I was fiddling around with the College of Swords subclass, and discovered the potent effects of a two-level dip into Paladin.
I realized the myriad of useful tools that seemed a perfect match for a bard..."Lay on Hands" takes the bards healing to the next level, and helps make a Sword Bard more resilient. "Divine Sense" provides a fun roleplay tool...useful for a bard whose worried their romantic pursuit might be a lich or succubus.
But it was the addition of an extra "Fighting Style", and "Divine Smite" that really sealed the deal...it was actually scary!
A Sword Bard gets "Two Weapon Fighting"...and with a paladin's "Defense" style, you can shore up your defense while you increase your ability to "Smite" and stack damage. And with those extra spell slots that the bard class provides, you're never wanting for damage...and those higher level spell slots can still be used for potent Bard spells!
But wait, there's more!
The "College of Swords" gives you "Flourishes" to increase your speed, defense, and damage...and can stack with Smites. And while your spell slots will dwindle until you Long Rest...your "Flourishes" will eventualy replenish on a Short Rest.
Add your bard's "Magical Secrets"...well, you can still get those great Paladin spells like "Circle of Power", "Destructive Wave", or "Holy Weapon".
My only question for those interested...how does one make an interesting backstory for a Paladin / Sword Bard multiclass?
What are some of your backgrounds you've come up with? Share below!
There's some precedent for a Knight who writes poetry and music. Sir Dinadan, for example, seems like a good fit for a Paladin with the wit and musical/lyrical talents of a bard.
A background thought i have for you is this: a swordmaster instructor for the flaming fist or other such mercenary group. Then... "war were declared" and the holier the war the better, angels decide to vanquish the demons, a vampire cult is rising up, dragons have decided to unite against the city of Baldur's Gate, ..pirates whatever. The bard decides that finally action must be taken and the crusade against this new evil is joined. This allows the new paladin abilities to augment the sword bard while maintaining a believable story.
I feel like mercenary veteran, soldier or gladiator Are the great fit for this story.
Bardadin has generally been a good combination through the editions. The cheesiest combo I recall from back in third edition had you use some dragonish variant of the Bard that let you substitute your Bardic Inspiration bonus (which was a growing bonus to attack rolls and skill checks) for additional damage dice; could make you pretty powerful as time went on.
In any case, a two level dip gets you 10 hp worth of Lay on Hands, which is an action to use. Not bad, but certainly limited.
I will say I was surprised to see that Divine Smite works with any spell slot, not just Paladin slots. Tops out at 4th level slots, but that'll get you far anyhow.
My backstory with my aasimar palard is the he is a former soldier in some god's army but fell from grace when it was found that he was in love with both a man and his female fiancee. He then became a traveling gambler that trusts no one and has been a cynic ever since.
Playing a paladin with a few (1-3) levels of bard (Lore) added on, and is is crazy scared he will get duped into uploading the vengeance of the gods onto someone innocent because he doesn't know better, so Lore bard is how he is learning history (legal), investigation (evidence), insight (lies/guilt/innocence) to try and make sure he has the correct target to smite upon.
A character can start off as a Paladin with what she believes is a worthy and righteous cause for her kingdom or country, but eventually realizes that her swordarm's been used in someone else's bid for power. Or maybe she just loses faith in her gods for whatever reason. So she leaves military service, goes to some no-name town and takes up a lute or viola or flute and tries to make the lives of the peasants around her joyous instead.
A character can start off as a Paladin with what she believes is a worthy and righteous cause for her kingdom or country, but eventually realizes that her swordarm's been used in someone else's bid for power. Or maybe she just loses faith in her gods for whatever reason. So she leaves military service, goes to some no-name town and takes up a lute or viola or flute and tries to make the lives of the peasants around her joyous instead.
That is actually exactly what I went with in the rough backstory...a half-drow bred by the evil dark elves to wage war on the surface for them (half drow don't have Sunlight Sensitivity).
He was bred to kill, as part of the Oath of Conquest...but upon stumbling across a drow Priestess of Eilastraee, he turned away from his violent past and dedicated himself to being a protector...or at least, trying to. His rage manifests when he smites.
