Glamour Bards are perhaps my favorite variation of a bard.
Normal bards are the most charismatic class in D&D. Glamour Bards are injected with a government-funded super-smugness serum which allows them to literally alter reality with a smirk.
But the flexibility of their mechanics, combined with their enhanced charm means they can form nearly any backstory of a bard.
I created a bard who was a brilliant tactician and strategist capable of analyzing the battlefield and turning the tide when needed most. The "Mantle of Inspiration" feature allowed him to bark out orders for vulnerable party members to re-position themselves when in close-quarters with a particularly nasty boss fight. His "Inspiring Leader" feats let him bolster the weakened party when out of combat. It was a more militant-minded bard...something the other subclasses couldn't do.
On the flip side, the Glamour Bard allowed the creation of a Priestess of Llira, goddess of joy. For those who don't know, followers if Llira are always dancing and smiling, bringing their performances to places of gloom and despair.
It also made things pretty funny and awkward, coming to a village that had been ransacked with dead townspeople, with the glamour bard trying (and failing) to cheer them up. Mechanically, though, the "Enthralling Performance" and "Mantle of Majesty" skills were her mesmerizing dances, captivating onlookers. When they did work, she would "command" her targets to dance, considering it her goddess Llira working through her performance. The idea that the glamour bard continuously gets more "beautiful" as they level really added to the divine flavour of the concept.
You can even make an evil bard this way...sort of a Dracula-esque beguiler who captivates their victims and projects a more chilling aura. You become a "master" of sorts who uses "Mantle of Majesty" to command their victims to "kneel" or "grovel", and your "Unbreakable Majesty" is your menacing dominance which prevents enemies from attacking you.
So I'm curious to hear from all of you...what are some of the interesting Glamour Bards you've created?
Share your backstories, concepts, and spell combinations below.
I shaped a Glamour Bard (+1 level of Cleric for flavor reasons) into a Drow Priestess of Lolth. She's Tier 3 now and more or less fits what I envisioned. Bonus action command, is exactly what a haughty leader would have under their belt. Being able to seduce the masses by talking to them has a priestly feel about it, particularly given the Drow's fealty to Lolth. And just being really really pretty also kinda fit the image I had. Being able to cherry pick the Cleric spells wanted (and Conjure Animals from the Druid list for Giant Spiders), just made it all gravy for me.
While I feel like i should probably have a tentacle rod on her for flavour, however she's actually weaponless and just rolls around with haughty sex appeal cough arrogance cough, which is probably not necessarily something I would do with the other subclasses - although Lore is obviously a good caster subclass. So in this respect I think its a solid addition to the subclasses and is versatile enough to play a few different roles. It probably isn't as versatile as the Whisper bard, but i do think it compares favorably to the Lore bard on a power level.
I multiclassed my Archfey Warlock with Glamour Bard and it made like the perfect social encounter character. CHarms for days. He's a tiefling actor who beseeched the Fey for the ability to charm audiences, and an actor is basically a sort of bard. Mantle of Majesty and Mantle of Inspiration give the character a cool support/control role. Enthralling Performance is really cool and even though it won't come in handy too often, it's great for role-play and now and then you can do something really cool with it. I had a cool experience of charming a crowd at a party and then asking members of the crowd to distract the guards so that we could sneak around to find an artifact we were looking for. Definitely my favourite Bard subclass.
My Glamour Bard's mentor was the dracula-esque type. Under his charms for years, he forced her to learn to do so as well so that she could be a better pawn for him. They traveled conning nobles out of their fortunes or leeching off of them, throwing extravagant parties every night for weeks. Eventually he got what he wanted and abandoned my character.
I just rolled up a level 8 Glamour Bard of Death Metal for a mid-level campaign. His band is called Dead Man Group because he had died in the past and was resurrected. If anyone asks him how he died he always has a different epic story about how he perished.
