Greetings fellow Bards. I am playing my first Bard, Cadenza, in my first 5e campaign since playing AD&D.
Cadenza is a half-elf with the following attributes: Str 10 Dex 14 Wis 14 Int 10 Con 12 Chr 16 and the entertainer's background.
He has Vicious Mockery and Mending Cantrips, and his first level spells are Cure Wounds, Comprehend Languages, Sleep and Charm Person. According to my sheet, he has the Two Weapon Fighting ability.
He currently has the basic starting equipment: Diplomat's Kit, Leather Armor, Rapier and Dagger, Lute. He has a number of minor other items such as candles and torches, rations, a mess kit, bedroll and extra blanket, water skin, mirror, two bells and string, etc. He also has traveler's clothes, common clothes, a pair of sturdy boots and he carries a druidic staff and wears his traveler's cloak when traveling overland so as to appear to be a druid and not a bard. In town he wears flashy clothes and plays the part of a bard carrying his lute and flute with him most places.
He recently rose to level 2 at the completion of our first session after fighting in a party of seven characters (Bard, Paladin, Paladin, War Forged Cleric, Ranger, Rogue, Warlock) against skeletons, zombies, a pair of shadows, a trio of Harpies and defending a settlement against a combined raid of Kobolds and Goblins. Now he is flush with cash in a town and I want to buy the equipment that will set me up for the next several days of adventuring.
Cadenza had to fill the role as the healer because although we have a Cleric, she is a warforged and not built as a healer. We have two paladins and they have some help in healing too. Cadenza also had to stand in the front line a few times because the party got surrounded. I have a big decision to make at level 3 and the equipment I buy in this town should factor in to support that path. Will I go College of Lore or College of Valor?
First off I don't like the AC of a lightly armored fighter. AC 11 for leather armor is pretty pathetic. So of course I would like to have medium armor. I also see that fighting with Two Weapon Fighting requires me to take two light weapons so my best idea if I don't upgrade to Dual Wielding is to carry two short swords. If I fight with Rapier and Dagger (for RP purposes) I get only 1d8+2 damage each round. If I fight with two short swords I get 1d6+2 and 1d6 damage each round (on a hit of course). One problem is both of these relies exclusively on piercing damage, something made important since my AD&D days. Back then there were not so many resistances and immunities to various weapons. When you hear all of that it sounds like the answer is easy … go with College of Valor. But ...
I like the ability to go with College of Lore for RP and to have the additional two spells.
I can't decide, but it sure looks like I need to just forget the College of Lore and take College of Valor and then look at getting Medium Armor Master and Dual Wielder Feats (also adding +1 to AC) along with a +2 Dex somewhere along the line, but that would take me to level 12 to get there. Using this path, I would want a second weapon that does slashing damage to go with my Rapier, and I would be aiming for Scale Mail to get AC 14+1 (as dual wielder) + Dex mod (of 3 when I add the extra two Dex). An AC of 18 and the dual wielding (and extra attack at level 6?) sounds like a pretty decent build by level 12, I just have to get there. This also presumes I don't add two points to Charisma before I get to level 12.
If I did take College of Lore I can take the Moderately Armored Feat and get medium armor (and +1 Dex) and take the Medium Armor Master and Dual Wielder Feats (also adding +1 to AC) along with another point in Dex later but this now takes me to level 16 to complete. For this path, I get three more proficiencies, two more spells at level 6 under Magical Secrets, Cutting Words (which only allows you to use your bardic inspiration another way and is no better than Combat Inspiration, except C-W supports Roleplay) and I lose the path to Extra Attack (6th level) in College of Valor.
Also, I believe I need to carry a crossbow so that factor's into this as well. If I go College of Lore I need to carry the Hand Crossbow, more expensive and less damage, or the Light Crossbow (a simple weapon), but if I go College of Valor I may carry the Heavy Crossbow because I become proficient in all Martial Weapons. What is the advice on the crossbow choices? Would I need to angle to get the Crossbow Expert and/or Sharpshooter Feats?
I find this to be a difficult choice. Does anyone have insight into the spells and skills that would make one or the other choice clearly better? It seems Bards are just a little shy of the juice they need to be an equal member of the party in combat.
So the thing you have to remember about the Bard class is that it is mechanically a full caster with the same spell slot progression as a Wizard, just with a focus on skills and party support rather than ultimate spell versatility. The way to all the 'juice' out of that is to double down on being a caster, which is why the College of Lore is widely regarded as the most 'optimal' of the Bard Colleges. Every other College is going to be getting you breadth of ability rather than sheer power. So I guess which way you go depends on whether you want to become better at your strong points or shore up what might be weak points.
Now it seems that you kind of want to move in martial direction with your concerns about AC and weapon damage, but does this character really want to move in that direction or are you just trying to keep up with your much tankier party members? Because you can address many of those concerns as a full caster, too. Defensively, Cutting Words can effectively add 1d6 to your AC, 1d8 at level 5. Combine that with spells like Vicious Mockery or Bane and you can prevent quite a decent number of hits. When you get to level 6, if you're still worried about being hit, you can pick up Mage Armor or Mirror Image. Offensively you have your pick of any 3rd level damaging spells you want at level 6. I would point at Fireball and Conjure Animals for two different flavors of messing up your opponents, Hypnotic Pattern of you want to stay within the native Bard list. From level 3 to 5 you're probably a bit better at debuffing and controlling enemies.
If you truly want to be a more martial character you have the Colleges of Valor or Swords to choose from. Valor is better defensively since they have shield proficiency and for support, Swords does better melee damage, saving their bardic inspiration dice for themselves.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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!
Well this is reassuring because I saw those two spell slots for Magical Secrets as a big deal. So what Feats do you think work best on this path? I'll need to find the right feats and then decide in which order to take them.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Well this is reassuring because I saw those two spell slots for Magical Secrets as a big deal. So what Feats do you think work best on this path? I'll need to find the right feats and then decide in which order to take them.
Again, this depends. Did you want to go the caster route or try and be a half martial class? After that, did you want to be more defensive or more offensive?
An offensive caster is going to want to max out their main casting stat as soon as possible so that targets have less chance of resisting their fireballs and hypnotic patterns so if you go that route I would say use your ASI's to get to Charisma 20 instead of getting Feats.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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 again. This is exactly the sort of depth I need to roll around in my mind.
I'm not trying to become a tank. But I want to have a healthy amount of staying power for those times the enemy outmaneuvers us and I am directly engaged. I don't expect to stop the goblin hoard, but I'd like to be able to fight and kill one of them if I get into a one-on-one for example.
