I am really new to D&D 5e (played all editions since D&D Basic/Expert/Companion/etc, except 5e. Now I am coming from Pathfinder 1e), so any assistance with this one would be very welcome :D
How I see the character:
- Imagine a platoon sergeant;
- He shouts orders and advice in the middle of the combat chaos - this is how he inspires others? :)
- He can handle his own well if the fight goes his way;
- I would prefer him to be STR focused, instead of DEX, though I guess balance would be the name of the game;
- He is gruff and callous sometimes, after having been through a lot of nasty fights, but he will stick with those he befriends until the end;
- I would prefer if he could have a balanced array of skills, split between more athletic + survival ones, and knowledge he has gathered from his travels;
- I am looking at his magic more as a way of... Building a versatile character. Using it to bolster him and others in a scuffle, but also to defuse complex situations, breaking out a spell to assist in handling a foe who is giving them a hard time, or save a companion in the nick of time. Stuff like that (since I am not that familiar with D&D5e, I am hoping the Bard spell list makes sense for this)
Mechanically:
- Players Handbook / Basic Rules
- We will be level 1 (should I start as a Fighter? Or is Valor Bard the way to go?)
In theory I really like Fighter 2/ Bard X as a multiclass. Starting with fighter 1 means con save proficiency, starting with the right armor and weapon proficiencies and a small overall boost to tier 1 survivability with the bigger hit die and second wind. Eventually picking up level 2 of fighter at character level 8 lets you combine Action Surge with extra attack and spellcasting which can be quite potent.
The problem is actually playing through the build. I played alongside a friend who was pursuing a very similar build but with swords bard instead and the progression was visibly painful for them. We also started at level 1. Getting to Bard 5 and 6 in a timely manner is huge and even that one level was a really big cost.
If you're willing to be substantially worse at handling yourself on the front lines (as in you're really a pure support character at levels 1 and 2), then I suggest going without the dip and playing a straight Valor Bard.
I think you'll have a good time with a sword and board build in medium armor, shooting to start with a 16 in both Strength and Charisma with a 14 in Dex. Half-Elf is a great choice for achieving this without completely tanking every other stat. You can start with 15 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 14, but if you are okay with dumping intelligence or wisdom then moving some points to constitution is a very good move for making you better at handling the front lines.
I think you are probably right - this will be my first D&D5e character, and if I mess it up it should be ok to make corrections ;)
So I will give your idea a whirl, and have already started cracking on it in the Character Builder section - it seems it will be hard to get my AC above 14 at level 1 though... Is that too shabby?
There are many ways to do this. Questions you need to answer are what races interest you and how good you want to be with your weapon.
There are broadly speaking three ways we can get your AC to a credible level for frontlining: medium armor, heavy armor, and being a tortle. Medium armor will mean you'll want Dex 14, which will mean no room left over for good Strength - you need Charisma and Constitution too much for surviving on the front line. Heavy armor will mean you don't need any Dex, but without Str 15 or being a dwarf, you'll be slow. Tortle means your AC is not stat dependent at all and you can take what you like after Cha and Con. Medium armor is very easy to get, from bard subclasses, other classes, and being a mountain dwarf. Heavy armor is much more difficult - you need to start at Fighter 1 or Paladin 1, multiclass into Cleric 1, or multiclass into Artificer 3 (or you can use the custom lineage race or variant human if you think heavy armor is worth a feat).
After that, we have to ask what you want to do on the front line. If you want to hit in melee with credible accuracy and credible damage, we need to find you a way to murder people with charisma, which means getting you the shillelagh spell (not very hard) or a one-level dip into Warlock for Hexblade. If you're fine standing on the front line doing most of your work with spells, everything's much easier to design.
Many, many, many builds in 5E require you to muscle through some early levels before your build "comes online", simply because things like subclasses can so alter your character that they demand a completely different statline to be good from the prior levels. One of the ways that manifests is that starting equipment is not only often completely at odds with what you have planned, if you were building into heavy armor, it may take you some levels to credibly afford it. Be aware of that. Even if you're willing to muscle through, you may need a completely different playstyle from what you want until you get your hands on the things you need to function.
