The foundation of this idea is I want to make a College of Swords Bard and finally play a class I really love. He will be a Half-Elf and I'll be getting Elven Accuracy at level 4 as well as focusing on using a rapier(or if I get a finesse longsword like say Sun Blade). Personality is he's a good, hardworking person but generally has a carefree attitude to try and have people let their guard down around him. I have many paths I have thought about and I can't really decide on one, so I was hoping you all could help me finalize something. The character is being built for a game a friend is just starting up and getting ready so I have no idea what level we're starting out at or how long it'll be, but I'd like to have a character I can always fall back on and really love. So, here are some of the builds I have thought of, will try to be as brief as possible in each one.
Build 1: Pure Bard Stick with playing only Bard and no multiclassing. Magical Secrets at lvl 10 would be Haste and either Steel Wind Strike or Destructive Wave. Lvl 14 Magical Secrets would be Tenser's Transformation and then whichever of the other two damaging spells I didn't pick. Haven't thought about 18th Magical Secrets
Build 2: Bard/Paladin Go Bard till lvl 6, then go 3 levels in Paladin to get Divine Smite to just deal lots of damage and then go Oath of Vengeance because of Vow of Enmity so I can crit fish with Elven Accuracy and blow up a Divine Smite and Blade Flourish to deal a lot of damage. Downside of this build is taking way too long to get Magical Secrets, but the pros are easier crit fishing with Vow of Enmity coming back on a short rest(along with my inspiration pool) and being able to Divine Smite on a crit with Bard spell slots as well.
Build 3: Bard/Fighter(Samurai) Bard till 6, then 3 levels into Fighter for AS and for Fighting Spirit feature for crit fishing once again. Similar downside to Paladin, but makes up for it with AS as well as being easier to roleplay than dipping into Paladin, but more limited advantage and comes back on a long rest not short.
Build 4: Bard/Fighter(Battle Master) Bard till 6 then 3 levels into fighter for AS once again but this time to get those maneuvers to really flavor up the whole duelist feel(Feinting Attack, Parry, Riposte). Same ups and downs as fighter except way more limited advantage so harder to crit fish. Don't want to take the Martial Maneuver Feat as it just is really lack luster on its own in my opinion, would rather have four dice and get a few extra goodies instead of 1d6 per short rest.
Build 1 and 2 I am the most partial to, but still don't really know what to go. I feel like though if I were to go build 2, I should just forget Bard and go pure Paladin as I'd get Haste at lvl 9, but would lose so many skills and so many spells. Just struggling with making a choice and would like other people's inputs. Thanks in advance!
As someone who also wanted to build a duelist and wanted the Swords Bard to be that class for me, let me tell you my experience. After I had played for a little while and reached level 4, I realized that the Bard class is, first and foremost, a full caster. While being in the College of Swords or Valor do make your Bard a bit more competent a swordsperson, you still end up being a half martial class at best. By the time you get access to oh ... 5th level spells or so, your Blade Flourishes really start to pale in comparison to the power of your spells. They're probably still useful, but more as little tricks that you can pull out to remind the audience that oh yes, I was trained in swordsmanship, too! Just my opinion, but I wanted to build a character who was more like Zorro, but with a little magic to enhance his swordplay.
My DM let me retcon my character as a Swashbuckler Rogue of the same level for one session just to try it out, and I really liked it, but I still liked being a bard for story reasons so I went back to my 4th level bard, taking Elven Accuracy. At 5th level I took a level dip in Hexblade for shield proficiency (reskinned as a cloak wrapped around one arm for a spanish style cloak-and-rapier fighter), the Shield spell, Booming Blade, and the ability to use Charisma with my rapier instead of Str or Dex. Then my next four levels I took in Rogue, going Swashbuckler. And now I have the character I want, who is more of a martial class, but with some key spells that enhance swordplay rather than being the focus of my class. I use Charisma for physical attacks, for spells, and even adding it to my Initiative. I have Hexblade's Curse and Elven Accuracy for when I want to crit fish, and sneak attack and booming blade or blade flourish dice to take advantage of when I do crit. I use Faerie Fire to enable my Elven Accuracy. I have Cunning Action and Fancy Footwork for all my mobility needs, and I have skills up the wazoo.