I think I would prefer to be a defensive caster given the attitude of the other party members, but that is difficult to say after only one session. If I went for 2 pts in Chr first, I would hope I could make the decision about offense and defense later, such as when the Magical Secrets buff hits at level six. I've already been a bigger support player than the other party members recognize. I have distributed by Bardic Inspiration nine times in the three days of the adventure, Max. I used my cure wounds five times, when six is the max. I delivered damage with Vicious Mockery and my rapier. My only weak point as a level 1 character was that I was not delivering any ranged damage except through Vicious Mockery. With an AC=11, that made me a little nervous.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
One part of your build that you will have to think about is your spells known. Bards have a pretty difficult time changing out their spell list, so that's where you get your locked in choices between Offense/Defense/Utility. For your spell choices at level 3 I would suggest choosing 2 of the following: Calm Emotions, Enhance Ability, Hold Person, Phantasmal Force, or Suggestion. You'll have to forget one of your current spells to choose 2, and I would suggest maybe losing Sleep? That spells becomes less and less useful as enemies get more and more HP.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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!
Oh also, putting two points into charisma also gives you another use of your bardic inspiration, useful for using Cutting Words to make an attack miss as well as making it harder to resist your Hold Person etc.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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!
Ophidimancer has given some excellent, really specific advice! I would also suggest banking that advice and waiting a bit longer to decide until you've played a few more games. As you said, it's difficult to know for sure how everyone is going to fill their rolls after one session. It's possible you filled the role of healer because everyone saw you healing, so the other healers focused on other things. Another game or two might have one the Paladins or the cleric step up to heal, leaving you more options besides triage. And in another game or two you might find the way you'd like the character to go that is fun for YOU. I understand the desire to create a character that will help fill a hole or role in the party, but the more important thing is that YOU find it fun!
Thanks again. I still haven't selected my additional spell for going to level 2. I was thinking about Bane. But you're right, I planned to drop one at level three and pick at least two second level spells. I was thinking about Comprehend Languages being the spell I drop because in many situations I can bring the thing I need read back to town and have it read later, but I prefer to keep that spell over sleep. I've never selected Bard spells before. I give those a hard look at the right time, which should come in two or three sessions. Two of our players are first timers; the Rogue and the Ranger. One of the Paladins is playing in his second game because he already started one game with another group as … A Paladin. I think the Warforged may be a first timer too with D&D but has played RP before. FWIW, I was the first player for the DM to award Inspiration. The other Paladin plays and DMs. He was sort of playing armchair DM and saying "I know what they are but I'm not going to tell you because I don't want to metagame." when the DM was describing the actions of the "critters" before we could get a good look at them.
So for now, I guess my best play is to plan on going C-O-Lore and then plan on taking the +2 Chr at level 4. This will increase my spell saving throw and give me one more Bardic Inspiration.
My "sheet" says I am already a Two-Weapon Fighter. I can't use rapier and dagger, but I sure wish I could. I am considering using short sword and scimitar. They are both light finesse weapons. One does piercing damage and the other slashing damage. Even though I don't have proficiency with the scimitar it doesn't matter since it can be my offhand weapon. I have been reminded that if I wish to use Vicious Mockery or bardic Inspiration, I can not use TWF that round.
I'm going to write a ballad about the final battle of our first session where I delivered the first and last blow to the Kobold Sorcerer boss. Of course most everyone did some damage to the fellow but being that I'm a Bard, the Ballad will be about My Valor. Actually that isn't far off the mark though because I was the first one to wake up and get into the action and I had to rally our forces to get them to engage rather than run away from the settlement and leave them to their own defense. I chastised one of the paladins for even suggesting that we pack up and leave (we were traveling with a caravan) and he responded, "Hey, I'm Lawful Good, not Lawful Stupid." Both paladins got into the battle late because they were putting their armor on as we were woken from a sound sleep. The warlock stayed with the caravan most of the time trying to help them pack up. The ranger went too far away trying to wake up the town and missed half the battle. It was a mess. As a Bard with AC 11 and a rapier, I was forced to stand and face four goblins as they descended on the caravan. I was lucky I wasn't killed, and I think the DM may have cut me some slack. The warforged and the rogue were chewing away at the enemies on the sides and I just had to serve as the anvil for three rounds. The paladins arrived as we finished up the goblins. Then we turned on to the Kobolds and I cast Vicious Mockery on the boss who was slinging fireballs or some kind of Flame Tongue at the houses before we engaged him. Our warlock cast some sort of Thunder Wave and knocked out four kobold minions. I healed a paladin and then got the last strike in as the others had surrounded him. The heros of my ballad will be Me, the paladin that killed the Goblin boss, and the warlock that killed more of the enemy than anyone else. Part of the reason I'm writing the ballad is to get the other players into RP but I also want to tweak the other paladin that said he wasn't "lawful stupid." I think we took out seven or eight goblins and five kobolds, and three other kobolds were killed by others. I'm also going to write a limerick about a cowardly paladin but not use any names. I'll trot that out if the paladin starts to whine about not getting a better share of the glory in the ballad.
Thanks again. I still haven't selected my additional spell for going to level 2. I was thinking about Bane. But you're right, I planned to drop one at level three and pick at least two second level spells. I was thinking about Comprehend Languages being the spell I drop because in many situations I can bring the thing I need read back to town and have it read later, but I prefer to keep that spell over sleep. I've never selected Bard spells before. I give those a hard look at the right time, which should come in two or three sessions. Two of our players are first timers; the Rogue and the Ranger. One of the Paladins is playing in his second game because he already started one game with another group as … A Paladin. I think the Warforged may be a first timer too with D&D but has played RP before. FWIW, I was the first player for the DM to award Inspiration. The other Paladin plays and DMs. He was sort of playing armchair DM and saying "I know what they are but I'm not going to tell you because I don't want to metagame." when the DM was describing the actions of the "critters" before we could get a good look at them.
So for now, I guess my best play is to plan on going C-O-Lore and then plan on taking the +2 Chr at level 4. This will increase my spell saving throw and give me one more Bardic Inspiration.
My "sheet" says I am already a Two-Weapon Fighter. I can't use rapier and dagger, but I sure wish I could. I am considering using short sword and scimitar. They are both light finesse weapons. One does piercing damage and the other slashing damage. Even though I don't have proficiency with the scimitar it doesn't matter since it can be my offhand weapon. I have been reminded that if I wish to use Vicious Mockery or bardic Inspiration, I can not use TWF that round.
