Would you please give us a scenario as an example to start off with? There are lots of spell combinations to be considered for many kinds of different interactions.
"Faerie Fire" is eternally useful. Advantage for your allies...especially barbarians, rogues, and paladins...means damage when you need it most.
"Dissonant Whispers" is also a strong, bard-specific spell. Psychic damage, cool flavor, and enemies who are affected are forced to flee...which means your warriors get oppurtunity attacks when they run.
"Feather Fall" is also a spell I like...mostly because I seem to like spells that involve flying into the air. You won't have to worry about fall damage with this nifty spell...and if you actively find interesting situations...like fleeing enemies by leaping off rooftops...you'll get a lot of use out of it.
"Dimension Door" is your go-to teleportation spell at high levels. Go where you want.
"Enemies Abound" is a great spell that turns your enemy against one another. It targets their Intelligence...not a common stat for most monsters...which means you can turn the massive brute against the other, smaller threats.
Or secretly turn that one guard against the other as a distraction while your group sneaks around.
Speaking of sneaking..."Greater Invisibility" is a must-have higher level spell...you will be consistently invisible while you attack, steal, or cast spells. This gives you advantage on hits, and enemies have disadvantage to find you.
"Animate Objects" is fantastic, simply because it is so flexible...any inanimate object (or small objects), can become your living weapon...a bed can literally become a DEATHBED...that coat rack will soon be hanging YOU...weaponized pocket change...statues that come alive...manacles and chains that act like snakes...or just...a bunch of daggers, I guess, if you want to keep it boring. Just make sure you're not holding this stuff; you can't animate anything your holding.
"Etherealness" will have you laughing at any walls blocking your way...and screaming at the blink spiders that can still kill you. Because giant spiders that can follow you through dimensions are terrifying.
"Forcecage" will let you lock down that enemy HARD.
"Mislead" is just fun...send a clone of yourself to draw the enemy's attention, while your real body remains invisible. A clever player can make good use of this in the right moment.
"Psychic Scream" is a 9th Level spell that let's you shout so hard you make people's brains explode.
I just wanted to comment on Animate Objects... aside from being a great combat spell, it has a ton of utility outside of combat. Got a boulder blocking an important entrance? Just animate it and have it move out of the way. I mean, you only get a minute, but it can be enough to do some crazy shit
I am also quite excited for the expanded Bard spell list...a fair amount of spells were added that just make sense for a bard to have.
I am most excited for "Tiny Servant"...coupled with "Animate Objects" or "Awaken", and you have a bard who specializes in animation...and the sheer number of adorable tiny objects doing your bidding offers a level of amusement that fits what a bard is all about.
Adding "Mental Prison" and "Phantasmal Killer" helps build a "spooky" bard...coupled with "Dissonant Whispers", and you have a bard who specializes in telling ghost stories, and freaking people out. A "College of Whispers" bard fits this aesthetic, since their features involve instilling a sense of fear and dread in their target... "Words of Terror", for instance, lets you try and Fear a target who's alone with you, and you can convince them to be frightened of someone else of your choice. And if you fail, they don't even know you tried to terrify them.
"Mantle of Whispers" lets you STEAL A DEAD PERSON'S SHADOW and BECOME THEM for and hour. Super creepy.
"Shadow Lore" just lets you charm someone by stressing them out, so they follow your orders for 8 hours, or just give you gifts.
Honestly...I would have never made a College of Whispers Bard without these new additional spells...they really help nail the concept of a sinister, malevolent bard.
I'm a big fan of Suggestion and the upgraded version: Mass Suggestion.
Both are useful in combat and out of combat so long as you are not mostly fighting Undead or charm-immune monsters and your opponents/NPCs understand one of the languages that your PC speaks. Great if you have a stealthy party or if your DM has you fighting a lot of humanoids. What makes Mass Suggestion esp sweet is that it can last 24 hours, no concentration needed.
