So, I'm playing in a group, and our party currently consists of the following:
Dwarf Paladin
Half-Orc Barbarian
Elf Monster Slayer Ranger (who will be MCing into Rogue at level 6+)
Dragonborn Celestial Warlock
Tiefling Bard (me) who is going into a homebrew College.
The homebrew college is the College of Linguistics or something to that effect. It basically lets me take Magical Secrets to a whole other level by turning my body into a sort of spell book, tattooing spells onto my body that I can then cast if I'm high enough level. As such, to get the most out of it, I need to go to Bard 17 at least so I can cast 9th level spells. That said, since I can basically write a pair of 9th level spells onto my body with it (assuming I can find them in spell books or scrolls), the level 18 MS is unnecessary. As such, I'd like to eventually get 1-3 other levels in something else, and I was curious on the thoughts of others as to what would be good, and more specifically, when to get them. I do know that I do want at most one level in whatever else before I hit level 6 in bard. With the homebrew college, at 6 I gain the ability to use a bardic inspiration to understand, read, and write in any/all languages for a number of hours equal to whatever I roll on the bardic inspiration die. That is a huge ability in our world, and I don't want to wait until any later than level 7 at max to get it.
My big two ideas were to either eventually get 3 levels in Divine/Favored Soul Sorcerer or Hexblade Warlock. Considering that a.) we already have two melee characters and an archer, and b.) we already have a warlock, I was leaning a bit more toward the Sorcerer. Having access to bardic, cleric, and sorcerer spell lists would be awesome. On the other hand, warlock spells would give me some short rest casting potential to stack with my long rest stuff, and if I did go Hexblade and later got the Improved Pact Weapon invocation, I could do a ranged weapon that uses my impressive charisma modifier for combat. We just hit level 2, so I could jump to Sorcerer now for the extra cantrips and spells known, or I could pop into Warlock as well considering my reacquiring a magical lute from my backstory that speaks to me and could be a good RP excuse for a Patron.
Are there other sorcerous origins/warlock pacts I've overlooked that you think would be a better fit? Or maybe another class? I can't multiclass into barbarian, paladin, or wizard due to ability scores (strength and intelligence were my low rolled stats at 12 each), but I could multiclass into anything else. My dexterity is 14, constitution and wisdom are 13, and charisma is a staggering 20 (I rolled one good stat and everything else merely above average), so sorcerer/warlock seem the obvious choices.
So, I'm playing in a group, and our party currently consists of the following:
Dwarf Paladin
Half-Orc Barbarian
Elf Monster Slayer Ranger (who will be MCing into Rogue at level 6+)
Dragonborn Celestial Warlock
Tiefling Bard (me) who is going into a homebrew College.
The homebrew college is the College of Linguistics or something to that effect. It basically lets me take Magical Secrets to a whole other level by turning my body into a sort of spell book, tattooing spells onto my body that I can then cast if I'm high enough level. As such, to get the most out of it, I need to go to Bard 17 at least so I can cast 9th level spells. That said, since I can basically write a pair of 9th level spells onto my body with it (assuming I can find them in spell books or scrolls), the level 18 MS is unnecessary. As such, I'd like to eventually get 1-3 other levels in something else, and I was curious on the thoughts of others as to what would be good, and more specifically, when to get them. I do know that I do want at most one level in whatever else before I hit level 6 in bard. With the homebrew college, at 6 I gain the ability to use a bardic inspiration to understand, read, and write in any/all languages for a number of hours equal to whatever I roll on the bardic inspiration die. That is a huge ability in our world, and I don't want to wait until any later than level 7 at max to get it.
My big two ideas were to either eventually get 3 levels in Divine/Favored Soul Sorcerer or Hexblade Warlock. Considering that a.) we already have two melee characters and an archer, and b.) we already have a warlock, I was leaning a bit more toward the Sorcerer. Having access to bardic, cleric, and sorcerer spell lists would be awesome. On the other hand, warlock spells would give me some short rest casting potential to stack with my long rest stuff, and if I did go Hexblade and later got the Improved Pact Weapon invocation, I could do a ranged weapon that uses my impressive charisma modifier for combat. We just hit level 2, so I could jump to Sorcerer now for the extra cantrips and spells known, or I could pop into Warlock as well considering my reacquiring a magical lute from my backstory that speaks to me and could be a good RP excuse for a Patron.
Are there other sorcerous origins/warlock pacts I've overlooked that you think would be a better fit? Or maybe another class? I can't multiclass into barbarian, paladin, or wizard due to ability scores (strength and intelligence were my low rolled stats at 12 each), but I could multiclass into anything else. My dexterity is 14, constitution and wisdom are 13, and charisma is a staggering 20 (I rolled one good stat and everything else merely above average), so sorcerer/warlock seem the obvious choices.
Monk Maybe? Deflect missles at level 3. unarmored defense... i guess helpful if you ever find yourself in a situation where all your equipment is missing. or if you just want the 10 extra feet of movement. And then, you can use your Ki for bonus action Disengage/dash kinda stuff. Way of kensei, Way of Shadow, and Way of tranquilty, the ones with most benefit (I would assume) if you went the Monk route...
If you plan to take bard to 17, I would just stay a straight bard and not worry about it until higher levels. Most campaigns never make it to twentieth level and there's no point preparing for a level that you likely will never get to.
Monk Maybe? Deflect missles at level 3. unarmored defense... i guess helpful if you ever find yourself in a situation where all your equipment is missing. or if you just want the 10 extra feet of movement. And then, you can use your Ki for bonus action Disengage/dash kinda stuff. Way of kensei, Way of Shadow, and Way of tranquilty, the ones with most benefit (I would assume) if you went the Monk route...
I think monk might be the worst option of the ones I could get. It's not even a partial caster, so no expanding spell slots. Unarmed Defense would only give me an extra +1 to AC when unarmored, but I can surpass that with simple light armor that I'm already proficient in (or get Draconic Sorcerer instead). Martial Arts damage would never get above 1D4 which I can already do with my Vicious Mockery cantrip at level 1 and will go above that. At least with Fighter I could get that +1 defense stacked onto armor as a Fighting Style, get Second Wind, and Action Surge, not to mention medium armor, shield, and martial weapon proficiencies. With Rogue, I could pick up sneak attack and have Disengage/Dash/etc. without a limited resource from ki, as well as another skill and tool proficiency (but sadly, not another two expertise proficiencies). With both, I could pick up their respective arcane subclasses for more cantrips. And honestly, I think another caster class would be ideal. Then I continue getting spell slots. It's more a matter of which caster and when. Between me, the celestial warlock, and the paladin, we have enough heals, so a Life Cleric isn't really high on my list, even if it is often the go to "get one level of this" class for the bonus healing.
If you plan to take bard to 17, I would just stay a straight bard and not worry about it until higher levels. Most campaigns never make it to twentieth level and there's no point preparing for a level that you likely will never get to.
We may never get there, but at the same time, we're house ruling ability to go past level 20 if it ever reaches that point. I'm kinda tempted to dip into one level of sorcerer or warlock for the extra cantrips/spells known, so it's certainly something to consider.
True. But the 10 extra feet of mobility, and in the event all equipment and such gets stolen it can be helpful. And then which tradition matters a lot.
druid similar kinda thing to monk in terms of different circles for different effects/wild shape perks/etc
but between Sorceror and warlock, off your provided info. Warlock. Has more a fit for your character RP style since you have a talking magical lite that could be your patron. You also have more utility in your options from what they can do.