I'm going to write a ballad about the final battle of our first session where I delivered the first and last blow to the Kobold Sorcerer boss. Of course most everyone did some damage to the fellow but being that I'm a Bard, the Ballad will be about My Valor. Actually that isn't far off the mark though because I was the first one to wake up and get into the action and I had to rally our forces to get them to engage rather than run away from the settlement and leave them to their own defense. I chastised one of the paladins for even suggesting that we pack up and leave (we were traveling with a caravan) and he responded, "Hey, I'm Lawful Good, not Lawful Stupid." Both paladins got into the battle late because they were putting their armor on as we were woken from a sound sleep. The warlock stayed with the caravan most of the time trying to help them pack up. The ranger went too far away trying to wake up the town and missed half the battle. It was a mess. As a Bard with AC 11 and a rapier, I was forced to stand and face four goblins as they descended on the caravan. I was lucky I wasn't killed, and I think the DM may have cut me some slack. The warforged and the rogue were chewing away at the enemies on the sides and I just had to serve as the anvil for three rounds. The paladins arrived as we finished up the goblins. Then we turned on to the Kobolds and I cast Vicious Mockery on the boss who was slinging fireballs or some kind of Flame Tongue at the houses before we engaged him. Our warlock cast some sort of Thunder Wave and knocked out four kobold minions. I healed a paladin and then got the last strike in as the others had surrounded him. The heros of my ballad will be Me, the paladin that killed the Goblin boss, and the warlock that killed more of the enemy than anyone else. Part of the reason I'm writing the ballad is to get the other players into RP but I also want to tweak the other paladin that said he wasn't "lawful stupid." I think we took out seven or eight goblins and five kobolds, and three other kobolds were killed by others. I'm also going to write a limerick about a cowardly paladin but not use any names. I'll trot that out if the paladin starts to whine about not getting a better share of the glory in the ballad.
Bane is a great choice of a defensive spell, synergizes really well with Vicious Mockery, making it more likely to land and making your target look like an absolute bumbling fool when stacked together. Also nice way of expressing your opinion in song and rhyme.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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!
Which combat weapons do you think fit best with this character?
As I mentioned above I can choose light crossbow or hand crossbow since I am proficient with both as a bard. My character sheet says I am already Two Weapon Fighter qualified, but that limits me to small weapons. Toward that end, I was thinking of using short sword and scimitar with the scimitar in my offhand. Since I don't get proficiency bonus with my offhand weapons, it doesn't matter that I am not proficient with the scimitar. One of the reasons I want to do it this way is because the short sword is a piercing weapon and the scimitar is a slashing weapon. By having two damage types I will have a better chance of avoiding the full penalty facing an opponent that has resistance to piercing damage, although most of these monsters probably have resistance to both, like skellys.
The hand crossbow is much more expensive compared to the light crossbow. But it is not a two handed weapon. Is that a big deal? Both naturally do piercing damage.
As another detail, I wear my sword on a belt that hangs over my right shoulder across my chest, which is called a baldric. I have a pouch tied to my baldric that holds my wooden flute. This is for convenience as my spellcasting focus. I generally don't bring my lute on adventures into dungeons or other dangerous damp places. However, I carry my lute when I am travelling, in a purpose made pouch lined with felt and the outer covering made a stiff leather, carved with intricate musical and nature images. This bag has a strong strap that lays over my left shoulder and fastens to a button on my clothes about the height of my pectoral muscle. In this manner, the weight of my baldric and lute are balanced on my shoulders. The strap on my lute case has different positions so it fits properly when I am carrying a pack or not. I also wear a thick leather belt with my dagger and two pouches.
Thanks for the advice already provided. We have our next session beginning in about an hour.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
I would recommend going with a light crossbow and trying to stay at range, you're a full caster. It's not that big a deal about it being a two handed weapon since you don't use a shield. You need a hand free to cast spells with somatic components, but the the errata says
Two-Handed (p. 147). This property is relevant only when you attack with the weapon, not when you simply hold it.
Meaning you can simply take a hand off the weapon to cast.
Proficiency does matter for your off hand weapon. When you use Two Weapon Fighting, the offhand weapon doesn't add your ability modifier to damage, meaning that the strike with your offhand weapon wouldn't add your strength or dexterity modifier to the damage. You still calculate your proficiency into whether you hit or not. Personally I would probably have four daggers on your belt as a backup weapon. Daggers are versatile, you can use them in melee if you need to, you can dual wield them, and you can throw them if you need to.
I wouldn't worry too much about the difference between piercing and slashing damage, I'm not sure it comes up anywhere.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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 again. I started with Rapier and Dagger. After killing a couple things I picked up a second dagger to carry in case one of my other weapons was knocked from my hands. Later when I advanced to level 2, I took a scimitar from our collective loot and bought a short sword. These have become my preferred weapons but I need to revisit the proficiency question with my DM now. He says I get neither a proficiency nor ability boost on the offhand weapon. He says he is sticking strictly to the rules so that other classes are not short changed by him giving us abilities that diminish their class strengths.
We killed a Hydra last evening and after the session he told us we advanced to level 3. I used Bane and a few Bardic Inspirations to help the party. Several times, with the multiple heads, the hydra missed by the amount of the 1d4 debuff. I also handed out Bardic Inspiration to party members that were rolling for success while crafting in our downtime before going to the place where we encountered the hydra along the way.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Congratulations on downing a hydra! Isn't it great when you see your Bane in action preventing hits? It also feels great when people succeed because of your bardic inspiration.
Your DM is correct that if you use a scimitar in your offhand, you get neither the ability modifier to damage nor your proficiency bonus to hit, so if you really really want to fight with two weapons you're better off using two short swords since you're proficient with them. See, the penalty to damage from using an off hand weapon is separate from whether or not you're proficient with the weapon. The reason you don't get your Dexterity to damage with your off hand scimitar is because those are the rules of two weapon fighting for everyone. The reason you don't get your proficiency bonus to hit is because neither your class, race, nor background grant you proficiency in that weapon.