Major Image is a wonderful spell if you have a Wizard or Druid in your party. It becomes fairly easy to set up powerful trap combos against your foes.
Spreadsheet I made for my Lore Bard during a mega-dungeon campaign I was in before everyone died (except of course for my Bard who talked his way out of it). Been playing a Div Wizard through Dragonheist etc and will be playing an Abj Dwarf Ward Wiz in our upcoming Eberron campaign. Hopefully, this helps out a bit.
I'm playing a Lord Bard in a Homebrew / Greyhawk-ish campaign and we just hit level 5, so I get to pick a 3rd level spell now. And I looked at the list and saw Hypnotic Pattern and was just gonna auto-pick it because it's a great spell and I always pick it when I have the chance. But then after looking at the spells that were available to pick from on the Bard list I decided to go another way (for character reasons) and took Fear instead. I've never picked or used Fear before, and after doing some googling around about Bard spells it seems no one really ever picks it and I'm not sure why? So I'm pretty excited about getting to try out Fear at the next session. Anyway I'm also thinking about switching out Sleep and taking Suggestion instead, but I'm not sure yet...
The powerful thing about Bards is the variety of spells they have access to. So being able to select spells to help fill gaps in your party powers is clutch. Think about what is missing from your adventuring group, and chances are there's a spell your Bard can take to fix that!
As for specifics, I will say that I was convinced to play a Bard in 5e (after avoiding them for so long because I didn't want to be cliche) because I saw a Bard cast Tiny Hut. Being able to have that kind of safety overnight and immediate utility was REALLY appealing.
I'm playing a Lord Bard in a Homebrew / Greyhawk-ish campaign and we just hit level 5, so I get to pick a 3rd level spell now. And I looked at the list and saw Hypnotic Pattern and was just gonna auto-pick it because it's a great spell and I always pick it when I have the chance. But then after looking at the spells that were available to pick from on the Bard list I decided to go another way (for character reasons) and took Fear instead. I've never picked or used Fear before, and after doing some googling around about Bard spells it seems no one really ever picks it and I'm not sure why? So I'm pretty excited about getting to try out Fear at the next session. Anyway I'm also thinking about switching out Sleep and taking Suggestion instead, but I'm not sure yet...
I took fear as well. It's saved our asses in some key moments, although I can't say for sure that Hypnotic Pattern wouldn't have worked in those same situations. But having the enemy drop their weapon has actually been a huge boon in key moments.
Is Seduce a Bard spell? I keep reading about that everywhere.
;P
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
I'm playing a Lord Bard in a Homebrew / Greyhawk-ish campaign and we just hit level 5, so I get to pick a 3rd level spell now. And I looked at the list and saw Hypnotic Pattern and was just gonna auto-pick it because it's a great spell and I always pick it when I have the chance. But then after looking at the spells that were available to pick from on the Bard list I decided to go another way (for character reasons) and took Fear instead. I've never picked or used Fear before, and after doing some googling around about Bard spells it seems no one really ever picks it and I'm not sure why? So I'm pretty excited about getting to try out Fear at the next session. Anyway I'm also thinking about switching out Sleep and taking Suggestion instead, but I'm not sure yet...
I took fear as well. It's saved our asses in some key moments, although I can't say for sure that Hypnotic Pattern wouldn't have worked in those same situations. But having the enemy drop their weapon has actually been a huge boon in key moments.
Same reasoning I had over here. I really like the idea that with Fear that if an enemy fails its Wisdom saving throw it has to drop whatever it is holding and then becomes frightened for the duration of the spell. Then while frightened by the spell, they have to take the Dash action and move away from you on each of their turns, unless there is nowhere to move. So you could literaly just chase the enemy around staying within line of sight and get them to keep burning their actions dashing around. Or pin them in a corner and have everyone in the party beat on them. Hahaha.
