Discordant Voice, alone, pretty much means that I will always use Oratory or Sing for any Bard that actually buffs the party with Performance. Pretty much nothing has Sonic resistance, and now we are all doing extra Sonic damage... on top of the +3/+3 from Inspire Courage... you're welcome.
People take teamwork feats for 1D6 of precision damage, and yet, there are more enemies immune to precision damage than there are to Sonic damage... my one feat is actually better than the entire team taking the Precise Strike teamwork feat... and it cost my Bard absolutely NOTHING as far as action economy... other than just my normal rounds of Performance, which I would be doing anyways.
You don't even need to worry about positioning/flanking... I got you...
When I step forward and yell "Danger may be real, but fear is a choice!"
Everyone benefits... except the enemy.
My Cleric (Evangelist) purchased a Dervish Sikke to get another +1 inspire. Add in the spells he can cast for buffing, and he cam put out a big boost. The spell Hunter’s Blessing acts like a ranger's favored enemy, in that you get a +2 sacred bonus on attack and damage vs a type of creature. It lasts for hours. Blessing of Fervor can give a +2 untyped bonus to attack (rounds). Prayer provides +1 luck for attack and damage (rounds). Bless gives +1 morale bonus on attack (minutes).
My cleric is 17th level, so has (w/Sikke) inspire at +5 comp bonus on attack and weapon damage. Anytime we know what to expect, Hunter's Blessing can be in place. If there is time for a round or two of prep, Bless goes up. In combat, Blessings of Fervor quickly goes up (unless someone is providing Haste). If needed, Prayer goes up. All told, if he gets all that off, he gives out a total of +11 attack, +8 damage. If he had taken Discordant voice, that would add yet more damage that the party would dish out. That attack bonus can make secondary and tertiary attacks, as well as make criticals easier to confirm.
My cleric also has a +4 weapon, uses Rags to Riches that bumps it up by 1 (many minutes). Divine Favor gives +3 luck (rounds). With a power component cast, get an extra +1 luck damage. With Fate's Favored trait, my Luck bonus goes up by 1. Eaglesoul lasts hours until triggered, when it will give +4 sacred strength [=+2 attack and damage] (rounds when triggered). He also has Big Game Hunter for +1 attack, +2 damage vs. Large or larger creatures. [Common at this level.] He also has a level of Slayer, and can use Studied Target for +1 attack and damage. With a Large enemy, studied target, and the rest, he gets +12 attack and +14 damage. While Prayer overlaps with Divine Favor, that only affects +1 attack and damage.
If everything goes his way, he can get a +22 attack and +21 damage.
Since I have both a regular and lesser rod of extend, I have a daily prep that gives spells that last all day, and that can help quick combat spells last twice as long. [Although at 17 rounds for the 1r/l spells is longger than many combats, we have had ones that went over 30 rounds.]
Built as a reach cleric, he gets lots of time for casting, and uses AoOs for extra attacks. I did not go into Enlarge Person [would add +3.5 avg damage for my weapons] because of the mechanics for modified AC, modified # of AoOs, and larger AoO area usually in a small area.
/cevah
Legit.
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I usually flavor the bardic performance as the background music for the fight scene coming on in-universe.
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I usually flavor the bardic performance as the background music for the fight scene coming on in-universe.
That was the best quip in Last Action Hero. The bard had better watch out if he is the comedy sidekick.
Had a non-bardic, mystical-type character in a Palladium-styled game that knew how to play both the hangdrum/handpan and the singing bowl. ;)
Oh I agree, but I find there's a difference between fantastic and slapstick. The machine gun elf-archer in Hawk the Slayer was cool. The combatants stopping mid-combat to do a song and dance routine in a Bollywood version of Sinbad (may have been Aladdin or something else similar) I saw once was cringeworthy.
I guess that's where we differ. I find that those ridiculous, over-the-top "omagerd that was so LEET" images to be just as cringe-worthy as goofy ones. Your Dragonball Z has no place in my Tolkien, thank you. Legolas using parkour and skateboard moves was easily one of the worst parts of the movie for me.
My bard-barian was not at all a song-and-dance number kind of guy. He told epics of the party's deeds as is what they were doing in that moment were already recorded in some grand tale of adventure.
"Eyes aglow with the madness of battle, with each sweep and and thrust of blade, his foeman's blood would spill"
And when some harpies wanted to fascinate everyone, he pulled out the bagpipes for a countersong.
My gnommish campaigner was a bit of a comic character, but he had a good sense of humor and deliberately did funny things, he was not a joke in and of himself. Playing a melodramatic tune on his squeezebox while the villain revealed their sinister plot to undercut (and in a way, emphasize) the direness of the situation, etc.
There's a saying in Oban, Scotland. If you hear the bagpipes on a Tuesday your very lucky - that's usually the accordion player's day.
I tend to prefer lower level play as the extremes of superhuman ability aren't so prevalent. But given magic and monsters are core elements of the game, fantasy is an intrinsic to gameplay.
Agreed.
I like subtler forms of superhuman ability. Aragorn sleeping a like half a day between fighting in two major battles and traveling however many miles between Rohan and Gondor. Stuff like that.
I will concede that the bard is one of those character types that requires more care to avoid falling into the goofball trap, along with the low-Int character talking like a caveman-toddler or any flat stereotype (greedy proud dwarves or cleptomaniac elves, etc).
In a Play-By-Post Game a few years back, I played a Shoanti skald who was proficient with the Totem Spear. Describing his mixed performance/fighting style was pretty fun.Ooh, that's cool. Thanks to Game of Thrones (that scene with Oberon vs. the Mountain) or even that 'spear-dancing' scene in Hellboy 2, I've developed a fascination with the spear as a weapon, and love the idea of anything that makes it more dynamic and visually appealing.
Spartacus: Blood and Sand has several spear fighters that are pretty fun to watch as well
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Why is it that all bards are masters at playing the skin flute and flesh harmonica even better than actual musical instruments.
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Why is it that all bards are masters at playing the skin flute and flesh harmonica even better than actual musical instruments.
How else do you get into the Kitharodian Academy?
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Is it too late to note that some bards of mine play on people's nerves? Does that count? Some play their brains too, for that matter.
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Why is it that all bards are masters at playing the skin flute and flesh harmonica even better than actual musical instruments.How else do you get into the Kitharodian Academy?
Pinky-promise to join the Lion Blades once you get there?