I think it's worth noting that Two Weapon fighting is not a special style granted by your class. Anyone can two weapon fight as long as they wield two light weapons, it's a basic thing in the rules for all characters. It's a fine tactic to use, but is only really good for those who support it with class abilities and feats. One specific problem with it is that it interferes with casting spells with somatic components. I don't know if your DM was enforcing those rules, what with running 7 player characters, but technically you can't cast Bane while holding a weapon in each hand, you'd have to put one away in order to have a free hand for the somatic component of that spell.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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 a story that goes with the Bane and Bardic Inspiration in this case. As it happens, our Rogue desires to pass himself off as a Bard, for reasons only known to him and the DM. However, the Rogue tried a little too hard to show off and the DM required him to make a persuasion roll, which he failed miserably at something like a 2. So he said in a sarcastic tone to the Rogue, "You believe that YOU convinced them you ARE a Bard." to the sound of everyone's laughter. A little further into the future he went on again about being a great bard and I responded, "Oh yea, we see your Bard talents being put to use often, sneaking around constantly and trying to stab monsters when you should be trying to hand out some Bardic Inspiration. If you want to be a Bard, start acting like one. You might fool the townsfolk, but you're not fooling us." And he sputtered some incoherent response.
In our encounter with the Hydra he happened to be standing right next to a "Snake Head" that popped up through the muck, as described by our DM. He said, "I draw my scimitars and I make a two weapon attack with advantage because I surprise it" (He thought he was dealing with a snake). Both attacks struck and the other four heads popped up and he started to say, "And with my bonus action …" and I replied, "You draw a roll of toilet paper." which caused everyone to laugh.
In that encounter I never entered melee combat so the TWF issue never came up. I shot the shortbow I had readied and missed, threw it down and fished out my wooden flute I use as a spellcasting focus and retreated behind the paladins to prepared for the second round. In the second round we had enough information to think we were dealing with a Hydra, but I couldn't remember if the key to killing a Hyrda was to kill all five heads or if it was to do something else. I cast Bane on the monster and gave Bardic Inspiration to one of the paladins that has a magic javelin. That Paladin threw the javelin and struck a head and killed it (the head) by casting Smite to add to the damage. At the beginning of the next round two heads grew back. Well that's when I remembered it wasn't the heads I needed to kill and we directed all damage to the body we could.
But getting back to the build, we advanced by a small margin to level 3. I chose CoLore and selected Sleight of Hand, Stealth and Animal Handling as my three new skill proficiencies, and I selected Persuasion and Perception as the two I would advance to Expert. I selected Hold Person and Phantasmal Force as my new spells dropping Sleep. At level 4 I plan to add +2 Chr, Suggestion and Prestidigitation, both with strong combat and RP opportunities. [In my best Bill Murry voice …] I can also light torches in sconces from a distance, which is nice. I use Mending to keep my clothes in "Like New" condition so that I always look sharp as I go about town. And with Prestidigitation I can enjoy cold ale when I wish.
I’ve played many bards. My favorite mix was 2 levels divination wizard/x levels of bard. I wanted to play a character that worships Tymora and the thought behind this was dice manipulation and to flavor all the abilities as me being lucky. I’m halfling which allows for rerolls of ones. I took lucky feat and college of lore for cutting words. I plan on one more feat for second chance which is a racial feat that allows me to force a refill of something will hit me or if I miss. This has been such a fun mix of casting and support. Maybe look at college of swords as it has good melee options and two levels fighter will help with action surge and fighting style. Also you can use action surge to cast two spells on one turn which is useful. I think lore can work well if you multiclass. I saw someone play a paladin 6/college of lore bard x since paladin aura helps with saves and cutting words is great support. Bard helps with spell slots to fuel smites and you can steal spells like holy weapon, spirit guardians, destructive wave, or banishing smite. Bard is pretty versatile so it really depends on what you want to do as your primary and what you want as a secondary. Melee, support, control, out of combat utility all of these a bard can do but you may want to specialize.
There isn't much to report after tonight's session. We went on a journey to a town well to the south and east of our "base." Once there, we headed north expecting to meet orcs or goblins. The idea was to root out their support base to make the region safer. On the way to this town we passed through another where a rival noble was making efforts to expand his influence by bringing in this neutral town to his empire. We took no action but intend to report the news back to the authorities in our base.
We did meet a scouting band of wargs and goblins on our trip north. The party split up into three directions or groups. The group in the rear where I was were engaged by three wargs and some goblin riders. The group north of us, about 100 feet away were engaged by two wargs and a rider and another party member ran off by himself and was engaged by a warg by himself. We got through that without anyone going down but that was due to a few good rolls at the right time. Our ranger climbed a tree and shot arrows with good success, getting a nat 20 to kill one warg in a single shot.
From there we pulled back and spent the night listening to wolf howls through the night. We got up and went north and stumbled into the cave where it appears the wargs and goblins lived. We went in a side entrance and flushed out the critters without much of a fight. They escaped through the main entrance, at least four more wargs and at least two more riders. We got quite a bit of treasure from that. While investigating the area we found a hidden trap door down to another level.
We went down there to find a crypt. Again the party divided because of the corridors branching into three sides. We headed down the right side and found three rooms branching off from the main corridor. Inside were two skeletons lying in sarcophagi. Something animated them after we were in the room and the rogue in there killed them with help from a war cleric. As a bard I played Pipes of Haunting which scared the other skeletons in our side from coming out into the hallway. Meanwhile our rear guard was engaged by skeletons animated on their side. I ran back to see if I could help them since the skellys on the right were scarred stiff. They had things generally under control in the rear because of chokepoints. As I stepped away from the right corridor, a spectator came around the other end and zapped our paladin. I had to run back and heal him which was difficult because all the passages were 5' wide. We subdued the monsters and looted the place.
At the end we found some sort of sealing artifact that we could not determine as good or evil. We got into an argument over it, but made the right guess and called for more experienced help. The help came in and dealt with the matter and the session ended with me and a member of the party backtracking our steps to take our cart and wagon back to the base while everyone else got a free ride back to our home area.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Between excursions the DM has told us we will be practicing our professions in the town of Willowdale. Of course at the beginning we both figured my profession would be playing and waiting at the local tavern, The Drunken Dragon. However, I decided I was going to branch out into other endeavors. I bought a cart, a mule and a harness and decided I would trade fresh fruit with a nearby town of Dwarves. This has proved to be profitable so I thought further on the idea. I decided I should build a trading post so I might have a better place to operate an Import - Export company.