Tiny Hut and Fear were the first two 3rd level spells my Bard took. As others have stated above those are both fantastic spells. Detect Thoughts and Enthrall have also been unbelievably useful. And Healing Word is far too underrated. Being able to pick someone up, as a Bonus Action,at a distance is far more useful than the d4 suggests. And if your DM will let you do it, find the old UA that contains a little ol’ spell called Unearthly Chorus....
I'm playing a Lord Bard in a Homebrew / Greyhawk-ish campaign and we just hit level 5, so I get to pick a 3rd level spell now. And I looked at the list and saw Hypnotic Pattern and was just gonna auto-pick it because it's a great spell and I always pick it when I have the chance. But then after looking at the spells that were available to pick from on the Bard list I decided to go another way (for character reasons) and took Fear instead. I've never picked or used Fear before, and after doing some googling around about Bard spells it seems no one really ever picks it and I'm not sure why? So I'm pretty excited about getting to try out Fear at the next session. Anyway I'm also thinking about switching out Sleep and taking Suggestion instead, but I'm not sure yet...
Sleep is a great spell, but being able to just Suggest to a villain’s henchperson that they reveal their boss’s plans is...
I'm playing a Lord Bard in a Homebrew / Greyhawk-ish campaign and we just hit level 5, so I get to pick a 3rd level spell now. And I looked at the list and saw Hypnotic Pattern and was just gonna auto-pick it because it's a great spell and I always pick it when I have the chance. But then after looking at the spells that were available to pick from on the Bard list I decided to go another way (for character reasons) and took Fear instead. I've never picked or used Fear before, and after doing some googling around about Bard spells it seems no one really ever picks it and I'm not sure why? So I'm pretty excited about getting to try out Fear at the next session. Anyway I'm also thinking about switching out Sleep and taking Suggestion instead, but I'm not sure yet...
Sleep is a great spell, but being able to just Suggest to a villain’s henchperson that they reveal their boss’s plans is..
The Grinch has convinced me. Plus I think that the Suggestion spell fits too well with what I'm trying to do character-wise with my Bard. (His background is "Faction Agent" and he is a member of the Harpers who are secretly trying to overthrow the BBEG of the campaign who has ruthlessly taken over this homebrew world)
Enthrall is a wonderful spell if you can get a jump on people. I have seen a bard just initiate combat with this spell and lock down a room of combatants allowing his friends to wipe them out one by one...
For Bards, like every class, you have to consider what spells you have as you advance. My bard is low level so I only have the following or planned for the next few levels ...
Level 1 Cantrips: Prestidigitation and Vicious Mockery; Spells 1st - Bane, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages & Cure Wounds
What do you guys think the best bard spell combos are?
Would you please give us a scenario as an example to start off with? There are lots of spell combinations to be considered for many kinds of different interactions.
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"Faerie Fire" is eternally useful. Advantage for your allies...especially barbarians, rogues, and paladins...means damage when you need it most.
"Dissonant Whispers" is also a strong, bard-specific spell. Psychic damage, cool flavor, and enemies who are affected are forced to flee...which means your warriors get oppurtunity attacks when they run.
"Feather Fall" is also a spell I like...mostly because I seem to like spells that involve flying into the air. You won't have to worry about fall damage with this nifty spell...and if you actively find interesting situations...like fleeing enemies by leaping off rooftops...you'll get a lot of use out of it.
"Dimension Door" is your go-to teleportation spell at high levels. Go where you want.
"Enemies Abound" is a great spell that turns your enemy against one another. It targets their Intelligence...not a common stat for most monsters...which means you can turn the massive brute against the other, smaller threats.
Or secretly turn that one guard against the other as a distraction while your group sneaks around.
Speaking of sneaking..."Greater Invisibility" is a must-have higher level spell...you will be consistently invisible while you attack, steal, or cast spells. This gives you advantage on hits, and enemies have disadvantage to find you.
"Animate Objects" is fantastic, simply because it is so flexible...any inanimate object (or small objects), can become your living weapon...a bed can literally become a DEATHBED...that coat rack will soon be hanging YOU...weaponized pocket change...statues that come alive...manacles and chains that act like snakes...or just...a bunch of daggers, I guess, if you want to keep it boring. Just make sure you're not holding this stuff; you can't animate anything your holding.