All his spells are focused on enhancing his thrilling stringed instrument solos:
Minor Illusion for one minute of an underlying chord. Thunderclap for loud booms. Unseen servants to keep rhythm on the drums. Pyrotechnics, obviously. Faerie Fire and Hypnotic Pattern for colorful visual effects. Silence to eliminate competing noise. I almost took Hallucinatory Terrain to really set the mood for the stage (as ashen volcanic rocky terrain) but it seems to require a nature setting and I expect most venues to be in towns or buildings. He was allowed to start with an instrument of the bards so of course he picked the one that can create a wall of fire.
Command will be used to encourage fans and admirers to "Mosh" or "Yell". Should be fun!
My tiefling bard Ariaxora (whom I may have spent far to much time on) is pretty much the stereotypical bard, except she doesn't try to seduce everything. I am thinking about making her a Glamour bard at 3rd level, because none of the other subclasses fit her back-story.
I played Tomb of Annihilation up to level 10 with an Aasimar Glamour Bard 9 / Divine Soul Sorcerer 1. My DM worked with me to make a character embedded in the storyline, an adopted ward of Wakanga O’Tamu. I went the route of an enchanting beauty and dancer, and with every level she became more beautiful and more capable of bolstering her allies with resolve and either persuading or commanding enemies to do her will. The best part of this was that she was spoiled, naive, and grew from a valuable face into a formidable tactician and healer. Definitely my favorite character I’ve ever played. If given the chance, I would always play a Glamour Bard just for Mantle of Inspiration. Temporary HP and immediate battlefield maneuvering? So underrated!
I multiclassed my Archfey Warlock with Glamour Bard and it made like the perfect social encounter character. CHarms for days. He's a tiefling actor who beseeched the Fey for the ability to charm audiences, and an actor is basically a sort of bard. Mantle of Majesty and Mantle of Inspiration give the character a cool support/control role. Enthralling Performance is really cool and even though it won't come in handy too often, it's great for role-play and now and then you can do something really cool with it. I had a cool experience of charming a crowd at a party and then asking members of the crowd to distract the guards so that we could sneak around to find an artifact we were looking for. Definitely my favourite Bard subclass.
Enthralling Performance had a nifty use during my campaign.
A tyrannical army got the jump on our resistances fortress (filled with innocent refugees and soldiers mostly comprised of volunteers and people we recruited). We were completely surrounded.
They sent representatives to negotiate the terms of our surrender, and our DM asked for three players to meet them halfway on the (then) empty battlefield.
My Glamour Bard, our Warlock, and our Fighter met with the enemy to discuss our seemingly hopeless situation.
VERY casually, I mentioned that my Glamour Bard was playing a sorrowful tune to my DM during the negotiations, stating that the Bard was trying to convey the sadness of their situation.
At least five minutes of the enemy discussing our unconditional surrender, disarming, and forceful assimilation into their religion, my Bard used "Enthralling Performance", asking if the the refugees with us could be allowed to leave, to spare their lives.
The charm effect worked for two of the enemies negotiators; they revealed that the enemy planned to kill every person within the fortress (no matter the outcome of the negotiations), and they agreed to let them live...but the third enemy was un-affected, and got REAL made that his allies revealed their bluff.
Needless to say, peace talks broke down...our Fighter & Warlock took out that un-Charmed enemy, and the battle for the fortress commenced.
Sadly, my Bard lost their life in that battle...but he had revealed the truth and saved lives revealing the enemies treachery.
Plus, a silver dragon saved our bacon at the last moment...so it was a very memorable battle.
I used Enthralling Presence at almost any opportunity. The power was almost always either in play or a threat. Most of the time I would just start the conversation with the Foes and start to tell them a story, by the time the DM realized I was going for the Enthrall it was already too late.
I used it so often I actually included into the power the idea that it was a bit like an addiction, the ability to charm without fear of retaliation is one hell of a slippery slope. By the time I was done even my own party members didn't trust me anymore (and for damn good reasons).
