July 12, 2007
Stay awhile and listen
Morning #3, and I'm still going strong. Hooray for me!
For the record "True Colors" is a much better song to have going through your head when you wake up than YMCA.
Today's chat is going to be about the Bard in Dungeons and Dragons 3.5, which will be abbreviated as DnD from here on out.
In your typical DnD party, there are four essential roles to fill: fighter, full casting arcane caster (typically wizard or sorcerer), full casting divine caster (typically a cleric, and if it's not a cleric focused on healing, may your deity help you), and a sneaky git (anyone with the Trapfinding ability).
While I could rant about the divine caster requirements in a party, today we're focusing on the bard, and why it isn't what you think it is.
The rest of the this entry is hidden beyond the cut.
The bard can't fill the role of the traditional fighter. It doesn't get combat abilities that any other combat oriented class gets, but it does get a 3/4 base attack bonus.
The bard gets a spell list that is a hybrid of an arcane list and a divine list, but the bard only gets up to sixth level spells, and it gets spells of specific levels later than other casters. Do you want to Cure people or buff them with spells? Get used to the idea of the other casters doing it sooner and better than you and more often to boot!
The bard can't be the trapfinder. He doesn't get the Trapfinding ability, the Search skill, or the Find Traps spell.
Having eliminated the traditional roles in the party, we now have to determine what the bard does.
He gets a d6 hit die and can cast in light armor. This makes him more durable than your typical mage. We're ignoring the fact at high level most people don't use armor because it's too hindering.
He gets a 3/4 base attack bonus, making him a competent fighter, if not anything special.
He gets musical buffs, but most of these aren't worthwhile unless you specifically cheese out the ability to do it. A bard, properly cheesed, can give a +11 to attack and damage at level 15. You're giving up prestige classes at this point (because bard prestige classes don't advance bardic music types, just per day), but this ability can make even the wizard decent in combat.
The bard gets Bardic Knowledge, which lets him know everything. And as if that wasn't enough, he gets 6 skill points per level and every knowledge skill in class!
So, what does this leave us with? A smarmy know-it-all that can fight in combat. Sink a bunch of points into Intelligence so that he can pick up those tasty knowledge, perform, and social skills (and maybe some rogue skills if that should tickle your fancy and if you have the skill points available). Also emphasize your Charisma for your spell saves DCs and tasty bonuses to attack and damage with the appropriate feats.
And really, there is no other know-it-all that can hold its own in combat in DnD. Anyone who tells you that the bard is a jack-of-all-trades is wrong. I dare suggest that the Bard can take over the fighter's role in the party. Properly constructed, he can be a better fighter than the fighter and buff the party at the same time!
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For the record "True Colors" is a much better song to have going through your head when you wake up than YMCA.
Today's chat is going to be about the Bard in Dungeons and Dragons 3.5, which will be abbreviated as DnD from here on out.
In your typical DnD party, there are four essential roles to fill: fighter, full casting arcane caster (typically wizard or sorcerer), full casting divine caster (typically a cleric, and if it's not a cleric focused on healing, may your deity help you), and a sneaky git (anyone with the Trapfinding ability).
While I could rant about the divine caster requirements in a party, today we're focusing on the bard, and why it isn't what you think it is.
The rest of the this entry is hidden beyond the cut.
The bard can't fill the role of the traditional fighter. It doesn't get combat abilities that any other combat oriented class gets, but it does get a 3/4 base attack bonus.
The bard gets a spell list that is a hybrid of an arcane list and a divine list, but the bard only gets up to sixth level spells, and it gets spells of specific levels later than other casters. Do you want to Cure people or buff them with spells? Get used to the idea of the other casters doing it sooner and better than you and more often to boot!
The bard can't be the trapfinder. He doesn't get the Trapfinding ability, the Search skill, or the Find Traps spell.
Having eliminated the traditional roles in the party, we now have to determine what the bard does.
He gets a d6 hit die and can cast in light armor. This makes him more durable than your typical mage. We're ignoring the fact at high level most people don't use armor because it's too hindering.
He gets a 3/4 base attack bonus, making him a competent fighter, if not anything special.
He gets musical buffs, but most of these aren't worthwhile unless you specifically cheese out the ability to do it. A bard, properly cheesed, can give a +11 to attack and damage at level 15. You're giving up prestige classes at this point (because bard prestige classes don't advance bardic music types, just per day), but this ability can make even the wizard decent in combat.
The bard gets Bardic Knowledge, which lets him know everything. And as if that wasn't enough, he gets 6 skill points per level and every knowledge skill in class!
So, what does this leave us with? A smarmy know-it-all that can fight in combat. Sink a bunch of points into Intelligence so that he can pick up those tasty knowledge, perform, and social skills (and maybe some rogue skills if that should tickle your fancy and if you have the skill points available). Also emphasize your Charisma for your spell saves DCs and tasty bonuses to attack and damage with the appropriate feats.
And really, there is no other know-it-all that can hold its own in combat in DnD. Anyone who tells you that the bard is a jack-of-all-trades is wrong. I dare suggest that the Bard can take over the fighter's role in the party. Properly constructed, he can be a better fighter than the fighter and buff the party at the same time!
Posted by: Cyndane at
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