - Extra Channel
7 - Selective Channel
9 - (Flagbearer + Buying Banner of Ancient Kings) or Spear Dancer
11 - Discordant Voice

With Phalanx Formation and Combat Reflexes you'll be able to sit in the second row and hit things/collect AoOs while you use your standard actions to cast/perform/channel. You could be a fairly potent debuffer against your own effects I think.

Note that your AC may be a bit lower early on as you only get DEX/CHA and won't be in armour unless you use a Sohei. So you'll need to invest money into fixing that.

Items to consider:
- Ring of protected life (gives a 1/day swift channel and add 5 ft to channel range)
- Fortuitous weapon enchantment

[Grandlounge]

Thanks for the suggestion. I was looking at this build but I ultimately decided against dispite it being good for a few reasons.

A decend god for reach weapons are hard to come by. So I would like just UAS or flurry wihta monk weapon. But I do like the look of it.

I don't know if fighting with a long spear and flagbearer actually work together it has some wierd wording about one hand.

And I have 2 other monk dip caster martials so I wanted to try something different.

Great item advice though. I will get some of those for sure.

I'm hoping on some advice for optimizing a save based 6th level caster. I have played a mesmerist and it is great but I have not played a bard this way not a bard this way.

[Red Griffyn]

Grandlounge wrote:

Thanks for the suggestion. I was looking at this build but I ultimately decided against dispite it being good for a few reasons.

A decend god for reach weapons are hard to come by. So I would like just UAS or flurry wihta monk weapon. But I do like the look of it.

I don't know if fighting with a long spear and flagbearer actually work together it has some wierd wording about one hand.

And I have 2 other monk dip caster martials so I wanted to try something different.

Great item advice though. I will get some of those for sure.

I'm hoping on some advice for optimizing a save based 6th level caster. I have played a mesmerist and it is great but I have not played a bard this way not a bard this way.

Well usually, people who dip for crusader's flurry do it to get a reach weapon or a high crit range weapon. While the bard has high crit range weapons, they are all really finesse weapons that won't work with flurry (i.e., slashing grace/fencing grace) although you can work towards a flurry scimitar but you need to pick up the proficiency somehow.

So the default is the longspear as the bard's weapon proficiencies are strange. It gives you an extra dimension as a reach bard because you can flurry and also get AoOs.

Also, level 9 is that is around the time you can afford the 18,000 gp Banner of the Ancient Kings (save between 7-9). It counts as a flag that can be put on a longspear and grants double the flagbearer bonus, treats your inspire courage as 4 levels higher, gives you free rerolls to certain saves, and +4 to initiative. Note that you will have to take your hand off to cast with a two-handed weapon in your hand. Without that specific item the feat is useless to a two-handing bard.