Expertise in Persuasion. It may seem like overkill, but you're going to need some way to convince someone to pay attention to you long enough for Enthralling Performance to Charm them. Most of the time it will be persuasion related and the combination of Expertise and naturally high Charisma is going to send your rolls into the sky. Don't be afraid to lean way into the mind control aspects of the Glamour Bard. I got a LOT of millage out of Detect Thoughts and Calm Emotions for various social encounters.
As far as combat goes, my go to spells were Tasha's Hideous Laughter to lock down one enemy, healing word to spot heal on a bonus action, and Dissonant Whispers to put some damage on a target and force them to run, hopefully triggering a rogue attack of opportunity in the process.I often scaled those spells up for greater effect.
I also noticed you were a tiefling as well, might I recommend the Levistus Tiefling from Mordenkaniens book. You get Ray of Frost as a Cantrip and it's charisma based as a spell. Frankly I find it very boring to not roll for an attack and constantly asking for saving throws, so it feels good to throw down a D20 every now and again, plus you can be like me and shoot it like a finger gun. It also lets you go for a "ice magic" theme with your Magical Secrets choices if you feel like playing it up.
Lastly, if you're feeling saucy and inspired, is Phantasmal Force. It's not an easy spell to work with because you have to get a little inspired with it, but when it does work it is magnificent.
Feel free to reach out for anything, I'm more than happy to lend a hand.
Before I say anything else, I'm going to put out a disclaimer. Ultimately, the spell choices of a bard define the bard and the way the player sees the bard. So as long as the spell choice matches with what the character is all about, then that is the right choice.
Minor Illusion and Viscious Mockery are two very strong spells on the cantrip list. They will serve you very well.
Charm Person: Charm Person is a ballsy spell. You are essentially saying "I don't care if this person gets mad later, I'll get what I want now", which depending on how risk averse you are, may not be your first thought. If you find yourself worrying about the "the target knows you charmed them" aspect of the spell, you wont want to cast this as often as you might if you just don't care about the consequencies of your actions (or just constantly live in the belief that you can talk your way out if needed).
Disguise Self: A very good spell for infilitration, and this operates as a counter point to Charm Person. Do you Charm the guard at the door to let you through or do you disguise yourself as a guard to walk by? But I when choosing this spell I had to ask myself "Does my Bard hide themselves, or does my Bard revel in the attention?" My answer was to revel in the attention and so I never took Disguise Self, preferring instead to manipulate through persuasion and enchantments rather than illusion and misdirection.
Faerie Fire: Oh how I want to love this spell so much. Alas, it just never really works out for me. I find my Spell Save DC too low to reliably hit multiple targets in combat with this when at low levels, and better options for concentration at higher levels. Still it might be handy for something like finding an invisible item in a room.
Silent Image: Another spell for misdirection, but at low levels you can cast so few spells per day that I'd be wary about going with Silent Image over Minor Illusion. This might be a better choice at a later level when you get higher level spell slots and burning a first level spell slot on something doesn't use up as much of your total resources.
I would say though, Glamour Bards are (In my opinion) more about calling attention to themselves than misdirection or deception which is more the domain of their counter point the College of Whispers.
Does that help? I'm trying to be helpful while not trying to force a particular view point on you.
So, I should ditch Silent Image and Faerie Fire? I was intending on using the illusions for enhancing performances with drumbeats, illusory musical notes, etc, which could probably draw a good deal of attention to myself.
I personally like faerie fire. I have it and use it on my bard|lock. I just try to be picky about when I try to use it, and not drop it on monsters I think have high dex saves. I'd keep it. I'd probably not take silent image though. I'd most definitely take sleep. At low levels, Sleep is a fight winner.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Cure wounds and healing word are musts. Your party is going to count on you to keep them alive. Sense Emotion I doubt will ever be necessary.