Figuring this would lead to even more money, I brainstormed how I would spend the bigger profits that followed and realized any serious Bard would want his own Tavern to perform in so I should build the best Inn and Tavern in Willowdale. Thinking further on the idea I realized that the most magnificent manifestation of my Bardic aspirations would be realized if I built The Globe Theatre, Inn and Tavern. So I am drawing up plans to do just that. I am going to build a round five story building with a large courtyard and stage, with the first floor being a dedicated tavern area, the second floor being a dedicated upscale dining establishment and the uppermost three floors being upscale to luxury rooms and suites. Cadenza will hire the best chef, tavern manager, vintner and brew master to help create the best evening experience for the residents of Willowdale and surroundings. He will of course perform often and run a trading company from the place as well, seeking to obtain the best ales, ciders and spices for his guests. I expect it to be a grand undertaking.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
ah, so you wish to start an enterprise? there is an great amount of information and rules for such endeavors in the dungeon masters guide, ebberon: rising from the last war and acquisitions incorporated for such endeavors
also, by purchasing an rather cheap PDF you can gain acess to an neat little spell known as galders tower, an third level spell from the wizard spell list that alows you to create small buildings for 24 hours, and if you cast the spell every day in the same area for an year you can make the spell permanent.
you dont need to buy those materials, but doing so might be worthwhile
also, does your character want money for an particular endeavor, such as affording expensive material components or paying off some dept to some benefactor, or does he just like money and having money?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
My character is actually building up funds to run a spy network using his supply wagons.
As for tapping into extra content concerning running an enterprise, I plan to purchase Matt Colville's Strongholds and Followers book. I believe it has more content on this subject than anything else out there.
The idea of casting that spell is very interesting to me. I may have to look that up. In my situation right now each settlement I have visited has a dedicated area, like a parking lot, for folks to come into the settlement in the morning and set up a market stall to sell their wares. My bard just brings his cart into town, raises his banner, and starts selling fruit by the bushel. When he is sold out, he visits the other vendors to see what they are selling and then runs over to the tavern to purchase some of their casks of lager and ale.
I have even thought of hiring or becoming a brew master to begin my own type of ale to sell.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Greetings fellow Bards. I am playing my first Bard, Cadenza, in my first 5e campaign since playing AD&D.
Cadenza is a half-elf with the following attributes: Str 10 Dex 14 Wis 14 Int 10 Con 12 Chr 16 and the entertainer's background.
He has Vicious Mockery and Mending Cantrips, and his first level spells are Cure Wounds, Comprehend Languages, Sleep and Charm Person. According to my sheet, he has the Two Weapon Fighting ability.
He currently has the basic starting equipment: Diplomat's Kit, Leather Armor, Rapier and Dagger, Lute. He has a number of minor other items such as candles and torches, rations, a mess kit, bedroll and extra blanket, water skin, mirror, two bells and string, etc. He also has traveler's clothes, common clothes, a pair of sturdy boots and he carries a druidic staff and wears his traveler's cloak when traveling overland so as to appear to be a druid and not a bard. In town he wears flashy clothes and plays the part of a bard carrying his lute and flute with him most places.
He recently rose to level 2 at the completion of our first session after fighting in a party of seven characters (Bard, Paladin, Paladin, War Forged Cleric, Ranger, Rogue, Warlock) against skeletons, zombies, a pair of shadows, a trio of Harpies and defending a settlement against a combined raid of Kobolds and Goblins. Now he is flush with cash in a town and I want to buy the equipment that will set me up for the next several days of adventuring.
Cadenza had to fill the role as the healer because although we have a Cleric, she is a warforged and not built as a healer. We have two paladins and they have some help in healing too. Cadenza also had to stand in the front line a few times because the party got surrounded. I have a big decision to make at level 3 and the equipment I buy in this town should factor in to support that path. Will I go College of Lore or College of Valor?
First off I don't like the AC of a lightly armored fighter. AC 11 for leather armor is pretty pathetic. So of course I would like to have medium armor. I also see that fighting with Two Weapon Fighting requires me to take two light weapons so my best idea if I don't upgrade to Dual Wielding is to carry two short swords. If I fight with Rapier and Dagger (for RP purposes) I get only 1d8+2 damage each round. If I fight with two short swords I get 1d6+2 and 1d6 damage each round (on a hit of course). One problem is both of these relies exclusively on piercing damage, something made important since my AD&D days. Back then there were not so many resistances and immunities to various weapons. When you hear all of that it sounds like the answer is easy … go with College of Valor. But ...
I like the ability to go with College of Lore for RP and to have the additional two spells.
I can't decide, but it sure looks like I need to just forget the College of Lore and take College of Valor and then look at getting Medium Armor Master and Dual Wielder Feats (also adding +1 to AC) along with a +2 Dex somewhere along the line, but that would take me to level 12 to get there. Using this path, I would want a second weapon that does slashing damage to go with my Rapier, and I would be aiming for Scale Mail to get AC 14+1 (as dual wielder) + Dex mod (of 3 when I add the extra two Dex). An AC of 18 and the dual wielding (and extra attack at level 6?) sounds like a pretty decent build by level 12, I just have to get there. This also presumes I don't add two points to Charisma before I get to level 12.
If I did take College of Lore I can take the Moderately Armored Feat and get medium armor (and +1 Dex) and take the Medium Armor Master and Dual Wielder Feats (also adding +1 to AC) along with another point in Dex later but this now takes me to level 16 to complete. For this path, I get three more proficiencies, two more spells at level 6 under Magical Secrets, Cutting Words (which only allows you to use your bardic inspiration another way and is no better than Combat Inspiration, except C-W supports Roleplay) and I lose the path to Extra Attack (6th level) in College of Valor.
Also, I believe I need to carry a crossbow so that factor's into this as well. If I go College of Lore I need to carry the Hand Crossbow, more expensive and less damage, or the Light Crossbow (a simple weapon), but if I go College of Valor I may carry the Heavy Crossbow because I become proficient in all Martial Weapons. What is the advice on the crossbow choices? Would I need to angle to get the Crossbow Expert and/or Sharpshooter Feats?
I find this to be a difficult choice. Does anyone have insight into the spells and skills that would make one or the other choice clearly better? It seems Bards are just a little shy of the juice they need to be an equal member of the party in combat.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
So the thing you have to remember about the Bard class is that it is mechanically a full caster with the same spell slot progression as a Wizard, just with a focus on skills and party support rather than ultimate spell versatility. The way to all the 'juice' out of that is to double down on being a caster, which is why the College of Lore is widely regarded as the most 'optimal' of the Bard Colleges. Every other College is going to be getting you breadth of ability rather than sheer power. So I guess which way you go depends on whether you want to become better at your strong points or shore up what might be weak points.