That's kinda thd route I was thinking, but it's also fully possible that the lute could work for divine/favored soul for sorcerer as well. We haven't set in stone if it's the lute itself or if the lute is merely a channel for something else. As a tiefling born in Sigil of the Planescape setting, my DM and I have discussed the possibilities of it being an item that an infernal, abyssal, or celestial could be guiding me through. It likewise served as my mentor, awakening my access to bardic magics. It could awaken similar though sorcerous magics, or form a pact.
And I have considered druid, as wild shape would be fun, though I do have a druid character as one of my backups. I'd feel too samey going that route. Admittedly, that character is going druid/monk as a form of becoming a zerth.
I would pick lvl 3 hexblade warlock. With hexblade you get medium armor/shield and a cha based weapon. Even if you dont go to melee alot the extra AC always welcome. IDK what the limitation of your bard side is but if it is exactly like a wizard book that can copy unlimited spell (+cantrips +rituals doesnt have to be prepared only writen) then take pact of blade. If spell are limited on bard i would grabe pact of tome and change 1 invoctian to Book of Ancient Secrets at 3 level. (agonising blast and book of ancient secret as invoctaion) This allow you to copy and have ready any ritual spells in the book + you allowed to have 3 cantrips from any class and be CHA based (shillelagh from druid allow you to turn you staff/wand into d8 CHA based weapon).
The main problem i have with sorcerer dip is your limited sorcerer point. Metamagic great but with only 3 sorc point you limited to converting 3 lvl slot witouth wasting point and each batlle you only able to us 1-3 times.
I would pick lvl 3 hexblade warlock. With hexblade you get medium armor/shield and a cha based weapon. Even if you dont go to melee alot the extra AC always welcome. IDK what the limitation of your bard side is but if it is exactly like a wizard book that can copy unlimited spell (+cantrips +rituals doesnt have to be prepared only writen) then take pact of blade. If spell are limited on bard i would grabe pact of tome and change 1 invoctian to Book of Ancient Secrets at 3 level. (agonising blast and book of ancient secret as invoctaion) This allow you to copy and have ready any ritual spells in the book + you allowed to have 3 cantrips from any class and be CHA based (shillelagh from druid allow you to turn you staff/wand into d8 CHA based weapon).
The main problem i have with sorcerer dip is your limited sorcerer point. Metamagic great but with only 3 sorc point you limited to converting 3 lvl slot witouth wasting point and each batlle you only able to us 1-3 times.
The basic way it works is that I'm turning my body into a sort of spellbook/scroll. I can inscribe up to 24 "pages" worth of spells onto my body, with each spell taking up a number of "pages" equal to its spell level +1. So inscribing Wish, for example, would take up 10 of the 24 "pages" leaving me with 14 left. Basically, it's Magical Secrets that doesn't count against my spells known and I can wait until whenever to pick which spells I wanna use. The down side is, I hafta find them in scroll/spellbook form first so I can write the spell into my flesh with the tattoo, and it uses the casting attribute of the class I find it from (so something like Detect Magic could be Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma depending on which version of the spell I find). I was debating taking the Ritual Caster feat in wizard if our warlock doesn't take pact of the tome at level 3. We're only level 2 right now.
Honestly, I'm going to say that you should just go pure bard until you hit level 17. Dipping one level into another class doesn't get you a lot of ability here, while dipping three is going to slow down your progression in spell levels big time. It might not seem like a big deal on paper, but being restricted to level 3 magic when a pure class can cast level 5 spells is really a huge hit in ability. One level is not a large deal, two is pushing it if you get something big in exchange (usually, the big one is Agonizing Blast), three is a huge drag in ability.
Now, I'm guessing that your ability to scribe tattoos are going to rely on similar restrictions as Magical Secrets (ie you can't learn a spell higher than you normally can cast). Thus, even if you have level 5 spell slots, if you're only Bard 6/Warlock 3, you'd still only be able to scribe level 3 spells. If your DM is letting you get around that, then ignore me, but you really shouldn't underestimate the necessity of higher tier spells known, nor overestimate the ability to upcast a lower level spell.
When you're multiclassing, you shouldn't be really thinking "Oh, I don't care about levels 18+," you should be thinking, "What abilities is my concept missing from the pure class?" Most games will take a year at least to get to level 17, likely longer. That's a long time to play with abilities you might not really need or want in the long term. And you might change your mind on what you want to do, depending on what magic items you find - if you get an awesome Robe / armor and a cool Instrument of the Bards to use in battle, there's little need for Hexblade's weapon nor armor, after all.
So, what are you looking for here? What kind of abilities do you want to have? And what are your attributes? Because that is going to change what's going to be available, after all.
I suppose I should be clearer. I fully plan to go to 17 bard. Bard is my primary focus. If I end up 19 bard/1 something else, great. But I'm also leaving that 3 level buffer available for things like going Warlock and getting a pact. Like, if I went Hexblade, go with pact of the blade so I can always summon or unsummon my weapon when needed, but still be mostly caster. If I go sorcerer, then 3 levels in it would only be for 2nd level spells, and that's one I'd be more likely to only go a 1 level dip in.
I definitely want to focus primarily on bard, but maybe taking a single level in something else would be useful, either for the level 1 abilities of that class, or for more cantrips/spells known. Like if I dip into sorcerer, I get 4 more cantrips, which will more than double my current amount, and let me get ones I normally couldn't outside of magical secrets/tattoo, letting me save those for other stuff.
I know a lot of people say to dip 1 level into Life Cleric for the healing boost, and that's certainly viable, and the ability to pick any spell from their 1st level spell list would certainly help with my bardic flexibility, my wisdom is at the bare minimum to MC into cleric at 13, so my casting ability for those spells would not be that great, a measly +1 to healing spells instead of getting the +5 from taking it as a bard spell.
So, what are you looking for here? What kind of abilities do you want to have?
This is a hard question to answer. Right now, I'm serving the more traditional roles of the wizard, cleric, and rogue, in addition to all the usual bardic duties. Most of our party can technically heal (only the barbarian can't), but I doubt the ranger will prepare that spell, leaving healing on the paladin, the celestial warlock, and me. When it eventually comes time for things like raise dead and revivify, I will definitely be the main healer, but for the most part, most of our healing will come from short rests/song of rest. I'm also the only one who can cast spells as rituals, leaving me in the role of having spells like Identify that would normally sit in the wizard's spellbook and be cast as rituals rather than taking up spell slots. I'm ALSO the main person for dealing with locks and traps, at least until the ranger MCs into rogue once he hits level 6 (as he wants to get extra attack from ranger 5). Finally, for combat, I'm the traditional bard in the sense of being a controller and buffer/debuffer. The only damaging spells I have are there for the added effects (Vicious Mockery and Dissonant Whispers).
What do I need? Help with all these roles because I'm stretched thin as is. I'm seriously debating taking Ritual Caster at 4 with wizard as the class chosen for all those rituals to free up bard spell slots. That would let me add in things like Sleep, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Silence, Suggestion, and so on. If I MC into something else, I'd want it to be something that I can benefit from just the 1-3 levels in to help fill those roles. It's one of the reasons I like the idea of going Divine Soul Sorcerer. It adds 4 cantrips and 2 spells that I can pick from both cleric and sorcerer lists, so I could get things like Guidance (unlimited uses lesser version of bardic inspiration that I can use on myself and others), Spare the Dying, Ray of Frost (slow enemies that are trying to charge me), Booming Blade (stop enemies from moving at all unless I wanna make them move with Dissonant Whispers), or more cantrips that are shared with bards like Friends, Mending, Mage Hand, Message, etc. earlier than I'd get them straight bard.