"Etherealness" will have you laughing at any walls blocking your way...and screaming at the blink spiders that can still kill you. Because giant spiders that can follow you through dimensions are terrifying.
"Forcecage" will let you lock down that enemy HARD.
"Mislead" is just fun...send a clone of yourself to draw the enemy's attention, while your real body remains invisible. A clever player can make good use of this in the right moment.
"Psychic Scream" is a 9th Level spell that let's you shout so hard you make people's brains explode.
That's a no-brainer. ; )
I just wanted to comment on Animate Objects... aside from being a great combat spell, it has a ton of utility outside of combat. Got a boulder blocking an important entrance? Just animate it and have it move out of the way. I mean, you only get a minute, but it can be enough to do some crazy shit
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
Yaasss! Animate Objects is one of my all time favorites. Ten SP has never been so scary. Ever kill a werewolf with pocket change?
Detect Thoughts is also a favorite.
Tenser’s Transformation off the new list should work great for a Blades or Whispers bard. Prestidigitation, Unseen Servant, Leomund’s Tiny Hut, and Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion are all personal favorites of mine as well.
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I am also quite excited for the expanded Bard spell list...a fair amount of spells were added that just make sense for a bard to have.
I am most excited for "Tiny Servant"...coupled with "Animate Objects" or "Awaken", and you have a bard who specializes in animation...and the sheer number of adorable tiny objects doing your bidding offers a level of amusement that fits what a bard is all about.
Adding "Mental Prison" and "Phantasmal Killer" helps build a "spooky" bard...coupled with "Dissonant Whispers", and you have a bard who specializes in telling ghost stories, and freaking people out. A "College of Whispers" bard fits this aesthetic, since their features involve instilling a sense of fear and dread in their target... "Words of Terror", for instance, lets you try and Fear a target who's alone with you, and you can convince them to be frightened of someone else of your choice. And if you fail, they don't even know you tried to terrify them.
"Mantle of Whispers" lets you STEAL A DEAD PERSON'S SHADOW and BECOME THEM for and hour. Super creepy.
"Shadow Lore" just lets you charm someone by stressing them out, so they follow your orders for 8 hours, or just give you gifts.
Honestly...I would have never made a College of Whispers Bard without these new additional spells...they really help nail the concept of a sinister, malevolent bard.
I'm a big fan of Suggestion and the upgraded version: Mass Suggestion.
Both are useful in combat and out of combat so long as you are not mostly fighting Undead or charm-immune monsters and your opponents/NPCs understand one of the languages that your PC speaks. Great if you have a stealthy party or if your DM has you fighting a lot of humanoids. What makes Mass Suggestion esp sweet is that it can last 24 hours, no concentration needed.
Major Image is a wonderful spell if you have a Wizard or Druid in your party. It becomes fairly easy to set up powerful trap combos against your foes.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LEum7VuiZDsfdnwOhp4ASroHvoT9UqStUEVawrXBP4s/edit#gid=0
Spreadsheet I made for my Lore Bard during a mega-dungeon campaign I was in before everyone died (except of course for my Bard who talked his way out of it). Been playing a Div Wizard through Dragonheist etc and will be playing an Abj Dwarf Ward Wiz in our upcoming Eberron campaign. Hopefully, this helps out a bit.
I really enjoy 'heat metal'.
Your enemy if wielding a large broadsword- here let me heat that up for you.
A paladin in plate Armour- force him to remove the armor or let him keep taking damage
Warlock with a powerful amulet- well all metal burns
I see that wooden building has iron nails holding it together, it might take a few rounds.
Cold cuppa? Please put it in this metal flask and it'll be nice a toasty for you in no time.
Really endless uses for this.
I am a square. Watch me equilateral.
I'm playing a Lord Bard in a Homebrew / Greyhawk-ish campaign and we just hit level 5, so I get to pick a 3rd level spell now. And I looked at the list and saw Hypnotic Pattern and was just gonna auto-pick it because it's a great spell and I always pick it when I have the chance. But then after looking at the spells that were available to pick from on the Bard list I decided to go another way (for character reasons) and took Fear instead. I've never picked or used Fear before, and after doing some googling around about Bard spells it seems no one really ever picks it and I'm not sure why? So I'm pretty excited about getting to try out Fear at the next session. Anyway I'm also thinking about switching out Sleep and taking Suggestion instead, but I'm not sure yet...
The powerful thing about Bards is the variety of spells they have access to. So being able to select spells to help fill gaps in your party powers is clutch. Think about what is missing from your adventuring group, and chances are there's a spell your Bard can take to fix that!
As for specifics, I will say that I was convinced to play a Bard in 5e (after avoiding them for so long because I didn't want to be cliche) because I saw a Bard cast Tiny Hut. Being able to have that kind of safety overnight and immediate utility was REALLY appealing.
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I took fear as well. It's saved our asses in some key moments, although I can't say for sure that Hypnotic Pattern wouldn't have worked in those same situations. But having the enemy drop their weapon has actually been a huge boon in key moments.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
Is Seduce a Bard spell? I keep reading about that everywhere.
;P
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Same reasoning I had over here. I really like the idea that with Fear that if an enemy fails its Wisdom saving throw it has to drop whatever it is holding and then becomes frightened for the duration of the spell. Then while frightened by the spell, they have to take the Dash action and move away from you on each of their turns, unless there is nowhere to move. So you could literaly just chase the enemy around staying within line of sight and get them to keep burning their actions dashing around. Or pin them in a corner and have everyone in the party beat on them. Hahaha.
Calm Emotions can be a clutch spell that hardly anyone takes a look at on the bard list.
Your secret is safe with my indifference - Percy
Tiny Hut and Fear were the first two 3rd level spells my Bard took. As others have stated above those are both fantastic spells. Detect Thoughts and Enthrall have also been unbelievably useful. And Healing Word is far too underrated. Being able to pick someone up, as a Bonus Action, at a distance is far more useful than the d4 suggests. And if your DM will let you do it, find the old UA that contains a little ol’ spell called Unearthly Chorus....
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Epic Boons on DDB
Sleep is a great spell, but being able to just Suggest to a villain’s henchperson that they reveal their boss’s plans is...
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Epic Boons on DDB
The Grinch has convinced me. Plus I think that the Suggestion spell fits too well with what I'm trying to do character-wise with my Bard. (His background is "Faction Agent" and he is a member of the Harpers who are secretly trying to overthrow the BBEG of the campaign who has ruthlessly taken over this homebrew world)
Enthrall is a wonderful spell if you can get a jump on people. I have seen a bard just initiate combat with this spell and lock down a room of combatants allowing his friends to wipe them out one by one...
For Bards, like every class, you have to consider what spells you have as you advance. My bard is low level so I only have the following or planned for the next few levels ...
Level 1 Cantrips: Prestidigitation and Vicious Mockery; Spells 1st - Bane, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages & Cure Wounds
Level 2 Cantrips: Prestidigitation and Vicious Mockery; Spells 1st - Bane, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages, Cure Wounds & Disguise Self
Level 3 Cantrips: Prestidigitation and Vicious Mockery; Spells 1st - Bane, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages & Cure Wounds; Spells 2nd - Hold Person & Phantasmal Force
Level 4 Cantrips: Prestidigitation, Mend and Vicious Mockery; Spells 1st - Bane, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages & Cure Wounds; Spells 2nd - Heat Metal, Hold Person & Phantasmal Force
Level 5 Cantrips: Prestidigitation, Mend and Vicious Mockery; Spells 1st - Bane, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages & Cure Wounds; Spells 2nd - Hold Person & Phantasmal Force; Spells 3rd - ?? not sure yet
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