Now it seems that you kind of want to move in martial direction with your concerns about AC and weapon damage, but does this character really want to move in that direction or are you just trying to keep up with your much tankier party members? Because you can address many of those concerns as a full caster, too. Defensively, Cutting Words can effectively add 1d6 to your AC, 1d8 at level 5. Combine that with spells like Vicious Mockery or Bane and you can prevent quite a decent number of hits. When you get to level 6, if you're still worried about being hit, you can pick up Mage Armor or Mirror Image. Offensively you have your pick of any 3rd level damaging spells you want at level 6. I would point at Fireball and Conjure Animals for two different flavors of messing up your opponents, Hypnotic Pattern of you want to stay within the native Bard list. From level 3 to 5 you're probably a bit better at debuffing and controlling enemies.
If you truly want to be a more martial character you have the Colleges of Valor or Swords to choose from. Valor is better defensively since they have shield proficiency and for support, Swords does better melee damage, saving their bardic inspiration dice for themselves.
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!
Well this is reassuring because I saw those two spell slots for Magical Secrets as a big deal. So what Feats do you think work best on this path? I'll need to find the right feats and then decide in which order to take them.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Again, this depends. Did you want to go the caster route or try and be a half martial class? After that, did you want to be more defensive or more offensive?
An offensive caster is going to want to max out their main casting stat as soon as possible so that targets have less chance of resisting their fireballs and hypnotic patterns so if you go that route I would say use your ASI's to get to Charisma 20 instead of getting Feats.
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 again. This is exactly the sort of depth I need to roll around in my mind.
I'm not trying to become a tank. But I want to have a healthy amount of staying power for those times the enemy outmaneuvers us and I am directly engaged. I don't expect to stop the goblin hoard, but I'd like to be able to fight and kill one of them if I get into a one-on-one for example.
I think I would prefer to be a defensive caster given the attitude of the other party members, but that is difficult to say after only one session. If I went for 2 pts in Chr first, I would hope I could make the decision about offense and defense later, such as when the Magical Secrets buff hits at level six. I've already been a bigger support player than the other party members recognize. I have distributed by Bardic Inspiration nine times in the three days of the adventure, Max. I used my cure wounds five times, when six is the max. I delivered damage with Vicious Mockery and my rapier. My only weak point as a level 1 character was that I was not delivering any ranged damage except through Vicious Mockery. With an AC=11, that made me a little nervous.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
One part of your build that you will have to think about is your spells known. Bards have a pretty difficult time changing out their spell list, so that's where you get your locked in choices between Offense/Defense/Utility. For your spell choices at level 3 I would suggest choosing 2 of the following: Calm Emotions, Enhance Ability, Hold Person, Phantasmal Force, or Suggestion. You'll have to forget one of your current spells to choose 2, and I would suggest maybe losing Sleep? That spells becomes less and less useful as enemies get more and more HP.
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!
Oh also, putting two points into charisma also gives you another use of your bardic inspiration, useful for using Cutting Words to make an attack miss as well as making it harder to resist your Hold Person etc.
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!
Ophidimancer has given some excellent, really specific advice! I would also suggest banking that advice and waiting a bit longer to decide until you've played a few more games. As you said, it's difficult to know for sure how everyone is going to fill their rolls after one session. It's possible you filled the role of healer because everyone saw you healing, so the other healers focused on other things. Another game or two might have one the Paladins or the cleric step up to heal, leaving you more options besides triage. And in another game or two you might find the way you'd like the character to go that is fun for YOU. I understand the desire to create a character that will help fill a hole or role in the party, but the more important thing is that YOU find it fun!
Find me on Twitter: @OboeLauren
Thanks again. I still haven't selected my additional spell for going to level 2. I was thinking about Bane. But you're right, I planned to drop one at level three and pick at least two second level spells. I was thinking about Comprehend Languages being the spell I drop because in many situations I can bring the thing I need read back to town and have it read later, but I prefer to keep that spell over sleep. I've never selected Bard spells before. I give those a hard look at the right time, which should come in two or three sessions. Two of our players are first timers; the Rogue and the Ranger. One of the Paladins is playing in his second game because he already started one game with another group as … A Paladin. I think the Warforged may be a first timer too with D&D but has played RP before. FWIW, I was the first player for the DM to award Inspiration. The other Paladin plays and DMs. He was sort of playing armchair DM and saying "I know what they are but I'm not going to tell you because I don't want to metagame." when the DM was describing the actions of the "critters" before we could get a good look at them.
So for now, I guess my best play is to plan on going C-O-Lore and then plan on taking the +2 Chr at level 4. This will increase my spell saving throw and give me one more Bardic Inspiration.
My "sheet" says I am already a Two-Weapon Fighter. I can't use rapier and dagger, but I sure wish I could. I am considering using short sword and scimitar. They are both light finesse weapons. One does piercing damage and the other slashing damage. Even though I don't have proficiency with the scimitar it doesn't matter since it can be my offhand weapon. I have been reminded that if I wish to use Vicious Mockery or bardic Inspiration, I can not use TWF that round.
I'm going to write a ballad about the final battle of our first session where I delivered the first and last blow to the Kobold Sorcerer boss. Of course most everyone did some damage to the fellow but being that I'm a Bard, the Ballad will be about My Valor. Actually that isn't far off the mark though because I was the first one to wake up and get into the action and I had to rally our forces to get them to engage rather than run away from the settlement and leave them to their own defense. I chastised one of the paladins for even suggesting that we pack up and leave (we were traveling with a caravan) and he responded, "Hey, I'm Lawful Good, not Lawful Stupid." Both paladins got into the battle late because they were putting their armor on as we were woken from a sound sleep. The warlock stayed with the caravan most of the time trying to help them pack up. The ranger went too far away trying to wake up the town and missed half the battle. It was a mess. As a Bard with AC 11 and a rapier, I was forced to stand and face four goblins as they descended on the caravan. I was lucky I wasn't killed, and I think the DM may have cut me some slack. The warforged and the rogue were chewing away at the enemies on the sides and I just had to serve as the anvil for three rounds. The paladins arrived as we finished up the goblins. Then we turned on to the Kobolds and I cast Vicious Mockery on the boss who was slinging fireballs or some kind of Flame Tongue at the houses before we engaged him. Our warlock cast some sort of Thunder Wave and knocked out four kobold minions. I healed a paladin and then got the last strike in as the others had surrounded him. The heros of my ballad will be Me, the paladin that killed the Goblin boss, and the warlock that killed more of the enemy than anyone else. Part of the reason I'm writing the ballad is to get the other players into RP but I also want to tweak the other paladin that said he wasn't "lawful stupid." I think we took out seven or eight goblins and five kobolds, and three other kobolds were killed by others. I'm also going to write a limerick about a cowardly paladin but not use any names. I'll trot that out if the paladin starts to whine about not getting a better share of the glory in the ballad.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Bane is a great choice of a defensive spell, synergizes really well with Vicious Mockery, making it more likely to land and making your target look like an absolute bumbling fool when stacked together. Also nice way of expressing your opinion in song and rhyme.