I especially like the idea of a combination of casting sleep to take out all the minions in the first round of combat, while everyone in the party gangs up on the boss of the fight, and then in the next round casting Dissonant Whispers to make the boss run, causing attacks of opportunity from everyone, and if I've got war caster by then, using Booming Blade as my AoO to do even more damage (because technically, they're choosing to be moved with fear effects rather than forced to move, thus the boom goes off).
Thing is, I could do that with warlock or sorcerer, as both get booming blade. So I guess I'm just trying to see what class gives me the most/best for my role(s) with only a 1-3 level dip into it. Does a three level dip into warlock for pact of the tome and the invocations to go with it outweigh a one level dip into sorcerer or cleric or druid or whatever? I mean, Hex is nice, but I'm not really a blaster and it doesn't boost damage from the attacks of my party, just my own attacks. Same goes for Hunter's Mark if I really wanted to dip into ranger for some reason.
I have Strength 12, Dexterity 14, Constitution 13, Intelligence 12, Wisdom 13, Charisma 20. I'm a variant tiefling from MToF (specifically the Dispater one) so my racial spells are Thaumaturgy, Disguise Self once per day at 3, and Detect Thoughts once per day at 5. My current spells at level 2 are Dissonant Whispers, Faerie Fire, Healing Word, Identify, and Tasha's Hideous Laughter. My cantrips are Minor Illusion and Vicious Mockery. Our Warlock picked up the invocation that lets him detect magic at will, so I was able to swap that spell for another at the level up, but to give you an idea of how much I'm the utility character, my initial starting spells were Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic, Healing Word, and Identify. Before we started, I replaced CL with DW because I knew we'd hit level 3 pretty quick, and my homebrew bardic college gives me a new use of my bardic inspiration then that is a cross between Comprehend Languages and Tongues that is self only and last a number of hours equal to whatever I roll. The tattoos thing comes at level 6, basically being the Lore bard's additional magical secrets on crack (I could inscribe 6 different level 3 spells into my flesh if I wanted, though I can also save space up for up to a level 9 spell). And yes, the tattoos thing is based on the level of bard spells I can cast, as I'm basically translating the spells into bardic verse.
So I guess the question comes back around to, what are some good suggestions of something to dip into and when should I dip for most advantage? I mean, I can see some good points for a lot of classes, but what are some other suggestions? The only things I absolutely cannot MC into due to lack of required attributes are Barbarian, Paladin, and Wizard. Our DM is also letting us MC into the same class twice for a second subclass, but that kinda thing is more useful to classes like warlock and cleric that get their subclass at level 1 than for bard, so I won't even consider doing bard/bard. I mention it because our warlock could theoretically make a pact with another entity and eventually end up with both pact of the chain and pact of the tome if the DM allows that. I do know those are the two pacts he's considering right now, and if he goes with tome and gets the invocation for it to get rituals, he'll open a lot of options for me to not have to cover those spells.
Let me list the few interesting/useful I know off the top of my head, but maybe one of you could suggest a different class or different subclass of one of these that would benefit me more.
Cleric - Useful cantrips like Guidance, ability to pick which spells I want to prepare from the entire class list for that level, rather than having to pick a few to know all the time. Medium armor and shield proficiencies for extra survivability. Really only need a one level dip for benefits, as domain is picked at first level. Cons: Wisdom as a casting ability is not as good as charisma based casting for me.
(Life Domain) - Bonus to healing.
(Knowledge Domain) - Two more skill proficiencies in knowledge skills. Expertise in those two skills (stacks with bardic expertise, allowing for six skills in total with double proficiency bonuses).
(Trickery Domain) - Able to give anyone but myself advantage on Stealth checks for an hour, but only one at a time. Unlimited uses.
Druid - Similar to a cleric, but requires two levels for subclass pick, which would likely be Dreams (for the balm healing ability for basically two free healing word casts per day) or Land (for an extra cantrip and the ability to recover a single level 1 spell after a short rest). Fun, unique spells that can contribute to the controller vibe (like using Thorn Whip to pull enemies into my allies or a trap). Wild shape into something small like a rat for scouting purposes if two levels taken.
Sorcerer - Ton of cantrips, plus spells that aren't on bard lists. Can also gain some low level spells shared with bardic list to allow for bardic spells known slots to be used on higher level spells. Only needs one level for sorcerous origin, though more could be useful for metamagic to do things like twinning low level spells like Tasha's Hideous Laughter or Dissonant Whispers.
(Divine Soul) - Gain a semi-bardic inspiration that can be used to add 2d4 to a saving roll or attack roll AFTER knowing it failed, access to both cleric and sorcerer spell lists, allowing for cleric spells to be cast with charisma. Also, a free spell above and beyond the normal two, which would likely be Bane in my case.
Warlock- Only need one level for patron benefits, but should get at least two for invocations. Can take Eldritch Blast, and with a second level for invocations, turn it into a control spell via pulling, pushing, and slowing. Could push to third level for a pact, but that's pushing it. Casting ability is charisma based, has separate spell slots from bardic ones that recover with a short rest, and gain the ability to cast warlock spells with bard slots and bard spells with warlock slots (for regenerating things like Enhance Ability, Suggestion, or Healing Word).
(Hexblade) - Gives medium armor, shield, and martial weapon proficiencies. Allows for enchanting a weapon to use charisma modifiers instead of strength/dexterity, allowing bard to be useful in anti-magic zones, silence, and so on.
Rogue - Extra skill/tool proficiencies to bolster being the skill monkey. Ability to disengage or hide each turn in combat without generating attacks of opportunity if taking a second level. Con: Does not contribute to casting abilities, thus cutting total number of spell slots over time.
Honestly, it sounds like you're trying to take up the role of everything yourself. Including front line warrior if you're eyeing Booming Blade. You've got a good spread of a party - your ranger should be able to cover scouting duties, your warlock will be better at some mage things than your bard, and it seems like you're ignoring the fact that your abilities, as a bard, is to Inspire others so that they'll be awesome at doing the rogue / wizard "duties."
Are you trying to be a master-jack of all trades, or is it that you feel compelled to do it?
Actually, I'm not. I'm not doing everything for those roles, but am doing things that are traditionally stuck in those roles. The ranger can be our scout, and once he starts to MC into rogue (he plans to get extra attack then go rogue the rest of the way), he can take over the lock picking, trap disarming roles better than I can. The warlock can definitely serve the blaster role better than I can, but for stuff like Identify, Leomund's Tiny Hut, etc., unless he goes with pact of the tome and the invocation for it, I'll be the one doing all the spells like those as they are only for bards and wizards. When he picked up the detect magic invocation, that helped alleviate some of that burden for me, allowing me to fill that spell slot with something more fitting to me. Ideally, I'd be specifically the battlefield controller. I like booming blade because it has that control aspect to it for "don't move or take damage" that pairs well with fear effects forcing the damage.
At level 6 on, I can drop all rogue duties (I took the urchin background so I have proficiency in thieves tools, but he won't have that until then). If the lock takes the right pact and invocation at level 3, that will free me up from the ritual casting side of the wizard role. Basically, I'm taking the utility role of a lot of classes, not their main focus. But even being able to supplement those roles would help a ton too. For example, if I MC cleric (or Divine Sorcerer), I can cast Guidance or Bless on the ranger/rogue once he can do the traps/locks thing to make him better at it. If I'm picking up sorcerer, it's mostly for all the extra cantrips plus a couple extra spells known, as I could fill all 4 of those cantrips with things that bards also get but that I'd have to pick between (Friends, Mending, Message, Prestidigitation, etc.) or maybe pick two of those plus two not on my list so that once I hit bard 10, I have all the good cantrips.