Of your choices here, I would go with the Swords/Battle Master multiclass for the most duelist feel. Sword Flourishes and Battle Maneuvers together will give you the feel of a true weapon's master.
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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!
As someone who also wanted to build a duelist and wanted the Swords Bard to be that class for me, let me tell you my experience. After I had played for a little while and reached level 4, I realized that the Bard class is, first and foremost, a full caster. While being in the College of Swords or Valor do make your Bard a bit more competent a swordsperson, you still end up being a half martial class at best. By the time you get access to oh ... 5th level spells or so, your Blade Flourishes really start to pale in comparison to the power of your spells. They're probably still useful, but more as little tricks that you can pull out to remind the audience that oh yes, I was trained in swordsmanship, too! Just my opinion, but I wanted to build a character who was more like Zorro, but with a little magic to enhance his swordplay.
My DM let me retcon my character as a Swashbuckler Rogue of the same level for one session just to try it out, and I really liked it, but I still liked being a bard for story reasons so I went back to my 4th level bard, taking Elven Accuracy. At 5th level I took a level dip in Hexblade for shield proficiency (reskinned as a cloak wrapped around one arm for a spanish style cloak-and-rapier fighter), the Shield spell, Booming Blade, and the ability to use Charisma with my rapier instead of Str or Dex. Then my next four levels I took in Rogue, going Swashbuckler. And now I have the character I want, who is more of a martial class, but with some key spells that enhance swordplay rather than being the focus of my class. I use Charisma for physical attacks, for spells, and even adding it to my Initiative. I have Hexblade's Curse and Elven Accuracy for when I want to crit fish, and sneak attack and booming blade or blade flourish dice to take advantage of when I do crit. I use Faerie Fire to enable my Elven Accuracy. I have Cunning Action and Fancy Footwork for all my mobility needs, and I have skills up the wazoo.
Of your choices here, I would go with the Swords/Battle Master multiclass for the most duelist feel. Sword Flourishes and Battle Maneuvers together will give you the feel of a true weapon's master.
Hmmmm, interesting. My initial plan was to go pure bard with one level dip in Hexblade Warlock, but that was just when I was thinking about making him still more song based and trying to get stupid amounts of AC for a bard lol(Dex 18 with studded leather, shield, blade flourish and then shield spell, for a maximum of 29 AC if I roll a 6 on the flourish, minimum 24). I might just be putting way too much into the Haste spell, as I wanted most of my magic just to supplement his swordplay and use either support spells or selfish buffing spells. Which was why I was toying with Paladin, so that way my spell slots aren't wasted and I can just deal lots of damage. Though, I do have a curse with Paladin; anytime I try to play a Paladin the campaign dies out within like 3-4 sessions. I have tried to play a Paladin 6 times haha. I didn't think about dipping into rogue though as it would only be a few levels and it didn't seem worth it damage wise, really was only interested in the bonus action dash and more expertise haha. I might just have to give up on bard entirely, just been wanting to play it because it seems like SO much roleplay fun and I always sing and make jokes anyways in any campaign I play. You've given me some interesting input though thank you!
You don't have to give up on bard. Believe me, I definitely make use of my bardic abilities. Once I used Mobile Flourish to shove a necromancer off the roof of a castle, it was great! My build may not do the spike damage of a crit fishing smite build, but what I ended up doing was raising my minimum damage so I do very respectable damage even if I roll badly.
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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!
Your leaning 1 or 2, I'm with Ophidimancer that 4 would be my choice there, followed by 1. My thoughts on a duelist actually go rogue/ fighter, but adding something else isn't a big deal. However, it sounds like you might have something different in mind with 2 and 3.
Since all of your builds go bard 6, maybe just go bard 6 and see what feels like your missing. Then see what the next three levels of each of your builds brings to the table and choose the one that fills those gaps the best.