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!
Which combat weapons do you think fit best with this character?
As I mentioned above I can choose light crossbow or hand crossbow since I am proficient with both as a bard. My character sheet says I am already Two Weapon Fighter qualified, but that limits me to small weapons. Toward that end, I was thinking of using short sword and scimitar with the scimitar in my offhand. Since I don't get proficiency bonus with my offhand weapons, it doesn't matter that I am not proficient with the scimitar. One of the reasons I want to do it this way is because the short sword is a piercing weapon and the scimitar is a slashing weapon. By having two damage types I will have a better chance of avoiding the full penalty facing an opponent that has resistance to piercing damage, although most of these monsters probably have resistance to both, like skellys.
The hand crossbow is much more expensive compared to the light crossbow. But it is not a two handed weapon. Is that a big deal? Both naturally do piercing damage.
As another detail, I wear my sword on a belt that hangs over my right shoulder across my chest, which is called a baldric. I have a pouch tied to my baldric that holds my wooden flute. This is for convenience as my spellcasting focus. I generally don't bring my lute on adventures into dungeons or other dangerous damp places. However, I carry my lute when I am travelling, in a purpose made pouch lined with felt and the outer covering made a stiff leather, carved with intricate musical and nature images. This bag has a strong strap that lays over my left shoulder and fastens to a button on my clothes about the height of my pectoral muscle. In this manner, the weight of my baldric and lute are balanced on my shoulders. The strap on my lute case has different positions so it fits properly when I am carrying a pack or not. I also wear a thick leather belt with my dagger and two pouches.
Thanks for the advice already provided. We have our next session beginning in about an hour.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
I would recommend going with a light crossbow and trying to stay at range, you're a full caster. It's not that big a deal about it being a two handed weapon since you don't use a shield. You need a hand free to cast spells with somatic components, but the the errata says
Meaning you can simply take a hand off the weapon to cast.
Proficiency does matter for your off hand weapon. When you use Two Weapon Fighting, the offhand weapon doesn't add your ability modifier to damage, meaning that the strike with your offhand weapon wouldn't add your strength or dexterity modifier to the damage. You still calculate your proficiency into whether you hit or not. Personally I would probably have four daggers on your belt as a backup weapon. Daggers are versatile, you can use them in melee if you need to, you can dual wield them, and you can throw them if you need to.
I wouldn't worry too much about the difference between piercing and slashing damage, I'm not sure it comes up anywhere.
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 again. I started with Rapier and Dagger. After killing a couple things I picked up a second dagger to carry in case one of my other weapons was knocked from my hands. Later when I advanced to level 2, I took a scimitar from our collective loot and bought a short sword. These have become my preferred weapons but I need to revisit the proficiency question with my DM now. He says I get neither a proficiency nor ability boost on the offhand weapon. He says he is sticking strictly to the rules so that other classes are not short changed by him giving us abilities that diminish their class strengths.
We killed a Hydra last evening and after the session he told us we advanced to level 3. I used Bane and a few Bardic Inspirations to help the party. Several times, with the multiple heads, the hydra missed by the amount of the 1d4 debuff. I also handed out Bardic Inspiration to party members that were rolling for success while crafting in our downtime before going to the place where we encountered the hydra along the way.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Congratulations on downing a hydra! Isn't it great when you see your Bane in action preventing hits? It also feels great when people succeed because of your bardic inspiration.
Your DM is correct that if you use a scimitar in your offhand, you get neither the ability modifier to damage nor your proficiency bonus to hit, so if you really really want to fight with two weapons you're better off using two short swords since you're proficient with them. See, the penalty to damage from using an off hand weapon is separate from whether or not you're proficient with the weapon. The reason you don't get your Dexterity to damage with your off hand scimitar is because those are the rules of two weapon fighting for everyone. The reason you don't get your proficiency bonus to hit is because neither your class, race, nor background grant you proficiency in that weapon.
I think it's worth noting that Two Weapon fighting is not a special style granted by your class. Anyone can two weapon fight as long as they wield two light weapons, it's a basic thing in the rules for all characters. It's a fine tactic to use, but is only really good for those who support it with class abilities and feats. One specific problem with it is that it interferes with casting spells with somatic components. I don't know if your DM was enforcing those rules, what with running 7 player characters, but technically you can't cast Bane while holding a weapon in each hand, you'd have to put one away in order to have a free hand for the somatic component of that spell.
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 a story that goes with the Bane and Bardic Inspiration in this case. As it happens, our Rogue desires to pass himself off as a Bard, for reasons only known to him and the DM. However, the Rogue tried a little too hard to show off and the DM required him to make a persuasion roll, which he failed miserably at something like a 2. So he said in a sarcastic tone to the Rogue, "You believe that YOU convinced them you ARE a Bard." to the sound of everyone's laughter. A little further into the future he went on again about being a great bard and I responded, "Oh yea, we see your Bard talents being put to use often, sneaking around constantly and trying to stab monsters when you should be trying to hand out some Bardic Inspiration. If you want to be a Bard, start acting like one. You might fool the townsfolk, but you're not fooling us." And he sputtered some incoherent response.
In our encounter with the Hydra he happened to be standing right next to a "Snake Head" that popped up through the muck, as described by our DM. He said, "I draw my scimitars and I make a two weapon attack with advantage because I surprise it" (He thought he was dealing with a snake). Both attacks struck and the other four heads popped up and he started to say, "And with my bonus action …" and I replied, "You draw a roll of toilet paper." which caused everyone to laugh.
In that encounter I never entered melee combat so the TWF issue never came up. I shot the shortbow I had readied and missed, threw it down and fished out my wooden flute I use as a spellcasting focus and retreated behind the paladins to prepared for the second round. In the second round we had enough information to think we were dealing with a Hydra, but I couldn't remember if the key to killing a Hyrda was to kill all five heads or if it was to do something else. I cast Bane on the monster and gave Bardic Inspiration to one of the paladins that has a magic javelin. That Paladin threw the javelin and struck a head and killed it (the head) by casting Smite to add to the damage. At the beginning of the next round two heads grew back. Well that's when I remembered it wasn't the heads I needed to kill and we directed all damage to the body we could.