If I were to have to explain in terms of the vision I have for this character, I would point to the enchanter class from EverQuest for those who played it. Built on buffing allies, debuffing enemies, and controlling the battlefield through things like stuns, sleep, charm, etc. tp the point that even my little bit of damaging spells are picked for the bonus effect on them, not their damage. I know tons of bards eyeball Fireball as one of their first magical secrets, but I really have no desire for it, and I'd rather go for counterspell, haste, and so on. I only have so many spells available to be known (22 if I hit 18+ in bard) across all nine spell levels. If I can MC into something that helps alleviate the burden on those spells, while also supplementing my role, I totally want to.
Think of it this way: as awesome as war caster is, for my situation, ritual caster is more useful of a feat. There are so many great bard control spells available that I'm wanting to get those once in a while spells like identify and tiny hut out of the way but still have them. Not to mention all the other spells that provide utility out of combat, like Major Image.
The key thing you want, seems to be more spells and higher levels will give that (more cantrips and more spells slots), as well as better bardic abilities. Either options feat wise would help you cover what you want from the multi-classing would be either Magic Initiate (2 extra cantrips and an extra first level spell from one class) or Ritual Caster (for those utility rituals, wizard has many of them too).
Also keep in mind Bardic Inspiration offers essentially the same effect as Guidance, but Guidance is more limited (only ability checks and within 1 minute, cleric/druid) and abet unlimited (though you would have 5 inspirations per long rest as well as getting the larger die than guidance).
The bard does quite good with the control/buff aspect with its set of class spells, so it covers that aspect of the enchanter well.
I should also point out that, if you look at Xanathar's Guide to Everything, there were magic items that let you use all the cantrips from the wizard or warlock spell list. Shouldn't be hard to get something similar if you talk over with your DM.
I must admit, I'm a bit lost on why you're so interested in Booming Blade. Many bards are crap in melee, and it seems like yours will be no exception. The best combat spells you will take are Concentration (thus you'll want to stay out of melee), you have the excellent Vicious Mockery, and the "don't move" part of Booming Blade is actually not that consistent or reliable as you seem to think. It has its uses, especially if you go Eldritch Knight with Sentinel and War Caster, but that doesn't seem to be your build.
And as for taking Guidance? Sure, it's a nice ability, but you mentioned that your warlock is likely going both book and chain, so if they also get Guidance, that's unnecessary overlap.You only need one of the cantrip. Same with things like Mage Hand, Light / Dancing Lights / Minor Image; redundancy is redundant. Especially if your warlock does double dip early levels. The rest of cantrips tend to be heavily dependent upon the game you're playing - there are times when casting Mending can help solve a dungeon puzzle, but other times it sits there and is never used. Same with Message - seems awesome, but sometimes is unnecessary depending on playstyle, and I've found it rather unnecessary with a familiar's ability to communicate with their master. Spare the Dying can be a bit redundant with a Healer's Kit, which you can naturally use thanks to the bard's Jack of All Trades skill.
Going straight bard until level 17 seems like the best option for you, assuming your game lasts that long - Most games I know of will take over a year to reach that point. Then, I'd recommend dipping 3 into sorcerer and nab Metamagics. Going earlier for just cantrips and low level spells is really counterproductive for a game long term; with Charisma already maxed, just invest in the multi-class feats.
To be clear, the warlock is unclear which pact he will take, and while double dipping is an option for us, he's unlikely to do it (though he is the class who would stand to benefit the most from it).
As for feats, considering how my DM let slip he has a love of poison traps and we're a more exploration/RP focused campaign that's lighter on combat, I may ignore something like war caster and resilient and go more for things like observant and infernal constitution. I'm hoping the ranger can cover scout/trap duties well as he wants to go rogue later, but considering his reasons for the MC all revolve around being the most damaging archer he can be, I have no idea if his wisdom stats are any better than mine. I'd rather take insightful to help with my face roles, but this is still a party, that at least early on, is abusing my versatility.
But because of the lesser focus on combat, I may just focus on those utility roles more with feats and maybe eventually get one level in rogue later for the extra two expertise skills more than anything.
EDIT: Just got done asking our ranger player about it, and he confirmed that he's built to be basically stealthy and a super archer. Built for sneak attacks at range. He could scout ahead in a woodsy setting, but if we go into dungeons where traps and the like are more common, I'm likely going to be having to come along with to help him find those. So that 1 level dip into rogue is looking more appealing to help me cover more duties via extra skill proficiencies, extra expertise, etc. as I currently lack proficiency in perception and investigation (and immediately expertise whichever one I take with the MC).
A lot of classes when combo'd with a bard it is generally better to go the other class first if they give Heavy Armor or Con save or it's Rogue (1 extra skill if you go rogue first). Otherwise you are giving up the bard's superior skill list for a trade off of wisdom for dexterity as your primary save potentially. Arguably some may prefer wisdom to dexterity and be able to work around the skill list.
As some have already said this will stretch out your late game, meaning you'll be at least 1 level behind for spell progression etc... If you do a combo with a straight casting class you will still have the spell slots to fill with lower level spells so at least there's that.
1 level of cleric or 1-2 levels of fighter are my favorite to combo with a bard. The 1 level of cleric surprisingly relieves a ton of spell selection pressure since you can use cure wounds and healing word for awhile as staple healing spells plus you get bless and guidance among other greats like protection from good/evil. You will probably want to avoid spells that are based on your inferior wisdom like inflict wounds, but early on this won't be so penalized so you could still use it. Many of the best cleric domains have already been called out by others but let me tack on Arcana if for no other reason than to get magic missile (not dependent on your wisdom).
If you do fighter just ensure that you can put up a respectable amount of dps with out spells then being behind in spells by a level or 2 won't be so devastating. You'll probably be slightly behind your other dps but you'll have significant utility (healing, crowd control, aoe damage, skills, summons, etc...) to make up for that which I feel is actually balanced. If you go 3 levels of EK you will at least get 1 spell slot level back for it. If you use your spell secrets to get holy weapon, guardian of nature, swift quiver, or a similar spell you can be viable again in the mid game to help stretch you out until your build hits fruition. Having a sustainable form of DPS also allows you to select more situational spells and preserve spell slots to be used in emergencies.
So, we just finished up our second session, and there's some major shakeups in the party makeup. Between our first session and this one, our DM and warlock player came across Xanathar's Guide and discovered the Divine Soul sorcerer write up, and both agreeing that that class fits the character better than celestial warlock, the DM allowed him to retroactively change his class over to sorcerer. Seeing as he did no magic stuff in our first session (we've had all of one round of combat in both sessions, which was a duel between our barbarian and a pirate captain we were supposed to let go), this is cool. It also covers one of the major areas I was leaning towards. However, it also means that at level 3, he won't be getting pact of the tome allowing for ritual casting.
Additionally, our paladin isn't likely to be a regular member of the party, so we've actually just got a 4 person team: barbarian, ranger, sorcerer, bard. So, while we're still not terribly worried about healing (with two of us who can get others up in combat), plus healing with short rests, I'm still left in the roles of scout for dungeons (designated trap detector/lock picker), utility ritual caster (e.g. traditionally wizard role), and general bardic stuff (face, battlefield controller, etc.), it does cause some changes in ways that I could go. Specifically, I could lean more toward warlock for some blaster potential, or go with a specific patron for some other role (e.g. celestial to double down on healing, hexblade to get a bit of combat viability, great old one for doubling down on crowd control, etc.) or rogue (to double down on skill monkey role and scouting potential). With rogue, I'd only need one level, two tops for Cunning Action to disengage, with warlock it'd be a 2-3 level dip for invocations/pact.
Basically, we have two combat focused characters, two RP focused characters, and one of those is the bard who is the swiss army knife of the party for covering most every role. Any advice on how to work on this? Note, the former warlock now sorcerer is debating getting ritual caster feat at 4 after learning that sorcerers aren't ritual casters, so level 4 should help cut that role out from me, allowing me to focus more on the bardic/roguish stuff.
EDIT: For reference, I have an urchin background granting me stealth and sleight of hand, my guild/alliance grants performance, and my three skills picked from bard were acrobatics, persuasion, and deception. I'll get insight at level 3 from my college. If I picked rogue, my skill proficiency would be perception or investigation with expertise in that skill and thieves tools. My level 3 bardic expertise can go into persuasion and insight or deception. Basically, minus the perception bits, I'm already basically a rogue in utility, and the expertise/added utility is the only real reason I would pick a level in it.
Okay, discussed it some with my DM and the sorcerer player, and I think I'll instead do a MC lite in the form of the magic initiate feat. Sorcerer is picking very heavy from cleric spell lists and getting ritual caster at 4, so I'm looking at going with a warlock magic initiate to reflect the minor pact my bard has with her "patron", e.g. the entity using her lute to train and teach her. So question now becomes, what spells do I take? I know Eldritch Blast and Hex are the go to choices, but Hex is not as useful on someone who is already struggling with all of the great concentration spells on selection, and without invocations, EB is just pure damage. Any suggestions?
Like, I like the idea of Chill Touch as a cantrip, fits the "damage but with utility" theme I have going, but I know the sorcerer also took it. And what do I get as the first level spell? Invoke Fear? Illusory Script? Maybe Hellish Rebuke to help make people think I'm just an ordinary tiefling?
So, I'm playing in a group, and our party currently consists of the following:
Dwarf Paladin
Half-Orc Barbarian
Elf Monster Slayer Ranger (who will be MCing into Rogue at level 6+)
Dragonborn Celestial Warlock
Tiefling Bard (me) who is going into a homebrew College.
The homebrew college is the College of Linguistics or something to that effect. It basically lets me take Magical Secrets to a whole other level by turning my body into a sort of spell book, tattooing spells onto my body that I can then cast if I'm high enough level. As such, to get the most out of it, I need to go to Bard 17 at least so I can cast 9th level spells. That said, since I can basically write a pair of 9th level spells onto my body with it (assuming I can find them in spell books or scrolls), the level 18 MS is unnecessary. As such, I'd like to eventually get 1-3 other levels in something else, and I was curious on the thoughts of others as to what would be good, and more specifically, when to get them. I do know that I do want at most one level in whatever else before I hit level 6 in bard. With the homebrew college, at 6 I gain the ability to use a bardic inspiration to understand, read, and write in any/all languages for a number of hours equal to whatever I roll on the bardic inspiration die. That is a huge ability in our world, and I don't want to wait until any later than level 7 at max to get it.
My big two ideas were to either eventually get 3 levels in Divine/Favored Soul Sorcerer or Hexblade Warlock. Considering that a.) we already have two melee characters and an archer, and b.) we already have a warlock, I was leaning a bit more toward the Sorcerer. Having access to bardic, cleric, and sorcerer spell lists would be awesome. On the other hand, warlock spells would give me some short rest casting potential to stack with my long rest stuff, and if I did go Hexblade and later got the Improved Pact Weapon invocation, I could do a ranged weapon that uses my impressive charisma modifier for combat. We just hit level 2, so I could jump to Sorcerer now for the extra cantrips and spells known, or I could pop into Warlock as well considering my reacquiring a magical lute from my backstory that speaks to me and could be a good RP excuse for a Patron.
Are there other sorcerous origins/warlock pacts I've overlooked that you think would be a better fit? Or maybe another class? I can't multiclass into barbarian, paladin, or wizard due to ability scores (strength and intelligence were my low rolled stats at 12 each), but I could multiclass into anything else. My dexterity is 14, constitution and wisdom are 13, and charisma is a staggering 20 (I rolled one good stat and everything else merely above average), so sorcerer/warlock seem the obvious choices.
Monk Maybe? Deflect missles at level 3. unarmored defense... i guess helpful if you ever find yourself in a situation where all your equipment is missing. or if you just want the 10 extra feet of movement. And then, you can use your Ki for bonus action Disengage/dash kinda stuff. Way of kensei, Way of Shadow, and Way of tranquilty, the ones with most benefit (I would assume) if you went the Monk route...
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If you plan to take bard to 17, I would just stay a straight bard and not worry about it until higher levels. Most campaigns never make it to twentieth level and there's no point preparing for a level that you likely will never get to.
I think monk might be the worst option of the ones I could get. It's not even a partial caster, so no expanding spell slots. Unarmed Defense would only give me an extra +1 to AC when unarmored, but I can surpass that with simple light armor that I'm already proficient in (or get Draconic Sorcerer instead). Martial Arts damage would never get above 1D4 which I can already do with my Vicious Mockery cantrip at level 1 and will go above that. At least with Fighter I could get that +1 defense stacked onto armor as a Fighting Style, get Second Wind, and Action Surge, not to mention medium armor, shield, and martial weapon proficiencies. With Rogue, I could pick up sneak attack and have Disengage/Dash/etc. without a limited resource from ki, as well as another skill and tool proficiency (but sadly, not another two expertise proficiencies). With both, I could pick up their respective arcane subclasses for more cantrips. And honestly, I think another caster class would be ideal. Then I continue getting spell slots. It's more a matter of which caster and when. Between me, the celestial warlock, and the paladin, we have enough heals, so a Life Cleric isn't really high on my list, even if it is often the go to "get one level of this" class for the bonus healing.
We may never get there, but at the same time, we're house ruling ability to go past level 20 if it ever reaches that point. I'm kinda tempted to dip into one level of sorcerer or warlock for the extra cantrips/spells known, so it's certainly something to consider.
Maybe something like:
1 Bard
2 Sorcerer/Warlock
3-7 Bard
8-9 Sorcerer/Warlock
10-20 Bard
True. But the 10 extra feet of mobility, and in the event all equipment and such gets stolen it can be helpful. And then which tradition matters a lot.
druid similar kinda thing to monk in terms of different circles for different effects/wild shape perks/etc
but between Sorceror and warlock, off your provided info. Warlock. Has more a fit for your character RP style since you have a talking magical lite that could be your patron. You also have more utility in your options from what they can do.
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That's kinda thd route I was thinking, but it's also fully possible that the lute could work for divine/favored soul for sorcerer as well. We haven't set in stone if it's the lute itself or if the lute is merely a channel for something else. As a tiefling born in Sigil of the Planescape setting, my DM and I have discussed the possibilities of it being an item that an infernal, abyssal, or celestial could be guiding me through. It likewise served as my mentor, awakening my access to bardic magics. It could awaken similar though sorcerous magics, or form a pact.
And I have considered druid, as wild shape would be fun, though I do have a druid character as one of my backups. I'd feel too samey going that route. Admittedly, that character is going druid/monk as a form of becoming a zerth.
I would pick lvl 3 hexblade warlock. With hexblade you get medium armor/shield and a cha based weapon. Even if you dont go to melee alot the extra AC always welcome.
IDK what the limitation of your bard side is but if it is exactly like a wizard book that can copy unlimited spell (+cantrips +rituals doesnt have to be prepared only writen) then take pact of blade.
If spell are limited on bard i would grabe pact of tome and change 1 invoctian to Book of Ancient Secrets at 3 level. (agonising blast and book of ancient secret as invoctaion) This allow you to copy and have ready any ritual spells in the book + you allowed to have 3 cantrips from any class and be CHA based (shillelagh from druid allow you to turn you staff/wand into d8 CHA based weapon).
The main problem i have with sorcerer dip is your limited sorcerer point. Metamagic great but with only 3 sorc point you limited to converting 3 lvl slot witouth wasting point and each batlle you only able to us 1-3 times.
Nox - Adult Oblex - The Trials
Jartrin Ephok - Dragonborn - Zanoliv
Bunol - Grim Angel - The Floating Lands of Goriate
The basic way it works is that I'm turning my body into a sort of spellbook/scroll. I can inscribe up to 24 "pages" worth of spells onto my body, with each spell taking up a number of "pages" equal to its spell level +1. So inscribing Wish, for example, would take up 10 of the 24 "pages" leaving me with 14 left. Basically, it's Magical Secrets that doesn't count against my spells known and I can wait until whenever to pick which spells I wanna use. The down side is, I hafta find them in scroll/spellbook form first so I can write the spell into my flesh with the tattoo, and it uses the casting attribute of the class I find it from (so something like Detect Magic could be Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma depending on which version of the spell I find). I was debating taking the Ritual Caster feat in wizard if our warlock doesn't take pact of the tome at level 3. We're only level 2 right now.
Honestly, I'm going to say that you should just go pure bard until you hit level 17. Dipping one level into another class doesn't get you a lot of ability here, while dipping three is going to slow down your progression in spell levels big time. It might not seem like a big deal on paper, but being restricted to level 3 magic when a pure class can cast level 5 spells is really a huge hit in ability. One level is not a large deal, two is pushing it if you get something big in exchange (usually, the big one is Agonizing Blast), three is a huge drag in ability.
Now, I'm guessing that your ability to scribe tattoos are going to rely on similar restrictions as Magical Secrets (ie you can't learn a spell higher than you normally can cast). Thus, even if you have level 5 spell slots, if you're only Bard 6/Warlock 3, you'd still only be able to scribe level 3 spells. If your DM is letting you get around that, then ignore me, but you really shouldn't underestimate the necessity of higher tier spells known, nor overestimate the ability to upcast a lower level spell.
When you're multiclassing, you shouldn't be really thinking "Oh, I don't care about levels 18+," you should be thinking, "What abilities is my concept missing from the pure class?" Most games will take a year at least to get to level 17, likely longer. That's a long time to play with abilities you might not really need or want in the long term. And you might change your mind on what you want to do, depending on what magic items you find - if you get an awesome Robe / armor and a cool Instrument of the Bards to use in battle, there's little need for Hexblade's weapon nor armor, after all.
So, what are you looking for here? What kind of abilities do you want to have? And what are your attributes? Because that is going to change what's going to be available, after all.
I suppose I should be clearer. I fully plan to go to 17 bard. Bard is my primary focus. If I end up 19 bard/1 something else, great. But I'm also leaving that 3 level buffer available for things like going Warlock and getting a pact. Like, if I went Hexblade, go with pact of the blade so I can always summon or unsummon my weapon when needed, but still be mostly caster. If I go sorcerer, then 3 levels in it would only be for 2nd level spells, and that's one I'd be more likely to only go a 1 level dip in.
I definitely want to focus primarily on bard, but maybe taking a single level in something else would be useful, either for the level 1 abilities of that class, or for more cantrips/spells known. Like if I dip into sorcerer, I get 4 more cantrips, which will more than double my current amount, and let me get ones I normally couldn't outside of magical secrets/tattoo, letting me save those for other stuff.
I know a lot of people say to dip 1 level into Life Cleric for the healing boost, and that's certainly viable, and the ability to pick any spell from their 1st level spell list would certainly help with my bardic flexibility, my wisdom is at the bare minimum to MC into cleric at 13, so my casting ability for those spells would not be that great, a measly +1 to healing spells instead of getting the +5 from taking it as a bard spell.
This is a hard question to answer. Right now, I'm serving the more traditional roles of the wizard, cleric, and rogue, in addition to all the usual bardic duties. Most of our party can technically heal (only the barbarian can't), but I doubt the ranger will prepare that spell, leaving healing on the paladin, the celestial warlock, and me. When it eventually comes time for things like raise dead and revivify, I will definitely be the main healer, but for the most part, most of our healing will come from short rests/song of rest. I'm also the only one who can cast spells as rituals, leaving me in the role of having spells like Identify that would normally sit in the wizard's spellbook and be cast as rituals rather than taking up spell slots. I'm ALSO the main person for dealing with locks and traps, at least until the ranger MCs into rogue once he hits level 6 (as he wants to get extra attack from ranger 5). Finally, for combat, I'm the traditional bard in the sense of being a controller and buffer/debuffer. The only damaging spells I have are there for the added effects (Vicious Mockery and Dissonant Whispers).
What do I need? Help with all these roles because I'm stretched thin as is. I'm seriously debating taking Ritual Caster at 4 with wizard as the class chosen for all those rituals to free up bard spell slots. That would let me add in things like Sleep, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Silence, Suggestion, and so on. If I MC into something else, I'd want it to be something that I can benefit from just the 1-3 levels in to help fill those roles. It's one of the reasons I like the idea of going Divine Soul Sorcerer. It adds 4 cantrips and 2 spells that I can pick from both cleric and sorcerer lists, so I could get things like Guidance (unlimited uses lesser version of bardic inspiration that I can use on myself and others), Spare the Dying, Ray of Frost (slow enemies that are trying to charge me), Booming Blade (stop enemies from moving at all unless I wanna make them move with Dissonant Whispers), or more cantrips that are shared with bards like Friends, Mending, Mage Hand, Message, etc. earlier than I'd get them straight bard.
I especially like the idea of a combination of casting sleep to take out all the minions in the first round of combat, while everyone in the party gangs up on the boss of the fight, and then in the next round casting Dissonant Whispers to make the boss run, causing attacks of opportunity from everyone, and if I've got war caster by then, using Booming Blade as my AoO to do even more damage (because technically, they're choosing to be moved with fear effects rather than forced to move, thus the boom goes off).
Thing is, I could do that with warlock or sorcerer, as both get booming blade. So I guess I'm just trying to see what class gives me the most/best for my role(s) with only a 1-3 level dip into it. Does a three level dip into warlock for pact of the tome and the invocations to go with it outweigh a one level dip into sorcerer or cleric or druid or whatever? I mean, Hex is nice, but I'm not really a blaster and it doesn't boost damage from the attacks of my party, just my own attacks. Same goes for Hunter's Mark if I really wanted to dip into ranger for some reason.
I have Strength 12, Dexterity 14, Constitution 13, Intelligence 12, Wisdom 13, Charisma 20. I'm a variant tiefling from MToF (specifically the Dispater one) so my racial spells are Thaumaturgy, Disguise Self once per day at 3, and Detect Thoughts once per day at 5. My current spells at level 2 are Dissonant Whispers, Faerie Fire, Healing Word, Identify, and Tasha's Hideous Laughter. My cantrips are Minor Illusion and Vicious Mockery. Our Warlock picked up the invocation that lets him detect magic at will, so I was able to swap that spell for another at the level up, but to give you an idea of how much I'm the utility character, my initial starting spells were Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic, Healing Word, and Identify. Before we started, I replaced CL with DW because I knew we'd hit level 3 pretty quick, and my homebrew bardic college gives me a new use of my bardic inspiration then that is a cross between Comprehend Languages and Tongues that is self only and last a number of hours equal to whatever I roll. The tattoos thing comes at level 6, basically being the Lore bard's additional magical secrets on crack (I could inscribe 6 different level 3 spells into my flesh if I wanted, though I can also save space up for up to a level 9 spell). And yes, the tattoos thing is based on the level of bard spells I can cast, as I'm basically translating the spells into bardic verse.
So I guess the question comes back around to, what are some good suggestions of something to dip into and when should I dip for most advantage? I mean, I can see some good points for a lot of classes, but what are some other suggestions? The only things I absolutely cannot MC into due to lack of required attributes are Barbarian, Paladin, and Wizard. Our DM is also letting us MC into the same class twice for a second subclass, but that kinda thing is more useful to classes like warlock and cleric that get their subclass at level 1 than for bard, so I won't even consider doing bard/bard. I mention it because our warlock could theoretically make a pact with another entity and eventually end up with both pact of the chain and pact of the tome if the DM allows that. I do know those are the two pacts he's considering right now, and if he goes with tome and gets the invocation for it to get rituals, he'll open a lot of options for me to not have to cover those spells.
Let me list the few interesting/useful I know off the top of my head, but maybe one of you could suggest a different class or different subclass of one of these that would benefit me more.
Cleric - Useful cantrips like Guidance, ability to pick which spells I want to prepare from the entire class list for that level, rather than having to pick a few to know all the time. Medium armor and shield proficiencies for extra survivability. Really only need a one level dip for benefits, as domain is picked at first level. Cons: Wisdom as a casting ability is not as good as charisma based casting for me.
(Life Domain) - Bonus to healing.
(Knowledge Domain) - Two more skill proficiencies in knowledge skills. Expertise in those two skills (stacks with bardic expertise, allowing for six skills in total with double proficiency bonuses).
(Nature Domain) - Free druid cantrip. Additional skill proficiency. Heavy armor proficiency.
(Trickery Domain) - Able to give anyone but myself advantage on Stealth checks for an hour, but only one at a time. Unlimited uses.
Druid - Similar to a cleric, but requires two levels for subclass pick, which would likely be Dreams (for the balm healing ability for basically two free healing word casts per day) or Land (for an extra cantrip and the ability to recover a single level 1 spell after a short rest). Fun, unique spells that can contribute to the controller vibe (like using Thorn Whip to pull enemies into my allies or a trap). Wild shape into something small like a rat for scouting purposes if two levels taken.
Sorcerer - Ton of cantrips, plus spells that aren't on bard lists. Can also gain some low level spells shared with bardic list to allow for bardic spells known slots to be used on higher level spells. Only needs one level for sorcerous origin, though more could be useful for metamagic to do things like twinning low level spells like Tasha's Hideous Laughter or Dissonant Whispers.
(Divine Soul) - Gain a semi-bardic inspiration that can be used to add 2d4 to a saving roll or attack roll AFTER knowing it failed, access to both cleric and sorcerer spell lists, allowing for cleric spells to be cast with charisma. Also, a free spell above and beyond the normal two, which would likely be Bane in my case.
Warlock- Only need one level for patron benefits, but should get at least two for invocations. Can take Eldritch Blast, and with a second level for invocations, turn it into a control spell via pulling, pushing, and slowing. Could push to third level for a pact, but that's pushing it. Casting ability is charisma based, has separate spell slots from bardic ones that recover with a short rest, and gain the ability to cast warlock spells with bard slots and bard spells with warlock slots (for regenerating things like Enhance Ability, Suggestion, or Healing Word).
(Hexblade) - Gives medium armor, shield, and martial weapon proficiencies. Allows for enchanting a weapon to use charisma modifiers instead of strength/dexterity, allowing bard to be useful in anti-magic zones, silence, and so on.
Rogue - Extra skill/tool proficiencies to bolster being the skill monkey. Ability to disengage or hide each turn in combat without generating attacks of opportunity if taking a second level. Con: Does not contribute to casting abilities, thus cutting total number of spell slots over time.
Honestly, it sounds like you're trying to take up the role of everything yourself. Including front line warrior if you're eyeing Booming Blade. You've got a good spread of a party - your ranger should be able to cover scouting duties, your warlock will be better at some mage things than your bard, and it seems like you're ignoring the fact that your abilities, as a bard, is to Inspire others so that they'll be awesome at doing the rogue / wizard "duties."
Are you trying to be a master-jack of all trades, or is it that you feel compelled to do it?
Actually, I'm not. I'm not doing everything for those roles, but am doing things that are traditionally stuck in those roles. The ranger can be our scout, and once he starts to MC into rogue (he plans to get extra attack then go rogue the rest of the way), he can take over the lock picking, trap disarming roles better than I can. The warlock can definitely serve the blaster role better than I can, but for stuff like Identify, Leomund's Tiny Hut, etc., unless he goes with pact of the tome and the invocation for it, I'll be the one doing all the spells like those as they are only for bards and wizards. When he picked up the detect magic invocation, that helped alleviate some of that burden for me, allowing me to fill that spell slot with something more fitting to me. Ideally, I'd be specifically the battlefield controller. I like booming blade because it has that control aspect to it for "don't move or take damage" that pairs well with fear effects forcing the damage.
At level 6 on, I can drop all rogue duties (I took the urchin background so I have proficiency in thieves tools, but he won't have that until then). If the lock takes the right pact and invocation at level 3, that will free me up from the ritual casting side of the wizard role. Basically, I'm taking the utility role of a lot of classes, not their main focus. But even being able to supplement those roles would help a ton too. For example, if I MC cleric (or Divine Sorcerer), I can cast Guidance or Bless on the ranger/rogue once he can do the traps/locks thing to make him better at it. If I'm picking up sorcerer, it's mostly for all the extra cantrips plus a couple extra spells known, as I could fill all 4 of those cantrips with things that bards also get but that I'd have to pick between (Friends, Mending, Message, Prestidigitation, etc.) or maybe pick two of those plus two not on my list so that once I hit bard 10, I have all the good cantrips.
If I were to have to explain in terms of the vision I have for this character, I would point to the enchanter class from EverQuest for those who played it. Built on buffing allies, debuffing enemies, and controlling the battlefield through things like stuns, sleep, charm, etc. tp the point that even my little bit of damaging spells are picked for the bonus effect on them, not their damage. I know tons of bards eyeball Fireball as one of their first magical secrets, but I really have no desire for it, and I'd rather go for counterspell, haste, and so on. I only have so many spells available to be known (22 if I hit 18+ in bard) across all nine spell levels. If I can MC into something that helps alleviate the burden on those spells, while also supplementing my role, I totally want to.
Think of it this way: as awesome as war caster is, for my situation, ritual caster is more useful of a feat. There are so many great bard control spells available that I'm wanting to get those once in a while spells like identify and tiny hut out of the way but still have them. Not to mention all the other spells that provide utility out of combat, like Major Image.
Personally I'd stick with bard.
The key thing you want, seems to be more spells and higher levels will give that (more cantrips and more spells slots), as well as better bardic abilities. Either options feat wise would help you cover what you want from the multi-classing would be either Magic Initiate (2 extra cantrips and an extra first level spell from one class) or Ritual Caster (for those utility rituals, wizard has many of them too).
Also keep in mind Bardic Inspiration offers essentially the same effect as Guidance, but Guidance is more limited (only ability checks and within 1 minute, cleric/druid) and abet unlimited (though you would have 5 inspirations per long rest as well as getting the larger die than guidance).
The bard does quite good with the control/buff aspect with its set of class spells, so it covers that aspect of the enchanter well.
- Loswaith
I should also point out that, if you look at Xanathar's Guide to Everything, there were magic items that let you use all the cantrips from the wizard or warlock spell list. Shouldn't be hard to get something similar if you talk over with your DM.
I must admit, I'm a bit lost on why you're so interested in Booming Blade. Many bards are crap in melee, and it seems like yours will be no exception. The best combat spells you will take are Concentration (thus you'll want to stay out of melee), you have the excellent Vicious Mockery, and the "don't move" part of Booming Blade is actually not that consistent or reliable as you seem to think. It has its uses, especially if you go Eldritch Knight with Sentinel and War Caster, but that doesn't seem to be your build.
And as for taking Guidance? Sure, it's a nice ability, but you mentioned that your warlock is likely going both book and chain, so if they also get Guidance, that's unnecessary overlap.You only need one of the cantrip. Same with things like Mage Hand, Light / Dancing Lights / Minor Image; redundancy is redundant. Especially if your warlock does double dip early levels. The rest of cantrips tend to be heavily dependent upon the game you're playing - there are times when casting Mending can help solve a dungeon puzzle, but other times it sits there and is never used. Same with Message - seems awesome, but sometimes is unnecessary depending on playstyle, and I've found it rather unnecessary with a familiar's ability to communicate with their master. Spare the Dying can be a bit redundant with a Healer's Kit, which you can naturally use thanks to the bard's Jack of All Trades skill.
Going straight bard until level 17 seems like the best option for you, assuming your game lasts that long - Most games I know of will take over a year to reach that point. Then, I'd recommend dipping 3 into sorcerer and nab Metamagics. Going earlier for just cantrips and low level spells is really counterproductive for a game long term; with Charisma already maxed, just invest in the multi-class feats.
To be clear, the warlock is unclear which pact he will take, and while double dipping is an option for us, he's unlikely to do it (though he is the class who would stand to benefit the most from it).
As for feats, considering how my DM let slip he has a love of poison traps and we're a more exploration/RP focused campaign that's lighter on combat, I may ignore something like war caster and resilient and go more for things like observant and infernal constitution. I'm hoping the ranger can cover scout/trap duties well as he wants to go rogue later, but considering his reasons for the MC all revolve around being the most damaging archer he can be, I have no idea if his wisdom stats are any better than mine. I'd rather take insightful to help with my face roles, but this is still a party, that at least early on, is abusing my versatility.
But because of the lesser focus on combat, I may just focus on those utility roles more with feats and maybe eventually get one level in rogue later for the extra two expertise skills more than anything.
EDIT: Just got done asking our ranger player about it, and he confirmed that he's built to be basically stealthy and a super archer. Built for sneak attacks at range. He could scout ahead in a woodsy setting, but if we go into dungeons where traps and the like are more common, I'm likely going to be having to come along with to help him find those. So that 1 level dip into rogue is looking more appealing to help me cover more duties via extra skill proficiencies, extra expertise, etc. as I currently lack proficiency in perception and investigation (and immediately expertise whichever one I take with the MC).
A lot of classes when combo'd with a bard it is generally better to go the other class first if they give Heavy Armor or Con save or it's Rogue (1 extra skill if you go rogue first). Otherwise you are giving up the bard's superior skill list for a trade off of wisdom for dexterity as your primary save potentially. Arguably some may prefer wisdom to dexterity and be able to work around the skill list.
As some have already said this will stretch out your late game, meaning you'll be at least 1 level behind for spell progression etc... If you do a combo with a straight casting class you will still have the spell slots to fill with lower level spells so at least there's that.
1 level of cleric or 1-2 levels of fighter are my favorite to combo with a bard. The 1 level of cleric surprisingly relieves a ton of spell selection pressure since you can use cure wounds and healing word for awhile as staple healing spells plus you get bless and guidance among other greats like protection from good/evil. You will probably want to avoid spells that are based on your inferior wisdom like inflict wounds, but early on this won't be so penalized so you could still use it. Many of the best cleric domains have already been called out by others but let me tack on Arcana if for no other reason than to get magic missile (not dependent on your wisdom).
If you do fighter just ensure that you can put up a respectable amount of dps with out spells then being behind in spells by a level or 2 won't be so devastating. You'll probably be slightly behind your other dps but you'll have significant utility (healing, crowd control, aoe damage, skills, summons, etc...) to make up for that which I feel is actually balanced. If you go 3 levels of EK you will at least get 1 spell slot level back for it. If you use your spell secrets to get holy weapon, guardian of nature, swift quiver, or a similar spell you can be viable again in the mid game to help stretch you out until your build hits fruition. Having a sustainable form of DPS also allows you to select more situational spells and preserve spell slots to be used in emergencies.
So, we just finished up our second session, and there's some major shakeups in the party makeup. Between our first session and this one, our DM and warlock player came across Xanathar's Guide and discovered the Divine Soul sorcerer write up, and both agreeing that that class fits the character better than celestial warlock, the DM allowed him to retroactively change his class over to sorcerer. Seeing as he did no magic stuff in our first session (we've had all of one round of combat in both sessions, which was a duel between our barbarian and a pirate captain we were supposed to let go), this is cool. It also covers one of the major areas I was leaning towards. However, it also means that at level 3, he won't be getting pact of the tome allowing for ritual casting.
Additionally, our paladin isn't likely to be a regular member of the party, so we've actually just got a 4 person team: barbarian, ranger, sorcerer, bard. So, while we're still not terribly worried about healing (with two of us who can get others up in combat), plus healing with short rests, I'm still left in the roles of scout for dungeons (designated trap detector/lock picker), utility ritual caster (e.g. traditionally wizard role), and general bardic stuff (face, battlefield controller, etc.), it does cause some changes in ways that I could go. Specifically, I could lean more toward warlock for some blaster potential, or go with a specific patron for some other role (e.g. celestial to double down on healing, hexblade to get a bit of combat viability, great old one for doubling down on crowd control, etc.) or rogue (to double down on skill monkey role and scouting potential). With rogue, I'd only need one level, two tops for Cunning Action to disengage, with warlock it'd be a 2-3 level dip for invocations/pact.
Basically, we have two combat focused characters, two RP focused characters, and one of those is the bard who is the swiss army knife of the party for covering most every role. Any advice on how to work on this? Note, the former warlock now sorcerer is debating getting ritual caster feat at 4 after learning that sorcerers aren't ritual casters, so level 4 should help cut that role out from me, allowing me to focus more on the bardic/roguish stuff.
EDIT: For reference, I have an urchin background granting me stealth and sleight of hand, my guild/alliance grants performance, and my three skills picked from bard were acrobatics, persuasion, and deception. I'll get insight at level 3 from my college. If I picked rogue, my skill proficiency would be perception or investigation with expertise in that skill and thieves tools. My level 3 bardic expertise can go into persuasion and insight or deception. Basically, minus the perception bits, I'm already basically a rogue in utility, and the expertise/added utility is the only real reason I would pick a level in it.
Okay, discussed it some with my DM and the sorcerer player, and I think I'll instead do a MC lite in the form of the magic initiate feat. Sorcerer is picking very heavy from cleric spell lists and getting ritual caster at 4, so I'm looking at going with a warlock magic initiate to reflect the minor pact my bard has with her "patron", e.g. the entity using her lute to train and teach her. So question now becomes, what spells do I take? I know Eldritch Blast and Hex are the go to choices, but Hex is not as useful on someone who is already struggling with all of the great concentration spells on selection, and without invocations, EB is just pure damage. Any suggestions?
Like, I like the idea of Chill Touch as a cantrip, fits the "damage but with utility" theme I have going, but I know the sorcerer also took it. And what do I get as the first level spell? Invoke Fear? Illusory Script? Maybe Hellish Rebuke to help make people think I'm just an ordinary tiefling?