Zot is dead on about half-elves. Half-elves, dwarves, tasha's custom lineage, and tortles are the most obvious races for you to look at here to achieve what you want.
- I am looking at his magic more as a way of... Building a versatile character. Using it to bolster him and others in a scuffle, but also to defuse complex situations, breaking out a spell to assist in handling a foe who is giving them a hard time, or save a companion in the nick of time. Stuff like that (since I am not that familiar with D&D5e, I am hoping the Bard spell list makes sense for this)
The Bard spell list definitely focuses more on bolstering allies, hindering enemies, and controlling the battlefield more than outright destructive power, but I must warn you from experience that the Bard is a full spellcaster. The two Colleges that are more martially oriented (Swords and Valor) will allow a Bard to be viable in the front lines, but not really nearly as effective as a martial class. At the same time the spells you begin gaining access to start to become more and more powerful, able to turn the tide of entire fights by controlling the battlefield. So if you put significant levels into Bard your magical ability becomes much more the sensible option to use rather than what you can manage with a weapon. It's a great class, but it doesn't support a martial play style very well. I'm playing a Swords Bard right now and I'm pretty much going to stop putting levels in Bard because I wanted to play a character who uses magic to support his swordplay, not the other way around. I'm a Swords Bard 5/Swashbuckler 5/Hexblade 1 and I don't think I'm going to put any more levels into Bard, I have the spells of a half caster and I think that's where I want to stop.
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
I am not expecting to be a full frontliner, unless forced into that position every once in a while to shore up defenses on a flank for example - in that case I would most likely go sword and board. Otherwise I could be attacking from the second line with a reach weapon?
I do want to hit with credible accuracy and damage - would be ok with average ones, which can increase every once in a while with magic.
Perhaps the Eldritch Knight would be a good fit here, but my character concept is also that of a supporter - someone who potentiates others (and/or himself) with abilities, buffs and/or spells. So I got the feeling the Bard would be more appropriate in this?
Wonder if there is a better way of doing it, and I am unaware of it? Because honestly, Bardic Inspiration seems so... Lackluster?
EDIT to answer Ophidimancer: I am sad to hear that, because I am indeed looking to build a concept more martially oriented, but that can somehow be a bolster to his companions. Of course I can always just go ahead with a straight up Paladin, and roleplay him as a supporter of his companions, but it would be nice to have some more mechanically relevant effects apart from my RP :D
I am not expecting to be a full frontliner, unless forced into that position every once in a while to shore up defenses on a flank for example - in that case I would most likely go sword and board. Otherwise I could be attacking from the second line with a reach weapon?
I do want to hit with credible accuracy and damage - would be ok with average ones, which can increase every once in a while with magic.
Perhaps the Eldritch Knight would be a good fit here, but my character concept is also that of a supporter - someone who potentiates others (and/or himself) with abilities, buffs and/or spells. So I got the feeling the Bard would be more appropriate in this?
Wonder if there is a better way of doing it, and I am unaware of it? Because honestly, Bardic Inspiration seems so... Lackluster?
EDIT to answer Ophidimancer: I am sad to hear that, because I am indeed looking to build a concept more martially oriented, but that can somehow be a bolster to his companions. Of course I can always just go ahead with a straight up Paladin, and roleplay him as a supporter of his companions, but it would be nice to have some more mechanically relevant effects apart from my RP :D
Bardic Inspiration is incredible mechanically, but that just never felt fully "Bardy" to me, I'll agree with you on that. Paladins absolutely have mechanics that can support a team: At level 1 you get Lay on Hands, which can bring up a downed party mate, at level 2 you can pick up the Bless spell which helps a few of your party hit more frequently as well as helps them save against spells, at level 3 you gain an Oath and the Oaths of Devotion or Glory or Redemption or the Crown are all support Oaths, then at level 6 you get the all important Aura of Protection which can be a life saver.
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
I think you are probably right - this will be my first D&D5e character, and if I mess it up it should be ok to make corrections ;)
So I will give your idea a whirl, and have already started cracking on it in the Character Builder section - it seems it will be hard to get my AC above 14 at level 1 though... Is that too shabby?
Edeldhur
Happy to help Edel (❁´◡`❁)
14 AC is...not great. As Quindraco elaborated upon, your pre-subclass levels will be much different in playstyle. Going straight Bard means level one and two will be dominated by a support playstyle where you actively avoid the front lines as much as possible.
Knowing you want a more martially oriented character helps a lot. A couple questions before I try to give any more advice.
1. When you say Player's Handbook/ Basic Rules, does that mean you are only working off the PHB? Or do you have access to Xanathar's and/or Tasha's?
2. Do you have any idea what the pacing of the campaign will be like? The number of sessions you will likely spend at these super low levels has a big impact on what kinds of builds make sense to explore. If you don't know, I highly recommend asking the DM to get a sense of how much they intend to stretch out the leveling process. You don't have to try and plumb them for the deepest darkest secrets of the campaign, just get a general sense of the pacing for the leveling up process.
Aye sorry for the late response, hopefully this is still helpful.
It's tough. Not starting with a dip is very good for getting to bard 5 and 6 right away. But starting with fighter (or paladin) starting with the proper proficiencies for a martially oriented character. The pacing of your campaign sounds like it will be friendlier to the dip, as mine was very slow to level up.
Speaking of paladin, I think multiclassing into paladin for 2 levels after hitting bard 6 would be a great way to make the the character feel more martially focused.
With PHB only I definitely recommend going half-elf. Easiest way to get strength, dex and charisma to where you want them without the optional stat swapping from Tasha's.
I am currently playing a sword bard 10 / fighter 2 / sorcerer 1.
I don't play support as much as I play for myself.
Extra attack and action surge can be a great source of damage. The problem is with melee and how bards do not naturally get anything to help with this. I can only use one flourish per round and to become great I can choose a spell at bard 10 to enhance my melee presence (haste, spirit shroud, spirit guardians)
Lucky for you, you want to play support instead of for yourself. If you walk in with the expectation that you will not do as much melee damage as the fighter, barbarian, paladin or rogue you will be happy.
My sword bard did okay with this but the gap starts to get noticeable around level 10. If you supplement yourself with a nice spell from magical secrets you can keep up.
If you are looking for support and being able to hold your own then valor works great. I would start fighter because con saves are almost a must have. Extra attack at level 7 will hurt to wait for but is manageable as support. I used two weapon fighting so it wasn't as noticeable. Heavy armor with a shield and you will plenty of armor class.
You can take battle master or even the battle master feat or fighting style to supplement your support.
Rally and commanding strike are great support options.
As others have said your magic becomes much better if you play late game. Having level 6 + spells can change an encounter. I notice myself casting a bit more then I did at lower levels but those high level slots are also limited, so I still like being able to cast a high level spell and then run and hit some things instead of casting a cantrip. I also use a lot of high level spells outside of combat so I am still just casting greater invisibility on myself or someone else and then running in.
Fighter 3 / Bard 6 can be a fun build but like a lot of builds you want it to be fun throughout. Playing a bad build for 6 months isn't fun, but I don't think this one is bad.
You can also grab 6 levels of paladin and 5 levels of bard. The paladin aura is one of the best supports you can give to someone. I would probably start as a paladin and get the aura asap and then switch into bard. Spell choice with both of these classes will determine how your character plays. I have seen paladins refer to their spell slots as smite slots. Others rarely smite and use their spells to support their party or help in social situations.
16 str and 16 cha after racials. I hate negative scores so I would try and put a 12 in dex, con and wis. Int can be an 8 or 10.
Feats - Inspiring Leader
My recommendation is for more support play a pal/bard. Maybe take 1 level of bard early so you can pass out inspiration dice because it can be fun. Cast bless early and often and you have healing abilities. Use heroism / aid and inspiring leader to boost hit points as well.
I think a two level dip puts off extra attack and third level spells too much. If you had access to other sourcebooks there are some routes you can take to pick up booming blade and toll the dead to help, but with just the phb I wouldn't start with the paladin dip.
Your campaign sounds like it will be quicker to level than mine so i would consider the fighter build.
And like Jabour mentions, you might just want to consider a paladin base instead of focusing on bard. Variant human for inspiring leader and cast bless and command a lot. You could multiclass to bard after level 6/7 if you want the utility and smite slots, or you could he happy sticking to paladin. It would be a great fit for your more martially inclined concept.
Thank you Jabour and HeironymusZot for the added advice - I have been reading a bit more through the Player's Handbook to try and get a grip on what roles characters can accomplish, and how they go about doing it.
And indeed it seems the paladin can also be seen as the 'martial support guy' - I guess I am just still a bit stuck with ideas from other systems more closely attuned to 3.5.
When multiclassing, does it make a difference if I take a level on a different class at level 1 or level 5? I mean mechanically.
What class you start a character with determines what saving throw proficiencies you start with. Fighter is used here because constitution saving throws are super important for casters and their concentration spells. When multiclassing you gain a truncated list of proficiencies from your new class (which is listed in a table in the multiclassing section of the phb), which never includes new saving throw proficiencies.
Paladin was buffed massively from 3.5. It's one of the best classes in 5e and is super user friendly. I definitely think it's worth pondering if this character shouldn't just be one.
There is only one thing 'off' with making this character a Paladin - the concept of the grizzled army sergeant barking orders... Does not feel much like a Paladin :D
I am assuming alignment restrictions are still a thing for Paladins?
There is only one thing 'off' with making this character a Paladin - the concept of the grizzled army sergeant barking orders... Does not feel much like a Paladin :D
I am assuming alignment restrictions are still a thing for Paladins?
Alignment restrictions are not a thing for Paladins. They just have to follow the tenets of their Oath. You can totally have a grizzled army paladin. One of my friends plays a rude, crude, street brawling Vengeance Paladin.
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
There is only one thing 'off' with making this character a Paladin - the concept of the grizzled army sergeant barking orders... Does not feel much like a Paladin :D
I am assuming alignment restrictions are still a thing for Paladins?
You'd probably want to read at least the PHB before you create a character. ;)
That said, both Paladin and Fighter work wonders for a starting class for a Valor Bard. Though if anything it's the bard part that doesn't really feel like a bard, IMO.
There is only one thing 'off' with making this character a Paladin - the concept of the grizzled army sergeant barking orders... Does not feel much like a Paladin :D
I am assuming alignment restrictions are still a thing for Paladins?
You'd probably want to read at least the PHB before you create a character. ;)
That said, both Paladin and Fighter work wonders for a starting class for a Valor Bard. Though if anything it's the bard part that doesn't really feel like a bard, IMO.
There is only one thing 'off' with making this character a Paladin - the concept of the grizzled army sergeant barking orders... Does not feel much like a Paladin :D
I am assuming alignment restrictions are still a thing for Paladins?
You'd probably want to read at least the PHB before you create a character. ;)
That said, both Paladin and Fighter work wonders for a starting class for a Valor Bard. Though if anything it's the bard part that doesn't really feel like a bard, IMO.
I have been reading it, as time permits.
Then you'd probably want to finish it, as time permits. :)
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I am really new to D&D 5e (played all editions since D&D Basic/Expert/Companion/etc, except 5e. Now I am coming from Pathfinder 1e), so any assistance with this one would be very welcome :D
How I see the character:
- Imagine a platoon sergeant;
- He shouts orders and advice in the middle of the combat chaos - this is how he inspires others? :)
- He can handle his own well if the fight goes his way;
- I would prefer him to be STR focused, instead of DEX, though I guess balance would be the name of the game;
- He is gruff and callous sometimes, after having been through a lot of nasty fights, but he will stick with those he befriends until the end;
- I would prefer if he could have a balanced array of skills, split between more athletic + survival ones, and knowledge he has gathered from his travels;
- I am looking at his magic more as a way of... Building a versatile character. Using it to bolster him and others in a scuffle, but also to defuse complex situations, breaking out a spell to assist in handling a foe who is giving them a hard time, or save a companion in the nick of time. Stuff like that (since I am not that familiar with D&D5e, I am hoping the Bard spell list makes sense for this)
Mechanically:
- Players Handbook / Basic Rules
- We will be level 1 (should I start as a Fighter? Or is Valor Bard the way to go?)
- Standard Array or Point Buy
Thank you in advance for any possible aid!
Edeldhur
In theory I really like Fighter 2/ Bard X as a multiclass. Starting with fighter 1 means con save proficiency, starting with the right armor and weapon proficiencies and a small overall boost to tier 1 survivability with the bigger hit die and second wind. Eventually picking up level 2 of fighter at character level 8 lets you combine Action Surge with extra attack and spellcasting which can be quite potent.
The problem is actually playing through the build. I played alongside a friend who was pursuing a very similar build but with swords bard instead and the progression was visibly painful for them. We also started at level 1. Getting to Bard 5 and 6 in a timely manner is huge and even that one level was a really big cost.
If you're willing to be substantially worse at handling yourself on the front lines (as in you're really a pure support character at levels 1 and 2), then I suggest going without the dip and playing a straight Valor Bard.
I think you'll have a good time with a sword and board build in medium armor, shooting to start with a 16 in both Strength and Charisma with a 14 in Dex. Half-Elf is a great choice for achieving this without completely tanking every other stat. You can start with 15 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 14, but if you are okay with dumping intelligence or wisdom then moving some points to constitution is a very good move for making you better at handling the front lines.
Thank you for the feedback HeironymusZot!
I think you are probably right - this will be my first D&D5e character, and if I mess it up it should be ok to make corrections ;)
So I will give your idea a whirl, and have already started cracking on it in the Character Builder section - it seems it will be hard to get my AC above 14 at level 1 though... Is that too shabby?
Edeldhur
There are many ways to do this. Questions you need to answer are what races interest you and how good you want to be with your weapon.
There are broadly speaking three ways we can get your AC to a credible level for frontlining: medium armor, heavy armor, and being a tortle. Medium armor will mean you'll want Dex 14, which will mean no room left over for good Strength - you need Charisma and Constitution too much for surviving on the front line. Heavy armor will mean you don't need any Dex, but without Str 15 or being a dwarf, you'll be slow. Tortle means your AC is not stat dependent at all and you can take what you like after Cha and Con. Medium armor is very easy to get, from bard subclasses, other classes, and being a mountain dwarf. Heavy armor is much more difficult - you need to start at Fighter 1 or Paladin 1, multiclass into Cleric 1, or multiclass into Artificer 3 (or you can use the custom lineage race or variant human if you think heavy armor is worth a feat).
After that, we have to ask what you want to do on the front line. If you want to hit in melee with credible accuracy and credible damage, we need to find you a way to murder people with charisma, which means getting you the shillelagh spell (not very hard) or a one-level dip into Warlock for Hexblade. If you're fine standing on the front line doing most of your work with spells, everything's much easier to design.
Many, many, many builds in 5E require you to muscle through some early levels before your build "comes online", simply because things like subclasses can so alter your character that they demand a completely different statline to be good from the prior levels. One of the ways that manifests is that starting equipment is not only often completely at odds with what you have planned, if you were building into heavy armor, it may take you some levels to credibly afford it. Be aware of that. Even if you're willing to muscle through, you may need a completely different playstyle from what you want until you get your hands on the things you need to function.
Zot is dead on about half-elves. Half-elves, dwarves, tasha's custom lineage, and tortles are the most obvious races for you to look at here to achieve what you want.
The Bard spell list definitely focuses more on bolstering allies, hindering enemies, and controlling the battlefield more than outright destructive power, but I must warn you from experience that the Bard is a full spellcaster. The two Colleges that are more martially oriented (Swords and Valor) will allow a Bard to be viable in the front lines, but not really nearly as effective as a martial class. At the same time the spells you begin gaining access to start to become more and more powerful, able to turn the tide of entire fights by controlling the battlefield. So if you put significant levels into Bard your magical ability becomes much more the sensible option to use rather than what you can manage with a weapon. It's a great class, but it doesn't support a martial play style very well. I'm playing a Swords Bard right now and I'm pretty much going to stop putting levels in Bard because I wanted to play a character who uses magic to support his swordplay, not the other way around. I'm a Swords Bard 5/Swashbuckler 5/Hexblade 1 and I don't think I'm going to put any more levels into Bard, I have the spells of a half caster and I think that's where I want to stop.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Thanks for the comments quindraco.
I am not expecting to be a full frontliner, unless forced into that position every once in a while to shore up defenses on a flank for example - in that case I would most likely go sword and board. Otherwise I could be attacking from the second line with a reach weapon?
I do want to hit with credible accuracy and damage - would be ok with average ones, which can increase every once in a while with magic.
Perhaps the Eldritch Knight would be a good fit here, but my character concept is also that of a supporter - someone who potentiates others (and/or himself) with abilities, buffs and/or spells. So I got the feeling the Bard would be more appropriate in this?
Wonder if there is a better way of doing it, and I am unaware of it? Because honestly, Bardic Inspiration seems so... Lackluster?
EDIT to answer Ophidimancer: I am sad to hear that, because I am indeed looking to build a concept more martially oriented, but that can somehow be a bolster to his companions. Of course I can always just go ahead with a straight up Paladin, and roleplay him as a supporter of his companions, but it would be nice to have some more mechanically relevant effects apart from my RP :D
Bardic Inspiration is incredible mechanically, but that just never felt fully "Bardy" to me, I'll agree with you on that. Paladins absolutely have mechanics that can support a team: At level 1 you get Lay on Hands, which can bring up a downed party mate, at level 2 you can pick up the Bless spell which helps a few of your party hit more frequently as well as helps them save against spells, at level 3 you gain an Oath and the Oaths of Devotion or Glory or Redemption or the Crown are all support Oaths, then at level 6 you get the all important Aura of Protection which can be a life saver.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Happy to help Edel (❁´◡`❁)
14 AC is...not great. As Quindraco elaborated upon, your pre-subclass levels will be much different in playstyle. Going straight Bard means level one and two will be dominated by a support playstyle where you actively avoid the front lines as much as possible.
Knowing you want a more martially oriented character helps a lot. A couple questions before I try to give any more advice.
1. When you say Player's Handbook/ Basic Rules, does that mean you are only working off the PHB? Or do you have access to Xanathar's and/or Tasha's?
2. Do you have any idea what the pacing of the campaign will be like? The number of sessions you will likely spend at these super low levels has a big impact on what kinds of builds make sense to explore. If you don't know, I highly recommend asking the DM to get a sense of how much they intend to stretch out the leveling process. You don't have to try and plumb them for the deepest darkest secrets of the campaign, just get a general sense of the pacing for the leveling up process.
Well, I would say:
1. PHB only. GM is also new so we are keeping it simple.
2. Our GM has said it should not take long for us to level up at the beginning. So getting to level 2-3 should be pretty swift I think?
Aye sorry for the late response, hopefully this is still helpful.
It's tough. Not starting with a dip is very good for getting to bard 5 and 6 right away. But starting with fighter (or paladin) starting with the proper proficiencies for a martially oriented character. The pacing of your campaign sounds like it will be friendlier to the dip, as mine was very slow to level up.
Speaking of paladin, I think multiclassing into paladin for 2 levels after hitting bard 6 would be a great way to make the the character feel more martially focused.
With PHB only I definitely recommend going half-elf. Easiest way to get strength, dex and charisma to where you want them without the optional stat swapping from Tasha's.
Thank you again HeironymusZot!
What about a 2 level paladin dip right from the start, for the fighting style and some casting? Overkill?
I am currently playing a sword bard 10 / fighter 2 / sorcerer 1.
I don't play support as much as I play for myself.
Extra attack and action surge can be a great source of damage. The problem is with melee and how bards do not naturally get anything to help with this. I can only use one flourish per round and to become great I can choose a spell at bard 10 to enhance my melee presence (haste, spirit shroud, spirit guardians)
Lucky for you, you want to play support instead of for yourself. If you walk in with the expectation that you will not do as much melee damage as the fighter, barbarian, paladin or rogue you will be happy.
My sword bard did okay with this but the gap starts to get noticeable around level 10. If you supplement yourself with a nice spell from magical secrets you can keep up.
If you are looking for support and being able to hold your own then valor works great. I would start fighter because con saves are almost a must have. Extra attack at level 7 will hurt to wait for but is manageable as support. I used two weapon fighting so it wasn't as noticeable. Heavy armor with a shield and you will plenty of armor class.
You can take battle master or even the battle master feat or fighting style to supplement your support.
Rally and commanding strike are great support options.
As others have said your magic becomes much better if you play late game. Having level 6 + spells can change an encounter. I notice myself casting a bit more then I did at lower levels but those high level slots are also limited, so I still like being able to cast a high level spell and then run and hit some things instead of casting a cantrip. I also use a lot of high level spells outside of combat so I am still just casting greater invisibility on myself or someone else and then running in.
Fighter 3 / Bard 6 can be a fun build but like a lot of builds you want it to be fun throughout. Playing a bad build for 6 months isn't fun, but I don't think this one is bad.
You can also grab 6 levels of paladin and 5 levels of bard. The paladin aura is one of the best supports you can give to someone. I would probably start as a paladin and get the aura asap and then switch into bard. Spell choice with both of these classes will determine how your character plays. I have seen paladins refer to their spell slots as smite slots. Others rarely smite and use their spells to support their party or help in social situations.
16 str and 16 cha after racials. I hate negative scores so I would try and put a 12 in dex, con and wis. Int can be an 8 or 10.
Feats - Inspiring Leader
My recommendation is for more support play a pal/bard. Maybe take 1 level of bard early so you can pass out inspiration dice because it can be fun. Cast bless early and often and you have healing abilities. Use heroism / aid and inspiring leader to boost hit points as well.
I think a two level dip puts off extra attack and third level spells too much. If you had access to other sourcebooks there are some routes you can take to pick up booming blade and toll the dead to help, but with just the phb I wouldn't start with the paladin dip.
Your campaign sounds like it will be quicker to level than mine so i would consider the fighter build.
And like Jabour mentions, you might just want to consider a paladin base instead of focusing on bard. Variant human for inspiring leader and cast bless and command a lot. You could multiclass to bard after level 6/7 if you want the utility and smite slots, or you could he happy sticking to paladin. It would be a great fit for your more martially inclined concept.
Thank you Jabour and HeironymusZot for the added advice - I have been reading a bit more through the Player's Handbook to try and get a grip on what roles characters can accomplish, and how they go about doing it.
And indeed it seems the paladin can also be seen as the 'martial support guy' - I guess I am just still a bit stuck with ideas from other systems more closely attuned to 3.5.
When multiclassing, does it make a difference if I take a level on a different class at level 1 or level 5? I mean mechanically.
What class you start a character with determines what saving throw proficiencies you start with. Fighter is used here because constitution saving throws are super important for casters and their concentration spells. When multiclassing you gain a truncated list of proficiencies from your new class (which is listed in a table in the multiclassing section of the phb), which never includes new saving throw proficiencies.
Paladin was buffed massively from 3.5. It's one of the best classes in 5e and is super user friendly. I definitely think it's worth pondering if this character shouldn't just be one.
There is only one thing 'off' with making this character a Paladin - the concept of the grizzled army sergeant barking orders... Does not feel much like a Paladin :D
I am assuming alignment restrictions are still a thing for Paladins?
Alignment restrictions are not a thing for Paladins. They just have to follow the tenets of their Oath. You can totally have a grizzled army paladin. One of my friends plays a rude, crude, street brawling Vengeance Paladin.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
You'd probably want to read at least the PHB before you create a character. ;)
That said, both Paladin and Fighter work wonders for a starting class for a Valor Bard. Though if anything it's the bard part that doesn't really feel like a bard, IMO.
I have been reading it, as time permits.
Then you'd probably want to finish it, as time permits. :)