As someone who has gone down the battlemaster/college of swords I can safely say it is the best way to build a duelist/swashbuckling type of character. Personally I went 5 bard then the rest fighter to maximize maneuvers. Comboing maneuvers with flourishes can really stack a ton of damage up especially the goading attack, defensive flourish into riposte is really powerful. On top of that 5 bard gets you access to catnap so you get all of your short rest abilities back with 1 min 1/long rest.
As someone who has gone down the battlemaster/college of swords I can safely say it is the best way to build a duelist/swashbuckling type of character. Personally I went 5 bard then the rest fighter to maximize maneuvers. Comboing maneuvers with flourishes can really stack a ton of damage up especially the goading attack, defensive flourish into riposte is really powerful. On top of that 5 bard gets you access to catnap so you get all of your short rest abilities back with 1 min 1/long rest.
That does sound like a neat combo and leads very well into descriptions of fancy sword work: "Employing the Cormyrian Prince gambit, the lithe swordswoman captured the attention of her opponent, threatening him with quick cuts if his eyes strayed to her compatriots. When he advanced, she wove a net of shining steel in the classic Baldurian Defense."
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!
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The foundation of this idea is I want to make a College of Swords Bard and finally play a class I really love. He will be a Half-Elf and I'll be getting Elven Accuracy at level 4 as well as focusing on using a rapier(or if I get a finesse longsword like say Sun Blade). Personality is he's a good, hardworking person but generally has a carefree attitude to try and have people let their guard down around him. I have many paths I have thought about and I can't really decide on one, so I was hoping you all could help me finalize something. The character is being built for a game a friend is just starting up and getting ready so I have no idea what level we're starting out at or how long it'll be, but I'd like to have a character I can always fall back on and really love. So, here are some of the builds I have thought of, will try to be as brief as possible in each one.
Build 1: Pure Bard
Stick with playing only Bard and no multiclassing. Magical Secrets at lvl 10 would be Haste and either Steel Wind Strike or Destructive Wave. Lvl 14 Magical Secrets would be Tenser's Transformation and then whichever of the other two damaging spells I didn't pick. Haven't thought about 18th Magical Secrets
Build 2: Bard/Paladin
Go Bard till lvl 6, then go 3 levels in Paladin to get Divine Smite to just deal lots of damage and then go Oath of Vengeance because of Vow of Enmity so I can crit fish with Elven Accuracy and blow up a Divine Smite and Blade Flourish to deal a lot of damage. Downside of this build is taking way too long to get Magical Secrets, but the pros are easier crit fishing with Vow of Enmity coming back on a short rest(along with my inspiration pool) and being able to Divine Smite on a crit with Bard spell slots as well.
Build 3: Bard/Fighter(Samurai)
Bard till 6, then 3 levels into Fighter for AS and for Fighting Spirit feature for crit fishing once again. Similar downside to Paladin, but makes up for it with AS as well as being easier to roleplay than dipping into Paladin, but more limited advantage and comes back on a long rest not short.
Build 4: Bard/Fighter(Battle Master)
Bard till 6 then 3 levels into fighter for AS once again but this time to get those maneuvers to really flavor up the whole duelist feel(Feinting Attack, Parry, Riposte). Same ups and downs as fighter except way more limited advantage so harder to crit fish. Don't want to take the Martial Maneuver Feat as it just is really lack luster on its own in my opinion, would rather have four dice and get a few extra goodies instead of 1d6 per short rest.
Build 1 and 2 I am the most partial to, but still don't really know what to go. I feel like though if I were to go build 2, I should just forget Bard and go pure Paladin as I'd get Haste at lvl 9, but would lose so many skills and so many spells. Just struggling with making a choice and would like other people's inputs. Thanks in advance!
As someone who also wanted to build a duelist and wanted the Swords Bard to be that class for me, let me tell you my experience. After I had played for a little while and reached level 4, I realized that the Bard class is, first and foremost, a full caster. While being in the College of Swords or Valor do make your Bard a bit more competent a swordsperson, you still end up being a half martial class at best. By the time you get access to oh ... 5th level spells or so, your Blade Flourishes really start to pale in comparison to the power of your spells. They're probably still useful, but more as little tricks that you can pull out to remind the audience that oh yes, I was trained in swordsmanship, too! Just my opinion, but I wanted to build a character who was more like Zorro, but with a little magic to enhance his swordplay.
My DM let me retcon my character as a Swashbuckler Rogue of the same level for one session just to try it out, and I really liked it, but I still liked being a bard for story reasons so I went back to my 4th level bard, taking Elven Accuracy. At 5th level I took a level dip in Hexblade for shield proficiency (reskinned as a cloak wrapped around one arm for a spanish style cloak-and-rapier fighter), the Shield spell, Booming Blade, and the ability to use Charisma with my rapier instead of Str or Dex. Then my next four levels I took in Rogue, going Swashbuckler. And now I have the character I want, who is more of a martial class, but with some key spells that enhance swordplay rather than being the focus of my class. I use Charisma for physical attacks, for spells, and even adding it to my Initiative. I have Hexblade's Curse and Elven Accuracy for when I want to crit fish, and sneak attack and booming blade or blade flourish dice to take advantage of when I do crit. I use Faerie Fire to enable my Elven Accuracy. I have Cunning Action and Fancy Footwork for all my mobility needs, and I have skills up the wazoo.
https://ddb.ac/characters/2725951/q2XwNj
Of your choices here, I would go with the Swords/Battle Master multiclass for the most duelist feel. Sword Flourishes and Battle Maneuvers together will give you the feel of a true weapon's master.
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!
Hmmmm, interesting. My initial plan was to go pure bard with one level dip in Hexblade Warlock, but that was just when I was thinking about making him still more song based and trying to get stupid amounts of AC for a bard lol(Dex 18 with studded leather, shield, blade flourish and then shield spell, for a maximum of 29 AC if I roll a 6 on the flourish, minimum 24). I might just be putting way too much into the Haste spell, as I wanted most of my magic just to supplement his swordplay and use either support spells or selfish buffing spells. Which was why I was toying with Paladin, so that way my spell slots aren't wasted and I can just deal lots of damage. Though, I do have a curse with Paladin; anytime I try to play a Paladin the campaign dies out within like 3-4 sessions. I have tried to play a Paladin 6 times haha. I didn't think about dipping into rogue though as it would only be a few levels and it didn't seem worth it damage wise, really was only interested in the bonus action dash and more expertise haha. I might just have to give up on bard entirely, just been wanting to play it because it seems like SO much roleplay fun and I always sing and make jokes anyways in any campaign I play. You've given me some interesting input though thank you!
You don't have to give up on bard. Believe me, I definitely make use of my bardic abilities. Once I used Mobile Flourish to shove a necromancer off the roof of a castle, it was great! My build may not do the spike damage of a crit fishing smite build, but what I ended up doing was raising my minimum damage so I do very respectable damage even if I roll badly.
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!
You can't make a choice but give 4 options: 1d4 solves your problem
playing since 1986
Your leaning 1 or 2, I'm with Ophidimancer that 4 would be my choice there, followed by 1. My thoughts on a duelist actually go rogue/ fighter, but adding something else isn't a big deal. However, it sounds like you might have something different in mind with 2 and 3.
Since all of your builds go bard 6, maybe just go bard 6 and see what feels like your missing. Then see what the next three levels of each of your builds brings to the table and choose the one that fills those gaps the best.
As someone who has gone down the battlemaster/college of swords I can safely say it is the best way to build a duelist/swashbuckling type of character. Personally I went 5 bard then the rest fighter to maximize maneuvers. Comboing maneuvers with flourishes can really stack a ton of damage up especially the goading attack, defensive flourish into riposte is really powerful. On top of that 5 bard gets you access to catnap so you get all of your short rest abilities back with 1 min 1/long rest.
That does sound like a neat combo and leads very well into descriptions of fancy sword work: "Employing the Cormyrian Prince gambit, the lithe swordswoman captured the attention of her opponent, threatening him with quick cuts if his eyes strayed to her compatriots. When he advanced, she wove a net of shining steel in the classic Baldurian Defense."
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!