If I were building a 1st level standard tiefling bard (my current character is a warlock with bard dip, but main warlock), my spell picks would be: Vicious Mockery and Minor Illusion as cantrips. For my 4 spells, I would take Sleep, Cure Wounds, Healing Word and Dissonant Whispers. if my DM allowed me to pick a Levistus Tiefling, I would do so. That would give me the ray of frost cantrip (great damage option for bards) and some other useful spells as racials. I really like faerie fire, but at low levels, I think dissonant whispers is likely the better pick. My bardlock has faerie fire, but I built it to do different things than I would a pure bard for an unknown composition party.
For tactics, at level 1 with my two spell slots, I have to be careful to not waste them. one of them will be dedicated for healing word, /only/ to be cast when a player goes down. The second spell slot will be used most often to try and end an encounter with sleep. When I am not using those (most times) I will be casting either vicious mockery on whoever is attacking someone else or ray of frost if I am a levistus tiefling and depending on the situation.
This is a bard I just whipped up real quick. This is definitely the spell loadout I would take, the only tossup in my mind would be if I go levistus tiefling, or half-drow as my race. https://ddb.ac/characters/28779198/94dBvo
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
What do you envision as a "social character"? What's key is finding spells that both fit with your concept, and...are useful. There are a lot of spells out there than can be selected because they might make sense, but you actually never use them. Taking spells that you don't use just harms you in the long run.
EDIT: I tend to not like to use "social spells" because they tend to make the target angry. They can be useful in situations where you're pressed for time, but once the spell wears off, that NPC is now mad at you. I tend to look to my skills rather than my magic for social situations. Persuasion and Deception are pretty huge. Performance and Intimidation are sometimes called for. Making a persuasion check to get past a guard can work just as well as charming him, and has the side benefit of not making him hostile to me if I fail....or when the spell wears off.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
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Glamour Bards are perhaps my favorite variation of a bard.
Normal bards are the most charismatic class in D&D. Glamour Bards are injected with a government-funded super-smugness serum which allows them to literally alter reality with a smirk.
But the flexibility of their mechanics, combined with their enhanced charm means they can form nearly any backstory of a bard.
I created a bard who was a brilliant tactician and strategist capable of analyzing the battlefield and turning the tide when needed most. The "Mantle of Inspiration" feature allowed him to bark out orders for vulnerable party members to re-position themselves when in close-quarters with a particularly nasty boss fight. His "Inspiring Leader" feats let him bolster the weakened party when out of combat. It was a more militant-minded bard...something the other subclasses couldn't do.
On the flip side, the Glamour Bard allowed the creation of a Priestess of Llira, goddess of joy. For those who don't know, followers if Llira are always dancing and smiling, bringing their performances to places of gloom and despair.
It also made things pretty funny and awkward, coming to a village that had been ransacked with dead townspeople, with the glamour bard trying (and failing) to cheer them up. Mechanically, though, the "Enthralling Performance" and "Mantle of Majesty" skills were her mesmerizing dances, captivating onlookers. When they did work, she would "command" her targets to dance, considering it her goddess Llira working through her performance. The idea that the glamour bard continuously gets more "beautiful" as they level really added to the divine flavour of the concept.
You can even make an evil bard this way...sort of a Dracula-esque beguiler who captivates their victims and projects a more chilling aura. You become a "master" of sorts who uses "Mantle of Majesty" to command their victims to "kneel" or "grovel", and your "Unbreakable Majesty" is your menacing dominance which prevents enemies from attacking you.
So I'm curious to hear from all of you...what are some of the interesting Glamour Bards you've created?
Share your backstories, concepts, and spell combinations below.
Thought I'd comment way after the fact.
I shaped a Glamour Bard (+1 level of Cleric for flavor reasons) into a Drow Priestess of Lolth. She's Tier 3 now and more or less fits what I envisioned. Bonus action command, is exactly what a haughty leader would have under their belt. Being able to seduce the masses by talking to them has a priestly feel about it, particularly given the Drow's fealty to Lolth. And just being really really pretty also kinda fit the image I had. Being able to cherry pick the Cleric spells wanted (and Conjure Animals from the Druid list for Giant Spiders), just made it all gravy for me.
While I feel like i should probably have a tentacle rod on her for flavour, however she's actually weaponless and just rolls around with haughty sex appeal cough arrogance cough, which is probably not necessarily something I would do with the other subclasses - although Lore is obviously a good caster subclass. So in this respect I think its a solid addition to the subclasses and is versatile enough to play a few different roles. It probably isn't as versatile as the Whisper bard, but i do think it compares favorably to the Lore bard on a power level.
I multiclassed my Archfey Warlock with Glamour Bard and it made like the perfect social encounter character. CHarms for days. He's a tiefling actor who beseeched the Fey for the ability to charm audiences, and an actor is basically a sort of bard. Mantle of Majesty and Mantle of Inspiration give the character a cool support/control role. Enthralling Performance is really cool and even though it won't come in handy too often, it's great for role-play and now and then you can do something really cool with it. I had a cool experience of charming a crowd at a party and then asking members of the crowd to distract the guards so that we could sneak around to find an artifact we were looking for. Definitely my favourite Bard subclass.
My Glamour Bard's mentor was the dracula-esque type. Under his charms for years, he forced her to learn to do so as well so that she could be a better pawn for him. They traveled conning nobles out of their fortunes or leeching off of them, throwing extravagant parties every night for weeks. Eventually he got what he wanted and abandoned my character.
This college is ripe with backstory potential
I just rolled up a level 8 Glamour Bard of Death Metal for a mid-level campaign. His band is called Dead Man Group because he had died in the past and was resurrected. If anyone asks him how he died he always has a different epic story about how he perished.
All his spells are focused on enhancing his thrilling stringed instrument solos:
Minor Illusion for one minute of an underlying chord. Thunderclap for loud booms. Unseen servants to keep rhythm on the drums. Pyrotechnics, obviously. Faerie Fire and Hypnotic Pattern for colorful visual effects. Silence to eliminate competing noise. I almost took Hallucinatory Terrain to really set the mood for the stage (as ashen volcanic rocky terrain) but it seems to require a nature setting and I expect most venues to be in towns or buildings. He was allowed to start with an instrument of the bards so of course he picked the one that can create a wall of fire.
Command will be used to encourage fans and admirers to "Mosh" or "Yell". Should be fun!
My tiefling bard Ariaxora (whom I may have spent far to much time on) is pretty much the stereotypical bard, except she doesn't try to seduce everything. I am thinking about making her a Glamour bard at 3rd level, because none of the other subclasses fit her back-story.
Hello! I am just a relatively new D&D player, who also likes SimplePlanes and War Thunder.
My characters are:
I played Tomb of Annihilation up to level 10 with an Aasimar Glamour Bard 9 / Divine Soul Sorcerer 1. My DM worked with me to make a character embedded in the storyline, an adopted ward of Wakanga O’Tamu. I went the route of an enchanting beauty and dancer, and with every level she became more beautiful and more capable of bolstering her allies with resolve and either persuading or commanding enemies to do her will. The best part of this was that she was spoiled, naive, and grew from a valuable face into a formidable tactician and healer. Definitely my favorite character I’ve ever played. If given the chance, I would always play a Glamour Bard just for Mantle of Inspiration. Temporary HP and immediate battlefield maneuvering? So underrated!
Enthralling Performance had a nifty use during my campaign.
A tyrannical army got the jump on our resistances fortress (filled with innocent refugees and soldiers mostly comprised of volunteers and people we recruited). We were completely surrounded.
They sent representatives to negotiate the terms of our surrender, and our DM asked for three players to meet them halfway on the (then) empty battlefield.
My Glamour Bard, our Warlock, and our Fighter met with the enemy to discuss our seemingly hopeless situation.
VERY casually, I mentioned that my Glamour Bard was playing a sorrowful tune to my DM during the negotiations, stating that the Bard was trying to convey the sadness of their situation.
At least five minutes of the enemy discussing our unconditional surrender, disarming, and forceful assimilation into their religion, my Bard used "Enthralling Performance", asking if the the refugees with us could be allowed to leave, to spare their lives.
The charm effect worked for two of the enemies negotiators; they revealed that the enemy planned to kill every person within the fortress (no matter the outcome of the negotiations), and they agreed to let them live...but the third enemy was un-affected, and got REAL made that his allies revealed their bluff.
Needless to say, peace talks broke down...our Fighter & Warlock took out that un-Charmed enemy, and the battle for the fortress commenced.
Sadly, my Bard lost their life in that battle...but he had revealed the truth and saved lives revealing the enemies treachery.
Plus, a silver dragon saved our bacon at the last moment...so it was a very memorable battle.
I used Enthralling Presence at almost any opportunity. The power was almost always either in play or a threat. Most of the time I would just start the conversation with the Foes and start to tell them a story, by the time the DM realized I was going for the Enthrall it was already too late.
I used it so often I actually included into the power the idea that it was a bit like an addiction, the ability to charm without fear of retaliation is one hell of a slippery slope. By the time I was done even my own party members didn't trust me anymore (and for damn good reasons).
I am going to go the Glamour route. Any tips?
Hello! I am just a relatively new D&D player, who also likes SimplePlanes and War Thunder.
My characters are:
Expertise in Persuasion. It may seem like overkill, but you're going to need some way to convince someone to pay attention to you long enough for Enthralling Performance to Charm them. Most of the time it will be persuasion related and the combination of Expertise and naturally high Charisma is going to send your rolls into the sky. Don't be afraid to lean way into the mind control aspects of the Glamour Bard. I got a LOT of millage out of Detect Thoughts and Calm Emotions for various social encounters.
As far as combat goes, my go to spells were Tasha's Hideous Laughter to lock down one enemy, healing word to spot heal on a bonus action, and Dissonant Whispers to put some damage on a target and force them to run, hopefully triggering a rogue attack of opportunity in the process.I often scaled those spells up for greater effect.
I also noticed you were a tiefling as well, might I recommend the Levistus Tiefling from Mordenkaniens book. You get Ray of Frost as a Cantrip and it's charisma based as a spell. Frankly I find it very boring to not roll for an attack and constantly asking for saving throws, so it feels good to throw down a D20 every now and again, plus you can be like me and shoot it like a finger gun. It also lets you go for a "ice magic" theme with your Magical Secrets choices if you feel like playing it up.
Lastly, if you're feeling saucy and inspired, is Phantasmal Force. It's not an easy spell to work with because you have to get a little inspired with it, but when it does work it is magnificent.
Feel free to reach out for anything, I'm more than happy to lend a hand.
The spells I have right now (at level 1) are Minor Illusion, Vicious Mockery, Charm Person, Disguise Self, Faerie Fire, and Silent Image. Are these useful? I plan on playing this character when I (hopefully) play Dragon Heist in a month or so.
Hello! I am just a relatively new D&D player, who also likes SimplePlanes and War Thunder.
My characters are:
The short answer is Yes, they are useful.
The longer answer is "in what context?"
Before I say anything else, I'm going to put out a disclaimer. Ultimately, the spell choices of a bard define the bard and the way the player sees the bard. So as long as the spell choice matches with what the character is all about, then that is the right choice.
Minor Illusion and Viscious Mockery are two very strong spells on the cantrip list. They will serve you very well.
Charm Person: Charm Person is a ballsy spell. You are essentially saying "I don't care if this person gets mad later, I'll get what I want now", which depending on how risk averse you are, may not be your first thought. If you find yourself worrying about the "the target knows you charmed them" aspect of the spell, you wont want to cast this as often as you might if you just don't care about the consequencies of your actions (or just constantly live in the belief that you can talk your way out if needed).
Disguise Self: A very good spell for infilitration, and this operates as a counter point to Charm Person. Do you Charm the guard at the door to let you through or do you disguise yourself as a guard to walk by? But I when choosing this spell I had to ask myself "Does my Bard hide themselves, or does my Bard revel in the attention?" My answer was to revel in the attention and so I never took Disguise Self, preferring instead to manipulate through persuasion and enchantments rather than illusion and misdirection.