You’ve nailed exactly my Bard-Paladin multiclass. My backstory for the bard is that he was a pirate; a life of flashing swords and boarding parties mixed with rum, music and song when the swords were stowed. Then the day comes when he is caught and hung, but miraculously survives the hanging. He then takes an oath of devotion to the goddess of luck and fortune.
I rolled a sword Bard with the acolyte background. He was the middle child of a wealthy merchant family and had no mind for business. He was apprenticed into the clergy in a temple to Lathander, but was disgusted to find how corrupt and hypocritical the clergy there was. Disallusioned, he snuck off into a traveling troupe of circus performers and learned to perform dazzling and daring acts with blades. A brief partnership with the evil sentient longsword Bryndle corrupted his thinking and caused him to attempt to kill his mentor, whom he had been prodded into an intense jealousy. He ran off into the night and over time he found that his frustration was with the clergy and not the good, and dedicated his adventuring to serving Lathander in his own way.
I felt that this let him emphasise the Oath dedication of paladins, even though he never actually took enough levels to actually get the Oath features. It resonated with the plight of a lot of people who leave a religion, and later return to it once they realize that their problem was with the people and not the good. It also let me take a level in hexblade early to make him less MAD along with shield Prof and shield spell, and then after 10th level MS he took holy weapon for flavor. Shadow blade would have been a better use of a spell slot but it didn't seem thematically appropriate with his redemption arc at the time he got access to it.
My paladin/bard concept is based on the oath of the ancients which is meant to honor life and art so the bard is a natural fit. The idea that evil has to be beaten back by song and sword fits both of the classes pretty well. The character could start off as either class but my thought was paladin then bard. The race being an Eladrin who grows up in the fey but then takes the oath of a Paladin when she witnesses a tragedy in the normal world and starts their quest. The character would be somewhat naive and a fish out of water as well.
Bardadin is the slightly more melee equivalent of the Sorcadin, and works very well indeed.
I had a player try one out - she was a Half-Drow Swords Bard who eventually discovered Eilistraee, and became her champion (Paladin 2). Worked very well thematically, and mechanically.
If you take Paladin for your first two levels you get heavy armor proficiency, which could prove useful.
The weakness of medium armor classes is that they have to take at least 14 in Dex to maximize their save, and that reduces what you're able to put into strength which is the primary Paladin statistic.
However you can, with points buy, get your Half-Elf to start with: Str 15 Dex 14 Con 12 Int 10 Wis 10 Cha 16 and pump up your strength with a half feat at level 4.
Unless you want to wear heavy armour, in which case you can start with 16 strength, 8 dex, and 14 con.
I was fiddling around with the College of Swords subclass, and discovered the potent effects of a two-level dip into Paladin.
I realized the myriad of useful tools that seemed a perfect match for a bard..."Lay on Hands" takes the bards healing to the next level, and helps make a Sword Bard more resilient. "Divine Sense" provides a fun roleplay tool...useful for a bard whose worried their romantic pursuit might be a lich or succubus.
But it was the addition of an extra "Fighting Style", and "Divine Smite" that really sealed the deal...it was actually scary!
A Sword Bard gets "Two Weapon Fighting"...and with a paladin's "Defense" style, you can shore up your defense while you increase your ability to "Smite" and stack damage. And with those extra spell slots that the bard class provides, you're never wanting for damage...and those higher level spell slots can still be used for potent Bard spells!
But wait, there's more!
The "College of Swords" gives you "Flourishes" to increase your speed, defense, and damage...and can stack with Smites. And while your spell slots will dwindle until you Long Rest...your "Flourishes" will eventualy replenish on a Short Rest.
Add your bard's "Magical Secrets"...well, you can still get those great Paladin spells like "Circle of Power", "Destructive Wave", or "Holy Weapon".
My only question for those interested...how does one make an interesting backstory for a Paladin / Sword Bard multiclass?
What are some of your backgrounds you've come up with? Share below!
Are you going for a Bard with a few dips of Paladin or a Paladin witha few dips of Bard? Personally I think the a Paladin as your main class is more valid and (depending on how many levels you want to take) I would probably pick Lore Bard over Sword bard, not that Sword bard is bad but to add some utility and versatility.
That said if you don't mind the Strength tax a Bard dipping into Paladin can also work wonders. You won't get much mileage out of Lay on Hands but it's nice to have a few emergency uses of Cure Poison/Disease at hand.
As for backgrounds and stories, well. You could either go with the traditional chivalric ideal of a noble knight who is well-versed in both poetry and litterature, who dazzles diplomats with a coi smile and inspires troops with rousing speeches. Or you can go for the 'Blade' aspect of a bard and be a dealer of death and punishment who, through some higher calling, has been bestowed with holy powers to be able to bring justice to the masses. Or something.
Are you going for a Bard with a few dips of Paladin or a Paladin witha few dips of Bard? Personally I think the a Paladin as your main class is more valid and (depending on how many levels you want to take) I would probably pick Lore Bard over Sword bard, not that Sword bard is bad but to add some utility and versatility.
That said if you don't mind the Strength tax a Bard dipping into Paladin can also work wonders. You won't get much mileage out of Lay on Hands but it's nice to have a few emergency uses of Cure Poison/Disease at hand.
As for backgrounds and stories, well. You could either go with the traditional chivalric ideal of a noble knight who is well-versed in both poetry and litterature, who dazzles diplomats with a coi smile and inspires troops with rousing speeches. Or you can go for the 'Blade' aspect of a bard and be a dealer of death and punishment who, through some higher calling, has been bestowed with holy powers to be able to bring justice to the masses. Or something.
The concept is just a two-level dip into Paladin (at least for myself), and the rest into Sword Bard.
More of a "nimble" paladin-hybrid, they use their Flourishes for tricky combat...and smites when things get serious.
I enjoy the full spellcaster progression of the Bard...and "Magical Secrets" can still gather some of the more potent Paladin spells (at a sooner level, to boot).
And skill expertise + boosts are nice for social play...a more charismatic paladin.
Backstory is flexible at this point...had an idea that the character was a squire to a paladin; but the paladin was horribly slain by an evil entity, causing the squire to have a mental breakdown.
They never took their Oath because their master died, so it has a nice mechanical reason for only two levels of paladin.
Now, mostly a bard who does fake fighting & mock combats, they are slowly remembering what it means to be a champion of the innocent.
That's an interesting idea. I like how you actually have an in-game reason for not taking an oath. Remember that you won't get heavy armour proficiency if you start out as a bard and you kind of need to decide if you want to go for medium armour and focus on strength or have Str at the minimum 13 and focus on dex.
That's an interesting idea. I like how you actually have an in-game reason for not taking an oath. Remember that you won't get heavy armour proficiency if you start out as a bard and you kind of need to decide if you want to go for medium armour and focus on strength or have Str at the minimum 13 and focus on dex.
I'm a bit fuzzy on the subject, but don't you still get equipment proficiencies?
You don't get skill or tool proficiencies, I know, but the multiclassing here on the website shows you retain the weapon & armor proficiencies when you multiclass.
At any rate, this particular character prefers medium armor for "Breastplates" (more nimble, and no penalty to "Stealth"), and an emphasis on scimitars, so minimal Strength / higher Dexterity works just fine...smites cover the difference.
I've enjoyed the background / flavor text of the "College of Swords" bard...that they can be these vigilantes who defend the people or undermine tyrants when they aren't performing...they are very much the most "paladin" without actually being paladins, akin to Robin Hood or Zorro.
You only get some of the proficiences from multiclassing and heavy armour is (somewhat understandable) not one of them, it's on page 164 in the PHB. But yeah, if you're going for a Dex build you don't really lose out on anything.
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Greetings all!
I was fiddling around with the College of Swords subclass, and discovered the potent effects of a two-level dip into Paladin.
I realized the myriad of useful tools that seemed a perfect match for a bard..."Lay on Hands" takes the bards healing to the next level, and helps make a Sword Bard more resilient. "Divine Sense" provides a fun roleplay tool...useful for a bard whose worried their romantic pursuit might be a lich or succubus.
But it was the addition of an extra "Fighting Style", and "Divine Smite" that really sealed the deal...it was actually scary!
A Sword Bard gets "Two Weapon Fighting"...and with a paladin's "Defense" style, you can shore up your defense while you increase your ability to "Smite" and stack damage. And with those extra spell slots that the bard class provides, you're never wanting for damage...and those higher level spell slots can still be used for potent Bard spells!
But wait, there's more!
The "College of Swords" gives you "Flourishes" to increase your speed, defense, and damage...and can stack with Smites. And while your spell slots will dwindle until you Long Rest...your "Flourishes" will eventualy replenish on a Short Rest.
Add your bard's "Magical Secrets"...well, you can still get those great Paladin spells like "Circle of Power", "Destructive Wave", or "Holy Weapon".
My only question for those interested...how does one make an interesting backstory for a Paladin / Sword Bard multiclass?
What are some of your backgrounds you've come up with? Share below!
There's some precedent for a Knight who writes poetry and music. Sir Dinadan, for example, seems like a good fit for a Paladin with the wit and musical/lyrical talents of a bard.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
A background thought i have for you is this: a swordmaster instructor for the flaming fist or other such mercenary group. Then... "war were declared" and the holier the war the better, angels decide to vanquish the demons, a vampire cult is rising up, dragons have decided to unite against the city of Baldur's Gate, ..pirates whatever. The bard decides that finally action must be taken and the crusade against this new evil is joined. This allows the new paladin abilities to augment the sword bard while maintaining a believable story.
I feel like mercenary veteran, soldier or gladiator Are the great fit for this story.
Jesus Saves!... Everyone else takes damage.
In any case, a two level dip gets you 10 hp worth of Lay on Hands, which is an action to use. Not bad, but certainly limited.
I will say I was surprised to see that Divine Smite works with any spell slot, not just Paladin slots. Tops out at 4th level slots, but that'll get you far anyhow.
My backstory with my aasimar palard is the he is a former soldier in some god's army but fell from grace when it was found that he was in love with both a man and his female fiancee. He then became a traveling gambler that trusts no one and has been a cynic ever since.
Playing a paladin with a few (1-3) levels of bard (Lore) added on, and is is crazy scared he will get duped into uploading the vengeance of the gods onto someone innocent because he doesn't know better, so Lore bard is how he is learning history (legal), investigation (evidence), insight (lies/guilt/innocence) to try and make sure he has the correct target to smite upon.
Life's hard - get a helmet!
A character can start off as a Paladin with what she believes is a worthy and righteous cause for her kingdom or country, but eventually realizes that her swordarm's been used in someone else's bid for power. Or maybe she just loses faith in her gods for whatever reason. So she leaves military service, goes to some no-name town and takes up a lute or viola or flute and tries to make the lives of the peasants around her joyous instead.
That is actually exactly what I went with in the rough backstory...a half-drow bred by the evil dark elves to wage war on the surface for them (half drow don't have Sunlight Sensitivity).
He was bred to kill, as part of the Oath of Conquest...but upon stumbling across a drow Priestess of Eilastraee, he turned away from his violent past and dedicated himself to being a protector...or at least, trying to. His rage manifests when he smites.
You’ve nailed exactly my Bard-Paladin multiclass. My backstory for the bard is that he was a pirate; a life of flashing swords and boarding parties mixed with rum, music and song when the swords were stowed. Then the day comes when he is caught and hung, but miraculously survives the hanging. He then takes an oath of devotion to the goddess of luck and fortune.
*caught and "hanged",
Being hung just gives a bonus to charisma
Jesus Saves!... Everyone else takes damage.
Gigaflops is clearly a Bard with expertise with puns!
I rolled a sword Bard with the acolyte background. He was the middle child of a wealthy merchant family and had no mind for business. He was apprenticed into the clergy in a temple to Lathander, but was disgusted to find how corrupt and hypocritical the clergy there was. Disallusioned, he snuck off into a traveling troupe of circus performers and learned to perform dazzling and daring acts with blades. A brief partnership with the evil sentient longsword Bryndle corrupted his thinking and caused him to attempt to kill his mentor, whom he had been prodded into an intense jealousy. He ran off into the night and over time he found that his frustration was with the clergy and not the good, and dedicated his adventuring to serving Lathander in his own way.
I felt that this let him emphasise the Oath dedication of paladins, even though he never actually took enough levels to actually get the Oath features. It resonated with the plight of a lot of people who leave a religion, and later return to it once they realize that their problem was with the people and not the good. It also let me take a level in hexblade early to make him less MAD along with shield Prof and shield spell, and then after 10th level MS he took holy weapon for flavor. Shadow blade would have been a better use of a spell slot but it didn't seem thematically appropriate with his redemption arc at the time he got access to it.
My paladin/bard concept is based on the oath of the ancients which is meant to honor life and art so the bard is a natural fit. The idea that evil has to be beaten back by song and sword fits both of the classes pretty well. The character could start off as either class but my thought was paladin then bard. The race being an Eladrin who grows up in the fey but then takes the oath of a Paladin when she witnesses a tragedy in the normal world and starts their quest. The character would be somewhat naive and a fish out of water as well.
Bardadin is the slightly more melee equivalent of the Sorcadin, and works very well indeed.
I had a player try one out - she was a Half-Drow Swords Bard who eventually discovered Eilistraee, and became her champion (Paladin 2). Worked very well thematically, and mechanically.
If you take Paladin for your first two levels you get heavy armor proficiency, which could prove useful.
The weakness of medium armor classes is that they have to take at least 14 in Dex to maximize their save, and that reduces what you're able to put into strength which is the primary Paladin statistic.
However you can, with points buy, get your Half-Elf to start with:
Str 15
Dex 14
Con 12
Int 10
Wis 10
Cha 16
and pump up your strength with a half feat at level 4.
Unless you want to wear heavy armour, in which case you can start with 16 strength, 8 dex, and 14 con.
Are you going for a Bard with a few dips of Paladin or a Paladin witha few dips of Bard? Personally I think the a Paladin as your main class is more valid and (depending on how many levels you want to take) I would probably pick Lore Bard over Sword bard, not that Sword bard is bad but to add some utility and versatility.
That said if you don't mind the Strength tax a Bard dipping into Paladin can also work wonders. You won't get much mileage out of Lay on Hands but it's nice to have a few emergency uses of Cure Poison/Disease at hand.
As for backgrounds and stories, well. You could either go with the traditional chivalric ideal of a noble knight who is well-versed in both poetry and litterature, who dazzles diplomats with a coi smile and inspires troops with rousing speeches. Or you can go for the 'Blade' aspect of a bard and be a dealer of death and punishment who, through some higher calling, has been bestowed with holy powers to be able to bring justice to the masses. Or something.
The concept is just a two-level dip into Paladin (at least for myself), and the rest into Sword Bard.
More of a "nimble" paladin-hybrid, they use their Flourishes for tricky combat...and smites when things get serious.
I enjoy the full spellcaster progression of the Bard...and "Magical Secrets" can still gather some of the more potent Paladin spells (at a sooner level, to boot).
And skill expertise + boosts are nice for social play...a more charismatic paladin.
Backstory is flexible at this point...had an idea that the character was a squire to a paladin; but the paladin was horribly slain by an evil entity, causing the squire to have a mental breakdown.
They never took their Oath because their master died, so it has a nice mechanical reason for only two levels of paladin.
Now, mostly a bard who does fake fighting & mock combats, they are slowly remembering what it means to be a champion of the innocent.
That's an interesting idea. I like how you actually have an in-game reason for not taking an oath. Remember that you won't get heavy armour proficiency if you start out as a bard and you kind of need to decide if you want to go for medium armour and focus on strength or have Str at the minimum 13 and focus on dex.
I'm a bit fuzzy on the subject, but don't you still get equipment proficiencies?
You don't get skill or tool proficiencies, I know, but the multiclassing here on the website shows you retain the weapon & armor proficiencies when you multiclass.
At any rate, this particular character prefers medium armor for "Breastplates" (more nimble, and no penalty to "Stealth"), and an emphasis on scimitars, so minimal Strength / higher Dexterity works just fine...smites cover the difference.
I've enjoyed the background / flavor text of the "College of Swords" bard...that they can be these vigilantes who defend the people or undermine tyrants when they aren't performing...they are very much the most "paladin" without actually being paladins, akin to Robin Hood or Zorro.
You only get some of the proficiences from multiclassing and heavy armour is (somewhat understandable) not one of them, it's on page 164 in the PHB. But yeah, if you're going for a Dex build you don't really lose out on anything.