Bard Handbook
D&D 3.5
Handbook Version 61 –
2019/03/15
View Changelog on on Github.
Navigation
● About the Bard
● Why I Wrote this Handbook
● Other Resources and Thanks
● Color / Symbol Legend
● Source Books Used
● This Handbook’s Length
● A Note on Ability Evaluation and Character Optimization
● Party Roles
● Class Features
● Alternate Class Features
● Ability Scores
● Races
o No Level Adjustment
o With Level Adjustment
o +1 Level Adjustment
o +2 Level Adjustment
o +3 Level Adjustment
o +4 Level Adjustment
o +9 Level Adjustment
o +10 Level Adjustment
● Skills
● Skill Tricks
● Prestige Classes and Multiclassing
o Base Classes
o Bard Specific Prestige Classes
o Combat Bards
o Spell Progression / Abilities (Not Bard Specific)
o Racial Paragons
o Hybrid Classes
● Feats
o General Feats
o Familiar Feats
o Metamagic Feats
o Spell Improvement Feats
o Vow Feats
o Bardic Music Feats
o Combat Feats
o Multi-Class Specific Feats
o Bloodline Feats
o Draconic Aura Feats
o Hidden Talent Feat
o Shape Soulmeld Feat
o Bind Vestige Feat
o Devotion Feats
o Martial Feats
● Spells
o Level 0 Spells
o Level 1 Spells
o Level 2 Spells
o Level 3 Spells
o Level 4 Spells
o Level 5 Spells
o Level 6 Spells
● Key Rules and Advice
o Bardic Music Rules
o Which Perform?
o Fear Escalation
o Casting in Secret
o Using Prestidigitation
o Speak Languages Rank Limit
o Using Silent Image
o Using Alter Self
o Using Diplomacy
o Tempering Diplomacy
o Maintaining Inspire Courage
o Is Dragonfire Inspiration Good? (How good?)
o Does Dragonfire Inspiration stack with Inspire Courage?
● Example Builds
o Caster Builds
o Debuffer
o Melee Builds
o Archer Builds
o Summoner Builds
o Core Only Builds
● Items
o General Use Items
o Masterwork Instruments
o Magical Instruments
o Weapons
o Weapon Enhancements
o Armor
o Armor Enhancements
o Wands
o Wondrous Items
● Comments
About the Bard
This class is AWESOME. I think bard is one of the most balanced,
dynamic, and fun classes to play in the game. I didn’t appreciate
how many options and abilities were available to it until I dug into the
various source books. Sure, you don’t have the raw power of the
nuclear classes, but you can be in a party with other tier 2-5 classes
and really shine. The bard can be adapted to a bunch of different play
styles: caster, gish (sword-mage), arcane archer, face, crowd control,
skill monkey, and healer. He can usually fill a number of those roles at
the same time, and does so effectively.
I have played a lot of different characters, and the bard is by far the
most fun I’ve had. Wizards and things like the DMM Cleric possess
campaign shattering nuclear power, but where’s the fun in that? The
DM is pissed at you, the other players are pissed at you, and the
campaign ends early. The bard is what D&D should be: dynamic,
rewards creative play, powerful without being over-powered, and his
abilities are friendly to other PCs. I cannot recommend the class
enough, especially for your next low- or mid-powered campaign.
If your campaign is anything like the games I’ve ever played, you start
at low levels, slowly progress through the mid levels, and, if you’re
lucky, you get to play some teen levels before the game falls apart.
Even if you have a dedicated play group and make it all the way to
level 20, the abilities you get at levels 1-5 are going to get a lot more
play than the abilities you get at levels 15-20. Keep that in mind while
designing your character. I recommend that you look at the build
every four levels (or at specific key levels, depending on your class)
and consider how you’d like the character at each of those level.
If you know you’re going to start playing at a high level and continue
to play after reaching level 20, then of course this does not apply to
you. But for most people, level 1-10 are much more important than
levels 11-20. Make sure you keep that in mind while developing your
character. Remember: the goal isn’t to optimize some theoretical
mechanic; the goal is to optimize fun.
Party Roles
● Archer – The bard makes a fine archer. The only problem he faces
is the 3/4ths base attack bonus. It’s a feat-intesive thing, but
definitely doable.
● Blaster – The bard does not make a good blaster. He has a few
direct damage spells on his list, but not many. (but That’s OK,
because blasters suck anyway.)
● Buffer – This is the bard’s best role (and easiest to fulfill). Inspire
courage is very strong, easy to make much stronger, and it’s one
of your core class features. Your spells can support this role as
well. Buffing is something the bard is always going to be good at
(unless you actively work to make him bad at it). The bard has
access to a poor-man’s version of the Cleric’s Divine Metamagic
Feat, so 24-hour persisted buffs are also an option here, if you’re
interested in that sort of thing.
class features.
● Bardic Music – Along with spellcasting, this is the core of the bard
class. There are many different kinds of bardic music:
o Countersong – Because it takes a standard action to
activate and only protects against sonic or language-
dependant magical attacks, this is very weak. It’s
possible to go an entire 20 level campaign and never
have a situation where this is the right choice. It will be
also virtually impossible to get this to protect against
instantaneous effects. The one place it has some value is
to try and break the effect of a continuous effect, but
even then, it has to be a sonic or language based attack.
I recommend swapping this out if you can.
o Fascinate – Fascinate gives -4 to spot & listen, and
keeps the target from taking any actions as long as they
are not threatened. The ability is limited to one target per
3 levels. This feature isn’t that great, but it has some fun
in-game applications. It is most useful as the pre-
requisite for suggestion or mass suggestion. A creative
bard with a reasonable DM can find some nice tricks with
this ability.
o Inspire Courage – This is one of the best reasons to play
a bard. +1 to attack and +1 to damage doesn’t seem like
a lot, but when you do the math across an entire party, it
adds up to a lot of extra damage. When you use feats,
magical items, and additional bard levels to get this
bonus higher, it becomes responsible for a metric ton of
damage. Obviously, this ability is stronger in a party of
physical combat characters, and weaker in party of
casters. The best part about this is it makes your fellow
players happy, because their characters are more
effective. Win-Win.
● Inspire
Awe (DrM 13)
Lose Inspire Courage, Gain Inspire Awe.
Opponents become shaken, with a chance at saving. The debuffs
are strong with a wide-range of harm and the save DC is pretty
high. This is good if you don’t want to go deep into inspire
courage, or if your party doesn’t have very many melee characters.
This is also a core feature of a fear-escalation bard.
● Inspire Hatred (EoE 21)
Lose inspire greatness, gain inspire hatred.
Cause an opponent to hate and attack his ally unless he passes a
will save? Sweet! I love the flavor, and it seems like a better use of
a standard action than inspire greatness.
● Inspire Turning (ECR 206)
Lose Inspire Competence with the ability to boost an ally’s ability
to turn undead by spending a bardic music attempt they gain +2
levels on their turn check.
If you are in a party where this is relevant, I think it’s definitely
better than inspire competence.
● Lore Song (DS 8)
Lose Bardic Knowledge. Once per day (per two bard levels, i.e. lvl
1, 3, 5, 7, etc.) immediate action, add +4 bonus to an attack, save,
or check roll.
This is probably the best swap out for Bardic Knowledge. Knack is
also strong, but this one naturally min-maxes.
● Mimicking Song (DS 8)
Give up countersong. Use bardic music to give allies a +2 bonus
on move silently.
This is probably an upgrade. In-character, it’s a little funny to
imagine, but I think of it as the bard generating a magical sound-
cancelling wave (two sounds can theoretically cancel one another).
In either case, if you don’t have somewhere else to dump
countersong, this is probably an improvement.
● Music of Creation (ECS 34): (You can also take these as feats)
o Haunting Melody
Level 6+, so Replace Suggestion, Inspire Greatness,
Song of Freedom, Inspire Heroics, or Mass Suggestion
This is either very strong or below average, depending on
DM’s ruling. The text isn’t super clear on whether this
requires an action to activate or whether it “piggy backs”
another perform. I think RAW definitely piggy backs, but I
wouldn’t be surprised to see some DM’s house ruling
that this is a standard action to activate. It’s strong if you
can piggy back (inspire courage does a lot then!) and it’s
not very exciting by itself. You can see discussion on this
topic
here: http://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/63506/do
es-haunting-melody-use-a-standard-action/
o Music of Growth
Level 9+, so Replace Inspire Greatness, Song of
Freedom, Inspire Heroics, or Mass Suggestion
– This is generally bad, but it is a nice alternative to
Augment Summoning for a savage/greenbound
summoning bard. Saves a feat.
o Music of Making
Level 6+, so Replace Suggestion, Inspire Greatness,
Song of Freedom, Inspire Heroics, or Mass Suggestion
Doubling the duration of conjuration spells is nice. If you
have a lot, you may want to consider taking this.
o Song of the Heart
Level 6+, so Replace Suggestion, Inspire Greatness,
Song of Freedom, Inspire Heroics, or Mass Suggestion
This is a good replacement for Inspire Greatness if you
get up there. A passive +1 to inspire courage, plus other
conditional benefits. It’s a shame this requires inspire
competence as as a pre-req. I almost feel like that’s a
typo. If it didn’t, this would be an amazing swap for
inspire competence.
o Soothe the Beast
Level 3+, so Replace Inspire Competence, Suggestion,
Inspire Greatness, Song of Freedom, Inspire Heroics, or
Mass Suggestion
This is pretty cool. Being able to diplomacy wild animals
fits the bard really well, and the mechanics (roll a perform
check) are naturally maximized. I think this is the best
option to replace Inspire Competence.
● Planar Bard
(PlH 29) – This is the sort of ability could be good in a very
particular campaign. The things you give up aren’t exciting, so if
the gains are something your DM tells you want, then go ahead.
o 3rd level: Planar Inspiration
Lose Inspire Competence, Use music to protect people
from planar effects
o 6th level: Planar Dissonance
Lose Suggestion,Temporarily redirect portals to new
locations.
o 12th level: Planar Discordance
Lose Song of Freedom, use bardic music as a precipitate
breach spell
● Repel Domination (ECR 206)
Lose suggestion, gain a +2 bonus on saves vs mind affecting spells
and abilities of the undead, if you succeed in the save they become
shaken.
This is weak. Suggestion is a solid ability; don’t give it up for this
conditional, passive, and small advantage.
● Savage Bard (UA 50)
Must be chaotic, good fortitude and will save, poor reflex. Modified
skill and spell list. Illiterate.
I think this is the right base for a summoner’s bard. As pointed out
by Elmer below in the comments section, this will give you access
to the Greenbound Summoning feat, which is really really strong.
Aside from that, Illiteracy is sad. Gaining fort instead of reflex is
nice. Losing prestidigitation is absolutely miserable. Losing read
magic is sad. On the whole, not a choice I’d take in general, but it
seems very strong for a summoning-oriented bard.
● Spellbreaker Song (CM 35)
Lose countersong, can use bardic music to disrupt casters, giving
them 20% spell failure chance.
This isn’t much of an improvement over countersong. The fact that
it disrupts all casters is a big advantage, though, especially if you
can sustain it throughout the combat (it doesn’t require
concentration to maintain). 20% against two or three spell casters
over a handful of turns is pretty nice.
● Undead Bardic Knowledge (ECR 206)
Replace Bardic Knowledge with specialized knowledge about the
undead
Works like normal bardic knowledge but with a +5 competence
bonus. Only good if you’re going to be in a campaign that’s all
about undead. The big advantage to bardic knowledge is diversity,
and this takes that away.
Ability Scores
Your choice in ability scores is going to depend a lot on what sort of
bard you want to be. A caster/face/control bard doesn’t need strength
or dex, where a melee or archer bard is going to want some.
A Bard generally wants a high charisma, a low wisdom, and a good
balance between the other four abilities, depending on the direction
you are going. Melee bards can skim on the charisma a little, if they
want, to pick up some additional physical stats.
● Strength – Depends on the build. A bard will do combat damage
sometimes, so a 10-14 here, when possible, is nice.
● Dexterity – This is highly build-dependent. AC and ranged attack
is nice, and you have a lot of skills that get bumps from Dex, but
economy will probably not let you dump a ton of points here. 10-
12 feels about right, generally.
● Constitution – Extra hit points are always helpful. 10-14 here
seems good.
● Intelligence – This stat is a sponge; give it everything you can that
you don’t need in the other slots. Extra skills are really great.
● Wisdom – This is the bard’s easy dump stat. The primary benefit a
bard gets from wisdom is will saves and a bump to spot / listen.
Weak.
● Charisma – At least 16, preferably 18. Charisma is the stat bards
use for casting, giving the bard bonus spells per day and a higher
DC for spells that have a save (many bard spells). It also pumps
the two best skills in the game: Diplomacy and Use Magic Device.
Races
No Level Adjustment
● Aasimar,
Lesser (PGtF template applied to Aasimar) – +2 to Wisdom, +2 to
Charisma, Darkvision, and a small bonus to spot and listen. Not
my first choice, but a solid race.
● Aasimar (Web) – +2 Charisma, darkvision, light, spot and listen
bonuses, some resistances. Not bad.
● Azurian (MoI 7) – A modified human. Lose extra skill points, pick
up a point of essentia. I haven’t researched essentia a ton (I
probably should) but if you’re using it, this is probably better than
human for your character.
● Dwarf (PHB) – Not a good pick for the Bard. Nothing we’re excited
about, and it reduces our most important stat. If you want to be a
dwarf, you should look at some of the other options (listed below)
which at least don’t dump CHA.
● Dwarf [Desert
(UA 11), Dream(RoS 88), or Gold (DMG 171)
] – No big upside here, but if you want to be a dwarf, none of
these offer CHA penalties, which is nice.
● Elf, Star (UEast p9) – +2 Cha, -2 Con, Favored Class Bard, Normal
Elf Stuff, Can ghost touch weapons at night.
● Gnome (PHB) – This is a pretty good choice, especially for
casters. The +1 boost to illusion DC is solid and I love the extra
cantrips per-day. Small size is a mixed bag, but on the whole
advantageous for a non-melee oriented character. This is a strong
choice if you’re building core-only, but it falls off if you’re playing
with all the splat books. It’s 4 stars in core-only, and 3-stars if you
include all the splat books.
● Gnome, Stonehunter (DrM 8) Dragonblood subtype! If you want
to play a gnome and use the draconic auras or dragonfire
inspiration, check this out.
● Gnome, Whisper (RoS 94)- +2 Dex and Con, -2 Str and Cha.
Silence is a nice spell like ability, but not for -2 CHA. Pass.
● Goblin, Bhuka (Sand 39) – Not an exciting race in general, but the
best way for a bard to be a goblin (if you want/need that for some
reason) because of no CHA loss and no level adjustment.
● Gruwaar (DR317 p25) – +2 to Dex and Cha, -2 Str and Wis. Small,
4 legs, fey, can cast disguise self 1/day. Darkvision.
● Half-Elf (PHB) – Half-elves are really strong, assuming you have
access to the alternate class features from RoD. The +2 to
diplomacy, low light vision, and other minor race features are also
pretty nice. I wouldn’t take this race without access to RoD, but I
would seriously consider it in the context of those alternate class
features.
● Half-Elf (Jungle) – Same as half-elf, but you ca +2 to bluff and
sense motive instead of diplomacy and gather info.
● Half-Human (DMG 171) – Same as half-elf, but you lose the
diplomacy bonus to gain longbow proficiency (Bard already grants
longsword). I think this is a worse option, but something you can
look at. You’ll have to get the DM to approve getting the alternate
class features from RoD, but he really ought to.
● Half-Orc (PHB) – There’s really
nothing here for us.
● Half-Orc (Desert) (UA 12) – No CHA penalty half-orc. You lose the
strength bonus, but get a con bonus. If you’re in a point buy
system that’s probably a wash for you, so this is good. You also
lose darkvision (in favor of low-light vision) which is sad. If you’re
trying to go half-orc, perhaps for a fear bard, this is your best
choice.
● Halfling, Strongheart (FRCS 17) – Bonus feat and a lot of the
typical halfling fare. Effectively a small-sized human (but no bonus
skill points).
● Human (PHB) – As usual, human is the best option. Bonus feats,
bonus skills, and free multi-classing. It’s got everything.
● Human, Silverbrow (DrM 6) – Gain dragonblood subtype,
featherfall 1/day (and more at higher levels), +2 to disguise, but
lose bonus skill points. Solid.
● Illumian (RoD 52) – A really interesting class, especially for melee
rogues. If you take the Aeshkrau word, you can dump charisma as
a stat. You lose a lot of the social skills this way, but it’s an idea.
● Kobold [Regular
(RoTD 39), Arctic (UA 10), Desert (UA 13), Earth (UA 17)
] – A way to get the dragonblood subtype, which can help with
draconic aura. Take a look at all 4 to see which you like best if you
go this route, all four are about the same strength. Another trick is
to take this race and start with the dragonwrought feat. Be an old
man and get +3 to all mental stats without the normal penalties to
the physical stats. A little cheesy, and it effectively costs you two
feats (compared to being human.)
● Other Dragonblood Races
● Magic-Blooded Template (DM 306 p65) – This is stupid strong.
You get +2 CHA for -2 WIS, Low Light Vision, +2 to Knowledge
(arcana) and spellcraft, and gain 4 cantrip uses per day. The only
downside is you get favored-class: sorcerer and lose any other
favored class. Unless you’re a strange build or a melee-multiclass
bard, this doesn’t matter at all.
● Raptoran (RotW 68) – No level adjustment and gain the ability to
fly via race. Flying is cool.
● Spellscale (RotD 26) – Can transfer into spellscale race by
undergoing a rite after level 1. +2 to Cha, -2 to Con. Low light
vision, A cool “blood-quickening’ ability that lets you get a range of
race-based benefits each day.
● Unseelie Fey (DCV1 222) – Get a fly speed, some pretty good
special powers, damage reduction, low-light vision, +4 to
intimidate, +2 Dex, +2 Cha, -2 Con, -2 Str. It’s pretty good.
+1 Level Adjustment
● Aasimar
(RoD 92, MM209)
– +2 Wis and Cha, Darkvision, some other small benefits.
● Catfolk (RotW 92) – +4 dex, +2 cha, 40′ move, low light vision, +2
to listen and move silent, and +1 to AC. Not a bad package for a
bard.
● Celadrin (DR 350) – Bonuses to Chrisma and Dex, +4 to Sing,
Dark vision, bonus to diplomacy, normal elf stuff. Not bad.
● Draconic Creature Template (Dr 149) – +1 AC, +2 Str, Con, and
Cha, Dark vision and low light vision, +2 to intimidate, two claw
attacks.
● D’hin’ni (DR351 p54)-+2 Dex, +2 Cha, -2 Wis. Darkvision 60′ , +1
bonus to saves, +2 to some sneaky skills, prestidigitation at will! I
love prestidigitation.
● Gnome, Chaos (RodS 86) – +2 to Cha and Con, -2 to Strength.
Some cool spell-like abilities. Not great.
● Jaebrin (MMV 93) – +2 Cha, -2 Str. Low light vision. Immunity to
enchantment spells and effects. +1 bonus to DC for enchantment
spells she casts, +2 on perform, bluff, diplomacy, and appraise. A
bite that does will damage. Not bad.
● Mephling, Air (Planar 10) – Gain flying, small size, favored class
bard, and a weakish breath weapon. +2 to Dex and Cha, -2 to int.
Not bad, but not worth 1 LA.
+2 Level Adjustment
● Adu’ja (DR317 p22) – Be a plant. +2 to Charisma. Some other cool
abilities, like +4 to diplomacy and perform (although minuses to
bluff and sense motive). Heals fast when in sunlight and well
watered.
● Domovoi (Frost 122) – +6 Cha and bonuses to most other stats.
Get some spells. Interesting.
● Dragonkin (Dcn 151) – Might be an idea for a melee bard starting
at higher levels. You get fly, +8 to strength, bonuses to other stats,
are large, detect magic at will, 7AC and some other cool things.
● Elf, Drow
(MM 103, Und 10)
– +2 to Charisma, Int, and Dex, -2 to con, spell resistance, spell-
like abilities, and darkvision. You also get the normal elf stuff and
sensitivity to bright light.
● Phrenic Template (EPH) – +2 to int, +2 to Wis, and +4 to
Charisma. As you level up, you pick up a bunch of psionic abilities.
This is definitely very strong for a bard, if you’re comfortable with
the level adjustment.
● Half-Fey (FF) – +4 to Cha, +2 to Dex, +2 to Wis, and -2 to Con. A
pretty fast fly speed with good maneuverability; and a selection of
useful spell-like abilities, including charm person at will, which is
pretty fantastic.
● Satry (MM 219) – +2 to all stats but Strength. Bard is favored
class. A lot of nice benefits, including +4 to perform and damage
reduction.
● Shadow creatures (LoM) gain shadow blend, which gives you
total concealment in any illumination less than full daylight.
Basically, it’s permanent greater invisibility. It’s kind of insane. You
also get to choose from a laundry list of powerful special abilities
like fast healing, evasion (good combo with invisibility), and plane
shift (to or from the plane of shadow only) as a spell-like ability.
● Yuan-Ti Pureblood ( MM 262) – +2 CHA, Dex, and Int. Darkvision,
some feats, special attacks, spell resistance.
+3 Level Adjustment
● Witchknife (MM3 112) – +4 to cha and other stat boosts, sneak
attack damage, psionic effect spell-like abilities. Maybe worth
looking into if you’re starting the campaign at high levels.
+4 Level Adjustment
● Doppleganger (MM 68) – +2 to all stats, and a total of +4 to
wisdom. Darkvision, extra bonuses to everything, detect thoughts
as a special ability, and change shape as a special ability. If you’re
playing a high-level campaign and can do LA buyoff, this might be
worth looking into. Would be absolutely miserable at low-levels.
● Pixie (MM 236) – +6 to Cha, bonuses to other stats (but dumps
strength) . Can fly, some Damage Reduction, gain Greater
Invisibility.
+9 Level Adjustment
● Gloura (Under 88) – +10 dex, +4 con, +2 wis, +6 cha, Darkvision
60′ , low-light vision, DR 10/Cold Iron, Fly 60′ , light armor
proficiency, simple weapon proficiency, CHA bonus to saves and
deflection AC. I think You have to take the Fey template, which is
+7, plus this which is +2, so a total of +9.
Skills
A bard has a relatively high number of skill points per level, and has
access to a wide range of skills. The bard’s best skills are the social
skills, but he also has some other interesting things going on:
●
Appraise – Not really worth getting. You can prevent NPCs from
taking too much from you on sales / buys with a very stingy DM,
but not really exciting.
● Balance – I don’t recommend putting any points in this. It may
come up occasionally, but it’s hard to get a lot of value from points
here.
● Bluff – This is a very strong skill. I like taking this, along with the
other social skills, and maxing it out as much as possible. Five
ranks grant a +2 synergy bonus to Diplomacy, which is great.
● Climb – If you like this for flavor, it gives the DM opportunities to
give you cool dungeons. It doesn’t tend to give you the ability to
beat general encounters, so I don’t recommend picking it up.
● Concentration – Since you’re a spellcaster, this is essential
(unless you pick up the feat Melodic Casting, in which case you
can ignore this one).
● Craft – I don’t like using finite skill points to generate gold (a DM-
controlled resource). For that reason, I don’t recommend taking
this skill.
● Decipher Script – It’s less expensive to take read magic as a
cantrip and learn all of the languages through “Speak Languages”
than it is to get this up to a level where you can get any practical
use out of it. Pass.
● Diplomacy – Arguably the best skill in the game, I recommend
maxing this out. It gives you so many opportunities to resolve
conflicts and get allies. Very dynamic, very strong.
● Disable Device (Cross-class) – This is an OK skill, but its cross-
class for the Bard. I think there are better places to put your
points.
● Disguise – This has some cool role-playing opportunities, and can
add a lot of flavor to a campaign. The downside is that the
mechanics aren’t super favorable to the player, and the times
you’ll be able to apply it in a regular campaign aren’t too often. It’s
OK.
● Escape Artist – Being grappled sucks, and Escape Artist can help
you get out of that. If your DM is good at the rules, he’ll probably
send a few grapplers at the casters. This can help mitigate that.
● Forgery (Cross-class) – Because this is cross-class, it’s hard to
get much out of it. It’s a cool ability in theory, but I’ve never had
much luck putting it to use in my campaigns. If you’re doing an
intrigue type campaign and like this flavor, it’s not terrible.
● Gather Information – This is a fine ability, and fits right in with the
other social-skills I recommend. It might overlap a bit, but with a
good DM, I think each social skill has its own realm.
● Handle Animal (Cross-class) – Not really worth putting points
into.
● Heal (Cross-class) – Not really worth putting points into.
● Hide – This is an OK skill for every class. You can go on espionage
missions with the rogue, if you’d like. Not amazing, not bad.
● Iaijutsu Focus – This is a wierd skill. It’s only in the 3.0 Oriental
Adventures book. If you draw and attack a flat-footed opponent,
you can get extra damage for that attack. You also can do an
“iajutsu duel” with an opponent that accepts. For the most part, I
think this isn’t worth going into (both because it’s a bit narrow and
because your DM is going to have to be invested) but it’s not bad.
● Intimidate (Cross-class) – It’s a shame this skill is cross-class,
because it’s a strong skill and fits in well with the bard’s social
package. It overlaps with diplomacy a bit, but it has some unique
uses, and is really cool for roleplaying. There aren’t any easy ways
for a bard to get a class skill. For fear-monger bards, this is a key
component. For non-fear-mongers, you can take it or leave it.
● Jump – Five ranks gives a bonus to tumble, and there’s a nice skill
trick which can be good. Otherwise, I don’t think there’s much
here worth pursuing this one.
● Knowledge – Knowledges are a good skill in general, and become
absolutely insane in conjunction with knowledge devotion and the
skill trick Collector of Stories. If you’re going pure caster, this can
be a dump. If you’re going archer or melee, this seems like
something to really consider.
● Listen – This is a good skill that will get a lot of use throughout any
campaign. Wisdom is our dump stat, which is sad. I usually want
more active things (and leave the listening to the barbarian or
rogue) but this is definitely worth considering. If you’re going into
the Sublime Chord prestige class (one of the best for a Bard) you’ll
need 13 ranks here, so keep that in mind.
● Move Silently – Same as hide. If you and the rogue want to be
buddies (or if there’s no rogue) this is maybe worth taking. It has
some application, but not as many as you might like.
● Open Lock (Cross-class) – This might be worth taking one rank
in, if you get bardic knack. Otherwise, leave the locks to the
rogues, wizards, or barbarians to solve.
● Perform – Essential for a bard. Keep this near max for one type,
but there are some levels you can skimp on maxing out if you
need, based on what bardic musics you’re gaining access to. I
recommend doing something that doesn’t require an instrument,
like singing, whistling, or oration.
● Profession – Boring. If you want to say to your DM “I spend a year
making money”, then go ahead. Not something I’m interested in
doing. Kill monsters and fight bad guys. That’s more fun.
Professions are for real life.
● Ride (Cross-class) – Dump this skill and avoid horses. Q E D.
● Search (Cross-class) – It’s a good skill, but it’s not our strong
suit. I usually let someone else in the party cover this ground, and
just assist when I can.
●
Sense Motive – Five ranks gives a synergy bonus to diplomacy.
That’s great. Otherwise, it does help protect the party from being
bluffed. It’s a solid skill, but not amazing.
● Sleight Of Hand – A lot of the bard’s spells are social based, and
being caught casting can really a limiting factor. Sleight of hand
enables you to cast secretly in two ways (using the skill and using
a skill trick) which I’ll outline below in a special section. For that
reason, I love this skill.
● Speak Language – A lot of the bard’s skills and spells are
language dependent. The more languages you speak, the more
opportunities you have to use those skills. There is a strong
argument that this skill is not subject to the normal “Max level + 3
ranks” limit, which means you can pick up all 19 learnable
languages at a pretty low level.
● Spellcraft – Lets you identify magical items with a high enough
check and detect magic (MIC 217). That alone is a good enough
reason to get into this class. It’s also required for some of the
better prestige classes.
● Spot (Cross-class) – A good skill that I leave to other PCs.
● Survival (Cross-class) – Cross class and limited application. It will
only really solve problems by the most difficult and strict DMs.
Leave this to the ranger or rogue.
● Swim – This skill can save your life, but you don’t typically need a
bunch of points to get value from it. As DM, I like to make
encounters that reward multiple types of skills, and swim is easy to
do that with. But it’s not something you need.
● Tumble – If you’re a melee bard, this is great. If you’re an archer
bard, it might be OK. If you’re a face / caster bard, pass.
● Use Magic Device – One of the best skills in the game, I also
recommend maxing this out. However, you can probably ignore it
completely for the first 3-4 levels.
● Use Rope (Cross-class) – This skill is just bad.
Skill Tricks
Skill tricks are a game feature from Complete Scoundrel. They let you
spend 2 skill points to pick up “skill tricks”, which are effectively mini-
feats. Due to the high number of skill points and many roles that a
Bard can play in a party, skill tricks can be a nice resource for a bard.
Typically, you want to choose skill tricks that suit your character. Two
skill points aren’t a large investment, so if you’ll be able to get some
use out of the trick, it’s generally worth taking. Here is a list and my
opinions on each:
● Acrobatic Backstab – This is best for a rogue, but if you’re a
melee bard who uses tumble a lot, it’s not a bad use of skill points.
● Assume Quirk – Usually, if you’re using disguise, someone who
knows the person you’re pretending to be is going to be in your
line of fire. Getting a +4 to +10 on disguise in this scenario is a
pretty good investment of two skill points. This will typically be
best for someone who maxed out disguise and wants more points.
● Back on Your Feet – Really strong vs trip attacks. If I’m a melee /
tumbler class, I’m taking this.
● Clarity of Vision – This is strong if you don’t have the ability to see
invisibility some other way. The fact that you only get one round
per encounter isn’t super exciting, though. If you somehow have
12 ranks in spot, this is a fine pick up. Because spot is a cross-
class skill for bard, this is hard to get.
● Clever Improviser – This one just doesn’t get enough bang for the
buck, especially for a non-rogue.
● Collector of Stories – This is solid if you don’t metagame. It’s
especially strong if you’re a combat bard who takes knowledge
devotion (and your DM rules that the +5 bonus improves your
Devotion roll.) I take this as a combat bard and pass as a caster
bard.
● Conceal Spellcasting – I think this is solid. Most of our spells are
going to be social spells, and being able to cast without detection
helps a lot. You should also look at Races of Stone (Page 133) for
additional info on concealed spellcasting with sleight of hand.
(Additional info here).
● Extreme Leap – This is a fine pick up for any tumbler bard. No
skill entry cost (because you almost certainly have 5 jump for the
synergy) and you get a little extra move when needed as a swift
action. Not amazing, not bad.
● False Theurgy – I don’t typically run into counterspellers. If you
do, this can be good to make sure a spell gets through.
● Group Fake-Out – I don’t think feinting is terribly good. For that
reason, I also pass on this. If you’re into feinting, this is a fine
upgrade for a low cost.
● Healing Hands – A mini-heal spell when dealing with dying
characters. Can really help in a low-magic campaign, but this gets
eclipsed by a Wand of CLW pretty quickly. Not great, and not
really for a bard.
● Hidden Blade – Don’t take quick draw as a feat. If you have it, I
guess you can take this feat. But I have trouble seeing this come
up more than once in an entire campaign.
● Leaping Climber – I have trouble thinking of a scenario where
speedy climbing is necessary, and where a few feet is the
difference that matters.
● Listen to This – The best use of this is to bring non-understood
languages back to the guy who can understand them. But you
ARE the guy who can understand them. Spend the skill points on
speak languages, not this.
● Magical Appraisal – This is OK. It’s a good trick for only 2 points.
You can also gain this ability by pumping spellcraft, so lots of
options here.
● Mosquito’s Bite – Most bad guys act like they didn’t get hit
anyway, and why would a bard be using a light weapon? Pass.
● Never Outnumbered – We don’t have intimidate, this range is low,
and demoralize opponent isn’t a great use of a standard action.
Pass.
● Nimble Charge – This seems pretty good for a melee bard. A little
narrow, but no real downside. The way its worded makes it sound
like a passive always-on ability, but the general rule for skill tricks
is once-per-encounter. I would want the DM’s ruling on that
question, but it seems OK.
● Nimble Stand – Not bad, butI’d get Back on your Feet instead.
● Opening Tap – Not for the bard. Not even great for a rogue.
● Point it Out – A high entry cost, a bard isn’t typically the Spot guy
in the party, and the effect is pretty limited. I’d pass.
● Quick Escape – Getting out of a grapple or pin at a swift action is
really nice. This ability isn’t worth 14 skill points, but if you have
the escape artist already, this is probably worth picking up.
● Quick Swimmer – I have trouble imagining a scenario where this
matters at all.
● Second Impression – If you’re all about disguise, this is good. In
general, it seems a bit loose for 2 skill points.
● Shrouded
Dance – This has no application for a bard. Pass.
● Social Recovery – This isn’t too strong, but it pumps your
diplomacy a little if you also have a maxed out bluff. The main
problem is the interpration of “fail”. If you’re aiming for friendly,
and you land at neutral, can you use this to push it a bit higher? If
so, maybe it’s worth taking. Otherwise, someone who has a
maxed out diplomacy is never going to flat “fail”, making this
useless.
● Slipping Past – The problem this skill trick solves doesn’t happen
often enough to matter.
● Speedy Ascent – Same as quick swimmer and jumping leap.
Unless you’re simulating a climbing competition, when is this
going to make an actual difference?
● Spot the Weakness – Not a bad skill trick. It helps vs the big
armored guy a lot. Bards don’t tend to have a good spot skill, so
this might not be great for you unless you picked up spot as a
class skill from somewhere else. If you did, it’s worth considering
at least.
● Sudden Draw – Don’t take quick draw. If you did, and you imagine
this scenario will ever arise, you can spend two skill points for a
really cool story. Mechanically, this is very weak.
● Swift Concentration – This is strong with any bardic musics that
require concentration (Hymn of Fortification jumps out to me) or if
you have spells that require concentration to maintain. It effectively
gives you one more standard action, if you like those spells
otherwise.
● Timely Misdirection – So many ifs and conditions. Pass on this
please.
● Tumbling Crawl – This is a good ability; anytime you can get out
of reach of AOOs safely is nice. I just have trouble seeing it come
up often.
● Twisted Charge – This is solid for any melee bard. Not amazing,
but just solid.
● Up the Hill – Like the swim and climb skill tricks, I just don’t see
this making an appreciable difference.
● Walk the Walls – This has such cool visuals. I don’t know when
you’ll get a good use out of it (you need a perfect scenario) but
man its super cool.
● Wall Jumper – I have trouble finding a use for this.
● Whip Climber – I’d love to be Indiana Jones, but 15′ reach on a
whip plus a 7 skill point dump feels rough.
Prestige Classes and
Multiclassing
An optimized bard is a multiclassed bard. There are a lot of options
here, especially considering the different roles it might want to be. I’ve
tried to make as large of a list as possible, but there are a lot of
options out there, so I may have missed a few of the more obscure
ideas.
Base Classes
There aren’t a ton of great base-class dips for a bard. That being said,
there are a few worth considering, and there are others which aren’t
bad and might be fun for flavor, or fit a particular character you’re
trying to build.
● Beguiler (PHB2 6) – Same as rogue, but instead of sneak attack
you get some cantrips and level 1 spells. Not worth setting back all
Combat Bards
● Abjurant Champion (CM 50) – Five level full casting class and full
BAB that grants some really cool abjuration-related effects. Bards
don’t tend to have abjuration spells, though, so the application for
us is limited. (Dispel magic and resistances are the only good
spells on the bard list). If you can figure out a way to take
advantage of this (probably gaining access to spells via sublime
chord or lyric thaumaturge) it’s a very powerful class. However,
generally speaking, it doesn’t benefit a bard.
● Arcane Archer (DMG 175) – Elf or Half-elf only. Lose spell
progression and bard ability progression. Pick up some really cool
arrow tricks. Not strong, but it has nice flavor.
● Arcane Duelist (Web) – Two feat tax (dodge and mobility). Lose
spellcasting progression. Get good reflex and will saves. Get a
bunch of really cool extraordinary and spell like abilities. The big
question I have with this class is why are we getting only 1/2 base
attack bonus!? +5 across 10 levels is insane for a class that’s
focused on melee combat. This has really cool flavor, but is weak.
● Battle Dancer (DrC 26) – I think this is pretty weak. You might
want to look at it as a single-level dip to get a Charisma bonus to
AC, but because you have to be unarmored for that bonus, I prefer
just buying some armor.
● Duelist (DMG 185) – Some cool-ish combat abilities, but at a huge
cost: no spell progression and three bad feats. Pass.
● Eldritch Knight (DMG 187) – Lose one level of casting progression
and bardic music progression for full BAB and a bonus feat.
Requires proficiency with all martial weapons, which means you’ll
have to have another dip somewhere. Worth looking at, but in the
end you do better progressing bard most of the time (Maybe
there’s a wonky gish build with Sublime Chord and this?). Even
putting aside the loss of a level (or two!) the increased bonuses to
inspire courage outweight the slightly better BAB progression.
● Jade Phoenix Mage (BoNS 115) – Full BAB, 8/10 spellcasting
progression, Devoted Spirit maneuver progression, and provides
two powerful early class features: Arcane Wrath, where you can
turn a spell slot (even a cantrip!) into a bonus to attack and
damage, and Mystic Phoenix Stance, where you pick up small CL
and AC bonuses and up to DR 10/evil, which really adds up. If you
hold off on most of its levels until after you go into Sublime Chord,
it can help you progress SC to ninth level spells and still get you to
around +17 or so BAB at 20th. Good early, good late. If your DM
allows Tome of Battle, this should be blue for a combat bard and
purple for a Sublime Chord gish. (Thanks to Gabrosin of the Giant
in the Playground forums for this summary!)
● Knight Phantom (Five Nations 41) – Lose bardic music
progression to pick up full BAB and some ghost-flavored abilities.
Not bad, not great.
● Spellsword – Easy to enter, but no bardic progression and spell
progression only on odd levels. This is best as a 1-level dip; you
get 1 BAB, 2 fort, 2 will, and 10% ASF reduction (which can help
you carry a shield). Something to look at as a melee bard.
● Suel Archanamach (CArc 63) – Starts its own spell progression,
and adds some combat – related feats. Not great, but might be
worth looking at once.
● Swiftblade (web) – Pretty cool prestige class for gish builds.
Definitely worth considering for 3 levels, and I could see going here
for 9 or 10 levels. The only problem is that it has a pretty high feat
tax.
Racial Paragons
These classes are from Unearthed Arcana. These don’t prove to be a
good option in the end, but it took me a lot of trying to fit them into
builds to come to that conclusion. The +2 boost to a stat is a real big
temptation, but it’s not worth losing bardic ability progression and a
level of casting (or worse). That being said, maybe you have a build
where they make sense, or you like the flavor, so I included them here.
● Drow Paragon (male only) – A one level dip is worth considering.
Not great because it doesn’t advance any other classes or class
abilities, but you do get spellcasting and additional uses of spell-
like abilities.
● Elf Paragon – Doesn’t advance bard spells. Pass.
● Gnome Paragon – Not bad, but you lose one level of spellcasting.
● Half-Elf Paragon – At best a two-level dip, which avoids the
primary reason to take a paragon class: the stat boost. Pass.
● Human Paragon – 3 levels, two of which progress spellcasting.
Gain a bonus feat and +2 to a stat. Not bad, but usually hard to
work into builds.
Hybrid Classes
I don’t tend to think hybrid classes are a good idea from an
optimization point of view, especially if you’re coming from the bard
as a base class. You’ll see that reflected in the analysis below. That
being said, the Apostle of Peace and Priest of Ur both have some
serious potential.
● Apostle of Peace (BoED 51) -Get 9th level Arcane Casting in 10
levels. This + Bard + Sublime Chord + Mystic Theurge is really
cool. You have to go into the Vow feats to get into this class, but
the vow feats can be good if your DM and party members are
comfortable with how they impact the campaign. Check out
the example builds section for more info on this.
● Arcane Hierophant (RotW 108) – Designed as a Arcane / Druid
hybrid, a bard could theoretically go into this. I recommend
passing, though, there’s nothing too exciting here.
● Arcane Trickster (ToB 47) – Mage / Rogue hybrid. Pros:Full sneak
attack progression and full spell progression. Cons: This is built
targeting a wizard, not a bard, so no bardic abilities progress.
● Bladesinger (RoF 179) – A lot of required entry feats, most of
which are bad. It also has its own 4-level spell list rather than
progressing the bard’s. There’s one really cool ability, but this is a
pass.
● Divine Crusader (CD 33) – Relatively easy to go into, and it’s a
good way to get high level arcane and divine casting. Bard,
Sublime Chord, Divine Crusader, and Mystic Theurge. Voila. You
also get some cool stuff like Weapon Specialization and
Darkvision.
●
Daggerspell Mage (Cadv 31) – Arcane / Rogue hybrid. 9/10 spell
level progression, sneak attack progression, and some cool knife
like abilities.
● Divine Prankster (RoS p107) – A gnome-only Bard/Cleric hybrid
PrC that focuses on Perform (Comedy). It gets a really powerful
ability at 2nd level, that lets you consume a turn/rebuke undead
attempt to get +10 against the check to recognize a figment as an
illusion. The first thing that comes to mind are the shadow
evocation and shadow conjuration spells.
● Enlightened Fist (CA 34) – Arcane /Monk – 8/10 spell progression,
continued progression of monk abilities, some cool abilities.
● Fochlucan Lyrist (Cadv 47) – Bard / Druid hybrid, but for some
reason it also requires evasion, which you need to get via two
levels of rogue or monk, or maybe some wonky stuff with shape
soulmeld and Impulse boots. You progress Bard and Druid spell
progression, along with bardic class features. You can’t get into
the class until level 10, though, which means you are going to have
a lot of lower-level spells, but be severely gimped at higher level
spells. You also don’t get the best features of the druid class. I
think this is worse than going pure bard or pure druid, but that’s
how things often are with hybrid classes. Probably the best build
here is 2 rogue / 6 druid / 2 bard, then get bardic musics and 12
levels of bard casting with 18 levels of druid casting. It doesn’t
progress wild shape though, so this isn’t better than the straight
druid by any means.
● Geomancer (CD 41) – Divine / Arcane hybrid. Progresses one side
of the spellcasting and adds some abilities.
● Green Whisperer (DM311, 69) – You continue to progress your
bardic music and spells, as well as your druid spells. You lose
some key skills. This is a clear yes for any bard/druid hybrid, and
any savage summoner bard type might look at this for the green
ear level 5 capstone — being able to give your greenbound
summoned creatures the benefit of inspire courage without having
to dump a feat is worth considering.
● Imaskari Vengeance Taker (Underdark 37) – Gain sneak attack
and poison use, 5/10 spell progression. Can seek out one
particular creature using clairvoyance and divination. Not really
anything special here for a bard.
● Mystic Theurge (DMG 192) – Arcane / Divine hybrid. Progress
bardic spells and divine spells simultaneously, no other benefits.
Not a good idea for a bard in general (combined with a cleric for
example) but can be very potent when combined with Ur-Priest,
Divine Crusader, or Apostle of Peace.
● Rage Mage (CW 72) – Wizard / Barbarian hybrid. This doesn’t
really seem to be worth anything to the bard. Just included it here
in case someone is looking to do bard / barbarian.
● Ur-priest (CD 70) – Get 9th level Divine Casting in 10 levels. This +
Bard + Sublime Chord + Mystic Theurge is really cool. This has the
strange pre-req of a good fort save, so you’ll probably have to
build using savage bard. Check out the example builds section for
more info.
Feats
If your DM will let you take a flaw (see: Unearthed Arcana) take one. If
he’ll let you take two, take two. More feats more better.
General Feats
● Able Learner (RoD 150) – Human or doppleganger only. Buy
cross-class skills ranks for 1 point (instead of 2). Still subject to the
1/2 max ranks. We have so many in-class skills and skill points
that I can’t imagine this is a good use of a feat.
Familiar Feats
If you’re going to pick up a familiar (a strong idea) you should read
Dictum Mortuum’s excellent Familiar’s Handbook.
● Celestial Familiar (BoED41) – This isn’t worth getting to add the
celestial template to an existing familiar. However, it opens up
Coure Eladrin as a familiar, which is one of the best familiar’s in the
game.
● Improved Familiar (DMG 200) – Improved familiar makes your
familiar even more cool. There are a lot of really strong options
here.
● Obtain Familiar (CArc 81) – A familiar can be a really nice boost
for a bard, especially something that can speak and activate items.
There are handbooks on this topic if you’re interested in it.
● Planar Familiar –
● Psicrystal Affinity (XPH 49) – Gain a Psicrystal as a familiar. Also
good. I think it’s basically the same as a regular familar with some
cool flavor.
● Wild Cohort (Web) – Not a familiar, but having an animal
companion is pretty great too.
Metamagic Feats
● Arcane Preparation (PgtF 32) – Allows you to prepare spells
ahead of time with metamagic applied to them, rather than doing
so spontaneously (and having to cast at full-round speed). Rapid
Metamagic is a better option, use that for this effect if you want it.
● Arcane Thesis (PHB2 74) – Make one spell cast at +2 CL and get
a metamagic reduction of one for it. Definitely cool.
● Coercive Spell (DotU 47) – (+1 mod) Spells that deal damage also
reduce targets will by 2 for 3 rounds. This would actually be pretty
good, except that it requires the spell deal damage, which the bard
doesn’t have a lot of.
● Chain Spell (CArc 76)- (+3 Mod) There are a lot of bard spells that
this applies to. Worth considering for your higher level feats.
● Disguise Spell (+1 mod) Hide the fact that you are casting spells
for +1 spell level. There are ways to do this with Sleight of Hand
(see that section) and Skill Tricks (see that section) so I think it’s
better to pass on getting the feat; feats are valuable things.
● Easy Metamagic (DRM 325) – This will let you persist 4th level
spells. IF you’re going all-in on persist, this is something to look
into, but otherwise probably a pass.
● Extend Spell (PHB) – (+1 mod) I think this is the best metamagic
feat available to a bard. Many of the swift-cast spells can be really
improved by doubling their duration (but you’ll need the Rapid
Metamagic feat).
● Fell Drain (LM 27 )- (+2 mod) If your spell does damage, the bad
guy also gains a negative level. This is quite good if you have a
damage spell you like.
● Heighten Spell (PHB) – (+1 mod) Spell DC is everything. The
harder your spells are to resist in clinch moments, the more
effective you are.
● Mastery of Faerie Enchantment (PgtF 126) – Free spontaneous
application of extend spell, with no level adjustment, to any
enchantment spell. I don’t think there are great targets here in
general, but it is interesting. If you’ve got extend spell and a lot of
enchantment spells, you could look at this. Usually enchantment
spells don’t suffer from short lengths, so I don’t know if you’ll find
much use.
● Metamagic School Focus (CM) – Reduces the metamagic cost of
a particular school of magic by 1. The main purpose in getting this
is to let you persist a particular school of spells one level higher (so
max 5 on persist spell if you go all-out here).
● Metamagic Song – Lets you consume bardic musics (an
overflowing resource) to reduce the metamagic cost of spells.
There are two big limitations to this feat: 1. You cannot increase a
spell’s level to higher than what you can cast (severely limiting the
options with persist spell) and 2. You have to either reduce it
entirely or not at all. Still strong.
● Persistent Spell – (+6 mod) Not worth considering unless you’re
going into PrC Sublime Chord (9th level casting) or if you’re picking
up the Talfirian Song feat (which effectively increases your max
spell level to 9). Even there, the benefits are a little limited, since, at
best, you can extend 3 rd level spells. This is also very cheesy and
might piss your DM off. That being said, here is a (hopefully
complete) list of spells that are candidates for persisting.
Obviously, due to your limited spell list and bardic musics per day,
you’ll have to choose a few of these carefully. It’s also worth
nothing that these spells are usually not the best choice for casting
purposes, so you might want to substitute into them at later levels,
instead of having them be dead weight all game.
o Level 0: Detect Magic, Fleeting Flame, Ghost Sounds,
Ghost Harp, Know Direction, Light, Minor Disguise,
Percussion, Read Magic, Resistance, Seeker’s Chant,
Silvered Weapon, Songbird, Summon Instrument
o Level 1: Accelerated Movement, Ambient Song, Ancient
Knowledge, Comprehend Languages, Crabwalk, Critical
Strike, Detect Secret Doors, Disguise Self, Expeditious
Retreat (swift), Expeditious Retreat, Focusing Chant,
Friendly Face, Ghost Pipes, Inspirational Boost, Instant
Diversion, Invisibility (Swift), Ivory Flesh, Joyful Noise,
Loresong, Lucky Streak, Master’s Touch, Mimicry, No
Light, Obscure Object, Quick Swim, Scholar’s Touch,
Serene Visage, Silent Image, Stay the Hand, Sticky
Fingers, Summon Monster I, Undersong, Ventriloquism
o Level 2: Alter Self, Animate Instrument, Animate Rope,
Battle Hymn, Bladeweave, Blur, Cat’s Grace, Create
Fetch, Detect Thoughts, Eagle’s Splendor, Elation, Fly
(Swift), Fox’s Cunning, Grace, Harmonic Chorus,
Harmonize, Heroism, Invisibility, Lively Step, Mesmerizing
Glare, Minor Image, Mirror Image, Misrepresent
Alignment, Peaceful Serenity of Io, Phade’s Fearsome
Aspect, Proud Arrogance, Rage, Resounding Voice,
Sculpt Sound, See Invisibility, Silence, Sonic Weapon,
Sonic Whip, Sonorous Hum, Speak to Allies, Stretch
Weapon, Summon Elysian Thrush, Summon Monster II,
Summon Swarm, Surefooted Stride, Tactical Precision,
Tongues, Tune of the Dancing Weapon, Weapon Shift
o Level 3: Blink, Displacement, Fortissimo, Gaseous Form,
Glibness, Good Hope, Haste, Hymn of Praise, Infernal
Threnody, Invisibility Sphere, Major Image, Phantom
Steed, Puppeteer, Sonic Shield, Speak with Animals,
Speechlink, Summon Monster III, Tiny Hut, Verraketh’s
Shadow Crown, Weapon of Impact
o Level 4: Sirine’s Grace, (More to come).
Vow Feats
The vows are a really strong option for a bard. That being said, they
are campaign warping due to their restrictions and power level. If you
go this route, you should make sure your DM and other PCs know
what they’re getting into. It can be good if everyone’s prepared, but if
not, these options will probably ruin your campaign.
● Sacred Vow (BoED p46) – +2 to Diplomacy checks. Not great, but
an entry feat into the Vows. Given that it’s an entry feat, it’s not a
bad effect.
● Vow of Abstinence (BoED p 47) – +4 for saves against poison
and drugs, but you can’t drink. Bad.
● Vow of Chastity (BoED p47) – +4 to will saves against charm and
phantasm effects, but you can’t get laid.The effect is limited and
not great.
● Vow of Nonviolence (BoED p47) – This is interesting for a caster
bard. +4 to all spell and ability DCs, but you can’t do any damage
or kill anyone else. It still allows you to do area effects, debuffs,
and buffs. Requires a specific build, but can be strong. Requires
Sacred Vow, which isn’t a great feat. Because of that, I prefer
Metamagic Song and Heighten Spell, but this is interesting too.
● Vow of Peace (BoED p48) – This requires vow of non-violence. +6
to AC, +4 to diplomacy, a permanent aura of calm emotion,
weapons that hit you can shatter against your skin, if you have
vow of poverty, you get an additional +6 to AC. All in return for
additional restrictions about killing things. Very strong.
● Vow of Poverty (BoED p48) – Take magical item progression out
of your DMs hands. This is nothing special for a bard.
Combat Feats
● Arcane Strike – Not bad for a melee bard. We have limited spell
slots, which makes it less appealing, but it is a nice way to power a
Bloodline Feats
You can find these feats in DrM 311 and DrM 325, and also in the
Dragon Compendium Volume I, page 91. All of the bloodline feats are
very, very strong. They give six or nine spells to your list for one feat.
Probably overpowered, but you should check with your DM. If he’ll
allow it, great.
● Air Bloodline (DrC1 91) –
● Anarchic Bloodline (DrC1 92) –
● Axiomatic Bloodline (DrC1 92) –
● Celestial Bloodline (DrC1 93) –
● Draconic Bloodline (DrC1 96) –
● Earth Bloodline (DrC1 97) –
● Fey Bloodline (DrC1 98) –
● Fiendish Bloodline (DrC1 98) –
● Fire Bloodline (DrC1 99) –
● Illithid Bloodline (DrC1 100) –
● Necromantic Bloodline (DrC1 102) –
● Penumbra Bloodline (DrC1 103) –
● Plant Bloodline (DrC1 104) –
● Serpent Bloodline (DrC1 106) –
● Water Bloodline (DrC1 109) –
● Celestial Light (DrC1 93) –
● Dragon Sight (DrC1 97) –
● Elemental Theurgy (DrC1 97) –
● Fey’s Fate (DrC1 98) –
● Friend of the Earth (DrC1 98) –
● Kin Mastery (DrC1 101) –
● Lawful Discipline (DrC1 101) –
● Mind Weapon (DrC1 102) –
● Power in the Blood (DrC1 105) –
You use Charisma as the key ability modifer, which is good for saves,
and you’re a level 1 manifester (which might be bad for PR).
Devotion Feats
Complete Champion has a bunch of “devotion” feats in it. Most of
them are pretty good and some are absurd. That book is a little
unbalanced, so check with your DM before assuming you can take
these.
● Air Devotion (CC 54) – Once per day get a bonus to your AC
(grows with level) as a swift action that last 1 minute. Not bad.
● Animal Devotion (CC 55) – Get one of four bonuses for one
minute. +2 Strength (grows with level) +5 base speed (grows with
levels) gain overland flight, or gain a bite attack that deals con
damage. A lot of good stuff in here.
● Chaos Devotion (CC 56) – Random based, but get bonuses to
either AC (average of 4) or attack rolls (average of 3) for a minute.
Swift activate
● Death Devotion (CC 57) – Bestow negative levels with your
weapon. Swift activate, lasts for one minute. Wow.
● Destruction Devotion (CC 57) – Swift activate, lasts one minute.
Reduce target’s AC each successful hit.
● Earth Devotion (CC 58) – Once per day, activate to ignore difficult
terain for 1 minute and get a boost to some physical checks. Also
can use it at higher levels to create better caltrops out of the stone
floor. Not great.
● Evil Devotion (CC 58) – Give your party DR 1+ (Evil) and make
allies’ weapons evil aligned. It grows with levels, but still not great.
● Fire Devotion (CC 58) – Provide light, deal extra damage, and
baddies you hit continue to burn. Swift to activate, lasts 1 minute.
Not bad, not amazing.
● Good Devotion (CC 58) – Give your party DR 1+ (Good) and make
allies’ weapons good aligned. It grows with levels, but still not
great.
●
Healing Devotion (CC 59) – Immediate activate, lasts 1 minute,
gain fast healing 1 (grows with character level). Fast healing heals
X HP per round. You can also grant it to an ally. This isn’t enough
healing to justify the feat, IMO.
● Knowledge Devotion – Amazing for a combat bard. Get big
boosts to attack and damage by using knowledges.
● Law Devotion (CC 61) – Get +3 bonus to AC or attack (grows with
level). Swift active, lasts 1 minute. Compare to weapon focus.
● Luck Devotion (CC 61) – Get a small boost to damage. Swift
active, lasts 1 minute. This is a really small boost, pass.
● Magic Devotion (CC 61) – Launch a ranged touch attack magic
bolt that does LVL/2 D6 damage. Not a big fan.
● Plant Devotion (CC 61) – Gain natural AC of 2 and 25%
fortification (avoid criticals and sneak attacks). The % increase
with level. Immediate activate, lasts 1 minute. Not bad, but not
great.
● Protection Devotion (CC 61) – Give self and nearby allies a +2
bonus to AC, grows with level. Lasts 1 minute, immediate activate.
So-so.
● Strength Devotion (CC 62) – Bypass hardness with melee
attacks, gain a natural weapon slam attack, and all melee attacks
are adamantine. Lasts 1 minute, swift activate. I feel like this and
sunder must be great together?
● Sun Devotion (CC 62) – Weapon glows like a torch and deals an
extra CL damage to undead. Lasts 1 minute, swift activate. In a
heavy undead campagin, this seems really good? Otherwise it’s
too conditional.
● Travel Devotion (CC 62) – As a swift action, move your move
distance. Good for getting into position for a full attack, or to make
a facsimile of spring attack.
● Trickery Devotion (CC 63) – Create a simulacrum of yourself that
gets better as you level up. This is really strong. Standard activate,
1/day.
● War Devotion (CC 63) – Gives a better version of fight defensively
for one round. The short duration makes this terrible.
● Water Devotion (CC 64) – Summon a water elemental 1 / day.
Size depends on your level.
Martial Feats
There are two feats from “Tomb of Battle: Book of Nine Swords” that
open up that magic / combat system to all classes. Since the magic
system is pretty large, here’s a section dedicated to the two feats,
reviewing each option available to you if you don’t have any pre-reqs
met some other way. If you’ve dipped into those classes or met pre-
reqs, you’ll have to check out the relevant handbooks; that’s outside
the scope of this one.
Martial Stance (ToB p31)
Gain access to a single maneuver from Tome of Battle, and also gain
a single skill as a class skill for all of your classes.
Here are the options available if you take this feat without any other
initiator classes (i.e. you meet no pre-requisites). The level indicated
next to them is the minum character level you’ll need to pick up that
maneuver via feat (again, assuming you don’t have any initiator levels
from the classes from this book):
The bard’s spells are mostly buff and battlefield control, which is
great. You can load up on the best versions of these, plus a little
utility, and you’ll be in great shape. However, I do like trying to pick up
at least one blaster spell. If you use the Lyric Thaumaturge or Sublime
Chord prestige classes to get into wizard spells, you’ll have plenty of
options (look at Wings of Flurry). If you are going straight bard casting,
then the options are a little more limited. My favorite straight blaster
spell is probably Cacophonic Burst, although it’s level 5.
Level 0 Spells
● Candlelight (GhostWeb 5)- Like “Light”, but it illuminates less
space and lasts longer. I’d just buy a candle or a torch.
● Daze – OK at low levels, very bad after level 3 or 4. You can
consider taking it early and swapping it out.
● Detect Crossroads (MoF 88)- I really have no idea what a
crossroad is. If you’re in a Faerun campaign I’m going to assume
you’re familiar and you’ll be able to evaluate the value of this
yourself. Sorry!
● Detect Magic – Very strong. Has a lot of uses. Definitely a must-
have.
● Dancing Lights – A lot like ghost sounds. The better your
imagination, the better this spell gets. It is a little eclipsed by Silent
Image, but that’s OK. I still recommend getting it.
● Easy Math (SaS 90) – I can imagine some uses for this (counting
troops, counting steps, estimating gold piles, etc.) but it’s pretty
narrow, too.
● Fine-Tuning (SaS 90) – Make any instrument you touch a
masterwork instrument and get the unique benefits of that
instrument on your bardic musics. This + Summon Instrument take
a lot of time to execute (and burns through your limited cantrip
slots) but gives you a pretty nice toolbox.
● Flare (PHB) – A very minor debuff with some utility. I don’t see
using this ever beyond level 1.
● Fleeting Fame (DrM 326, pg 73) – Really good for a bard. +2 to
the next bluff, diplomacy, or intimdiation, lasts 1 rd / level.
● Ghost Sounds – Very solid, but requires some creativity to get
maximum value. Spells like this make playing a caster fun. Use
your imagination.
● Ghostharp (SpC 104) – Replay songs played in the vicinity for the
last day. A really cool effect flavor wise, but I have no idea how to
use it in a way that matters.
● Know Direction – Buy a compass.
● Light – Buy a torch (or sunrod for style).
● Lullaby – Almost identical in results to fascinate. Not worth
doubling this limited effect, in my opinion.
● Mage Hand – This is my 6th spell slot. I like it, but it’s a little
limited.
● Mending – Not bad, but not many applications in-game. It’s a
shame, because in real-life, this would be a great spell to have, but
in D&D world, it just doesn’t do too much. There are some
roleplaying opportunities here, but it takes work to get to them.
● Message – Thanks to the “Marquis of De La Pongo” for this one!
Here’s what he has to say about it: “I have a storyteller bard and
by using oratory as a main perform I can channel my songs and
poetics through the message if needed. As long as they can hear
you means, as long they are within 100+10/level feet. Plus, being
no save no spell resistance you can whisper improper things to
your enemies and drive them nuts among other things. It’s fluffy
and it’s fun!”
● Minor Disguise – You can do so much more with a spell, even a
cantrip, than this. Pass.
● Open / Close – I have a hard time imagining good uses for this
spell.
● Percussion – A very limited ghost sound, with the benefit of
lasting longer. Cool for a DM for flavor, not good for a PC.
Level 1 Spells
● Ambient Song (SaS 89) – Make bardic music sound like ambient
noise, to avoid detection. Not great, but maybe a cool persist
target.
● Cause Fear (PHB) – So this is pretty good for low levels,
especially if you have other fear esclation techniques in your
package. It’s going to escalate one guy either two levels or one
level. The big downside is that it’s a 6 HD cap, so it stops working
at higher levels. Not bad for an early level spell that you swap out
at level 8.
● Charm Person (PHB) – I love the flavor of this ability, but the
limitation to humanoid is a little sad. If you like this, I recommend
you take Charm Monster instead, which can target any creature
type. Of course, you could take this and swap it out at level 8 for
Charm Monster.
● Cheat (SC) – Roll twice in a game of chance that’s not magical.
Really cool flavor wise, but insane to put one of your spells known
into this.
● Combined Talent – Give an ally a boost to a skill, matching the
level of another ally. When do you need this? Yuck.
● Cure Light Wounds (PHB) – This one has really grown on me. I
used to not like it, but combined with healing hymn it gives your
character a really powerful (out of combat) healing kit. I
recommend taking this as one of your first level spells, but only if
you can pair it with healing hymn. Otherwise its lack of scaling
makes it underwhelming.
● Disguise Self (PHB) – Limited application which can be achieved
with a skill. Pass. If you really need this one day, get a scroll.
● Disquiettude (MoF, SpC) – Single target save-or-suck for enemy
fighter types. Very limited in application, unfortunately. If you go
with the Magic of Faerun version, at least it’s not mind-affecting. If
you go with the spell compendium version, then it’s even more
narrow.
● Distort Speech (CAdv) – Target gets a fort save (which is good vs.
spellcasters) and the spellcaster gets a 50% chance of spell
failure. Not bad, but most of the time I think you’ll have better
things to do with a standard action, and you’re not always up
against spell casters.
● Distract (SpC 69) – A lot like sleep. Doesn’t affect creatures with
more than 6 HD. Mind affecting, so that’s a big limitation. The
debuff is strong — target can only take a standard or move action
each turn, not both, and it can hit a lot of creatures. This isn’t the
sort of spell I prefer, but it’s not terrible.
● Expeditious Retreat (PHB) – Worse than the swift one, and very
hard to justify as one of our few spells known. This is a good
persist spell target, if you’re going that route, but I’d recommend
getting the swift variation instead.
●
Expeditious Retreat, Swift – This being a swift cast is really nice.
I’d prefer swift invisibility, though. It accomplishes a lot of the
same goals, and has a lot more upsides. This is a good persist
spell target, if you’re going that route.
● Feather Fall (PHB) – This spell is really nice to have in your back
pocket, but not as one of the few spells you get. I recommend
getting this on a ring or item if you like the effect.
● Friendly Face – Grants +5 to diplomacy or gather information. If
you like this, take improvisation instead. A lot more dynamic and is
stronger after level 10.
● Grease – Very powerful effect that targets reflex saves and
balance. Not many bard spells target reflex, and I think it’s nice to
have at least 1 or 2 in your list that target each of the saves, so you
can choose the right spell for the right enemy.
● Harmony (PGtF) – Standard action cast that gives the next inspire
courage +2. I recommend inspirational boost instead.
● Hideous Laughter – A pretty strong effect for a level 1 spell, but it
comes with a lot of limitations (close range, can’t affect creatures
with low intelligence, most enemies get a +4 on their save). It also
only targets 1 creature, where a save completely negates the
effect. Not bad, but not in love.
● Identify (PHB) – A really useful spell, but I don’t love using a spells
lot for it, especially because it costs 100gp each time. We have
limited spell slots. Let the wizard handle this.
● Improvisation – (Note: Complete Adventurer has this a 5th level
spell, but spell compendium has it as 1st level) – This spell is cool.
The two big downsides are that it only lasts 1 round / level, and
that you can only use one-quarter of the luck pool per activation.
At level 6, that means this gives a +3 to a skill, an attack, or
whatever. For combat, it’s underwhelming because it takes a
standard action to turn on. For out-of-combat situations, it’d good
if you have a few skill checks in a row that you need to pass, and
you have a round to spend preparing. That being said, this ability
scales really well. Consider swapping into this at higher levels.If
you can turn it on just before entering combat, it can be a
powerhouse, and it can be a general boost in a lot of situations,
making it dynamic.
● Inspirational Boost – Gain an additional +1 to Inspire Courage.
Very strong damage output for a level 1 spell, assuming you have
a party that uses attacks. This gets better the more allies you have
that use combat. Despite its strength, I usually pass on this spell.
I’d like to have something a bit more dynamic. That’s a roleplaying
choice, though.
● Instant Diversion (RotD) – A swift cast mirror image that only
lasts 1 round, and you get one image per four levels of your caster
level. It’s OK, but the low duration makes it a little weak. A good
candidate for extend spell.
● Instant of Power (FOW 114) – This is a really solid spell.
Immediate cast, give an ally +4 to an attack, save, or damage roll. I
like this.
Level 2 Spells
● Animate Instrument – Animate an
instrument, so it continues your performance for you. This lets you
stack bardic music effects continuously (like inspire courage and
inspire greatness). Not a bad effect, but I don’t love spending a
spell-known or a spell-slot for it. This would be great as something
you enchant directly onto an instrument.
● Alter Self – One of the best spells in the game. I have
section below on using it. It’s very strong and dynamic, but it’s not
campaign shattering — you can choose between flight, burrow,
swim, waterbreathing, natural armor, skill boosts, and a few other
things. It’s definitely way above-curve for a 2nd level spell, but its
not “broken” in the sense that it doesn’t ruin a campaign run by a
competent. It just makes you really badass.
● Battle Hymn (SC 25) – Allow all allies to reroll will saves, after
knowing result, before knowing whether it passed or failed. Not
great, but a good persist target.
● Bladeweave (SC 31) – Swift cast, lasts 1 rd / level, and dazes
creatures hit by your melee attack. Very cool for a melee bard.
● Blindness / Deafness – This isn’t great in combat. Blind and deaf
are only minor debuffs and you have better options at this level.
That being said, the effects are permanent, so that’s gotta have
some significant roleplay potential.
● Blur – Attacks miss you 20% of the time. Maybe worth
considering for a melee bard, although I’d probably pick up blink
(as a 3rd level spell) instead.
● Calm Emotions – A cool spell, but the low duration makes it hard
to make a big impact with this.
● Cloud of Bewilderment – A cloud effect that makes its inhabitants
sickened (can’t take standard actions). It targets fort, which is
great. A good bit worse than glitterdust, though, and similar in
effect and application.
● Cure Moderate Wounds – I really like to avoid healing on a bard.
If you’re going to get a heal spell, the 3rd level one is probably the
best choice.
● Darkness (PHB 216) – A
good spell, but it has limited application. Might be cool with a
melee bard with blindfighting.
● Delusions of Grandeur – A save-or-be-bad spell. There are good
save-or-die spells at level 1. Not worth taking this at level 2.
● Detect Thoughts – This spell is very strong. DM dependent, and
can piss some DM’s off, but it’s got a lot of power.
● Dimension Leap – Teleport 10′ per 2 caster levels. I love this.
Gets you out of a lot of trouble and solve a lot of problems.
● Disquietude (MoF p90) – Only good vs. melee enemies and there
are lots of ways around it. It’s a conditional save-or-be-bad spell. If
you’re going that route, at least save-or-die.
● Elation (BoED p98) – Allies in an 80′ radius spread get +2 Str, +2
Dex, +5 speed. Even though the bonuses are morale bonuses,
they stack with Inspire Courage because they don’t directly affect
attack / damage. Not a bad buff for level 2, but I think there are
better options. This is a good persist spell target, if you’re going
that route.
● Enthrall – A slightly better fascinate. Bad use of a spell slot.
● Entice Gift (BoVD p93)-Target must pass a will save or give you
what he’s holding. This has so many fun applications.
● Fly, Swift – Fly for one round? Very strong.
● Grace – Swift casting, get 60′ illumination on your body, +2 to
dex, +10 to move, and your touch and melee attacks are good (for
overcoming DR). Not great.
● Glitterdust – Arguably the best 2nd level spell in the game. I’d
recommend to any DM that they use the pathfinder version instead
(bad guys get a save every round) and even that is solid.
● Harmonize (RoS 162) – Activate bardic musics as a move action
instead of standard. Not really worth it because of low duration,
but a great target for persist.
● Hold Person – So much worse than the other control effects at
this level. Only has one target, is mind-affecting, target gets to
save each round… yuck.
● Insidious Insight (RoE p187) – +10 bonus to the social skills
against one target, lasts 24 hours, but he gets a will save. Worth
considering if you’re a face bard.The will save is sad, and I think
suggestion ends up being a stronger choice.
● Invisibility – Very strong. I recommend taking either this or swift
invisibility (or both). If you take this, swap it out when greater
invisibility becomes available.
● Know Vulnerabilities – I prefer the skill trick for this effect. We
can’t afford to do something with spells when skills can get the job
done.
● Mesmerizing Glare – Fascinate 1 creature / level, must be within
30′ of each other. This isn’t great by itself, but it lets you fascinate
many more creatures than your class ability, and you can then
use the class ability fascinate on all of the creatures you
fascinated with this spell. No good for combat, but this could
make it into a build.
● Mirror Image – Not a terrible spell, but weak. The standard
casting time really sets this one back.
● Miser’s Envy – Ok I have to be honest. This is not 5 stars. I just
wanted you to look at it because it’s awesome. If you make this
work your campaign, it’ll make for epic stories. It’s probably 2 or 3
stars. It makes a single creature crave a single object, going as far
as to attack and kill for it.
● Pyrotechnics – This spell is really cool and dynamic, but a little
limited. If your DM bans Glitterdust, this may be worth taking.
● Scare (PHB) – I like that this can target multiple creatures, but the
6HD limitation really makes this sad. I would pass, even for fear
escalators. That being said, most fear escalators are going to be
dread-witches and this is a pre-req for them, so it may be a
necessary evil. (Maybe your DM will let the pre-req be filled with
something like Fear instead, so you can swap out the useless
scare spell at higher levels.)
● Silence (PHB) – Can be good vs other casters or bards, and also
helps the rogue sneak around. Not a bad spell by any means, but
nothing to write home about either.
● Sonic Weapon – Standard action to make a weapon deal an extra
1d6 damage. Not at all good, but maybe it’s an alright persist
target, if you’re going that route.
● Sonorous Hum – Maintain concentration on the next spell you
cast that requires concentration without consuming your standard
action. I don’t think this is worth getting as a spell; the bard
doesn’t have enough spells per day or enough spells that require
concentration.
● Sound Burst – 1d8 and stun (fort save) in a 10′ spread. It’s not
great, but it’s ok.
● Suggestion – This is very
strong, has a lot of roleplaying opportunities, and fits right in the
character mold of a typical bard. The only downside is that it
overlaps with your class feature.
● Summon Monster II – This isn’t a very strong level for Summon
Monster. III and V are the best for combat, and 1 is the best for
sacrificial lambs. Pass on this.
● Swift Ready – As a swift action, get a set of gear equipped to you.
Lasts 24 hours until used. I feel like there have to be ways to
abuse this spell. Maintain different sets of equipment for different
situations… I don’t know. This has the feel of something you can
break.
● Tongues – Speak all languages. This is a really valuable ability,
since many of your spells and abilities are language based, but a
spell slot is a high cost. I prefer to get this through skills, but if your
DM rules that Speak Langauge is capped like other skills then this
may be something to look into. A wand or eternal wand might be a
better option than known spell.
● Whirling Blade – Attack creatures in a line with your standard
weapon. A little hard to get use out of, but can be OK. I’d probably
pass, but weapon-focused bards might like this. Pretty cool in
conjunction with bladeweave.
Level 3 Spells
● Adoration of the Frightful – This is a solid spell for any bard going
into fear effects. First, you get a +1 bonus to diplomacy (just for
knowing this spell). That’s awesome. Then, any creature you have
shaken, frightened, or panicked, you turn into a friendly for the
duration of the spell (1 minute / level) unless you or an ally get
hostile with them. This is very cool.
● Alter Fortune – I would love this spell if not for the XP cost. It’s
just not worth having on our limited list of spells with that big
downside.
● Blink – Really good for a gish/melee bard. Makes you harder to hit,
reduces the damage you take from area spells, makes your hits
more likely, and you can step through solid objects. You also can
attack ethreal creatures, which might come up.
● Charm Monster – I am biased towards this spell. A will save
completely negates this effect. On the other hand, if you succeed,
you get a best buddy for days. I think of Raistlin charming that
gully dwarf, and can’t help myself. It’s not mechanically the
strongest, but I really enjoy this one.
● Clairaudience / Clairvoyance – Takes a long time to cast is the
big downside. I think this is a perfect spell for a scroll. You won’t
need it every day, but when you do, it’s clutch.
● Cone of Euphoria – Standard action to cast. When you do, get a
handful of special attacks that daze for 1d6 rounds (will negates) in
a 20′ cone. I’m not a fan.
● Confusion –
Pros: It hits in a 15′ burst. Cons: The targets get a will save. If they
fail, there’s still a ~35% chance they’ll do something you don’t like.
The odds of failure are too high for me to endorse.
● Cure Serious Wounds – I just don’t like taking healing spells as a
bard. If you must, this one is probably better than the other
options.
● Curse of the Putrid Husk – A sleep-like spell that targets a single
opponent (will).Not a bad spell, but not the best. Good characters
may want to ask their DM to allow this to be re-fluffed as a good
spell. (The creature collapses under the weight of realization of its
sins?)
● Deep Slumber/Greater Sleep – These are both a better version of
sleep, but you get access to them at level 7. This spell loses its
strength around level 9 or 10, and you won’t be able to swap it out
until level 13 (or 11 if you go into sublime chord). Not a great
option, IMO. I like deep slumber a little better than greater sleep.
Deep slumber affects 10HD worth of creature, greater sleep
affects 4d6 HD. The average is the same, but I’d rather not have
variance in this effect; it makes it difficult to plan. If you want a
sleep effects, Curse of the Putrid Husk is probably your best bet.
● Dirge of Discord – Not bad. 20′ radius debuff that hits a wide
spectrum of abilities. Not great, but not bad.
● Dispel Magic – A good, general purpose effect. Can solve a lot of
problems.
● Displacement – Give yourself or an ally a buff that makes attacks
miss 50%. Not bad. A bit expensive as a level 3 spell. Blink is far
superior when targetting yourself, but this lets you also target an
ally.
● Dragonskin (BoEM1 18) – Gain Natural Armor +4 and 10 points of
resistance against one of five different damage types (choose on
cast). 10min / level duration. Not bad.
● Emotion (3.0 spell)- This spell got broken up into a handful of
other spells in 3.5. It’s still in 3.5 as a “Tarot” spell, though. If your
DM lets you use it, it’s pretty good. Having something with this
many modes really helps us with our low number of spells known.
● Fear – Will save or be panicked.. If the save succeeds, the bad
guy is still shaken for a round. A nice spell for fear bards.
● Gaseous Form – A pretty cool spell that can frustrate DMs and
get you out of trouble, but I think it has limited application. I’d like
to have this on a scroll rather than in my spell list.
● G’elsewhere Chant – Teleport subject randomly. I like that it can
hit bad guys. I don’t like that it’s random. Gives the DM too much
power to screw you over. “A prison cell is perfectly safe!”
● Glibness – Nearly campaign smashing. Convince anyone of
anything. A cool spell, but it can completely over-shadow all social
skills. I recommend using this sparingly if you get it, so your DM
and other players don’t kill you.
● Halt – Immediate cast, stop a bad guy from moving. I really like
this spell.
● Haste (PHB p239) – Make your whole party better in combat. A
really good effect for buffer bards.
● Haunting Tune – Shaken isn’t enough of a debuff for this to be
worth taking, unless it’s part of some escalating fear build.
● Hesitate – This is preetty good. It’s an immediate cast, and it
stops the opponent from doing anything but move actions for 1
round / level (will negates). It gets a save every round, which is
sad, but the immediate cast is very attractive.
● Insignia of Healing – 1d8 + LVL healing to everyone carrying a
special insignia that costs gold to create. I don’t like healing spells,
and this one isn’t very strong at all; mass low-amounts of healing
is rarely as effective as targeted high-amounts.
● Invisibility Sphere – I’m not in love with this spell. It basically lets
your party sneak by some guards, assuming they can keep quiet
and there’s enough room to walk.
● Leomund’s Tiny Hut – This is a cool idea for archer bards. It is a
concealment–on-order spell that you can see out of and shoot
from. Pretty cool.
● Listening Coin – Turn two coins into a one-way walkie-talkie that
lasts 1 hour / level. A pretty good Clairvoyance substitution spell.
● Phantom Steed – This is a strong spell that eventually lets you fly
all over the world on your own personal airship. My big problem
with it is that it’s primarily about mobility and that your teammates
don’t get one. Definitely strong (but make sure you have featherfall
handy!)
Level 4 Spells
● Blinding Beauty – A 4th level glitterdust-like-spell that targets fort.
Any creature that looks at you and fails the save is permanently
blind. If you’re going to take this, make sure you sit down with the
rest of your party and setup some safe words, otherwise they’ll be
mighty mad at you.
● Celerity – Acting now is so much better than acting later. This
spell is very, very strong.
● Charm Person, Mass – Only charms lvl * 2 HD humanoids. I’ll
pass.
● Dimension Door – Local teleport for the entire party. Very strong.
Can be annoying for DMs not prepared for this.
● Dominate Person – This feels like the sort of spell you’d like to
have on a scroll, if you can figure out how to read the scroll
without alarming your target. You can control a king with this for
extended periods of time. It’s not bad as a daily spell, since it lets
you take full control of a bad guy for an extended period of time.
The big downside is it only targets humanoids.
● Freedom of Movement – This spell can get you out of a lot of
sticky situations. The more aggressive your DM, the better this
gets.
● Fugue – This is a powerful area debuff, but it requires
concentration to maintain. If you have swift concentration, this may
be worth looking into.
● Harmonize, Greater – Here’s a way to concentrate as a move
action. The idea is to cast this then activate insprie courage as a
move action, and it’s action-efficient. Not a bad spell, not my
favorite.
● Hold Monster – Another save or die that targets will. You have
better options at lower levels if you want this kind of effect.
● Glimpse of Eternity (MoE p96) – Target takes 1d6 dmg per caster
level (max 15d6) and is confused (the one where it does random
stuff) for 1 round / 3 levels. Will halves damage and negates
confusion.
● Incite Riot – Another “make the enemies fight each other” spell.
Its OK, but I still like song of discord best for this effect.
● Mind Fog – Will save or get -10 on will saves, 2′ radius burst. Not
a bad debuff, especially if you have a party that can really take
advantage of it.
● Mislead – Not in love with this spell.Swift invisibility and silent
image can accomplish almost exactly the same thing at a much
lower cost.
● Otto’s Resistable Dance – The imagery is funny, and it’s nice that
it hits one living creature per level, but the effect (-2 to AC, -2 to
Will, -2 to Concentration, -2 to spellcraft) is such a weak debuff
that I can’t see this being worth casting.
● Scry Location – If you like scry spells, this is a solid one.
● Seeming – Affect whole party with disguise self. Meh. I really can’t
think of a good use for this, even as a scroll (just buy a wand of
disguise instead).
● Shadow Evocation – Just like Shadow Conjuration, this really
opens up the bard’s spells known.
● Shadow Walk – The closest thing a bard gets to a teleport spell. If
you take an unwilling subject, you can bring him into the shadow
plane and then dump him there, which is pretty cool.
● Song of Discord – Pros: 20′ radius spread, opponents fight each
other sometimes. Cons: they first get a will save, then there’s only
a 50% chance it works. It hits your teammates as well as your
enemies. Not great, but not the worst.
● Suggestion, Mass – Suggestion on a number of creatures equal
to your caster level. Sweet!
● Summon Monster V – A fine spell. If you like summoning, the
5th level of this spell has some cool options.
● Unfettered Heroism (RoE p 190) – Immediate cast,get a bonus
action point each turn, lasts 1 round per level (d20srd link). The
spell requires that you have at least one action point available, so if
your campaign doesn’t use action points, you might be out of luck
here. Otherwise this is really strong (Lets you cast lower level
spells over and over and over and over again, for example.)
● Wail of Doom – 30′ cone that does a small amount of damage
and either panicks or shakens. Not bad.
Level 6 Spells
● Animate Objects – This has cool visuals, but the creatures you
get are too weak by the time you get this spell. The fact that each
object has its own characteristics based on what it is is pretty cool
(a rug can blind, a rope can grapple, etc.) but still pretty limited.
● Animal Features, Mass (Fox’s Cunning, Eagle’s Splendor,
etc.) – This is a reasonably strong buff spell in the right party
context. Go with Strength probably.
● Bestow Curse, Greater – This is very powerful. Reducing an
ability to score to 1 and then damaging that ability score via some
other method is a two-hit combo. The fact that you can tailor the
curse to the situation is also nice. That being said, it requires a
touch attack, is negated by a will save, and is subject to spell
resistance.
● Charm Monster, Mass – The max HD affected is twice your
caster level, which is a real limitation. Mass Charm really means
“Charm 2-5 monsters”.
● Dirge – All enemies in a 50′ burst around the bard take 2 points of
strength and dex damage every round. Lasts 1 round / level. Fort
negates, but the bad guy had to roll each round. Activate once, get
the effect once each turn. I like this.
● Empyreal Ecstacy (BoED 98) – Target is immune to mind-
affecting techniques, takes half damage from melee and ranged
attacks, gets -4 on all skill checks, and has to pass a DC15
concentration check to cast. Also counters some effects like
Symbol of Pain (PHB). This is an interesting spell that can be used
as a buff or debuff. The half damage is my favorite part.
● Eyebite – Good against weak opponents, bad against strong
opponents. I hate that. The spell language isn’t clear, but I’m pretty
sure it consume your standard action each turn. If that’s the case,
it’s terrible. If you get to activate each additional round without
consuming additional standard actions, then it’s not so bad.
● Familial Gaes – Geas, plus some small benefits that will probably
never come up. However, since it’s the same level at Geas, it
seems strictly better to me.
● Fanfare (SaS) – 100′ cone that can’t be fully saved. If they save,
they are stunned for 1d4 rounds and deafened for double! If they
fail the save, they also take damage. This is a really solid spell. It
also targets Fort, which is nice for the Bard. This is a good way to
deal with enemy spellcasters.
● Gaes / Quest – No saving throw! The target must fulfill a mission
of your choice (or spend 1 day / level fulfilling an open-ended
mission). This is open ended, highly subject to DM rule, and can
reward creative play. A really cool spell, but also dangerous to
your campaign. Use at your own risk!
● Glimpse of the Prophecy (MoE p96) – Get a +1 to AC and to
saves while in effect, and it lasts 1 hour per level. Then you can
discharge it as an immediate action to get +10 to a save. A solid
defensive spell.
● Greater Scrying – Solid spell.
● Heaven’s Trumpet (BoED 101) – This spell is solid, but requires
that you have the archon sub-type, which is a huge
limitation.Enemies must pass a fort save or be paralyzed for 1d4
rounds. A huge area: 120′ . This one is a solid spell, and I like that
it targets fort.
● Hindsight – Lets you look into the past of the place you’re
standing. Really cool flavor, but a little hard to get a ton of use out
of. If you can make it to your arch-enemies evil lair, you can learn
all of his dirty secrets, of course. This is another spell which just
gives the DM a hook to tell his story. I don’t mind doing that, but
not at the cost of one of our precious spell slots.
● Otto’s Irresistible Dance – The title of this spell is misleading; it
requires a touch attack to come into effect. On a successful touch,
the target is disabled for 2-5 rounds without any save. They also
provoke attacks of opportunity and get an AC & Reflex penalty.
Definitely solid, especially for melee bards. Amazing on a melee
bard, solid everywhere else.
● Nixie’s Grace – What’s interesting about this spell is the +8 to
charisma. That effectively gives you about 6 more bonus spells-
per-day of lower levels that you can use temporarily (more if you’re
in the sublime chord prestige class). In addition, you get swim
speed, underwater breathing, low light vision, damage reduction 5
/ cold iron, +6 to Dex, and +2 to Wisdom. An interesting spell.
● Permanent Image – I can’t think of a great use for this spell for
PCs. As a DM I use it a lot. As a player, it’s rare that you’ll need
this.
● Project Image – This is really strong image spell. It grants sight,
hearing, doesn’t get destroyed by damage, and distracts your
enemies. Very strong.
● Protege – Grant a party member the powers of a bard of
approximately half your strength. I can’t think of why you would do
this. Crappy duration, too.
● Ray of Light (SC 167) – OK so this is cool. No save, ray attack. On
a successful ranged touch attack the target is blinded for 1d4
rounds. I like that there is no will save, although blinding can have
limited benefit. It is subject to spell resistance, though, so that’s
sad.
● Resistance, Superior – +6 to all saves for 24 hours. Cast this
before going to sleep, wake up with a nice shield and full spell
slots. This is a great target for chain spell (if you’ve gone into
sublime chord) at higher levels. The big problem with this spell is
that it doesn’t stack with the ubiquitous cloak of resistance. If you
have a good alternate use for that body slot, this might be worth
looking into.
● Snowsong (FB 105) – Boost ally AC, Charisma checks, and
attacks. Give enemy casters a 20% fail chance. 30′ burst centered
on you. Not bad, but I feel like the insight bonuses might overlap
with existing item bonuses on your party. Worth looking at.
● Shout, Greater – Hits on multiple fronts: 10d6 damage (half with
fort save); stunned for 1 round (negated with fort save); deafened
for 4d6 rounds (half duration with fort save). The best part of
deafened is casters gets a 20% spell failure.
● Summon Monster VI – One of the weaker summon monster
spells. Probably pass on this one.
● Veil – Disguise on the whole party. At this high level, I have a hard
time seeing a use for it that won’t get seen through.
Which Perform?
Pick a version of Perform that doesn’t require any hands and doesn’t
require an instrument that can be taken away from you by bad guys.
Things like voice, oratory, poetics, or whistling. It’s really that simple.
Nothing stops you from whipping out a guitar and playing it for flavor
if you want it.
Fear Escalation
Fear escalation is a viable option for a bard, and it is a strong ability.
The one problem with fear escalation is that a lot of things are immune
to fear. You can get past this by dipping into dread witch for 4 levels,
but that makes a very particular bard.
You can escalate through the first three fear states. For example, if a
creature is currently shaken and you target it with a spell that makes a
creature shaken, that creature becomes frightened (one level of
escalation).
The bard has a lot of strong options to esclate through fear. I’ll put
some example builds in the builds section.
Casting in Secret
A lot of the bard’s spells are social based. Sometimes, you’ll have
started a social interaction and realize you want to cast a spell, but the
suspicious guards probably won’t stand there patiently as you move
your hands around in a strange way to cast glibness. Instead, they’ll
probably recognize that you’re casting a spell and arrest you before
you can go any further.
In order to address there, the game creators gave us a few options for
casting in secret:
Sleight of Hand Skill (RoS 133)
● Can use multiple times in an encounter.
● Sleight of hand check vs opposed spot check.
● Success makes verbal and somatic go unnoticed.
● Does not solve material and focus components.
● Some lack of clarity in the rules regarding AOOs and
counterpselling.
Conceal Spellcasting Skill Trick (CS 85)
● Can only be used once in an encounter.
● Also a sleight of hand check vs opposed spot check.
● Success means they cannot tell that you’re casting regardless of
components.
● Observer also cannot attempt an attack of opportunity.
● Observer cannot attempt to counter the spell.
Subsonics Feat (CA 112)
● Can disguise your bardic musics, including those that harm
opponents.
● Cannot disguise spells.
Silent Spell Feat (PHB 100)
● This feat doesn’t work for Bards, so this is a dead end.
Echew Materials Feat (PHB 94)
● Constant benefit, as long as the materials cost under 1gp.
● No metamagic cost.
● Only removes material components, nothing else.
● Can be used repeatedly.
● Costs a whole feat.
Disguise Spell Feat (CA 108)
● Perform check vs. Spot check; onlookers must match or succeed
to see that you’re casting.
● It’s obvious you’re performing, but not that you’re casting.
● Does not disguise spells that clearly emenate from you.
● Can’t be ID’d with spellcraft even if they realize you’re casting.
● Still provokes AOO.
Using Prestidigitation
This really is a great spell. No, it’s not going to solve your campaign
singlehandedly, but it’s super fun and has a million applications.
Before we go into the various uses, you should note that one casting
lasts an hour, and you can do any number of individual
presitigations (of any type) any number of times during that hour.
That is great.
Song and Silence (page 80) talks about a few additional uses:
● Change matter, as long as it stays in the same “kingdom” of
animal, vegetable, or mineral
● Dry and Dampen items
● polish something
● sketch a figure on any surface (or in the air)
● stitch seams
● tie a knot
Many of the bard’s abilities are langauge based, so I tend to like this
skill and putting a lot of points into it.
You can read a little discussion about this here.
Using Diplomacy
You can pump diplomacy to ridiculous heights. If you want to make a
absurdly broken diplomancer, look at the half-elf alt-class features for
soothing voice (to enable diplomacy in combat) pump up the number
of languages you speak, and search this document for all instances of
“diplomacy” and select those options. Next, get glibness and pump
bluff. Finally, pick up a harmonica. If you do that (and use the core
diplomacy rules) you’ll be absurd in any situation that words could
possibly solve.
I don’t recommend doing this, because it will piss of your DM and co-
players, but it definitely exists as an idea.
Tempering Diplomacy
If you want to temper diplomacy a bit and make it sane, you can try
the following things:
● Get Rid of Synergies – +6 is big boost. Getting rid of this can help
make it a bit more sane.
● Use Pathfinder’s Adjustments – They make some small debuffs.
Still very strong, but a bit more limited.
● Use This Old Rule: The Diplomacy Skill – A homebrew solution
to dipolomacy. The most limiting, and yet it still remains very
strong
Your party will lose any stealth, so the rogue might look at you
sideways, but aside from that, there are very few things you need to
do while adventuring that you can’t do while singing or talking.
While dragonfire inspiration does tend to net more damage, here are
some exceptions and things to think about:
● Sometimes dragonfire inspiration nets less damage than inspire
courage.
● Dragonfire inspiration is stronger vs. opponents with lower AC and
weaker vs opponents with higher AC.
● If your damage is already very high compared to your attack
bonus, dragonfire inspiration is worse. (This means dragonfire
inspiration and power attack have some anti-synergy).
● Oftentimes, just connecting is more important than getting one
extra hit point of damage. Rarely does the bad guy hang on by one
HP after getting hit. Usually, he just needs one successful strike to
put him down. This works as an argument in favor of inspire
courage.
● Similarly, I think damage output vs the guy with the higher AC is
going to be more important than damage output vs. the guys with
the lower AC, but this is obviously not always true.
● Usually, the benefit scales linearly with inspire courage bonus, but
there are cases where that’s not accurate. For example, if a
character has an attack of +5 and average damage of 10, you see
dragonfire inspiration be the better choice if the inspire courage
bonus is 1 to 4, but at 5 the advantage starts to decline, and at 7,
inspire courage becomes stronger again.
Bottom line is this. If you understand the math, you can decide to use
this when it makes sense, and use inspire courage otherwise. If you
can do that, you’ll get a pretty solid boost to damage on average. I’ve
created an excel spreadsheet which will help you simulate certain
situations, so you can get a feel for the numbers.
Link: http://joshuad.net/new-bard-handbook-files/dragonfire-
inspiration-calculator.xlsx
Talk to your DM and find out what she thinks. If it doesn’t stack, this
feat is still strong. If this does stack, this feat is bonkers good,
effectively giving you an additional, better copy of your best bardic
music.
Example Builds
The bard is a hybrid mage / fighter, with a focus on group buffs.
That’s how it’s designed, and you have to do a lot of work to get away
from that. All of the builds below are that, but they emphasize either
the fighter or the mage aspect more, as indicated.
Caster Builds
So the nice thing about these builds is that you can be a gish levels 1-
10, and then pivot to being more of a sorcerer levels 11-20. At level
20, you’re weaker than a sorcerer. But at levels 1-8, you’re doing a lot
more. In my opinion, this translates to a lot more fun with only a small
cost at the end of the game. I like these builds a lot.
● Bard 6 / Lyric Thaumaturge 4 / Sublime Chord 10 – This is my
favorite build. The 4 dip in Thaumaturge gives you some wizard
spells at lower levels, which is a really nice addition to your pool.
Sixth level is a good place to cut off the bard progression, and
Sublime 10 is great.
Debuffer
● Bard / Sublime Chord / Dread Witch / Nightmare Spinner
Melee Builds
● Battle Knight Bard of Sublime Chord (Bard 4 / Paladin 2 /
Eldritch Knight 9 / Sublime Chord 1 / Abjurant Champion 4) –
Ninth level caster with a +18 BAB. Access to bard abilities is very
limited, this is more of a bard-flavored fighter/mage than an actual
bard, but it’s pretty cool anyway. You can read more about this at
the dandwiki
● Swiftblade BattleHowler (Bard 5 / Battle Howler 2 / Swiftblade
9 / Battle Howler 3 / Bard 1) – Suggested by Jordan below. This
is interesting. The only thing I don’t like here is all the feat tax.
I really want access to swift inspire courage via Song of the White
Raven. I might try something like Crusader 1 / Bard 4 / Battle
Howler 2 / etc, so I can pick up Song of the White Raven via a
single feat. I haven’t looked at this too hard, so it needs some
development and might not pan out.
● … More coming soon
Archer Builds
To build an archer bard, just take the archery feats (and knowledge
devotion, if you can). Bards don’t need their feats for anything, so
you’re free to dedicate them to new vectors. Archery is as fine as any
other. If you multi-class into something that gives a higher BAB that
helps, of course.
Summoner Builds
The summoner bard seems really strong to me. Here’s an initial
outline I’m working on:
● Race: Half-Elf or Human
● Classes
o 1-10: Bard
o 11-20: Sublime Chord
● Feats
o Flaw: Greenbound Summoning
o 1: Ashbound Summoning
o 3: Improved Initiative
o 6: Words of Creation
o 9: Leadership
o 12: Summon Elemental Reserve
● Alt Class Features
o Savage Bard (Grants access to Greenbound Summoning)
o 1: Lore Song – Broken (Replacing Bardic Knowledge)
o 1: Soothing Voice – Broken (Replace Countersong, half-
elf substitution)
o 6: Music of Making – Double Duration of Summons
(Replace Suggestion)
o 8: Haunting Melody –
I acutally started playing a campaign with a summoner bard. Here he
is at the time of creation, level 8. I’m pretty happy with him: Leaf, the
Orphan Bard.
Items
There are a lot of viable items in this game. I won’t be able to do a
complete list, but I will try to cover the high points of bard-specific
items, and items that are especially good for bards.
Pro-tip: the most powerful item you’ll probably be able to find in the
game is the one your DM invents for you. A little gentle
encouragement can go a long way here. In my experience, DMs love
inventing magical items, and their sense of ownership tends to cause
them to make it a powerful one.
Masterwork Instruments
All masterwork instruments give a +2 bonus to perform. In addition,
the following instruments give the additional benefits as outlined
below. You should carry almost all of these on you, once you have the
carry capacity (or a heward’s handy haversack). The cost is so low.
●
100 – Masterwork Drum (Cadv 124) – +1 to Inspire Courage
Damage, -1 to Inspire Courage Charm and Fear. This is worth
carrying.
● 100 – Masterwork Fiddle (Cadv 124) – +1 to IC charm & fear
(scales with level) and cast spells while performing, as long as
those spells have only vocal components.
● 100 – Masterwork Flute (Cadv 124) – +2 to countersong. I mean, I
guess you can carry this if you have countersong, but get rid of
countersong.
● 100 – Masterwork Harp (Cadv 124) – Target one additional
creature with fascinate or inspire greatness. Definitely worth
carrying this item. Also allows you to cast verbal-only spells while
performing.
● 100 – Masterwork Horn (Cadv 124) – Raise IC damage and fear
by 1, but effect stops 1 round after the ally stops hearing the
performance. Drum is better.
● 100 – Masterwork Lute
(Cadv 124)
– Lets you cast while performing, as long as the spell only requires
vocal components. Also get +1 level when determining the effect
of your bardic musics. This is useful at most levels (6, 7, 9, 11, 12,
13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20) for various reasons:
o Inspire Courage: Increase bonus by 1 at levels 7, 13,
and 19;
o Fascinate: gain an extra target at levels 3, 6, 9, 12, 15,
18 (also helps mass suggestion);
o Inspire Greatness: An additional target at levels 11, 14,
17; and
o Inspire Heroics: an extra target at levels 17 and 20.
● 100 – Masterwork Lyre (Cadv 124) – An additional target for
fascinate or inspire heroics. Also lets you cast while playing, as
long as the spell only has vocal components.
● 100 – Masterwork Mandolin (Cadv 124) – Can cast while
performing as long as spell only uses vocal components. Inspire
Courage gets +1 to attack, but -1 damage and charm and fear.
Bleh.
● 100 – Masterwork Pan Pipes (Cadv 124) – +1 to fascinate and +1
to suggestion DC. Not bad, worth carrying.
● 100 – Bagpipes (SaS 43) – Give all listeners -1 against fear effects.
● 100 – Banjolele (SaS 43) -Increase bonus of IC fear by 1.
● 100 – Bones (SaS 43) -Listeners get -2 against fear effects. Not
great, but if you have a use, the cost is very low. It costs a
standard action to activate, so not usually going to be good in
combat, unless the DM rules that it stacks with other bardic music
effects, which I think is a reasonable reading of the rules.
● 100 – Fiddle
(SaS 44), Lap Harp (SaS 46), Lute (SaS 46)
– Lets a bard maintain two bardic music effects at one time
(inspire courage and inspire greatness, I’m looking at you).
● 100 – Handbell (SAS 45) – +1 bonus to countersong attempts. If
you’re countersonging ever, get the Whistle-Pipe instead, it gives
+5.
● 100 – Harmonica
(SaS 45), Shawm (SaS 49)
– Now this is a good item. +4 to bluff, diplomacy, gather
information, and disguise checks vs. people who heard you
perform for 1d6 hours after the performance AND it shifts the
listener’s attitude one level closer to you. This is effectively like a
+20 to diplomacy. If I am a DM, I’m seriously considering not
allowing this item to exist. If your DM allows it, my god it’s good.
Alternatively, get someone to helpful through normal diplomacy,
and then turn them fanatic with this harmonica with no chance of
failure. Are you kidding me?
● 100 – Horn, Natural (SaS 46) – Increase inspire courage bonus by
1, but reduce charm effects by 2. Yes please.
● 100 – Lyre – (SaS 47) – +2 to countersong, fascinate, or
suggestion against fey. Meh.
● 100 – Pan-Pipes (SaS 48) – +1 to perform when listeners are
animal or fey. Yuck, just get masterwork.
● 100 – Recorder Flute (SaS 48)- Listener gets -1 against charm
and compulsion, including fascinate and suggestion. Worth
carrying for sure.
● 100 – Whistle Pipe (SAS 49) – +5 bonus to countersong attempts.
If you’re countersonging ever, this helps for a low cost.
● 100 – Zither (SaS 49) – Inspire courage’s resist charm and fear
increases, but damage decreases. Yuck.
Magical Instruments
All magical instruments are masterwork. I think there’s a reasonable
argument to be made that any magical Lyre instrument also gets the
benefits listed above in mundane instruments, but you’ll have to
convince your DM.
● 6800 – Esheen’s
Harp (MoF 157) – +2 to perform, +5 to listen against creatures
carrying metal or glass, shatter 1/day. Very expensive for weak
abilities.
● 7000 – Night Caller (LM 79) – Animate zombies once per week.
Max 2 zombies. Pretty cool and price effective, especially for a
necromancer-bard.
● 7185 – Trumpet of Doom (BoED 116) – Nearby evil creatures
become shaken for one minute, DC 14 save. Shaken isn’t a great
ability, but not bad. This would be OK at low levels for non-melee
bards, when you don’t have a ton of spells. Not great at higher
levels due to the low save.
● 7500 – Biwa of Calm (OA 137) – Calm emotions on a 30′ radius,
DC 15. Not a bad price to get a free spell.
● 8100 – Instrument of the Bards – Canaith Mandolin (MIC 153) –
+2 to perform, +4 to countersong, fascinate, and suggestion. Cure
Serious Wounds, Dispel Magic, or Summon Monster III. Requires 8
ranks in perform (string) for the better effects. This is a solid item if
you have the skill ranks. I don’t know if it’s worth putting skill ranks
in strings just for this item, though. (CArc 149 has it for a much
higher price. At the MIC price, it’s pretty good).
● 8500 – Valarde’s Harp (MoF 166) – +2 to perform.
● 10000 – Yeth Horn (Planar 84) – 60′ spread, DC15 perform check
to activate. All creatures except evil outsiders have to pass a DC16
will or be panicked for 2d6 rounds. The will save is a little low for
the price, but the effect is almost-phenomenal. Would be a solid
item for a level 7-12 character. The big downside here is that
affects everyone except evil outsiders. A huge downside that can’t
really be overcome. This is better for a DM than a player, most of
the time.
● 12000 – Janthra’s Harp (MoF 161) – +2 to perform, invisibility
sphere for 1 hour / day. Effectively unlimited uses. Very strong.
● 12100 – Dove’s Harp (MIC 156) – +2 to perform, all allies get fast
healing 3 for 1 minute (they heal 3 HP per round). My reading is
that it piggy-backs another bardic music (like inspire courage). If
so, this is solid.That’s a lot of damage healing for no additional
actions.
● 13000 – Lyre of Building (DMG) – Protect a structure from
destruction, or get the equivalent of 100 humans worth of work in
3 days. There are a lot of creative uses for this item.
● 15000 – Ruehar’s Flute (PGtF 124) – Some small magical effects,
plus comes with some spells like a spellbook. Not great for a bard;
we don’t have any use for spellbooks.
● 16000 – Azlaer’s Harp (MoF 154) – Calm emotions and suppress
charm, plus a light effect. Way too expensive for its limited
application.
● 18000 – Horn of the Rider – lesser (HoB 132) -Summons a rider 3
times / day that deal damage and threaten to trample opponents.
They only last one attack. It’s effectively a blasting spell 3/day. Not
bad, not great. Price is high.
● 18100 – Instrument of the Bards – Cli Lyre (MIC 154) – +2 to
perform, +5 to countersong, fascinate, and suggestion. Break
Enchantment, dimension door, and shout each 1/day. Requires 10
ranks in strings. This is good. (CArc has a higher price).
● 22000 – Instrument of the Winds (PGtF) – +2 to perform, DC 15
wind instrument check. If it succeeds, summon an air elemental.
Definitely a strong effect for the price.
● 22300 – Nithanalor’s Harp (MoF 164) – +2 to perform, 1/day
stone skin. A wand of stoneskin costs 50% more. Not bad.
● 25000 – Handharp (MoF 159) – A handful of cool abilities, focused
on the undead. Not worth getting unless the undead stuff is helpful
for you, but I like that it’s diverse. A wand of dimension door would
be 21,000 and would burn out eventually. This never dies and
gives other effects too. A solid item, albeit not good for every bard.
● 32100 – Instrument of the Bards – Anstruth Harp
(MIC 150, CArc 149)
– +2 to perform, +6 to countersong, fascinate, and suggestion.
Control Water, Mass CLW, and Mind fog. I really don’t like this
version. CArc has it listed for 60000, Magic Item Compendium has
it at 32100. At the MIC price it’s not terrible, but not great.
● 33750 – Slippers of Battledancing (DMGII 272) – Great for Gish
builds. +10 to land speed, +5 to tumble, +2 to initiative checks,
and cha bonus (instead of str or dex) to attack rolls and damage
rolls.
● 35380 – Horn of Triumph (SaS 56) -+2 Morale bonus to saving
throws, attacks, damage, strength, constitution, ability checks,
and skill checks. -1 to AC. It’s a real shame this is a morale bonus,
which keeps it from stacking with inspire courage. Creatures also
must remain with 15′ of activation, which is a severe limitation.
Works twice / day. The limitations set this far back.
● 36750 – Drums of Thunder – A limited number of charges, has a
handful of good spells on it. Because it’s charged based (and you
only get 10-20 activations) I’m not in love with this item. That’s a
lot of gold for an item that decays.
● 45100 – Dove’s Harp (MoF 156) -+2 to performance checks, cure
insanity, calm emotions, CLW, and light. Not great and very
expensive.
● 60000 – Horn of the Rider – greater (HoB 132) – Summons three
riders, 3 times per day, that deal damage and threaten to trample
opponents. They only last one attack. It’s effectively a blasting
spell 3/day. Not bad, not great. Price is high.
● 75000 – Horn of Dragons (Drac 121) – Can only be used once a
month, but lets you summon a ******* dragon who will help you to
the best of his ability. This is super cool. Probably not worth
getting, but my god it’s cool.
● 50100 – Instrument of the Bards – Ollamh Harp
(CArc 149, MIC 166)
– +2 to perform, +7 to countersong, fascinate, and suggestion.
Control Weather, Eyebite, and repulsion 1/day. I don’t love these
spells. MIC has it for less than CArc.
● 84000 – Hwyrr – the Clarion Harp – (BoED 117) – An intelligent
item. Automatically inhibits attacks of opportunity in bad guys,
grants some other spells per day. I think this is overpriced.
● 84375 – Gong of Dispelling (OA 141) – A giant gong which must
be hung, has 50 charges, and dispels evil and magic in a 30′
radius. Way too expensive and unwieldy.
● 115440 – Trumpet of Healing (BoED 116) – Heal 1/day (solves
almost all problems, including up to 150 HP) and has a handful of
other spells which can be cast 3/day. The cost is a bit steep for a
trumped-up healing wand.
Weapons
Weapon Enhancements
● 100 – Wand Chamber (Dung 34) – Give a weapon a chamber to
hold a wand, and you are effectively holding that wand and can
activate it. Great on your main weapon.
● 2000 – Sudden Stunning (DMGII 261) – This is perfect for a bard,
and I love that this has a flat cost. Targets reflex, pretty good save
DC, multiple activations per day, and stuns for 1d4 + 1 round. You
can activate is CHA_MOD times per day, which is wonderful for
us.
● +1 Bonus – Harmonizing (MIC 34) – +2 to perform (sing). Sustains
your bardic musics, including ones that require concentrationfor
you for 10 rounds or until you do something that stops it. Pretty
good, not essential.
● +1 Bonus – Holy Surge (MIC 36) – Get a big bonus damage to evil
creatures, CHA times per day. Not great, but maybe worth
considering for a melee bard.
● +1 Bonus – Stunning (MIC 44) – I don’t like this. The pre-requisite
is pretty weak (screaming weapon) and the effect only triggers on
crits. I recommend stunning surge instead.
● +1 Bonus – Stunning Surge (MIC 44) – This is pretty solid. Swift
activation, 1 + CHA times per day, fort save or be stunned for 1
round. Stunned is one of the good status effects (drops everything,
minuses to AC, no actions).
● +1 Bonus – Warning (MIC 46) – +5 to initiative. Going first is
important for a buffer / battlefield controller.
Armor
● 1100 – Mithril Chain (DMG 220) – Light Chain Shirt.
● 1000 – Mithril Buckler (DMG 220) – +1 to AC and an extra
enchantable slot with literally no drawback but cost. This thing is
great.
● 3450 – Mithralmist Shirt ( MIC 20) – +1 Mithril Shirt, 7/day get
concealment against attacks for one minute.
● 4150 – Elven Chain (DMG) -Light Chainmail, -2 ACP.
● 13100 – Kyton Armor (MIC 19) – Get an extra 1d6 damage attack
per turn, as a swift action. Not great for the price.
● 22400 – Celestial Armor (DMG) -+3 chainmail that grants fly 1 /
day.
● 25400 – Breastplate of Command (DMG) – Gives +2 to all
charisma checks and +2 to leadership. It’s alright, but is medium
armor, which makes our spell fail 25%. Pass.
Armor Enhancements
● 100 – Wand Chamber (Dung 34) – Give a shield a chamber to hold
a wand, and you are effectively holding that wand and can activate
it. Great on a mithril buckler.
● 1200 – Commander (MIC 9) – +2 on diplomacy, allies get +1 to
will saves, -5 to hide. This is a cheap way to pump diplomacy.
● 2700 – Glammered (DMG 219) – Armor can change to look like
normal clothing. Not bad for disguise people.
● (+3) – Halfweight (UD 70) – Treats the armor as “light in every
way” (except AC bonus). You’ll have to check with your DM on
exactly what that means regarding things like dex bonuses, but at
a minimum, it’s a great way to get into full plate as a bard.
● 5000 – Quickness (MIC 13) – Increase movement by 5′ . Good for
melee bards.
● 6000 – Speed (MIC 14) – Haste yourself for 1 round, three times
per day.
● 8000 – Healing (MIC 12) – Heal you automatically if you are
reduced to -1 to -9 hitpoints. Also can be activated manually as a
swift action. Pricey, but I like the “save me” automatic effect
Wands
There are two basic types of wands:
● 50 Charges (DMG 245) – You pay a certain amount of gold (750
for level 1) and you get 50 uses of any spell level 4 or lower, which
includes divine spells.
● Eternal Wands (MIC 159)- These wands cost a little more than
their 50 charge counter parts (820 for level 1). You get two
activations a day, forever. They can only hold arcane spells of 3rd
level or lower.
There are some key rules governing wands, and these rules make it so
that not all spells are suitable for wands. In short, the best candidate
spells do not allow saves and whose effects do not scale with caster
level (or, have strong enough effects at the minimum caster level).
● Caster Level – Unless you’re willing to pay a lot of gold, the caster
level of a wand is the minimum caster level needed to cast the
spell held within. So for level 0 and 1 spells this is typically level 1.
For level 2 spells this is typically level 3, etc.
● Key Ability Score – Similarly, the key ability score is assumed to be
the minimum necessary. So for level 1 spells this is 11, level 2 is
12, etc.
● Cast Time – According to the MIC (85) activating a wand takes the
same aount of time as it takes to cast the spell it holds
Despite these limtiations, there are some really great candidate spells
for wands. This is not an exhaustive list, but here are some key
choices:
● Aspect of the Wolf (SpC 16) – Become a wolf for 10 minutes. Ok!
● Benign Transposition (SpC 27) – 100′ range, swap two allies.
Perfect for a wand.
● Blockade (CS 95) – This is exactly the kind of spell we’re looking
for for an eternal wand. Lasts 3 rounds, makes a 5x5x5 cube, and
no part of the spell depends on key stat or caster level. Boom
● Ebon Eyes (SpC 77) – The 10 minute duration is a little sad here,
but the spell is very strong for level 1. Some people feel like it’s
written poorly, and those people are right. That being said, if your
DM wil let you use it as written, it’s a powerful spell.
● Detect Secret Doors (PHB 220) – This is a fine spell to have in a
wand. 1 minute duration, 60′ cone. Find secret doors,
compartments, etc.
● Friendly Face (RoD 166) – +5 to diplomacy and gather information
for 10 minutes. Oh yes, I love this on an eternal wand.
● Nerveskitter (SpC 146) – +5 to initiative for you or a teammate
within 25′ . This is amazing. Put it in a wand chamber in a mithril
buckler. Note: this immediate cast consumes your first round’s
action, so it is kind of a no-combo with swift inspire courage via
song of the white raven
● Ray of Enfeeblement (PHB 269) – This is solid. The only things
that scale are range and the +1 modifer, but the spell is still pretty
good at close range with only +1.
Wondrous Items
● 400 – Charm of Countersong (MIC 85) – Lets you activate
countersong as an immediate action. Countersong should just
work this way. Given that it doesn’t, this turns countersong from
an absolutely terrible ability to something that’s at least usable. I
wish it didn’t consume a neck slot, but it costs next to nothing.
● 750 – Healing Belt (MIC 110) – Alot of healing that’s useful out of
combat or in combat for a pretty low price. I like this item a lot.
● 900 – Acrobat Boots (MIC 67) – +2 to Tumble, swift activate: more
movement this round. Not bad.
● 1000 – Vest of Resistance (MIC 147) – +1 to all saves on a
desirable body slot. Great.
● 1200 – Badge of Valor (MIC 207) – 3 activations per day. Grant
bonuses to saves or +1 to the next inspire courage, activate as
swift action. This is a great item for a really low cost. The only
reason not to have this is because you need the neck slot for
something better at really high levels. (It’s actually worth
considering getting the entire regalia of the hero set; the cost is
low and the benefits are solid). Note: if you have swift inspire
courage from Song of the White Raven, you can still use this, but
you have to activate it as an immediate action after your turn is
over. On your turn you won’t get the bonus yourself, but for the
rest of the fight it’ll be active.
● 1400 – Anklet of Translocation (MIC 71) – twice a day teleport
10′ as a swift action. I love this.
● 1600 – Headband of the Lorebinder (MIC 110) -+4 bonus to
bardic knowledge checks, and read magic 3 / day. Not bad, and a
good price, but you’ve got better things to do with the headslot.
● 3700 – Mithral Bells (MIC 111) – A bracelet of 11 mithril bells. As
long as there are at least 2, you get +2 to perform checks. In
addition, you can throw a bell up to 40′ , and it explodes as a
Sound Burst effect. Not bad, a little pricey. It’s good at low levels,
but doesn’t make a ton of sense at low levels. I wonder if you can
get a discount one with just two bells left. +2 to perform for 1000
gold doesn’t sound bad.
● 4000 / 16,000 / 40,000 – Mirror of Vanity (BoEM1 32) – +2/4/6 to
charisma, doesn’t use a body slot, and it has some crappy gaze
attack attached. I mean, it’s a cloak of charisma that doens’t use a
body slot. It works as long as its “in your possession”. Wow!
● 4000 / 16,000 / 36,000 – Cloak / Headband of Charisma (DMG) –
+2, +4, or +6 to Charisma. This is an essential item. Bonuses to
everything that matters, particularly spell DC’s.
● 4400 – Sacred Scabbard (MIC 182) – Three times a day, bless
your weapon as a swift while its drawn, lasts 10 rounds. Price is
good, casting time is good, effect is good.
● 6000 – Amulet of Wordtwisting (MIC 71) – +2 insight bonus to all
the social skills. Not bad. If you’re an orc, you get +4 instead, and
you also can activate 1/day to cast tongues. Great for an Orc
Bard, OK for other bards.
● 12000 – Gauntlets of Heartfelt Blows (DM314 p22) – +CHA_MOD
in fire damage for melee attacks. That’s great.
● 12000 – Mantle of Second Chances (MIC 115) – Reroll as an
immediate action, before knowing the result, once per day. Good
effect, but too expensive.
● 16000 – Item of Continuous Harmonize (custom wondrous item)
– Harmonize is a 2nd level spell which lets you activate bardic
musics as a move action. The cost for making a custom magic
item of continuous effect is 2000 * spell_level(2) * caster_level(4).
Put this on a ring or something. The only reason I don’t love this is
because it’s expensive (and magic item slots eventually become a
bottleneck).
● 15000 – Desperation Chain (MIC 93) – Goes around the waist.
Allows you to cast a spell as an immediate action and without
verbal and somatic components when you’re about to die or being
disabled by an opponent (pinned, etc.) This is very strong.
● 16000 – Vest of Legends (DMG2) – +5 to diplomacy and perform;
bard level counts as 5 levels higher for inspire courage, fascinate,
inspire greatness, and inspire heroics. Very good.
● 27000 – Mantle of the Silver Dragon (Drac 121) – +2 to Charisma,
fly 1/day. Not bad, but very expensive for the effect.
Comments
● Jonathansays:
October 13, 2015 at 10:04 pm
o Joshua H.says:
January 20, 2016 at 12:11 am
● Azraellissays:
December 8, 2015 at 12:31 pm
Thank you so very much for your time and effort.
I will use the heck out of this.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
January 20, 2016 at 12:11 am
● Totecasays:
January 30, 2016 at 10:22 pm
Hey, awesome handbook. A friend of mine asked for my help with
his bard and I’m getting a lot of tips from here.
You forgot to add the Ray of dizziness, it’s a wonderful spell.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
January 31, 2016 at 2:54 am
o Totecasays:
January 31, 2016 at 10:44 am
● daveysays:
February 15, 2016 at 6:50 pm
o Joshua H.says:
December 8, 2016 at 1:55 pm
● Mikesays:
February 17, 2016 at 1:23 am
This page is great, thanks for all of the work you put into this and
for sharing it with everyone! A small heads up on Harmony – it was
turned into Inspirational Boost in the Spell Compendium. I learned
about a few spells from your list, then went and did some digging
and found a few more you could add. Would you be open to
putting the book each spell is from and the page number? I could
help with some.
Thanks again!
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
February 18, 2016 at 2:09 am
Sure, I’d love to give books and pages for the spells. If
you have any available, please email me
(Joshua@JesterBlocks.net) and I’ll update those, and the
rest when I can find a little time. Thanks for the note on
Harmony, btw.
● Aaron Donaldsonsays:
February 25, 2016 at 11:36 pm
You forgot a spell in your list, summon swarm. By it’s self not all
that powerful, but when you consider how it could be combined
with dragonfire inspiration, you have a nasty little DoT combo that
due to swarm traits can’t be avoided by the target. As long as they
occupy the targets space at the end of their move, the swarm
critters will deal damage which now includes the boost from
dragonfire inspiration.
Reply
● Stuartsays:
March 18, 2016 at 9:24 pm
Inspire Courage: Increase bonus by 1 at levels 3, 7, 13, and 19;
under masterwork Lute should read
Inspire Courage: Increase bonus by 1 at levels 7, 13, and 19;
Great guide
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
March 19, 2016 at 1:24 am
● Aion Harunosays:
March 21, 2016 at 11:21 am
Wow man. This is really nice. I’ve been toying with some melee
bard builds and that’s what I’ve put together so far:
Bard 4/Warblade 16
Pretty straightfoward. 2nd level bard spells, 9th level manuevers,
19 BAB. Lots of damage.
Have a fair amount of MAD, needing str, cha, int for words of
creation and warblade abilities and dex if you go two weapon
fighting (not recomended on a point buy build)
If your DM allows LA buyoff, a Draconic Human (RDr 74) can be a
descendant of a Battle Dragon and get a sonic Dragonfire
Inspiration at level 1, along with perfect stats increases.
Song of the White Raven is what make this build possible, get it at
level 6. Unfortunately, you probably won’t be using the Inspire
Courage as a swift action since you be using your swift action to
get a Inspirational Boost.
Bard 4/Crusader 16
Ditto above, but with less MAD, less damage and more defenses.
Although Aura of Chaos combined with a Falchion and the multiple
dice rolls you get from Dragonfire Inspiration can net a pretty high
DPT, it really shines on its defensive abilities, adding charisma to
will and getting Mettle later on, toghether with nice healing
maneuvers.
Bard 7/Crusader 2/Jade Phoenix Mage 1/Sublime Chord
2/Abjurant Champion 5/Jade Phoenix Mage +3
A little bit less melee power, but full spellcasting from sublime
chord (9th level wiz/sor spells), great defense from crusader 2
(steely resolve and cha to will) and abjurant champion (you can get
a Shield spell from a really cheap runestaff, and Luminous Armor
and Greater Luminous Armor using Arcane Preparation feat from
Complete Arcane).
The last 3 levels of Jade Phoenix Mage are in the end because you
can get a little higher level maneuver at JPM 3, but it’s not really
necessary and you can get it before Abjurant Champion if you
want.
Bard 4/Harmonious Knight 2/Spellsword 1/Abjurant Champion
2/Eldritch Knight 1/Sublime Chord 2/Abjurant Champion
+3/Eldritch Knight +5
This one is a little bit more complex, have no maneuvers, but I feel
it is stronger than the previous one with better BAB (marginal, but
better), cha to all saves (instead of just will). Get shield and
luminous armor the same way as above.
Races is always Draconic Human as pointed at the first build, but if
your DM doesn’t allow LA buyoff, Silverbrow Human can probably
get Draconic Heritage (Battle) saving you a feat in Dragontouched
and getting you Feather Fall 1+/day in exchange of some skill
points and a Dragonborn Lesser Aasimar has some really nice
stats increases and dragonblood, but I don’t think it can take
Draconic Heritage, because of the way Dragonborn works.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
March 21, 2016 at 1:07 pm
This is great.
I’ll look everything over and work it into the builds
section. Thanks so much!
● Aion Harunosays:
March 21, 2016 at 10:01 pm
o Joshua H.says:
March 21, 2016 at 11:55 pm
fixed, thanks!
● Stuartsays:
March 26, 2016 at 12:05 am
You might want to add “Martial Study” to your feat list. If only as
an option to get intimidate in class.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
March 26, 2016 at 3:30 am
● Stuartsays:
March 26, 2016 at 12:41 am
The badge of valor (MiC 207) costs 1400 gold not 1200 gold
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
March 26, 2016 at 3:29 am
The Regalia of the Hero table lists it as 1200 gp, but the
price under the Badge of Valor’s actual entry on the
following page is 1400 gp. The throat-slot table entry on
p. 253 also gives the price as 1400 gp.
● martixysays:
April 9, 2016 at 6:10 am
Well formatted, easy to navigate. I love it.
As far as focusing on lower levels harder, that’s just Benford’s law
in action.
And I’m gonna assume yellow means cheese. I mean that Firre, I
can see so much potential.
On the other hand, Stormsingers make me wish D&D had bass-
guitars.
Reply
● Edwynsays:
May 12, 2016 at 7:05 am
o Joshua H.says:
May 12, 2016 at 1:27 pm
o Edwynsays:
May 12, 2016 at 2:38 pm
THX for Tips i will work around Them (i don’t like a lot 2
weapon fight cause of the Hig Dext needed but is only a
personal opinion:-) )
● Davidesays:
May 17, 2016 at 1:12 pm
Ehi dude! That’s a Great work and sure You’re great! But… Why
don’t you consider or suggest Hexblade in base classes? A dip of
two level grants to your pg charisma to your saves while a dip of
three level can give to you both charisma to saves and mettle! If
we want to take a dip of four level we can take dark companion or
familiar plus other stuff I listed before Anyway, imho Hexblade
gives a badass look. Thanks a lot for your hard work from Italy!
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
May 30, 2016 at 1:06 pm
o Joshua H.says:
May 31, 2016 at 11:29 am
o Joshua H.says:
June 4, 2016 at 7:44 pm
● Giosays:
June 6, 2016 at 12:07 pm
● Masakansays:
June 19, 2016 at 3:28 pm
Hey do you think it would be too much trouble to look at the battle
dancer class? I would think a single dip in that class can go a long
way for a bard.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
June 20, 2016 at 8:52 pm
o Malcolm Townersays:
June 29, 2016 at 2:34 am
o Joshua H.says:
June 29, 2016 at 11:04 am
Yea, that part is nice. I don’t think it’s worth a level dip on
the whole, but that is a nice feature.
o Malcolm Townersays:
June 29, 2016 at 10:21 pm
o Joshua H.says:
June 30, 2016 at 12:16 pm
● Matthew Talbotsays:
July 12, 2016 at 11:56 am
Hello Joshua!
I totally used your guide to direct me in building a bard in 3.5. I had
never played one before and am usually a warrior type with a focus
on DPS. I went totally opposite after my warrior died and went
Bard / Lyric Thaumaturge (we are at lvl 10) then going onto
Sublime Chord. I am totally focused on buff which is again
something that our group has never done. My Bard has completely
changed the face and how the party functions in battle. My who
group made fun of me for my selection until the first battle… then
they were blow away at how better everyone stats and
effectiveness was. Thank you very much!!!!
Matt
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
July 27, 2016 at 1:18 am
● Guigarcisays:
July 25, 2016 at 4:36 pm
Amazing resource but why is the Aasimar rated higher than the
Celadrin when the latter seems to synergize better and is
ostensibly a half elf?
Reply
● Ama-gisays:
July 26, 2016 at 8:43 pm
o Ama-gisays:
July 27, 2016 at 7:02 pm
o Joshua H.says:
July 28, 2016 at 4:37 pm
o Ama-gisays:
July 29, 2016 at 9:20 am
Will do. I think it’s also important to lay out the rest of the
party, so you and others see what’s already in the party.
L12
1 Wizard and 1 Sorcerer
1 Druid, built to tank with a bear that tanks
1 Cleric built less to heal than take advantage of the
higher level divine capabilities
Roguish character built more like a stealthy backstabber
with a shadow companion
New person joining the group will likely play a fighter, to
ease him into gameplay
My bard
So, there are a lot of roles filled. I like your
Bard6/Therm4/SC10 concept. With two arcane casters, a
druid and a cleric, the only reason I’m not going that
direction is because (1) there isn’t a need, (2) I’m playing
a Wizard5Incantor10/Archmage5 (L15 right now) in
another campaign and I’m getting my arcane fix there,
and I’d really like to play more of a bardish bard. That’s
why I’m interested in progressing bard levels and skills at
the expense of 1 or 2 arcane casting levels.
Like you, if I really wanted to build arcane power, I’d
never give up a casting level. Virtuoso provides a good
trade off to progress both bard and arcane, given my
concept.
o Joshua H.says:
July 30, 2016 at 12:48 pm
● Tomas Mistrorigosays:
July 29, 2016 at 1:16 pm
What a great guide you did there! I started playing as a bard just
two months ago and you helped me a lot with this guide! I’m
having much more fun and my character is much better after
taking a good look into your guide! I’m in a low level campaign
with a core bard at a 6 players table. All of them are impressed by
the way I’m buffing/helping in the fights and in the social parts.
The only problem is that I’m using the masterwork mandolin just
by flavour purposes since I play it in real life :P, but the +1 bonus
on attack are quite useful, at least for now at the low levels.
Thank you very very much for your guide. Very didatic and easy to
use.
Hail from Brazil!! And sorry for the bad english.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
July 30, 2016 at 12:48 pm
● Ama-gisays:
July 30, 2016 at 3:16 pm
Does the Crystal Echoblade give Bard level damage or 1/2 of Bard
level damage? My book says 1/2, but there may be a change.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
July 30, 2016 at 8:32 pm
● Malcolm Townersays:
August 14, 2016 at 8:46 pm
Thanks for adding my suggestion even though it sucked…I do
have one question though.
You say a dip in rouge is only 2 stars, what if you decided to dip
into martial rouge for a level or 2 for the bonus fighter feats?
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
August 15, 2016 at 12:26 pm
● Leighasays:
August 18, 2016 at 2:05 pm
Hey. I’m playing a bard for the first time. My DM often plays them,
but she is newish to dming so at the time the character was
created I was only given the option to use the core books. I have
my bard working towards taking the prestige class Duelist. With
the size of group we have I don’t think that experimentation will
hurt me any, but I’m wondering if I could get your input on my
choice of prestige class. I have all the feats for it I just want to get
a few more bard levels before I get into that.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
August 18, 2016 at 4:04 pm
o Joshua H.says:
August 18, 2016 at 4:09 pm
o Leighasays:
August 18, 2016 at 4:34 pm
o Leighasays:
August 18, 2016 at 5:06 pm
o Joshua H.says:
August 18, 2016 at 11:31 pm
o Leighasays:
August 19, 2016 at 4:45 pm
o Leighasays:
August 19, 2016 at 11:31 pm
● Malcolm Townersays:
September 22, 2016 at 2:01 pm
Maybe you can give me some advice on this build om working on.
I’ve been working on this sunite dancer bard, but i just can’t find
the one thing that puts her together.
I know that i want her to go into heart warder from level 10-20
I want her to have a focus on enchanting, illusion, intel gathering,
party face, and hit and run tactics when she’s forced to fight.
Basically i want her to be an enchanting thief that relies more on
her silver tounge then her combat prowess.
and the general build path is Bard 1/Battle Dancer 1/Bard 4/??? 4/
Heartwarder 10
I don’t know what would work well for those 4 missing levels, I
considered cloaked dancer, but people say its mechanically bad
Any ideas? The only thing i know for sure is i would prefer it if the
class had 6+int skill points gain and spell casting.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
September 23, 2016 at 7:36 pm
o Malcolm Townersays:
September 25, 2016 at 9:37 pm
o Joshua H.says:
September 25, 2016 at 9:55 pm
o Malcolm Townersays:
September 26, 2016 at 1:02 am
One last thing, I’ve been looking into this prestige class
called the cloaked dancer. Everyone i talk to say its bad
but no one ever goes into much detail about it. Maybe
you can help me out with that?
o Joshua H.says:
September 26, 2016 at 1:33 am
● Huntersays:
September 23, 2016 at 2:06 am
If you are looking for good bard feats, Chaos music (Dragon
Magazine 326 page 80) is something to look at. It can be taken
early and treats your bard level like it is four levels higher for
determining your bardic music usage, up to your maximum hit die,
so it is great in multiclass builds.
I use it for my Bard1/Wizard4/Stormsinger 10 Build. (lets you burn
bardic music for damage and control effects) the feats to get into
that prestige class are bad, but because it allows you to deafen
enemies with bardic music, (20% spell failure from deafness is
huge) In this build combination, you can use bardic music like you
are level 15, but you do miss out on suggestion. you cast like a
wizard like your level 14, and you have a number of damage and
debuffs from stormsinger.
Also the capstone ability is fairly insane when you have two going
at once (if your dm is kind and allows you to maintain a bardic
music on a fiddle, while starting a new one)
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
September 23, 2016 at 7:38 pm
● Guillaumesays:
September 23, 2016 at 7:42 am
o Joshua H.says:
September 23, 2016 at 7:42 pm
I think so. Nothing in the spell description of blink
suggests that aura effects are limited.
In addition, blinking wouldn’t impede your ability to
sustain the effect. If anything, it would impede your ally’s
ability to gain the benefits (you would always hear
yourself, but maybe your ally can’t hear you when you’re
on the ethereal plane).
Given that you blink many times per second, and the
effects of inspire courage last 30 seconds (i.e. 5 rounds)
after your allies stop hearing it, I don’t think there’s any
fair minded argument that says it should stop working or
have a limited effect.
For example, if you activated inspire courage, stopped it,
and then 3 rounds later (18 seconds later!) started a new
inspire courage, your allies would have an unbroken
benefit. See what I mean?
o Guillaumesays:
September 26, 2016 at 2:59 pm
I see what you mean. Thanks for your analysis and your
time.
● Malcolm Townersays:
September 26, 2016 at 10:24 am
Generally I would just need 3 levels with the one level in
spellcasting being enough to qualify for heartwarder, and the main
idea is for intel gathering and diplomancy to come first with
everything for combat coming second. Plus it costs almost
NOTHING to get into.
So yeah I think i found my Answer, Thanks.
Reply
● Malcolm Townersays:
September 27, 2016 at 12:51 am
o Joshua H.says:
September 27, 2016 at 6:23 pm
o Malcolm Townersays:
September 27, 2016 at 8:59 pm
o Joshua H.says:
September 29, 2016 at 9:10 pm
● Malcolm Townersays:
September 29, 2016 at 11:59 pm
o Joshua H.says:
September 30, 2016 at 12:54 am
● MirddinEmrissays:
September 30, 2016 at 9:54 am
Why did you rate Seeker of Song same as Virtuoso (3.5 one)? They
are definitely not in the same weight category. Seeker is pretty
underwhelming one. Let’s compare their class features.
Seeker of the Song does not progress spellcasting, Virtuoso does
9/10 (which means you can take 1st level earlier and rest use for
example to progress Sublime Chord casting, something like Bard
9/Virtuoso 1/Sublime Chord 1/Virtuoso 9). SotS stacks for bardic
music ability per day so Bard 10/SotS 10 will have 20 bardic music
ability, but V not only stacks with bardic music it gives additional
virtuoso music per day AND stacks for Inspire Courage ability (you
know, the one that everyone so pumped up about), so Bard 10/
Virt 10 will have 20 bardic music, 10 virtuoso music AND inspire
courage +4. SotS you can enter at level 11 and requires you to
have Skill Focus (Perform) feat, while you can get in Virtuoso at
level 8 and only requires you to have skills that you probably want
anyway as a bard. Also Virtuoso gets 2 more skill points per level
Let’s get to class features. SotS have great Combine Songs (the
only ***** ability he has) at level 2 and Subvocalize at level 5 which
is…ok i guess but after ability to combine songs it’s not really all
that relevant. Virtuoso doesn’t have special class abilities.
So, let’s get to the music:
SotS have a lot of music but most of it is * or **. Remember that
“refrain” songs can be played only if you already playing non-
refrain variant of music, which will negate you awesome ability to
play two songs at once. he only good thing about it is good DC (10
+ Perform ranks). At level 11 Burning melody (*) gives your allies in
30 ft 15 fire resist, doesn’t scale (as none of the other resists you
can give) and already worse that just casting Resist Energy spell at
level you get it, as refrain you can give 6d6 fire damage in 30ft
cone with reflex save, nuff said. Song of Unmaking (**) lets you
damage constructs for d8 per SotS level in 30 ft burst, no save.
Unimpressive. Dirge of Frozen Loss (**) – cold resist 15, better than
fire because refrain version damages AND gives fatigue condition
on failed Fort save, not much better because it’s a line, not a cone.
Song of life (***), well the main version is * because immunity to
poisons and diseases at level 14 is…underwhelming, but refrain
version let’s you heal as standard action touch amount of hitpoints
equal to your perform check which is about 50-60 if you optimize it
decently, it’s not a heal but at least i can see myself using it from
time to time. Anthem of Thunder and Pain (**) – resist electricity 15,
refrain is worse version of chain lightning (10d6 initial, 5d6
secondary, 1/3 SotS lvl secondary targets) at level 15. Hymn of
Spelldeath (***) that was MOST disappointing song of them, just
because initial pitch was so great – everyone who hears your song
must beat you perform checks with concentration check to cast
spells, no range limit. Wow, this awesome, you think. No, because
at the end it says it’s a mind affecting ability. At level 16 people
you want to prevent from casting the most already have Mind
Blank. Hell, even non-caster at this level usually bother to get
some sort of protection from mind-affecting stuff. Base version is
** if only because of how late you get it. Refrain is good *** – area
dispel check with SotS + bard level bonus. Ballad of Agony
Reborn (**)- resist acid 15, refrain is ranged touch attack to deal
10d6 acid damage and repeat it raound later. Aria of Everywhere
(**) – as dimension door, only 25 + 5ft/SotS lvl range and you can’t
bring anyone with you. Fun fact – Dimension Door is on your spell
list, so you could have had better version of this even before you
became SotS. Dirge of Songdeath (***) – sonic resist 15, other
bards and bard-like characters in 30ft have to beat your Perform to
get their songs going. Refrain is 15d6 sonic damage as ranged
touch. Note of Solitude(*) – banish extraplanars in 60ft with will
save. Remember that you DC is fairly good? Now forget it because
they get +HD to their Will save. This is level 20, most extraplanars
you ahve to fight have about half as much HD as you have, which
means that unless they roll 1 they ain’t goin’ anywhere.
Now let’s get to Virtuoso. You gain fascinate, so if you swapped
this ability for something else, you gain it back, it’s ok (***) just
because it allows you to have womthing like Healing Hymn along
with it in result. Persuasive Song (****) – make Perform instead of
Diplomacy to influence others, now you can optimize one check
instead of two, also it’s Ex ability. Sustaining Song (*) – meh, give 1
hp to allies with less than 0 hp. Jarring Song (****) – remember how
Hymn of Spelldeath was diappointing? Meet it’s elder brother – not
a mind affecting ability and you can get it as early as level 12.
Would have better rating if not for 30ft range. Song of Fury (***) –
decent buff for melee guys (rage as long as you perform).
Becomes better with barbarian in party – he can use his own
bonuses, while not wasting his daily use of rage, very good since
you have a lot more daily musuic that he has rages. Mindbending
Melody (**) – dominate humanoid that you fascinated with ok DC
(10 + Virt lvl + Cha mod). Would be better without restriction to
type and maybe a bit earlier. Somewhat late upgrade to
suggestion. Revealing Melody (****) – true seeing for allies in 30ft,
very useful ability.
SotS is at best a 2 lvl dip. Even them you spend considerable
amount of resurces for this – one feat and loss of 2 spellcasting
levels. I would give it *** as a dip and ** as full progression. His
abilities mostly are underwhelming and/or too late for the level you
are right now, and you give up considerable amount of your
strength.
Reply
o MirddinEmrissays:
September 30, 2016 at 10:32 am
o MirddinEmrissays:
September 30, 2016 at 10:51 am
o Joshua H.says:
October 22, 2016 at 5:43 pm
Hey buddy, thanks for your thoughts. I’ll try to read this
carefully and incorporate any changes I agree with in my
next edit.
o MirddinEmrissays:
October 31, 2016 at 4:52 am
● Malcolm Townersays:
October 2, 2016 at 8:44 pm
Hello again, if it’s not to much trouble do you think you could look
at the unseen seer prestige class and see what it can offer the
bard?
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
October 4, 2016 at 9:52 pm
● Caiosays:
October 3, 2016 at 11:06 pm
o MirddinEmrissays:
October 4, 2016 at 3:34 am
o Joshua H.says:
October 4, 2016 at 9:53 pm
o Joshua H.says:
October 10, 2016 at 1:44 pm
o Malcolm Townersays:
October 10, 2016 at 1:55 pm
o Joshua H.says:
October 10, 2016 at 2:23 pm
● Malcolm Townersays:
October 10, 2016 at 5:45 pm
o Malcolm Townersays:
October 10, 2016 at 7:47 pm
o Joshua H.says:
October 22, 2016 at 5:38 pm
o Joshua H.says:
October 23, 2016 at 3:43 pm
● TheGleefulGrognardsays:
October 14, 2016 at 2:49 pm
I would say that Lyric Spell is outright better than Metamagic Song
when it comes to Persistent magic builds.
You aren’t limited by having to use the Talifan Song trick. You just
pick spells and cast as long as they meet the persist requirements
and you have enough bardic music uses.
Which is even better as you can persist any spell up to level 9.
I would still say it is only really relevant to 9th level caster builds,
but that is more of a personal preference when it comes to
investing so heavily into spell casting.
Also, remember, technically possible to persist a 9th level spell
and then heighten it, stupidly wasteful, but possible.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
October 22, 2016 at 5:41 pm
o TheGleefulGrognardsays:
November 14, 2016 at 9:56 am
Hmmm all true, although I would still say that requiring an
extra feat to work, having less versatility in general and
being limited to level 1-3 spells only stops metamagic
song from being as appealing for me.
I find that I usually only use a few bardic uses in a day if
that and that by taking lyric spell it allows the caster bard
to have more versatility than metamagic song.
o Hiro Questersays:
December 6, 2016 at 1:08 pm
● Malcolm Townersays:
November 17, 2016 at 2:13 am
Hey been a while, i just wanted to know. I’m aware you rank
inspire awe fairly high i imagine large in part due to fear escalation,
but how good is it on its own?
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
November 20, 2016 at 9:14 pm
● Wardrowsays:
November 24, 2016 at 7:04 pm
I would like to point you to Mythic exemplar from Complete
Champion. It has many easy ways to enter. If you choose
Reikhardt as paragon you get a terrible level 1, starting from level 2
the PrC stacks for inspire courage and from level 3rd you get
**+1 level of a class-based extraordinary ability to grant bonuses to
allies (such as a marshal’s auras)**
I am not sure about that, but this could mean a +1 to inspire
courage or other suitable bardic musics, which is awesome!
By the way, truly great guide, it helped me a lot with my first bard
character! Thanks
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
November 25, 2016 at 1:56 pm
o Dufreznesays:
September 3, 2017 at 7:54 pm
o Joshua H.says:
September 10, 2017 at 8:54 pm
Hey Dunfrenze:
What are you referring to? Let me know if there’s an edit I
should make. Glad for the information.
● Albertosays:
November 29, 2016 at 8:49 am
o Joshua H.says:
December 4, 2016 at 1:47 am
● Hiro Questersays:
December 6, 2016 at 1:00 pm
o Joshua H.says:
December 6, 2016 at 2:54 pm
● Ziliossays:
December 8, 2016 at 1:35 pm
Hey read through the guide and I loved it! Great work! I’m looking
to make a bard for a campaign starting around level 9, with
allowed material core+completes(no skill tricks or c.champion). I
see that you consider the best core bard build bard 20, but since
I’m not entirely core, since Lyric thaumaturge and sublime chord
are allowed, would you recommend going bard 6/LT 4/ SC 10?
What troubled me about that build is the lack of bardic music
progression (although I’ve never played or even seen a bard in
action so I don’t know how important it is) and the almost
complete lack of sublime chord class features after level 2.
I’d like to play mostly a buffer/debuffer but I’d like to able to mix it
up in melee too if possible. LT 4/SC 10 looks great for a pure
caster bard but I’m afraid my buffing and gish abilites will be too
weak. In your experience can a bard 6/ LT4/ SC 10 still buff fine
and get up in melee OK or is it relegated to backline pure casting
at mid-high levels (again, I have no bard experience so I’m
deferring to your expertise here.) ?
On an unrelated note, I see you don’t mention Divine Crusader as
a PrC. It’s an easy way to expand your spell list and get you CHA
based divine casting that can probably accomodate most
playstyles. Consider this theoretical build: Bard 7/ Abjurant
Champion 2/ Divine Crusader 2/Sublime Chord 1/Mystic Theurge
8. It’s entirely CHA SAD dual casting, with 9th level divine and
arcane (albeit restricted), that is pretty light on requirements and is
an easy way to get 9th divine without playing an evil PC (Ur-Priest)
or using exalted feats (which as you say can be campaign
warping). Just a Thought!
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
December 8, 2016 at 1:49 pm
o Ziliossays:
December 8, 2016 at 5:55 pm
o Joshua H.says:
December 8, 2016 at 6:23 pm
I think that build is a really good fit for your party. You’re
missing a wizard and a face, and the sublime chord bard
can be both.
I think it’s too much of an ask to allow LT to continue SC
casting. It seems to me that you’ll probably be the
strongest character in the party already, but if your DM
will allow it and the other players aren’t sad, have at it.
The sublime chord has a lot of “hidden” features that
aren’t too obvious until you really flesh a character out:
* good class skills and OK skill points
* continued progression of bardic musics per day (can
you take lyric spell?)
* bardic knowledge bonus (do you have access to the alt.
class features lore song or bardic knack? I rule that these
stack)
In addition, song of timelessness is a _very_ strong
effect. You can use it to save allies (they can intentionally
fail the will save) or divide the bad guys into easier
groups to fight.
Sacred exorcist doesn’t seem generally good to me, but
if you’re going to be in an undead setting for the whole
thing, it can be cool. Did you look into Dirgesinger (PrC)
and Requiem (Feat)?
For your party, I like Bard 6 / LT 4 / Sublime Chord 10 in
terms of raw power and compatibility. That being said,
there are plenty of other good options if you want to
emphasize something, like fighting undead.
● Falessansays:
December 11, 2016 at 3:18 am
Hey, thanks for this. It is awesome!
I just recently started playing D&D. I don’t know why, maybe for
just the amusement factor, but I decided to build a gnome bard. I
was thinking about building a gnome ranger for my first campaign,
but I ended up going with an elf for that one.
Anyway, this has been a humongous help with trying to find the
right feats and spells. I will have to think about Miser’s envy for
another level-up. I was wondering about your thoughts on ways to
keep weight down on my items/weapons. I have a haversack (my
DM made sure I knew about that one). As well as weapons that
would be good for me to utilize in my diminutive status.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
December 11, 2016 at 3:15 pm
● Xethiksays:
December 23, 2016 at 1:06 am
Worth noting that Bards cannot normally benefit from the Silent
Spell metamagic feat.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
January 25, 2017 at 2:33 am
● Xethiksays:
December 23, 2016 at 10:40 pm
o Xethiksays:
December 23, 2016 at 10:45 pm
o Joshua H.says:
January 25, 2017 at 2:33 am
Thanks for the notes. I’ll have to read them carefully and
see what I can include next time I do an update.
o Xethiksays:
January 25, 2017 at 4:40 pm
● Corwinsays:
January 11, 2017 at 11:15 pm
Great guide. It helps. The only problem is that im a total noob and
im actually trying to right some of the wrongs i have made in
character creation. I also have a magical weapon allowing me to
learn spells from any class (so im at a loss as to what to get) and
all you have are bard spells. Thanks anyway though.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
January 11, 2017 at 11:24 pm
● Adeptussays:
January 14, 2017 at 9:09 am
o Joshua H.says:
January 25, 2017 at 2:31 am
● Laurentsays:
January 19, 2017 at 7:49 pm
Thank you very much for this wonderful guide. The bard is the best
class !
I disagree with the rating of the versatile performer feat. First, it’s
cool for roleplaying. Second, It allows much : Music of course,
plus declamation to be a troop leader plus picking up on the ticks
of others and mimic them, plus using humor to solve a social
tensed situation… Third, it permits you to use snowflakes
wardance or different music instruments (harmonica, flute..).
Fourth, when you use the horn to boost inspire courage, the effect
should fade away 5 round later (I can’t imagine using a shield, a
sword, and blowing in a horn at the same time). My DM agrees
that with this feat, I can blow in the horn, then use declamation to
inspire courage, and 5 rounds later, I shall blow again in the horn
(taking a standard action), or the inspire courage boost decreases
to regular.
Therefore, this feat should be blue and perhaps light blue ! And
putting my best score in INT not CHA seemed a better option.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
January 25, 2017 at 2:38 am
● Malcolm Townersays:
January 24, 2017 at 12:57 pm
Hey Joshua, been a while. Just wanted to say thanks for being so
dedicated to this guide. It’s really helped me out and I pretty much
finalized that build i was talking about a while back.
I just wanted your opinion on something. Is there a way, for a bard
to have decent damage to their attacks if they
A. Can’t or have no real use for inspire courage
B. Have no real Strength Mod to speak of
C. Can’t use sneak attack(Aka:The dm will not allow the craven
feat)
and
D. Has no real way to make use of Knowledge Devotion.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
January 25, 2017 at 2:32 am
o Malcolm Townersays:
January 25, 2017 at 7:40 am
I’m really just trying to weigh all of my options. ideally I
can get the craven feat and dole out decent damage with
that. Otherwise i would likely just go feat rouge and be
something of a supportish role until level 11 when i enter
sublime chord
The current loadout is Rouge2/Bard 4/Ardent
Dilligante4/Sublime Chord 10 a little unorthodox but
something i’m rather proud of.
o Dufreznesays:
September 3, 2017 at 8:04 pm
I’m doing an inspire courage build, with most of my levels
going into either crusader, or warblade.
Doing this, as long as I use a white raven stance, I can
perform inspire courage as a swift action, and then use
maneuvers, and a high BAB (since crusader, and
warblade are both full BAB classes). Dragonfire
inspiration helps even more, if you’re willing/able to give
up the attack bonus from inspire courage.
If you’re just looking to do a more standard bard, you
could always get the crystal echoblade, or bow of songs,
as listed in the weapons section.
o Joshua H.says:
September 10, 2017 at 8:51 pm
● Psycho Mantyssays:
January 30, 2017 at 1:49 pm
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
February 5, 2017 at 6:14 pm
o Joshua H.says:
February 5, 2017 at 6:14 pm
o Xethiksays:
February 6, 2017 at 3:42 pm
o Joshua H.says:
February 8, 2017 at 2:19 am
o Xethiksays:
February 8, 2017 at 7:12 pm
o Joshua H.says:
March 31, 2017 at 11:56 pm
● Malcolm Townersays:
February 12, 2017 at 9:49 pm
Joshua, a moment of your time if you will. I was thinking about the
practical applications of Versatile Performer and like you i thought
is was less then average as well…but then i thought about how
this could really help tight skill builds.
Say you want to have singing, dancing and String instruments for
perform. But you only have room for like one
“Pick a number of Perform categories equal to your Intelligence
bonus (minimum 1). For the purpose of making Perform checks,
you are treated as having a number of ranks in those skills equal to
the highest number of ranks you have in any Perform category.” It
never said you have to have points in them before hand. So you
can just pick perform Dance, pick this feat and suddenly you can
use perform Sing and string instruments at max skill rank,
suddenly a lot more things are open to you such as the various
instruments up on your list. With that in mind shouldn’t this feat be
bumped up to at least 3 stars?
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
February 13, 2017 at 3:32 am
● Dunsparcesays:
February 14, 2017 at 12:25 pm
o Joshua H.says:
February 14, 2017 at 2:13 pm
● Filipposays:
March 23, 2017 at 7:53 am
Hey man, good job with that guide! I really liked it from the
beginning to the end.
Now I wanna ask you some tips
I wanted to make a ranged Bard, that see death and suffering as
poetry and art.
Now, it needs a level in Master of Masks for the sole purpose of
roleplaying.
What should I do next to optimize it a bit?
I’d like him to sing and enchant weapons
Thanks a lot
Edit: actually, not enchanting weapons, but having the ability to
make arrows or ranged attacks stronger.
All of this while singing and performing. If you have any advice i’m
listening
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
March 31, 2017 at 11:48 pm
o Filipposays:
September 26, 2017 at 11:07 am
Thanks for the reply joshua! After months of doubts, i
went for the bard10/lyric thaum4 for now (i’m lvl 14 btw)
The build is pretty strong, imperious command is broken
and i always find new ways to use spells and tricks.
All thanks to you!
By now, my changeling Bard is the character i’m enjoying
the most.
Thanks again!
● Malcolm Townersays:
March 25, 2017 at 8:46 pm
This may be a silly question, but realistically what choice of
weapon would a skillmonkey/caster bard have? Assuming they
use a weapon at all.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
March 31, 2017 at 11:44 pm
● Peter Craftsays:
June 26, 2017 at 10:07 am
Hi! First of all – congratulations and a big ‘thank you’ – the best
guide for the best class.
At first, I intended to go Brd 6, LT 4, SC 10 way and play it as a
gish for the first few levels. Our party lacks a proper arcanist, so
going all the way to 9th level spells is a must. On the other hand, I
play this game mostly for the role-playing experience and choose
everything in accordance to what happens with my character in
the game.
Therefore, when we actually met an avatar of Sune, I thought
about taking the Heartwarder. It was too late to change the initial
feats, so I looked for something giving an extra one.
What do you think about Brd 6, Ardent Dilettante 4, Sublime Chord
1, Heartwarder 9? With chaos music and words of creation, I can
still use Inspire Courage pretty efficiently. And all this Charisma
from HW!
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
June 26, 2017 at 9:02 pm
o Peter Craftsays:
June 27, 2017 at 6:26 am
o Joshua H.says:
September 10, 2017 at 8:48 pm
Glad it helped!
● GERARDO PLEASENTsays:
July 20, 2017 at 4:48 pm
o Joshua H.says:
September 10, 2017 at 8:47 pm
● Greg Campbellsays:
July 24, 2017 at 4:27 pm
o Joshua H.says:
July 25, 2017 at 3:36 am
You’re right. I’ve updated it to two stars. Thanks!
o Joshua H.says:
July 20, 2018 at 2:28 pm
● Keyphassays:
August 5, 2017 at 2:24 am
One of the best handbooks I’ve read. Thank you for putting it
together. I want to try a bard now. Do you have any tips for
bard20? Normally the 1st time I play a class I like to go single class
to 20.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
August 5, 2017 at 2:29 am
● Soobasays:
August 8, 2017 at 9:00 pm
o Soobasays:
August 8, 2017 at 9:04 pm
o Joshua H.says:
August 9, 2017 at 2:40 am
o Soobasays:
September 1, 2017 at 8:56 am
o Joshua H.says:
March 4, 2018 at 8:58 pm
o Soobasays:
June 8, 2018 at 8:21 pm
o Joshua H.says:
July 14, 2018 at 3:03 pm
● Wardrowsays:
August 11, 2017 at 12:02 pm
Since my love for bards, just like yours, is neverendig, I shall point
you to another reasonable option. Champions of valor has a
background option to get the Artist regional feat, which is slightly
better than Extra Music imho.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
August 14, 2017 at 1:53 am
I have that listed above (search for artist). I think I like the
extra bardic music rather than the +2 to perform, but
they’re both viable options. Thanks for posting.
● Greg Campbellsays:
August 20, 2017 at 6:44 pm
o Joshua H.says:
September 10, 2017 at 8:47 pm
3.5 only lets you swap every three levels, so 5, 8, 11, 14,
17, and 20. Level 8 is the first time you can cast Charm
Monster, so that works out. I added a note. Thanks!
● Greg Campbellsays:
September 2, 2017 at 2:43 am
o Joshua H.says:
September 10, 2017 at 8:45 pm
● Greg Campbellsays:
September 24, 2017 at 10:38 pm
o Joshua H.says:
October 1, 2017 at 6:25 pm
● Greg Campbellsays:
September 24, 2017 at 10:40 pm
o Joshua H.says:
October 1, 2017 at 6:35 pm
● Greg Campbellsays:
September 26, 2017 at 2:56 am
Tongues (Bard2): I give this *** due social skills likely being your
forte and this also allowing you to converse with/command your
summons.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
October 1, 2017 at 6:31 pm
● Demitrisays:
September 28, 2017 at 2:29 pm
Hi Josh,
Just wanted to say thanks for the rundown. I am new to Bard and
really picked it up because my group needed a face, and it was
either a Bard or some sort of Fighter diplomat amalgam.
Unfortunately, our group is very caster heavy, and so I am trying to
run down melee (rapier) and crossbow to even out the more
physical dynamic of the group. I have taken Perform (Dancing) as
one of my skills, and know that I can combine it somehow to do
something. You do not have a lot in the way of Melee builds
(mostly what is in comments) and I was wondering your thoughts. I
see that White Raven is pretty good to rush, so I was thinking of
Crusader, but was also looking for something that runs more dex
(was planning on dancing/weapon finesse with Rapier). Any help
would be great.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
September 29, 2017 at 2:41 am
I would recommend that you:
* Focus on longsword instead of rapier. Rapier’s a trap in
3.5.
* Don’t bother w/ the crossbow except as a backup
weapon (i.e. don’t put any feats into it)
* Consider Inspire Awe to replace Inspire Courage, since
you don’t have allies to take advantage of it (but maybe
it’s fine to keep just for yourself and any summons).
* Get snowflake wardance
* Consider dipping one level into a martial class to get
easy access to song of the white raven. If not, dump
three feats to get it (of course, only if you keep inspire
courage) .
* Consider two-weapon fighting.
* Consider dragonfire inspiration
* Absolutely get the spell Bladeweave.
I haven’t sat down and figured out my favorite fighter-
oriented build, so good luck!
o Joshua H.says:
October 1, 2017 at 11:15 pm
o Demitrisays:
October 3, 2017 at 2:49 pm
o Joshua H.says:
October 3, 2017 at 11:13 pm
● Mindstab Thrullsays:
October 1, 2017 at 2:17 am
A couple things I’ve noticed..
— Where do you find that Bards are “2/3” BAB? They’re not,
they’re 3/4. 2/3 means by level 12 they’d have a BAB of +8, but if
you check it’s actually +9. There’s four progressions that all go up
by N every 4 levels: full (4 per 4) like the Barbarian, 3/4 (3 per 4)
like the Cleric, 2/4 aka 1/2 (2 every 4 levels or 1 every 2, same
thing here) like the Sorcerer, and 0 per 4 which I’ve only ever
remember being used for the Survivor prestige class in Savage
Species.
— Ur-Priest gives you divine casting — “An ur-priest gains the
ability to cast a number of divine spells. [..] The ur-priest spell list is
identical to the cleric spell list.”
— Summon Elemental reserve feat: As long as you have a
summon spell of 4th level or higher available, you can summon an
elemental (size depends on highest summon available). It basically
gives you a meat shield that has to stay within 30 feet of you.
(Bards do get Summon Monster I-VI so in theory this is an option.)
You can only have one elemental due to this feat at a time. Once
you no longer have a slot of level 4 or higher, you don’t get the
ability to just call one up anymore.
Otherwise, good resource!
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
October 1, 2017 at 11:20 pm
o GMCsays:
February 9, 2018 at 1:35 am
● Psycho Mantyssays:
November 15, 2017 at 4:16 pm
o Psycho Mantyssays:
November 15, 2017 at 4:19 pm
Ah, for PrC:
Arcane Duelist. Dont increase spellcast but char to ac
and nice combat buffs.
o Joshua H.says:
November 15, 2017 at 5:50 pm
● Drosselmeyersays:
November 24, 2017 at 11:38 am
Great Handbook! Very useful e pretty looking as well.
You should consider the Precocious Apprentice feat from
Complete Arcane.
It is like Extra Slot and Extra Spell mashed up togheter, except that
it allows a 2nd level spell at level 1, despite bard receiving normally
only cantrips. A excellent feat at level 1 where most of the good
stuff is often out of reach for Casters.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
November 24, 2017 at 7:42 pm
o Joshua H.says:
November 26, 2017 at 8:55 pm
● Nevermoresays:
December 4, 2017 at 2:56 pm
Hello Josh, your handbook is great and has helped me out a lot
with playing bard for the first time. I have a couple of questions,
however, regarding spell casting as a bard in general and
instruments.
1. Taking Melodic Casting, can I cast any kind of known spell (as
an orator bard) without breaking IC or am I restricted to spells from
scrolls, wands and other items (spell completion/command word)?
The wording in CM is a bit confusing, it makes it seem that it’s only
the second.
2. You talked about multiple perform skills, I’m taking oratory right
now so I won’t need my hands but am I supposed to spread my
skill points all over the place to make use of all those instruments?
3. When it comes to juggling bardic music, is there an easy to way
optimize their use before I get my hands on rare items or should I
take Lingering Song? Harmonizing is not really an option since I
use a bow when I’m not casting.
Thank you for reading, cheers!
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
December 4, 2017 at 3:08 pm
Hi Nevermore:
1. Melodic casting allows you to maintain inspire courage
(and the other non-concentration based musics) while
casting spells. See a breakdown
here: http://www.joshuad.net/new-bard-
handbook/#bardic-music-rules.
The key section in melodic casting is: ” In addition, you
can cast spells and activate magic items by command
word or spell completion while using a bardic music
ability.”
2. This depends on the DM. They could rule that you
need N ranks in Perform (Drum) to use a masterwork
drum to modify your inspire courage. Or they could rule
that as long as you have a perform skill that means the
requirement, you can use any instrument.
I think the first ruling is more RAW, but I think the second
ruling is a reasonable allowance.
3. I would not take lingering song unless you want to
stack bardic musics. Maybe at high levels it becomes an
idea if you can’t get a harmonizing weapon. Instead, I
would take melodic casting. Really, I don’t juggle bardic
musics. I turn on inspire courage in fights and use things
like soothing voice and command out of fights.
o Nevermoresays:
December 4, 2017 at 4:43 pm
● Elmarsays:
December 12, 2017 at 6:10 am
Hi Joshua,
First off, thanks for the great handbook, it is one of the few links
which I actually have bookmarked.:)
Now I just had a question on your opinion regarding the Savage
Bard. Overall I agree that this ACF is not the most optimal one for
a Bard, however I do not think that it may be a horrible trade off
especially for a summoning focused Bard. Assuming that you
could sneak in the feat Greenbound Summoning feat, then
suddenly even the SNA1 spell becomes a powerfull BFC/Blast
spell. This ACF also makes the “Rashemi elemental summoning”
more viable as elementals become available 1 spell level earlier
than on the SM list giving the bard even more options.
Obviously this route is a bit restrictive as it requires a heavy
investment of feats (Spell focus, Green whisperer if you want to
affect your plant summons, Extend Spell, Ashbound Summonining
etc) if you want to go fully Summoning focused, and we all know
that bards have already painfully few featsavailable to them,
however I believe it can still be an interesting/fun route to take.
What are your thoughts about this idea? This “trick/combo” may
not be enough to make this a great trade butI think it is still worth
considering.
Thanks for your time and best regards
E
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
December 17, 2017 at 4:11 pm
Hey Elmer:
This is a really good idea. Greenbound summoning is a
very powerful feat, and being able to build into it as a
bard is really cool. My understanding is it’s one of the
more over-powered feats in the game, so finding a way
into that is really great.
I haven’t crunched any numbers, but I suspect this idea
of yours will be very strong, and a good base for a
summoner-bard.
I will continue to lament the loss of prestidigitation, but I
have updated the Savage Bard’s section with this idea.
Great catch!
Josh
● Geirsays:
December 17, 2017 at 8:48 am
o Joshua H.says:
December 17, 2017 at 4:07 pm
● Mikesays:
December 21, 2017 at 12:31 am
Great guide man. I love how you keep updating it, keep up the
good work.
As for the Gloura, I believe that you’re correct, but I’m also pretty
sure you have to take the 7 Fey HD, putting you at an ECL of 9.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
March 4, 2018 at 7:46 pm
● GMCsays:
February 9, 2018 at 12:27 am
For the builds section, you should probably have an option for the
White Raven Bard:
Bard8/Crusader2/SublimeChord10 or
Bard8/Crusader1/Virtuoso1/SublimeChord1/Virtuoso2-10 (or even
Bard9/Crusader1/SublimeChord10)
This is arguably a superior way to run the Song of the White
Raven; you get White Raven Tactics and the ability to recover it
during encounters (albeit in the odd Crusader way), the second
Crusader level allows you to take Iron Guard’s Glare for when you
don’t want to be in Bolstering Voice for Song (SotWR requires you
to be in a WR stance).
One big problem with SotWR is that the initiation mechanic gets in
the way of Inspirational Boost. This build doesn’t solve that
problem, but it gives you a lot of ways to be effective around it.
With a Masterwork Lute and a Vest of Legends you have a base
Inspire of +3 (effective level 14) and presumably Words of Creation
for +3, Badge of Valor (+1) and Song of the Heart (+1) gets you to
+8 attack and damage for all allies. (+9 with Inspirational Boost).
So arguably you don’t actually want to burn a feat on SotWR…
which is why getting a better Stance is a good idea. This means a
second level of Crusader.
(Since Words specifically calls out the +1,+2,+3 from the Bard
progression, I think Song of the Heart and Badge don’t get
doubled. However, it should work based on your effective bard
level, which is what Inspire Courage “sees”.)
Basically, all the best Bard builds are along the lines of Bard8/XX
2/Sublime Chord 2/XX 8
Reply
o GMCsays:
February 13, 2018 at 1:04 pm
o Joshua H.says:
March 4, 2018 at 8:42 pm
o GMCsays:
March 24, 2018 at 9:51 pm
o Joshua H.says:
March 24, 2018 at 10:44 pm
Don’t get me excited! I asked on the RPG stack
exchange, they agree it can’t be done this
way: https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/119104/c
an-you-use-a-swift-action-and-an-immediate-action-on-
the-same-turn/119106
Thanks for trying though, that would’ve been sweet.
● LordoftheDancesays:
February 13, 2018 at 12:10 pm
o Joshua H.says:
March 4, 2018 at 7:50 pm
● Hiro Questersays:
February 14, 2018 at 11:51 am
o Joshua H.says:
March 4, 2018 at 7:54 pm
Thanks, updated!
● Hiro Questersays:
February 14, 2018 at 1:19 pm
About the 2nd level Scare spell you say: “Scare (PHB) – I like that
this can target multiple creatures, but the 6HD limitation really
makes this sad. I would pass, even for fear escalators.”
If you are a fear escalator, you probably need Dread Witch. And for
that you need the ability to cast Scare as a prerequisite.
It is significantly inferior to the 3rd level Fear spell. I would talk to
your DM about letting you trade Scare for another spell if –when–
you learn Fear as exceeding the prerequisite, rather than lacking it.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
March 4, 2018 at 7:55 pm
● Gmcsays:
February 15, 2018 at 8:24 pm
o Joshua H.says:
March 4, 2018 at 7:57 pm
● Nevermoresays:
March 2, 2018 at 2:16 pm
Hello again, Josh. Your advice helped me a lot and the campaign
is going well. However, I have a couple more questions on
optimization, leadership and epic spellcasting.
My orator bard is taking a stoic leader of men turn and I have been
allowed the Leadership feat at 6. This means that he is taking
some IC boosts like SotHeart and WoC at 9 or 12. Which
Leadership feats do you think are good if any?
I was first going bard10/sublime10 but then read around and
above about Brd8/xx2/Sublime2/xx and would like to know about
classes that might fit and be optimal. I intend on getting a full
spellcaster for epic spellcasting at 20+. Our DM is throwing curve
balls all the time so I want to be optimized to help carry the group
if shit hits the fan. So, which classes would be optimal until 20 and
then what would be best to go epic as?
Thank you for reading.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
March 4, 2018 at 8:07 pm
● Alexsays:
March 8, 2018 at 6:02 pm
o Joshua H.says:
March 8, 2018 at 9:25 pm
Hey nice find. I don’t think it’s that good, but I think it’s a
good add. Thanks!
● Alphaeussays:
March 8, 2018 at 11:15 pm
So, this is quite impressive. I’ve had more interest in bards of late,
led to the class via Sublime Chord optimized builds (the infamous
9ths in three progressions before level 20 build was the first time I
learned about it).
Anyhow, I’m doing an interesting build. Druid 1-6 / PlanShep of the
Abyss 1-10 / Druid 7 / Bard 1 / Sublime Chord 2 / Arcane
Hierophant 1-10.
My bardic music will suffer, but I’ll have full bard spells (due to use
of PlanShep’s super-wild-shaping as well as liberal use of
Shapechange). I’m curious what suggestions you would have for
boosting the music (plan on taking Chaos Music since it fits) as
well as synergies with and super jack-of-all-trades build (be
everything, cast everything, do everything).
Of note would be anything that allows my druid levels to count
towards my bardic music (there is a feat that does this for druid-
rogue and bard-paladin…so I’m just curious).
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
March 9, 2018 at 2:03 am
There’s no hybrid druid/bard class. Here are some things
that come close:
* The Mystic Theruge will progress bard and druid
spellcasting at the same time.
* The Chaos Music feat will progress bardic music for 3
levels of cross-classing.
Otherwise, I think your bardic music will just have to
suffer in this build, unfortunately.
o Joshua H.says:
July 22, 2018 at 4:42 pm
o Joshua H.says:
April 15, 2018 at 4:20 pm
Sweet, I’ll check that out and work it into my next round
of edits. Thanks man.
● JKsays:
April 15, 2018 at 11:01 am
o Joshua H.says:
April 15, 2018 at 4:20 pm
● Ioannissays:
April 20, 2018 at 5:43 am
o Joshua H.says:
April 20, 2018 at 11:37 am
That restriction is a home-brew restriction for the
Therafim campaign. (http://therafim.wikidot.com/)
The class written in Complete Arcane doesn’t have a
“Bardic Lock” or anything like it.
● Kizabumsays:
April 27, 2018 at 7:04 am
o Soobasays:
June 8, 2018 at 6:14 pm
o GMCsays:
June 17, 2018 at 4:42 pm
● Laurent Marquetsays:
May 2, 2018 at 8:50 am
Hello ! About the use of Alter self spell, it seems that asabi are
monstruous humanoids; So it is not possible for a humanoid to use
this form with that spell. I have a hard time finding the stats of
those mongrelfolks. Someties the bonus for sleight of hands is 4 or
2 on the net (I have’nt got the book !). Can you check this please ?
Thank’s again…
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
July 17, 2018 at 2:04 am
● Jordansays:
July 15, 2018 at 1:49 pm
o Joshua H.says:
July 15, 2018 at 7:43 pm
o Jordansays:
March 16, 2019 at 6:16 pm
I only just now got around to seeing that you replied! The
campaign is still going on, but unfortunately my DM
doesn’t like the Tomb of Battle, so that’s out. I would
definitely throw in crusader otherwise!
● Samuel W.says:
July 22, 2018 at 9:48 am
Hey Josh,
This is an amazing handbook, but I had a question. What book is
BoEM?
Reply
o Samuel W.says:
July 22, 2018 at 12:50 pm
o Joshua H.says:
July 22, 2018 at 4:41 pm
Glad you found the book, and this handbook was helpful
to you.
● Drosselmeyersays:
August 2, 2018 at 7:53 pm
Hello Joshua, still finding your guide pretty great.
I’m right now making a pretty crazy epic Bard / Binder that mostly
drops down to Bard 9/ Binder 1/ Sublime Chord 1/ Anima Mage
11. Do you have any tips for working this out? I mostly fell on the
arcane caster side of the party roles.
Also, I found a amusing feat while searching some Eberron books
called Mastery of Faerie Enchantment, do you think it’s worth it?
(link included)
https://dndtools.net/feats/players-guide-to-eberron–13/mastery-
of-faerie-enchantment–1899/
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
August 2, 2018 at 8:17 pm
Ha! that is a cool feat. I’m going to add it to the
handbook. It’s something to consider if you have extend
spell.
I would look at the spells you’re going to cast. I’m
currently playing an 8th level bard, and the only
enchantment spell he has on his list is suggestion. Given
that, I wouldn’t spend a feat (or two) to get it to last 16
hours.
On the whole, the enchantment school is a weak school,
but spell duration isn’t an issue it typically struggles with.
I could see it being good for Otto’s Irresistible Dance.
Other than that, I can’t think of an enchantment spell I’d
be looking to extend.
o Joshua H.says:
August 2, 2018 at 8:20 pm
● Vauderag Juniorsays:
August 15, 2018 at 4:38 pm
HI! First of all, AMAZING GUIDE. This handbook can make people
who say bard is useless shove it, haha!
I’m interesting in making a Bard debuffer/fear escalator. He’ll be
based on Edgar Allan Poe, so his “musics” will always be scary
quotes of his short storys, and will scary people via
Oratory/Narration. Can you example me a build who can qualify for
this role? Your “debuffer” build is not explained.
Thank you and I hope for an answer, bye.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
August 15, 2018 at 4:47 pm
o Dusk Ravensays:
September 2, 2018 at 7:11 pm
● Dusk Ravensays:
August 21, 2018 at 4:24 pm
o Joshua H.says:
August 21, 2018 at 11:26 pm
o Dusk Ravensays:
August 23, 2018 at 4:23 am
o Joshua H.says:
August 23, 2018 at 4:45 am
Good point about the divine bard prestige class issue. I’ll
have to address that in a future update.
This seems like a cool character. If you’re in the mood,
put him on one of my character sheets and I’d like to link
to him:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Qh_cVGQcWt
2X52OhhOxEI8nNNk9JCC6RAjpvt5d7A0g/edit?usp=driv
e_web&ouid=115032739864478436099
o Dusk Ravensays:
September 2, 2018 at 7:06 pm
o Dusk Ravensays:
September 2, 2018 at 7:43 pm
● Dominicsays:
August 24, 2018 at 8:59 am
Awesome stuff Joshua!
My Arch Priestess just picked up a 17th level Bard (Bard/Sublime
Cord) as a cohort. She will be used primarily as a pre-adventure
buffer for my cleric.
What are some good ways to increase the bards caster level. I
considered going Divine Bard to use Karma Prayer Beads, but I
believe that would negate Sublime Cord (not worth it!)
Thanks!
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
August 26, 2018 at 9:23 pm
● Spoonardosays:
September 9, 2018 at 1:07 am
Dragonskin is on the Bard’s 3rd level spell list? It’s listed in the
Draconomicon, Book of Dragons as 3rd level Sorcerer and Wizard.
Was there a change after that was published?
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
September 14, 2018 at 3:53 am
o Spoonardosays:
September 19, 2018 at 4:11 pm
● almondsAndRainsays:
September 18, 2018 at 5:02 pm
Your link to Breaking Down Inspire Courage by Endarire is broken.
It’s under “Other Resources and Thanks.” This link
works: http://minmaxforum.com/index.php?topic=8936.0
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
September 18, 2018 at 5:13 pm
Thanks!
● G-Primesays:
September 20, 2018 at 10:33 pm
“Healing Hymn (CC 47)
lose fascinate, boost natural healing and healing spells
Fascinate is needed for suggestion. If you’re swapping out
suggestion (via half-elf sub levels or some other method) and have
any way to take advantage of the healing boost **(Wand of CLW
would work)** then this is pretty solid, and the sleep thing is nice
too.”
This doesn’t work with Wand of CLW or any wands for that matter.
The ability states “This ability has no effect on spells cast from
wands, scrolls, or other magic items.”
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
September 23, 2018 at 2:50 am
Thanks, fixed!
● Jonathansays:
September 25, 2018 at 7:55 am
o Joshua H.says:
October 14, 2018 at 4:50 pm
● Jonathansays:
September 25, 2018 at 7:57 am
o Joshua H.says:
October 14, 2018 at 4:59 pm
● danielxcuttersays:
October 5, 2018 at 7:52 am
What would you suggest for a Lillend with 6 additional Bard levels,
two-handed PAing a longsword as well as the tail slap as a
secondary attack? For an NPC or encounter, I mean. You know,
spells, feats… I’m willing to swap out some of the feats and spells.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
January 25, 2019 at 2:33 am
o Joshua H.says:
October 14, 2018 at 4:54 pm
o Endariresays:
February 18, 2019 at 2:41 am
● TChaosays:
October 8, 2018 at 4:55 pm
While I believe it can fit it can fit into a lot of minmax builds, I
believe it definitely fits the most in a Bard handbook
Unseelie Fey. Dragon Compendium. (originally in Dragon mag 304)
No LA
Trade STR for Dex and Cha.
Get wings
Get a scaling DR, but iron vulnerability (to all iron).
Get wings and vision (or don’t and/or get blinded)
Many DM’s consider it unbalanced. But that’s alright. Objective
information is our business here, eh?
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
October 14, 2018 at 4:54 pm
● TChaosays:
October 8, 2018 at 5:15 pm
Though not strictly bard at all, it is a Charisma based skill
Iaijutsu focus is a skill from Oriental Adventures. It’s really OP. If
you dump skill points into this, you basically get a sneak attack.
But wait, there’s more. If you take metropolitan or another feat that
adds class skills, you can easily max this as a bard.
put 5 ranks into balance and always through marbles everywhere
to keep enemies flatfooted. That’s just the kind of resourceful
tricksieness you’d see from a Bard or Rogue.
Again, really overpowered if you actually minmax it.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
October 14, 2018 at 4:54 pm
Added!
● TChaosays:
October 8, 2018 at 6:58 pm
o Joshua H.says:
January 25, 2019 at 2:31 am
High Joshua. It seems that the spell Listening coin is 4th level and
not 3rd. Thanks again.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
October 14, 2018 at 4:55 pm
● TChaosays:
October 13, 2018 at 12:31 pm
A neat item for a bard, especially a leadership bard.
Admiral Bicorne from stormwrack. +5 Profession (sailor) and Cha-
based, magnifies voice, +2 morale bonus attacks, save, and skill
allies within sound of voice.
It’s amplification effect would greatly extend the range of bardic
music. Can you say Inspire Courage for an entire army?
Also I have a question on virtuoso’s mindbending melody. If you
fascinate multiple people and then perform mindbending melody,
do you dominate all the people you just fascinated. Say you
fascinate 20 people in one use of fascinate. can you then dominate
20 people?
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
October 14, 2018 at 4:56 pm
● TChaosays:
October 13, 2018 at 2:42 pm
o Joshua H.says:
October 14, 2018 at 4:57 pm
● TChaosays:
October 30, 2018 at 2:50 pm
o Joshua H.says:
January 25, 2019 at 2:18 am
I think a downside of the sublime chord class is the lack
of progression of level 3 spells. As a DM I would not be
inclined to house rule that as a gift to the player unless it
was in the context of a bunch of Tier-1 classes.
I would say that you only get to replace a spell every
other level once you go into sublime chord. The key
language I look at is this, from the SRD: “Upon reaching
5th level, and at every third bard level after that (8th,
11th, and so on), a bard can choose to learn a new spell
in place of one he already knows.”
It specifies every third bard level, so if you were to
multiclass, it doesn’t seem to me that this triggers.
● TChaosays:
October 30, 2018 at 6:54 pm
o Joshua H.says:
January 25, 2019 at 2:20 am
● Robsays:
November 2, 2018 at 7:47 pm
o Joshua H.says:
January 25, 2019 at 2:29 am
● rydi123says:
November 6, 2018 at 2:29 am
This was great, thank you for putting this together! I combine a lot
of PF and 3.5 materials, and it is hard these days to find good 3.5
bard guides to help with all the cross-referencing. Great stuff.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
January 25, 2019 at 2:30 am
Glad it helped.
● danielxcuttersays:
December 1, 2018 at 5:01 am
Why not mention Undetectable Alignment? Works all day, and flat
out blocks Detect [Alignment] spells and the like, without a save or
caster check or anything. At the very least, it’s a Core spell, and I
see little reason not to mention Core spells in a handbook with so
much information.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
January 25, 2019 at 2:35 am
o Joshua H.says:
January 25, 2019 at 2:30 am
Thanks.
● Spencersays:
January 18, 2019 at 1:14 pm
What about the Stonehunter Gnome from Dragon Magic (page 8)?
They get the dragonblood subtype and trade their +2 saves verses
illusions and the +1 to DC for illusions for Hunter’s Insight (+2 to
climb and survival). The loss of illusion boost hurts, but if your
primary role is inspire courage, particularly DFI, your illusions
aren’t going to be great anyway.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
January 23, 2019 at 12:29 am
● Seansays:
January 22, 2019 at 10:42 am
o Joshua H.says:
January 23, 2019 at 12:28 am
● Osualsays:
February 8, 2019 at 7:16 pm
Great guide, thanks for putting it together. Was very helpful for
putting a Sublime Chord built together. One class I would consider
as a SC topper is Paragnostic Apostle. Easy to qualify for, bardic
knowledge synergy, and decent bonuses. Played that class as part
of a cloistered cleric and it was solid.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
February 8, 2019 at 8:53 pm
Yea that class looks really good. I’m just giving it a quick
review now, but at least a few of these are solid — fast
healing on summons, +1 to overcome spell resistance
are both really sweet. And it has a low cost to dip into.
Thanks, i’ll be adding this.
● radthemad4says:
February 17, 2019 at 10:54 pm
o Joshua H.says:
February 18, 2019 at 7:29 pm
o Joshua H.says:
March 15, 2019 at 9:28 pm
● Endariresays:
February 18, 2019 at 2:43 am
Breaking Down Inspire Courage Google Cache
Version: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache
:_QJH-
A0i17YJ:minmaxforum.com/index.php%3Ftopic%3D8936.0+&cd=
1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-b-1-d
Just in case the normal page is unreachable.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
February 18, 2019 at 7:30 pm
Thanks!
● Taveenasays:
February 19, 2019 at 9:32 pm
Hey, this is something hella minor, but I feel like it might be worth
reviewing/adding the level six spell Snowsong from the Frostburn
book. While most of the bonuses are minor, the morale bonus to
Charisma is unique and the duration is solid. Would be good to
hear your opinion on it!
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
March 15, 2019 at 9:12 pm
● Endariresays:
February 24, 2019 at 8:47 pm
o Endariresays:
February 24, 2019 at 8:48 pm
http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/200402
13a
o Endariresays:
February 25, 2019 at 12:26 am
Savage
Aasimar: http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/s
p/20040213a
Savage Progressions
archive: http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ar
ch/sp
Note that these web article savage progressions have
level progressions that need not be finished. This is
different from [i]Savage Species[/i] progressions.
o Joshua H.says:
March 15, 2019 at 10:12 pm
Thanks, added.
● Endariresays:
March 4, 2019 at 1:07 am
Google “Battle Rattle D&D 3.5” (“Dragon 331” page 88) for more
info on the Battle Rattle instrument and why it seems wonderfully
complimentary to a MW natural horn.
Reply
o Joshua H.says:
March 15, 2019 at 9:22 pm