Faerie Fire: Oh how I want to love this spell so much. Alas, it just never really works out for me. I find my Spell Save DC too low to reliably hit multiple targets in combat with this when at low levels, and better options for concentration at higher levels. Still it might be handy for something like finding an invisible item in a room.
Silent Image: Another spell for misdirection, but at low levels you can cast so few spells per day that I'd be wary about going with Silent Image over Minor Illusion. This might be a better choice at a later level when you get higher level spell slots and burning a first level spell slot on something doesn't use up as much of your total resources.
I would say though, Glamour Bards are (In my opinion) more about calling attention to themselves than misdirection or deception which is more the domain of their counter point the College of Whispers.
Does that help? I'm trying to be helpful while not trying to force a particular view point on you.
It helps a lot. Thanks!
Hello! I am just a relatively new D&D player, who also likes SimplePlanes and War Thunder.
My characters are:
So, I should ditch Silent Image and Faerie Fire? I was intending on using the illusions for enhancing performances with drumbeats, illusory musical notes, etc, which could probably draw a good deal of attention to myself.
Hello! I am just a relatively new D&D player, who also likes SimplePlanes and War Thunder.
My characters are:
I personally like faerie fire. I have it and use it on my bard|lock. I just try to be picky about when I try to use it, and not drop it on monsters I think have high dex saves. I'd keep it. I'd probably not take silent image though. I'd most definitely take sleep. At low levels, Sleep is a fight winner.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Are Cure Wounds, Healing Word, and Sense Emotion good?
Hello! I am just a relatively new D&D player, who also likes SimplePlanes and War Thunder.
My characters are:
Cure wounds and healing word are musts. Your party is going to count on you to keep them alive. Sense Emotion I doubt will ever be necessary.
If I were building a 1st level standard tiefling bard (my current character is a warlock with bard dip, but main warlock), my spell picks would be: Vicious Mockery and Minor Illusion as cantrips. For my 4 spells, I would take Sleep, Cure Wounds, Healing Word and Dissonant Whispers. if my DM allowed me to pick a Levistus Tiefling, I would do so. That would give me the ray of frost cantrip (great damage option for bards) and some other useful spells as racials. I really like faerie fire, but at low levels, I think dissonant whispers is likely the better pick. My bardlock has faerie fire, but I built it to do different things than I would a pure bard for an unknown composition party.
For tactics, at level 1 with my two spell slots, I have to be careful to not waste them. one of them will be dedicated for healing word, /only/ to be cast when a player goes down. The second spell slot will be used most often to try and end an encounter with sleep. When I am not using those (most times) I will be casting either vicious mockery on whoever is attacking someone else or ray of frost if I am a levistus tiefling and depending on the situation.
This is a bard I just whipped up real quick. This is definitely the spell loadout I would take, the only tossup in my mind would be if I go levistus tiefling, or half-drow as my race. https://ddb.ac/characters/28779198/94dBvo
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
The character is more of a social character, and I can't figure out what other spells fit my character concept.
Hello! I am just a relatively new D&D player, who also likes SimplePlanes and War Thunder.
My characters are:
What do you envision as a "social character"? What's key is finding spells that both fit with your concept, and...are useful. There are a lot of spells out there than can be selected because they might make sense, but you actually never use them. Taking spells that you don't use just harms you in the long run.
EDIT: I tend to not like to use "social spells" because they tend to make the target angry. They can be useful in situations where you're pressed for time, but once the spell wears off, that NPC is now mad at you. I tend to look to my skills rather than my magic for social situations. Persuasion and Deception are pretty huge. Performance and Intimidation are sometimes called for. Making a persuasion check to get past a guard can work just as well as charming him, and has the side benefit of not making him hostile to me if I fail....or when the spell wears off.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha