I'm looking for feedback for a illusion based Prankster Bard I've built for a non-society Pathfinder game. The current level in our campaign is 12 and we use 25 Point Buy.
This build revolves around the gnomes knack for illusions and mockery. While the archetype choice might not be the best choice for an illusion based build, I really like it for it's fluff (I plan to make good use of my Swap ability). Furthermore I think illusions are a nice way to work with the mock ability.
You won't find any combat feats in this build; it focuses on illusions and support, pumping charisma to increase safe DCs, bonus spells and bardic performance rounds. Furthermore I'll pick up Craft Wondrous Items to make my party happy and because my GM is rather lenient and I'll be able to craft some illusion bard stuff.
The combination of Effortless Trickery, Threatening Illusion and Magical Lineage allows me to easily set up flanking support for our rogue (she will love me for that). Together with Spellsong we easily conceal any mischievous illusions, it's also great for role-playing an awesome bard on stage.
Brilliant Planner allows us to make full use of our UMD skill. We need a silence spell? Perfect, I brought a scroll for that!
In addition to making full use of my threatening illusions I'll improve the party with my bardic performances. I plan on picking up some bardic masterpieces (for example The House of the Imaginary Walls) which might come in handy during combat.
To ensure I never run out of bardic performance rounds I can use the alternative favored class bonus from the gnomes which give me additional rounds.
This build will never deal any kind of relevant damage but enable a lot of damage from the party and mischievous fun for me.
Equipment
As always, this is not my strong suit. I would pick up some attribute bonus items and definitely a Circlet of Persuasion. A Ring of Wizardry would ensure we never run out of illusions. Also a large number of scrolls and wands would definitely increase my usefulness. Beyond that (and the obligatory Cloak of Resistance etc.) I'm not sure.
Looks pretty solid to me...the number one piece of advice I can give is...make sure you and your GM fully understand the rules for illusion magic, and make sure the GM is not excessively hard on illusion magic.
I found a fantastic guide a while back (technically for D&D 3.5, but everything in it applies to Pathfinder) it was a 4 part blog series, which I combined and uploaded to my google docs. Feel free to check it out if you like.
Yeah...it's a good idea to confer with your GM on how he's going to run illusion magic.
In my experience it's difficult to balance them well. They either are allowed to run amok and are overpowered, or run strictly and virtually worthless.
Looks pretty solid to me...the number one piece of advice I can give is...make sure you and your GM fully understand the rules for illusion magic, and make sure the GM is not excessively hard on illusion magic.
I found a fantastic guide a while back (technically for D&D 3.5, but everything in it applies to Pathfinder) it was a 4 part blog series, which I combined and uploaded to my google docs. Feel free to check it out if you like.
Thank you for that! I've read through it and I'm sure that it will be of great use. I'll forward it to my GM and make sure we agree on our understanding.
One of the biggest sticking points I always run into with GMs who don't have to deal with illusions very often is that figments are not a mind effect...they are a visual effect...some GMs automatically give mindless creatures a pass, even though they should not (unless they have some special sense that would automatically see through something)
If you put an image in front of something mindless, it should react as if that image is real. It has no mind to try to disbelieve what it sees, so it should react accordingly (image of a wall, go around it...image of an enemy, attack it...etc)
It's not a bad build, but I'm not sure what you'll be doing in combat other than illusions and inspire courage. Bards don't have as many spells to cast as a full caster, so if you plan on just casting spells, you may run out before the day is through.
If you want to improve your buffing capability, use the feat Discordant Voice and buy the Dervish Sikke to add an extra +1 to attack and +1+1d6 damage to your allies. Maybe add Flagbearer and Banner of the Ancient Kings, although almost every other bard build does this, so it ain't exactly unique. Then in a fight, first round buff allies, second throw down illusions/CC spell, then third round onwards support with the longspear.
If you want to debuff your foes, you could pick up a Lesser Persistent Metamagic Rod since most of your spells are lvl 3 or lower, so getting them to stick may be tricky for you.
Aside from the awesome fluff, I'm not sure what you're getting from the Prankster archetype. Maybe Court Bard or Magician would take your fancy? Also, at lvl 12 you should have plenty of rounds of performance (unless you're a Thundercaller), so it would be better to put the favored class bonus into hitpoints.
Additionally, your dexterity is rather low for a class with light armour, you should worry about your AC. Incidentally, the Diva archetype gets the ability to wear and cast in heavy armour and a strong performance that frightens enemies for 1d4 rounds.
It's not a bad build, but I'm not sure what you'll be doing in combat other than illusions and inspire courage. Bards don't have as many spells to cast as a full caster, so if you plan on just casting spells, you may run out before the day is through.
I'm fully aware of the bards lackluster number of spells per day, but our group isn't heavily focused on combat and I'm confident that a Ring of Wizardry and a few masterpieces (with one or two created by my own) will be enough to stand my ground in combat.
Also, don't forget about the Punchline ability if the Prankster archetype, that's a standard action for a Hideous Laughter with scaling DC.
Penumbra Bard wrote:
If you want to improve your buffing capability, use the feat Discordant Voice and buy the Dervish Sikke to add an extra +1 to attack and +1+1d6 damage to your allies. Maybe add Flagbearer and Banner of the Ancient Kings, although almost every other bard build does this, so it ain't exactly unique. Then in a fight, first round buff allies, second throw down illusions/CC spell, then third round onwards support with the longspear.
Like you said, this is pretty much the standard build. I've really tried to avoid the generic bard build here. But thanks for the suggestion!
Penumbra Bard wrote:
If you want to debuff your foes, you could pick up a Lesser Persistent Metamagic Rod since most of your spells are lvl 3 or lower, so getting them to stick may be tricky for you.
While our GM is quite lenient on most things he is not a big than of the metamagic rods. So that's not an option.
Penumbra Bard wrote:
Aside from the awesome fluff, I'm not sure what you're getting from the Prankster archetype. Maybe Court Bard or Magician would take your fancy? Also, at lvl 12 you should have plenty of rounds of performance (unless you're a Thundercaller), so it would be better to put the favored class bonus into hitpoints.
I agree that the Prankster archetype might not be the optimised choice but as said above, the Punchline ability will be of good use. Also l think that illusions will work great in conjunction with the Mock ability. I plan to pick up something like the Gnome Pincher (crafted myself via the alternative Master Tinker racial trait) to improve on my Swap ability.
You might be right about the favored class bonus though. I plan on using Masterpieces often but still, I'll have a ton of performance rounds.
Penumbra Bard wrote:
Additionally, your dexterity is rather low for a class with light armour, you should worry about your AC. Incidentally, the Diva archetype gets the ability to wear and cast in heavy armour and a strong performance that frightens enemies for 1d4 rounds.
Hope some of this was useful!
I'll have to see how I can bump my DEX a bit, maybe reducing my CON as Gnomes already have a bonus. That would also improve my Initative a bit.
I'd be careful with masterpieces. Many of them take multiple rounds to activate, which is fine so long as you're not fighting. Also, if you make a custom masterpiece, your DM may not allow it. Remember that a masterpiece shouldn't be more powerful than the highest level spell a wizard or cleric or the same level can cast.
I still worry that you won't be able to contribute much in a fight. I have no doubts about the usefullness of bards outside of combat, so you don't need to allocate any feats to be useful as a bard in social/skill situations. However, a bard should focus on something that he/she is good at while fighting. Since bards don't any bonus feats, this usually takes up most of your feats. As it stands, only two of your feats help you in combat.
If you intend to be a dedicated illusionist, you really need to ramp up the DC's of your spells. To have an average CR12 monster fail on a bad save against your illusions at least 60% of the time, your spell DC should be at least 25. Currently, for your fourth level spells, it is +21. You may want Greater Spell Focus and a +6 Headband of Charisma at a bare minimum. Persistant or Focussed metamagic would also help; shame about the rods though. The headband would also bring the DC of your performances to 24, which is good enough if it hits multiple opponents.