But getting back to the build, we advanced by a small margin to level 3. I chose CoLore and selected Sleight of Hand, Stealth and Animal Handling as my three new skill proficiencies, and I selected Persuasion and Perception as the two I would advance to Expert. I selected Hold Person and Phantasmal Force as my new spells dropping Sleep. At level 4 I plan to add +2 Chr, Suggestion and Prestidigitation, both with strong combat and RP opportunities. [In my best Bill Murry voice …] I can also light torches in sconces from a distance, which is nice. I use Mending to keep my clothes in "Like New" condition so that I always look sharp as I go about town. And with Prestidigitation I can enjoy cold ale when I wish.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
I’ve played many bards. My favorite mix was 2 levels divination wizard/x levels of bard. I wanted to play a character that worships Tymora and the thought behind this was dice manipulation and to flavor all the abilities as me being lucky. I’m halfling which allows for rerolls of ones. I took lucky feat and college of lore for cutting words. I plan on one more feat for second chance which is a racial feat that allows me to force a refill of something will hit me or if I miss. This has been such a fun mix of casting and support. Maybe look at college of swords as it has good melee options and two levels fighter will help with action surge and fighting style. Also you can use action surge to cast two spells on one turn which is useful. I think lore can work well if you multiclass. I saw someone play a paladin 6/college of lore bard x since paladin aura helps with saves and cutting words is great support. Bard helps with spell slots to fuel smites and you can steal spells like holy weapon, spirit guardians, destructive wave, or banishing smite. Bard is pretty versatile so it really depends on what you want to do as your primary and what you want as a secondary. Melee, support, control, out of combat utility all of these a bard can do but you may want to specialize.
Your secret is safe with my indifference - Percy
There isn't much to report after tonight's session. We went on a journey to a town well to the south and east of our "base." Once there, we headed north expecting to meet orcs or goblins. The idea was to root out their support base to make the region safer. On the way to this town we passed through another where a rival noble was making efforts to expand his influence by bringing in this neutral town to his empire. We took no action but intend to report the news back to the authorities in our base.
We did meet a scouting band of wargs and goblins on our trip north. The party split up into three directions or groups. The group in the rear where I was were engaged by three wargs and some goblin riders. The group north of us, about 100 feet away were engaged by two wargs and a rider and another party member ran off by himself and was engaged by a warg by himself. We got through that without anyone going down but that was due to a few good rolls at the right time. Our ranger climbed a tree and shot arrows with good success, getting a nat 20 to kill one warg in a single shot.
From there we pulled back and spent the night listening to wolf howls through the night. We got up and went north and stumbled into the cave where it appears the wargs and goblins lived. We went in a side entrance and flushed out the critters without much of a fight. They escaped through the main entrance, at least four more wargs and at least two more riders. We got quite a bit of treasure from that. While investigating the area we found a hidden trap door down to another level.
We went down there to find a crypt. Again the party divided because of the corridors branching into three sides. We headed down the right side and found three rooms branching off from the main corridor. Inside were two skeletons lying in sarcophagi. Something animated them after we were in the room and the rogue in there killed them with help from a war cleric. As a bard I played Pipes of Haunting which scared the other skeletons in our side from coming out into the hallway. Meanwhile our rear guard was engaged by skeletons animated on their side. I ran back to see if I could help them since the skellys on the right were scarred stiff. They had things generally under control in the rear because of chokepoints. As I stepped away from the right corridor, a spectator came around the other end and zapped our paladin. I had to run back and heal him which was difficult because all the passages were 5' wide. We subdued the monsters and looted the place.
At the end we found some sort of sealing artifact that we could not determine as good or evil. We got into an argument over it, but made the right guess and called for more experienced help. The help came in and dealt with the matter and the session ended with me and a member of the party backtracking our steps to take our cart and wagon back to the base while everyone else got a free ride back to our home area.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
An update on the Adventures of Cadenza ...
Between excursions the DM has told us we will be practicing our professions in the town of Willowdale. Of course at the beginning we both figured my profession would be playing and waiting at the local tavern, The Drunken Dragon. However, I decided I was going to branch out into other endeavors. I bought a cart, a mule and a harness and decided I would trade fresh fruit with a nearby town of Dwarves. This has proved to be profitable so I thought further on the idea. I decided I should build a trading post so I might have a better place to operate an Import - Export company.
Figuring this would lead to even more money, I brainstormed how I would spend the bigger profits that followed and realized any serious Bard would want his own Tavern to perform in so I should build the best Inn and Tavern in Willowdale. Thinking further on the idea I realized that the most magnificent manifestation of my Bardic aspirations would be realized if I built The Globe Theatre, Inn and Tavern. So I am drawing up plans to do just that. I am going to build a round five story building with a large courtyard and stage, with the first floor being a dedicated tavern area, the second floor being a dedicated upscale dining establishment and the uppermost three floors being upscale to luxury rooms and suites. Cadenza will hire the best chef, tavern manager, vintner and brew master to help create the best evening experience for the residents of Willowdale and surroundings. He will of course perform often and run a trading company from the place as well, seeking to obtain the best ales, ciders and spices for his guests. I expect it to be a grand undertaking.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
ah, so you wish to start an enterprise? there is an great amount of information and rules for such endeavors in the dungeon masters guide, ebberon: rising from the last war and acquisitions incorporated for such endeavors
also, by purchasing an rather cheap PDF you can gain acess to an neat little spell known as galders tower, an third level spell from the wizard spell list that alows you to create small buildings for 24 hours, and if you cast the spell every day in the same area for an year you can make the spell permanent.
you dont need to buy those materials, but doing so might be worthwhile
also, does your character want money for an particular endeavor, such as affording expensive material components or paying off some dept to some benefactor, or does he just like money and having money?
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
My character is actually building up funds to run a spy network using his supply wagons.
As for tapping into extra content concerning running an enterprise, I plan to purchase Matt Colville's Strongholds and Followers book. I believe it has more content on this subject than anything else out there.
The idea of casting that spell is very interesting to me. I may have to look that up. In my situation right now each settlement I have visited has a dedicated area, like a parking lot, for folks to come into the settlement in the morning and set up a market stall to sell their wares. My bard just brings his cart into town, raises his banner, and starts selling fruit by the bushel. When he is sold out, he visits the other vendors to see what they are selling and then runs over to the tavern to purchase some of their casks of lager and ale.
I have even thought of hiring or becoming a brew master to begin my own type of ale to sell.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt