Played my first AL game last night and to the shock of others turned up with a changeling Bard, instead of my usual Warlock build. At the end of the game I realised I hadn't actually done much due to the fact I have no ranged attacks and all my spells/cantrips are more RP situational. I have gone for the criminal background but variant as Spy, aligned with the Harpers. I don't want to multiclass, but other than getting hold of a crossbow to add in some range attacks, I'm not sure of what to do. Is AL worth investing in RP flavour or should I save that for main game and rebuild my character to be more fighty?
How much RP you want to put into your character is up to you and how useful or fun it will be depends on you and the other folks at the table. I have some AL characters that have a lot of role play aspects and I enjoy playing them even when the other folks at the table aren't as in to the role playing.
As for character choices, since you never know who you might be playing with, it is generally a good idea to have a range of abilities. If you focus only on utility then you may find games where the fact that you can't do any damage becomes a problem. On the other hand, if you take vicious mockery as a bard, at least you will have one cantrip that can do some damage and it will give you something to do on the turns you don't cast spells. Other than that, in tier 1 you should certainly also take a crossbow and probably carry a rapier. When you get into tier 2, the cantrip is likely to do the same or more damage than the weapon attacks but by that point you will probably be contributing more with your spells. (Though if you go with a valor or swords bard then you will likely be making some sort of weapon attack as your fallback option when not casting ... my lore bard multiclassed two levels in hexblade warlock to give them more options on what to do when not casting spells, better AC, at -will damage, devils sight etc).
Finally, I should mention that changeling is only AL legal in an Eberron campaign. There are some Eberron AL modules but not a huge selection. If you are playing other AL modules that aren't in Eberron then you can't use a changeling character.
Played my first AL game last night and to the shock of others turned up with a changeling Bard, instead of my usual Warlock build. At the end of the game I realised I hadn't actually done much due to the fact I have no ranged attacks and all my spells/cantrips are more RP situational. I have gone for the criminal background but variant as Spy, aligned with the Harpers. I don't want to multiclass, but other than getting hold of a crossbow to add in some range attacks, I'm not sure of what to do.
Is AL worth investing in RP flavour or should I save that for main game and rebuild my character to be more fighty?
From Within Chaos Comes Order!
How much RP you want to put into your character is up to you and how useful or fun it will be depends on you and the other folks at the table. I have some AL characters that have a lot of role play aspects and I enjoy playing them even when the other folks at the table aren't as in to the role playing.
As for character choices, since you never know who you might be playing with, it is generally a good idea to have a range of abilities. If you focus only on utility then you may find games where the fact that you can't do any damage becomes a problem. On the other hand, if you take vicious mockery as a bard, at least you will have one cantrip that can do some damage and it will give you something to do on the turns you don't cast spells. Other than that, in tier 1 you should certainly also take a crossbow and probably carry a rapier. When you get into tier 2, the cantrip is likely to do the same or more damage than the weapon attacks but by that point you will probably be contributing more with your spells. (Though if you go with a valor or swords bard then you will likely be making some sort of weapon attack as your fallback option when not casting ... my lore bard multiclassed two levels in hexblade warlock to give them more options on what to do when not casting spells, better AC, at -will damage, devils sight etc).
Finally, I should mention that changeling is only AL legal in an Eberron campaign. There are some Eberron AL modules but not a huge selection. If you are playing other AL modules that aren't in Eberron then you can't use a changeling character.
Human variant bard. Take magic initiate warlock or sorcerer to get ranged cantrip attacks.
Or of going melee keep vicious mockery as a backup ranged.
Changelingn is slight overkill to a class which has access to disguse self