I just wanted to reach out to the community to see if I can get some advice on which feat to choose! I’m about to hit level 4, and I’ve narrowed down my choices on feats to a small handful. But, I just can’t decide which one will do me the most help in the long run!
For context, I am a college of lore Bard and I function as support/utility for the team! Usually through inspiration, cure wounds, cutting words, and illusion based spells for distractions etc. We do not have any clerics, so I’m kind of filling that role. I primarily use a light crossbow to attack and try to keep range, but I have some finesse melee weapons too in case things get up close.
My stat mods right now are STR 0 - DEX 3 - CON 2 - INT 1 - WIS - 2 - CHA 5
Because my CHA is already maxed, I was thinking of using level 4 to take a feat. But if you think maybe I should use it to buff a stat, let me know!
Here are the feats I’m having trouble deciding between:
- Inspiring Leader: As the support with maxed CHA, this seems somewhat useful? Getting 9 temporary HP feels powerful at low levels right now, but I’m not sure how useful this will be at higher levels.
- Lucky: Rerolls are just nice. I’m sure this would get used plenty, but is something else more powerful?
- Observant: The buff to passive perception is nice and would get used often, but I’m already pretty perceptive normally?
- Sharpshooter: I’m primarily ranged and this would allow me to contribute more to DPS, but there are other players better at DPS.
- Skulker: I use stealth often because our DM implemented his own aggro system where you gain aggro points by taking aggressive actions. Hiding reduces aggro, so would help me stay low and keep from drawing aggro.
- War Caster: I don’t have a fantastic CON, so maybe I’ll need this to help me maintain spell concentration. I just can’t tell how usable this will be because I haven’t played bard before. Not sure how many concentration spells will be practical for me and if I’ll need to worry about the concentration checks?
i think I’m most leaning towards either Inspiring Leader, Lucky, or War Caster. But could really use some advice! It’s my first time in a D&D campaign, and also my first time playing a bard. Thank you for all your help! :)
The three you’re leaning towards would be my top three also. It just comes down to how you want to portray your character. Inspiring Leader would really play well into the support role as would War Caster if you find yourself getting concentration broken. Lucky is just amazing.
Edit: War Caster can also use spells as AoO reactions which can be clutch.
The three you’re leaning towards would be my top three also. It just comes down to how you want to portray your character. Inspiring Leader would really play well into the support role as would War Caster if you find yourself getting concentration broken. Lucky is just amazing.
Edit: War Caster can also use spells as AoO reactions which can be clutch.
Thank you! That helps at least to know I’m in the right direction. I have to kind of decide if I think the Inspiring Leader will scale nicely over levels. Or look to see if there are a lot of concentration check spells I would want War Caster for. And then decide if either of those is good enough to skip out on Lucky for!
I just wanted to reach out to the community to see if I can get some advice on which feat to choose! I’m about to hit level 4, and I’ve narrowed down my choices on feats to a small handful. But, I just can’t decide which one will do me the most help in the long run!
For context, I am a college of lore Bard and I function as support/utility for the team! Usually through inspiration, cure wounds, cutting words, and illusion based spells for distractions etc. We do not have any clerics, so I’m kind of filling that role. I primarily use a light crossbow to attack and try to keep range, but I have some finesse melee weapons too in case things get up close.
My stat mods right now are STR 0 - DEX 3 - CON 2 - INT 1 - WIS - 2 - CHA 5
Because my CHA is already maxed, I was thinking of using level 4 to take a feat. But if you think maybe I should use it to buff a stat, let me know!
Here are the feats I’m having trouble deciding between:
- Inspiring Leader: As the support with maxed CHA, this seems somewhat useful? Getting 9 temporary HP feels powerful at low levels right now, but I’m not sure how useful this will be at higher levels.
- Lucky: Rerolls are just nice. I’m sure this would get used plenty, but is something else more powerful?
- Observant: The buff to passive perception is nice and would get used often, but I’m already pretty perceptive normally?
- Sharpshooter: I’m primarily ranged and this would allow me to contribute more to DPS, but there are other players better at DPS.
- Skulker: I use stealth often because our DM implemented his own aggro system where you gain aggro points by taking aggressive actions. Hiding reduces aggro, so would help me stay low and keep from drawing aggro.
- War Caster: I don’t have a fantastic CON, so maybe I’ll need this to help me maintain spell concentration. I just can’t tell how usable this will be because I haven’t played bard before. Not sure how many concentration spells will be practical for me and if I’ll need to worry about the concentration checks?
i think I’m most leaning towards either Inspiring Leader, Lucky, or War Caster. But could really use some advice! It’s my first time in a D&D campaign, and also my first time playing a bard. Thank you for all your help! :)
Lucky is good enough that it has been banished from tables before. In a game of dice rolls, being able to roll more dice is almost always good, particularly when the options are as flexible as Lucky.
Warcaster is really helpful if you have nice buffs or debuffs to cast. The somatic spell bullet won't likely concern you unless you dual wield melee or manage to get shield proficiency somehow. But being able to cast a spell for an AoO is nice when you've maxed your casting stat but not your melee stat. Let's say that one of your damager buddies is a glass cannon. An enemy makes a pit stop at you to make more efficient use of their movement and attacks, but they really want to interrupt your buddy's spellcasting/arrow launching. If you have Vicious Mockery, you can cast that for 2.5 damage and make it harder for the creature to hit Glass Joe instead of taking a swing with your rapier for 4.5 damage (and being more likely to not land the attack because of the lower modifier). Not cool enough? Maybe something like [Tooltip Not Found] (a concentration spell) instead to hopefully to that creature out of commission for several rounds? Hold Person if it's a humanoid?
Spell Sniper could be interesting for you if you have spells that use an attack instead of forcing a spell save. Heck, you could even take Eldritch Blast and be able to soon (5th level, only 1 creature until then) attack 2 creatures within 240 ft while ignoring 1/2 cover and 3/4 cover (no bonus AC) for 1d10 (5.5 average damage) each or 1 creature for the full damage. Alternatively, you can use the cantrip to get Booming Blade to really make your melee moments (and potentially Warcaster AoOs) more interesting.
As a healer, being able to give your party 9-25 Temporary Hit points from inspiring leader will be nice. Those are Hit points that you don't have to worry about healing and you don't need to use resources to accomplish it. Not that you should stress about keeping players topped off either. You're main concern should be about keeping players from rolling Death saves if they drop. To that end, more THP will almost always be nice, unless everybody has an efficient way to get more THP more frequently. As a subnote, consider swapping Healing Word in for Cure Wounds. The difference in average HP gained is 2.5 vs 4.5 (not inconsequential, but...) that is balanced by the fact that Healing Word uses your Bonus Action instead of your action and you can cast it at 60 ft instead of within touch range. Being able to cast Vicious Mockery to deal a measly 2.5 average damage may not sound impressive, but being able to do it from up to 60 ft away from a fallen comrade at the creature that just felled him to give that creature's next attack disadvantage (potentially preventing damage) WHILE also casting Healing Word to give your downed fellow 2.5+5 (your spellcasting modifier) from up to 60 ft away is much better than running up within range of the creature that just gutted your buddy so that you can touch him to give him 4.5+5 (Spellcasting Modifier) HP. Only to have both of you within range of this vicious destroyer of heroes on its next turn and being able to make straight rolls on its attacks, when you could have been up to 60 ft away in relative safety (or at least not moving into a position where the creature bothering you can now bother you or your bud as can its buddy).
Back to feats, if your ability scores (particularly dex or con) are odd (is that con mod +2 because you have a 15 constitution?), you may consider a half feat. Something like Resilient (Construction) could be useful in that scenario because it would give you constitution save proficiency AND boost your score to an even number which would increase your constitution mod and give you more HP moving forward and improving your concentration checks at the same time. Other half feats could likewise help, but I don't recall dex ones being sexy for spellcasters. Only get a half feat for Strength, Wisdom, or Intelligence if it truly fits your character (the odd stat for those are less critical for a bard and getting them even is strictly a bonus. However, Jack of All Trades does make those more appealing... but still prioritize other feats or ASIs over the rest.
As prior poster pointed out, many DMs outright forbid Lucky, and many DMs have wildly different expectations or uses for passive perception and his/her usage of such. That way, at least, you may be able to narrow the choices and also ensure you are gaining a useful trait that the DM can roll with successfuly.
Lucky is amazeballs, and often banned, as other have mentioned.
I took Inspiring Leader a few levels back (at 15 now) and it's nice being able to give the whole party 21 extra HP. Sometimes, that cushion is the only damage some of my party takes...
Lucky is good enough that it has been banished from tables before. In a game of dice rolls, being able to roll more dice is almost always good, particularly when the options are as flexible as Lucky.
Warcaster is really helpful if you have nice buffs or debuffs to cast. The somatic spell bullet won't likely concern you unless you dual wield melee or manage to get shield proficiency somehow. But being able to cast a spell for an AoO is nice when you've maxed your casting stat but not your melee stat. Let's say that one of your damager buddies is a glass cannon. An enemy makes a pit stop at you to make more efficient use of their movement and attacks, but they really want to interrupt your buddy's spellcasting/arrow launching. If you have Vicious Mockery, you can cast that for 2.5 damage and make it harder for the creature to hit Glass Joe instead of taking a swing with your rapier for 4.5 damage (and being more likely to not land the attack because of the lower modifier). Not cool enough? Maybe something like [Tooltip Not Found] (a concentration spell) instead to hopefully to that creature out of commission for several rounds? Hold Person if it's a humanoid?
Spell Sniper could be interesting for you if you have spells that use an attack instead of forcing a spell save. Heck, you could even take Eldritch Blast and be able to soon (5th level, only 1 creature until then) attack 2 creatures within 240 ft while ignoring 1/2 cover and 3/4 cover (no bonus AC) for 1d10 (5.5 average damage) each or 1 creature for the full damage. Alternatively, you can use the cantrip to get Booming Blade to really make your melee moments (and potentially Warcaster AoOs) more interesting.
As a healer, being able to give your party 9-25 Temporary Hit points from inspiring leader will be nice. Those are Hit points that you don't have to worry about healing and you don't need to use resources to accomplish it. Not that you should stress about keeping players topped off either. You're main concern should be about keeping players from rolling Death saves if they drop. To that end, more THP will almost always be nice, unless everybody has an efficient way to get more THP more frequently. As a subnote, consider swapping Healing Word in for Cure Wounds. The difference in average HP gained is 2.5 vs 4.5 (not inconsequential, but...) that is balanced by the fact that Healing Word uses your Bonus Action instead of your action and you can cast it at 60 ft instead of within touch range. Being able to cast Vicious Mockery to deal a measly 2.5 average damage may not sound impressive, but being able to do it from up to 60 ft away from a fallen comrade at the creature that just felled him to give that creature's next attack disadvantage (potentially preventing damage) WHILE also casting Healing Word to give your downed fellow 2.5+5 (your spellcasting modifier) from up to 60 ft away is much better than running up within range of the creature that just gutted your buddy so that you can touch him to give him 4.5+5 (Spellcasting Modifier) HP. Only to have both of you within range of this vicious destroyer of heroes on its next turn and being able to make straight rolls on its attacks, when you could have been up to 60 ft away in relative safety (or at least not moving into a position where the creature bothering you can now bother you or your bud as can its buddy).
Back to feats, if your ability scores (particularly dex or con) are odd (is that con mod +2 because you have a 15 constitution?), you may consider a half feat. Something like Resilient (Construction) could be useful in that scenario because it would give you constitution save proficiency AND boost your score to an even number which would increase your constitution mod and give you more HP moving forward and improving your concentration checks at the same time. Other half feats could likewise help, but I don't recall dex ones being sexy for spellcasters. Only get a half feat for Strength, Wisdom, or Intelligence if it truly fits your character (the odd stat for those are less critical for a bard and getting them even is strictly a bonus. However, Jack of All Trades does make those more appealing... but still prioritize other feats or ASIs over the rest.
Thank you for such a big and detailed response!
Wow! Did not expect it to be so powerful that it could be banned. That’s crazy!
The AoO thing from Warcaster definitely sounds appealing now that you’ve detailed it like that. Being able to impose disadvantage or a debuff on an enemy right before they attack could be really powerful. Especially if I am picking up that player from being downed like you said!
Spell Sniper was not one I had considered before, but I’ll definitely have to give some thought to what spells I’ll be grabbing in the future and if spell sniper could help boost them!
Its good to know that Inspiring Leader stays helpful and relevant even at higher levels. Seems super powerful right now while we’re at lower levels, but wasn’t sure with it just increasing by 1 point per level if it would stay that way. Also, yes, you are absolutely right about Healing Word! I actually usually have Healing Word and Cure Wounds ready and just use them according to the situation. If we are outside of combat but still dungeon crawling, I’ll go for the larger HP roll with Cure Wounds, but if we are mid fight and I can’t get in close, Healing Word is SO NICE. Also since it’s a bonus action, it really is powerful. Maybe I don’t need both of them prepared in the day? Haha but for now at least I’ve been running both!
Sadly, right now, all of my stats are at even numbers! D: My CON is the only stat I’ve been worried about needing to buff... Luckily War Caster does give me a buff to my CON checks for concentration purposes, but I haven’t been sure if I should worry about the stat just as a whole and spend maybe my 4th or 8th level just rounding it up by another two points? Also good to know I don’t need to worry about my STR, INT, or WIS.
As prior poster pointed out, many DMs outright forbid Lucky, and many DMs have wildly different expectations or uses for passive perception and his/her usage of such. That way, at least, you may be able to narrow the choices and also ensure you are gaining a useful trait that the DM can roll with successfuly.
Good idea! Thank you. I’ll have to see if they have any special rulings against Lucky, and I’ll also ask them how viable some of the other ones may be so that I don’t pick one that really won’t ever get used.
Lucky is amazeballs, and often banned, as other have mentioned.
I took Inspiring Leader a few levels back (at 15 now) and it's nice being able to give the whole party 21 extra HP. Sometimes, that cushion is the only damage some of my party takes...
Good to know about Lucky! And it’s also good to hear from someone who uses Inspiring Leader that it has remained helpful to you! I knew it would be crazy good right now but was unsure about future levels. So that’s good to know!
After reading everyone's arguments, if I was you I would take Inspiring Leader. It's a surprisingly useful, but often-overlooked feat because it's not as interesting or "cool". But a nice way to think of Temp hitpoints is, honestly, to compare it to a level up. At level 4 that's 9 HP... above what some classes could possibly gain from a perfect hit die roll on level up, and still a solid roll for most classes.
Something I'm surprised no one has brought up yet is the synergy between Dissonant Whispers and War Caster. If you're in melee with a creature (either if you seek it out or if you're fighting intelligent enemies that target casters) you can use Dissonant Whispers and if the creature fails its Wis save you get to cast another spell at it. This increases your single target DPR drastically (or you can drop another debuff on that enemy).
After reading everyone's arguments, if I was you I would take Inspiring Leader. It's a surprisingly useful, but often-overlooked feat because it's not as interesting or "cool". But a nice way to think of Temp hitpoints is, honestly, to compare it to a level up. At level 4 that's 9 HP... above what some classes could possibly gain from a perfect hit die roll on level up, and still a solid roll for most classes.
Hey, that’s very true! I was a little over concerned with how it would scale out into later levels, so I didn’t really think of it that way! Even at just 9 at base temp HP, that is about one level’s worth of health for an average player. No matter what level they are or how large their HP pool is, it’s still putting people at about a single level of health above their norm. Which feels a lot more powerful when I think of it that way!
Something I'm surprised no one has brought up yet is the synergy between Dissonant Whispers and War Caster. If you're in melee with a creature (either if you seek it out or if you're fighting intelligent enemies that target casters) you can use Dissonant Whispers and if the creature fails its Wis save you get to cast another spell at it. This increases your single target DPR drastically (or you can drop another debuff on that enemy).
That’s also a really cool combo to think of! Depending on the positioning too, if I’m lucky it could send the enemy running past other players and triggering additional AoO from other players. I definitely don’t think I valued the casting as an AoO enough (was more concerned about concentration checks), so this is actually really helpful.
So far I think I’m leaning towards maybe Inspiring Leader at 4 and War Caster at 8 (I think I’ll have more concentration spells then for me to use it on). And then maybe either a CON buff at 12 or Lucky??? Talked to the DM and he doesn’t have any issues with Lucky, so it’s a possibility. And everyone seems to value it really highly? So not sure if I should grab it early or grab it later. All of the advice has been really helpful so far though! Thank you guys!
I just wanted to reach out to the community to see if I can get some advice on which feat to choose! I’m about to hit level 4, and I’ve narrowed down my choices on feats to a small handful. But, I just can’t decide which one will do me the most help in the long run!
For context, I am a college of lore Bard and I function as support/utility for the team! Usually through inspiration, cure wounds, cutting words, and illusion based spells for distractions etc. We do not have any clerics, so I’m kind of filling that role. I primarily use a light crossbow to attack and try to keep range, but I have some finesse melee weapons too in case things get up close.
My stat mods right now are STR 0 - DEX 3 - CON 2 - INT 1 - WIS - 2 - CHA 5
Because my CHA is already maxed, I was thinking of using level 4 to take a feat. But if you think maybe I should use it to buff a stat, let me know!
Here are the feats I’m having trouble deciding between:
- Inspiring Leader: As the support with maxed CHA, this seems somewhat useful? Getting 9 temporary HP feels powerful at low levels right now, but I’m not sure how useful this will be at higher levels.
- Lucky: Rerolls are just nice. I’m sure this would get used plenty, but is something else more powerful?
- Observant: The buff to passive perception is nice and would get used often, but I’m already pretty perceptive normally?
- Sharpshooter: I’m primarily ranged and this would allow me to contribute more to DPS, but there are other players better at DPS.
- Skulker: I use stealth often because our DM implemented his own aggro system where you gain aggro points by taking aggressive actions. Hiding reduces aggro, so would help me stay low and keep from drawing aggro.
- War Caster: I don’t have a fantastic CON, so maybe I’ll need this to help me maintain spell concentration. I just can’t tell how usable this will be because I haven’t played bard before. Not sure how many concentration spells will be practical for me and if I’ll need to worry about the concentration checks?
i think I’m most leaning towards either Inspiring Leader, Lucky, or War Caster. But could really use some advice! It’s my first time in a D&D campaign, and also my first time playing a bard. Thank you for all your help! :)
In your case I would ignore Sharpshooter, it doesn't fit your niche and without Archery your Dex is too low to rely on the +10 damage.
I would recommend Inspiring Leader in general, the value of War Caster heavily depends on what spells you plan to take for your additional Magic Secrets. If you nab something like Spirit Guardians then it would be very valuable, but if you grab something like Fireball... not so much. +2 Con is more than adequate on a caster and if you position yourself right you won't have to worry about concentration checks too much. Depending on your race and party compisition some other feats my be appealing to you, but even without that info Inspiring Leader is a solid choice and with a max Cha already you'll have level 8 to play with feats too!
I agree with some of the more detailed responses. Only call out for Inspiring Leader is some classes have abilities that provide temp HP and sources don’t stack. This makes it less useful in groups that already have Temp HP sources and use them often. Check party composition first.
Lucky always works and is great but keep in mind you are trading a solid advantage (higher stats) for 3x rerolls. While it can be abused it won’t generally end a fight sooner unless you have a crit-fishing build or use it liberally for offense (as a player I use it for saving throws and ability checks - it rarely seems to make a big difference). The key to its value is it ALWAYS useful regardless of other players, obstacles, enemies or types of rolls.
I agree with some of the more detailed responses. Only call out for Inspiring Leader is some classes have abilities that provide temp HP and sources don’t stack. This makes it less useful in groups that already have Temp HP sources and use them often. Check party composition first.
Lucky always works and is great but keep in mind you are trading a solid advantage (higher stats) for 3x rerolls. While it can be abused it won’t generally end a fight sooner unless you have a crit-fishing build or use it liberally for offense (as a player I use it for saving throws and ability checks - it rarely seems to make a big difference). The key to its value is it ALWAYS useful regardless of other players, obstacles, enemies or types of rolls.
Excellent point about Inspiring Leader. Just remember that players can choose which source of Temp HP that they get. Outside of something like Armor of Agathys or something similar where a benefit is present when the source of the temp HP is the spell/ability, the players may still wish to keep the Temp HP from Inspiring Leader as long as it's higher and/or they can save their resources. Even if you have 1 or 2 players that don't want your Temp HP, the others might want it. Is that trade off something that works? That's where the value for you will be determined.
Inspiring Leader on a max-charisma character in a typical 4-person party that takes two rests per day (one long one short) is an awful lot of healing (or, THP allowing you to avoid healing) per day. Taken right at 4th level (where you likely still only have a +3 in Charisma), we're talking 56 HP per day, which is the equivalent of seven castings of Cure Wounds, all without requiring actions, positioning, or competing for other spell slot uses. Continues to scale well and stay relevent all the way up to 20, where we're talking 200 HP per day, which is twenty castings of Cure Wounds, or some amount of higher level/more efficient healing spells.
Unless there's an Abjuration Wizard in your party, none of them are likely to turn up their nose at the free 7-25 THP at the end of a break or start of a day, even if they have other class features which might also generate THP. I think it's probably one of the stronger feats in the game from a numbers perspective, it's just that players tend to overlook anything that doesn't directly help AC or damage per round.
I was about to say that if I was, say... a Warlock with Fiendish Vigor I might drop it if I ended up with a teammate who took Inspiring Leader... but I still might keep it since Fiendish Vigor since it still works as an ersatz self-heal. Although I suppose a Warlock is also one of the classes that benefits greatly from taking Inspiring Leader as well.
Inspiring Leader on a max-charisma character in a typical 4-person party that takes two rests per day (one long one short) is an awful lot of healing (or, THP allowing you to avoid healing) per day. Taken right at 4th level (where you likely still only have a +3 in Charisma), we're talking 56 HP per day, which is the equivalent of seven castings of Cure Wounds, all without requiring actions, positioning, or competing for other spell slot uses. Continues to scale well and stay relevent all the way up to 20, where we're talking 200 HP per day, which is twenty castings of Cure Wounds, or some amount of higher level/more efficient healing spells.
Unless there's an Abjuration Wizard in your party, none of them are likely to turn up their nose at the free 7-25 THP at the end of a break or start of a day, even if they have other class features which might also generate THP. I think it's probably one of the stronger feats in the game from a numbers perspective, it's just that players tend to overlook anything that doesn't directly help AC or damage per round.
Adjuration Wizard's Arcane Ward doesn't interfere with Temp HP. As you can see from the description, it doesn't actually mention temporary HP at all. It's a ward that is it's own separate thing. Further, this is confirmed with a Sage Advice that this is RAI as well as RAW.
Arcane Ward
Starting at 2nd level, you can weave magic around yourself for protection. When you cast an abjuration spell of 1st level or higher, you can simultaneously use a strand of the spell’s magic to create a magical ward on yourself that lasts until you finish a long rest. The ward has a hit point maximum equal to twice your wizard level + your Intelligence modifier. Whenever you take damage, the ward takes the damage instead. If this damage reduces the ward to 0 hit points, you take any remaining damage.
While the ward has 0 hit points, it can’t absorb damage, but its magic remains. Whenever you cast an abjuration spell of 1st level or higher, the ward regains a number of hit points equal to twice the level of the spell.
Once you create the ward, you can’t create it again until you finish a long rest.
As for other sources of Temporary HP, by class:
Warlock:
Armor of Agathys builds won't want it because it competes with the spell. However, if they aren't trying to go right into Armor of Agathys, the extra Temp HP won't hurt at all. Oath of Conquest Paladins and Warlocks can get the spell naturally.
False Life is a necromancy spell and thus doesn't power Arcane Ward and Inspiring Leader would help to free up any Warlock builds that would want Fiendish Vigor to take another Invocation instead, assuming that the short rests are reasonably frequent. The Invocation Tomb of Levistus also deals with temporary HP. Both invocations do have some self-heal applications that may make them work fine anyway.
Fiend pact Warlocks do have Dark One's Blessing, but it doesn't seem to key any other ability. That would leave the warlock to choose the best temporary HP between the remaining Inspiring Leader and Dark One's Blessing, or to simply not trigger Dark One's Blessing at all. That could benefit another character that has a bonus on kill or someone with Toll the Dead.
Celestial Warlock’s 10th level ability Celestial Resilience conflicts directly with inspiring leader, since it’s a very similar mechanic. Celestial Resilience works the same for you (on your warlock levels instead of your total levels), but only grants half your warlock levels to 5 others.
Fighter:
Battlemaster's Rally would compete, but since that's not a big bit of competition. Additionally, it didn't appear to be a commonly taken maneuver from one of the posts on these forums.
Samurai’s 3rd level ability Fighting Spirit grants temporary HP and advantage on weapon attacks. Doesn’t conflict directly but could make a Samurai feel like they couldn’t use this ability with Inspiring Leader up. However, they have 3 uses on a long rest until 10th level, so that may not be much of an issue.
Druids:
Druids would want to talk to their DM about how they'll treat temporary HP and wild shape. There isn't anything to suggest that the temporary HP should drop off that I've found, the closest that I could find on a quick check was this sage advice talking about Sleep and Power Word:Kill stating that you never combine HP and Temporary HP.
Circle of Shepherds 2nd level Spirit Totem has a Bear Spirit option that grants 5+druid level temp HP and some other stuff when the Spirit appears.
Circle of Dreams 2nd level Balm of the Summer Court gives 1 temporary HP per die spent, but also has actual healing involved with it.
Bards:
College of Glamour 3rd level ability Mantle of Inspiration competes with Inspiring Leader, but it is triggered off of Bardic Inspiration and can thus be used in a complementary fashion to rebuild temp hp after several hits have been taken. Can be applied to 1-5 creatures depending on your charisma modifier but grants static temp HP based off your bard level.
Barbarian:
Path of the Storm Herald’s Storm Aura at 3rd level has an option that competes directly with Inspiring Leader. However, it only occurs when the effect is activated. It grants between 2-6 temp HP to creatures of your choice within a 10 ft aura.
As for the healing aspect, Chicken_Champ does a good job of putting the temp HP into perspective generally. Considering that the OP has maxed Charisma, it's a touch better than the lower number than was given as an example. It certainly can help to think of it in terms of spell slot efficiency, since that can help you to imagine what kind of other spells you could be casting in place of your healing spells spent to top people off/bring people back up from 0.
I like the idea of taking Inspiring Leader, when you add up the total number of Temp HP dished out to the whole party over the course of an adventuring day(figuring you use it once every Short Rest, at Level 4 we're talking like 27 HP per party member), that equates to a fair amount of spell slots you'd otherwise be reserving for healing spells, or that party members would be burning Hit Dice on. Sure it's probably not as good at higher levels, but unless your party is routinely obtaining Temp HP through other means it's a solid choice. Plus it's thematically in line with a character in a support role. If you don't think if yourself as the "leader" of the group(but let's be honest, doesn't every Bard think they're the leader to some degree?), think of yourself more like a motivational speaker type.
I like the idea of taking Inspiring Leader, when you add up the total number of Temp HP dished out to the whole party over the course of an adventuring day(figuring you use it once every Short Rest, at Level 4 we're talking like 27 HP per party member), that equates to a fair amount of spell slots you'd otherwise be reserving for healing spells, or that party members would be burning Hit Dice on. Sure it's probably not as good at higher levels, but unless your party is routinely obtaining Temp HP through other means it's a solid choice. Plus it's thematically in line with a character in a support role. If you don't think if yourself as the "leader" of the group(but let's be honest, doesn't every Bard think they're the leader to some degree?), think of yourself more like a motivational speaker type.
Based on my post just before this one, at level 4, you'll have a good idea who will be using temp HP on the regular, barring a 3 level dip down the line. The Celestial Warlock is the only one that gets an ability post level 3 that deals with temp HP currently.
Unless artificer has some abilities... I forgot to check that one and think that the artillerist does with the Protector (healing) mode of Eldritch Cannon 3rd level.
Alchemist 9th level can add temp HP.
That means that you'll only have Alchemist Artificer and Celestial Warlock to worry about post level 4 and to keep an eye on multiclassed characters (but a simple warning since they'll get the abilities after should suffice).
Hey all! Sorry for the delayed response here. Thank you all for the really detailed responses! I really appreciate the support and advice from the community!
It helps when enemys get too close and gives that quick reload. If thats not your jam Inspiring leader is good if your the face, so many choices lol.
Good luck.
Thank you! I hadn’t really considered crossbow expert since I don’t think I can attack more than once per turn (so I think that may lower the value of being able to quick reload?). But I could be wrong on that, so I’ll definitely double check on it. I definitely have to fill the face role, so Inspiring Leader feels like a good fit! Especially since I do a lot of healing.
In your case I would ignore Sharpshooter, it doesn't fit your niche and without Archery your Dex is too low to rely on the +10 damage. I would recommend Inspiring Leader in general, the value of War Caster heavily depends on what spells you plan to take for your additional Magic Secrets. If you nab something like Spirit Guardians then it would be very valuable, but if you grab something like Fireball... not so much. +2 Con is more than adequate on a caster and if you position yourself right you won't have to worry about concentration checks too much. Depending on your race and party compisition some other feats my be appealing to you, but even without that info Inspiring Leader is a solid choice and with a max Cha already you'll have level 8 to play with feats too!
Thats good to know! Yeah, I’m not really the damage dealer in the party. I chip in when needed or act defensively, but I usually spend my turns healing or buffing/debuffing. Or Inspiring of course. That’s good to know about War Caster as well. It all comes down to what spells I think I’ll be using, so I’m thinking maybe I’ll save War Caster for level 8 when I have a better idea of my spell list. Also good to know about my CON. I felt it was fairly average but wasn’t sure if it could use a boost. Thank you!
I agree with some of the more detailed responses. Only call out for Inspiring Leader is some classes have abilities that provide temp HP and sources don’t stack. This makes it less useful in groups that already have Temp HP sources and use them often. Check party composition first.
Lucky always works and is great but keep in mind you are trading a solid advantage (higher stats) for 3x rerolls. While it can be abused it won’t generally end a fight sooner unless you have a crit-fishing build or use it liberally for offense (as a player I use it for saving throws and ability checks - it rarely seems to make a big difference). The key to its value is it ALWAYS useful regardless of other players, obstacles, enemies or types of rolls.
That’s a good idea! I didn’t realize other classes could have their own temporary HP abilities built in, and that would definitely hurt the usability of Inspiring Leader if other players didn’t need it. I think some other posts below detailed out some helpful tips about classes with temporary HP abilities, so I’m going to start there! Also that’s true. I definitely don’t have any crit type abilities. But I could see myself using it on saving throws etc to avoid status effects and things. Those can be so punishing, and I am the only support in the group, so if I go down... good luck everyone else lol.
Inspiring Leader on a max-charisma character in a typical 4-person party that takes two rests per day (one long one short) is an awful lot of healing (or, THP allowing you to avoid healing) per day. Taken right at 4th level (where you likely still only have a +3 in Charisma), we're talking 56 HP per day, which is the equivalent of seven castings of Cure Wounds, all without requiring actions, positioning, or competing for other spell slot uses. Continues to scale well and stay relevent all the way up to 20, where we're talking 200 HP per day, which is twenty castings of Cure Wounds, or some amount of higher level/more efficient healing spells.
Unless there's an Abjuration Wizard in your party, none of them are likely to turn up their nose at the free 7-25 THP at the end of a break or start of a day, even if they have other class features which might also generate THP. I think it's probably one of the stronger feats in the game from a numbers perspective, it's just that players tend to overlook anything that doesn't directly help AC or damage per round.
Those numbers!! That’s extremely helpful as a breakdown. Any healing I can avoid having to dish out is super helpful because it means I can use my spell slots for more buff and debuff or utility purposes. Sometimes my buffs/debuff have to be glanced over because I’m hoarding my last couple spell slots in case of emergency healing needs. And even though I know they would help, I don’t really get to see them played that often! So saving myself the extra healing could be really powerful.
I like the idea of taking Inspiring Leader, when you add up the total number of Temp HP dished out to the whole party over the course of an adventuring day(figuring you use it once every Short Rest, at Level 4 we're talking like 27 HP per party member), that equates to a fair amount of spell slots you'd otherwise be reserving for healing spells, or that party members would be burning Hit Dice on. Sure it's probably not as good at higher levels, but unless your party is routinely obtaining Temp HP through other means it's a solid choice. Plus it's thematically in line with a character in a support role. If you don't think if yourself as the "leader" of the group(but let's be honest, doesn't every Bard think they're the leader to some degree?), think of yourself more like a motivational speaker type.
Oh, absolutely. Being the only support in the group amongst a bunch of DPR types and a tank or two, I often feel like if I went down, the party would crumble within so many rounds. That makes me somewhat of a Leader right?? And I’m definitely the emotional support for all of the party members thus far as well as the combat support. So, it think it falls perfectly in line character wise. And it sounds from your numbers and from others’ as well that the THP can make a big difference in a day.
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Hello there!
I just wanted to reach out to the community to see if I can get some advice on which feat to choose! I’m about to hit level 4, and I’ve narrowed down my choices on feats to a small handful. But, I just can’t decide which one will do me the most help in the long run!
For context, I am a college of lore Bard and I function as support/utility for the team! Usually through inspiration, cure wounds, cutting words, and illusion based spells for distractions etc. We do not have any clerics, so I’m kind of filling that role. I primarily use a light crossbow to attack and try to keep range, but I have some finesse melee weapons too in case things get up close.
My stat mods right now are STR 0 - DEX 3 - CON 2 - INT 1 - WIS - 2 - CHA 5
Because my CHA is already maxed, I was thinking of using level 4 to take a feat. But if you think maybe I should use it to buff a stat, let me know!
Here are the feats I’m having trouble deciding between:
- Inspiring Leader: As the support with maxed CHA, this seems somewhat useful? Getting 9 temporary HP feels powerful at low levels right now, but I’m not sure how useful this will be at higher levels.
- Lucky: Rerolls are just nice. I’m sure this would get used plenty, but is something else more powerful?
- Observant: The buff to passive perception is nice and would get used often, but I’m already pretty perceptive normally?
- Sharpshooter: I’m primarily ranged and this would allow me to contribute more to DPS, but there are other players better at DPS.
- Skulker: I use stealth often because our DM implemented his own aggro system where you gain aggro points by taking aggressive actions. Hiding reduces aggro, so would help me stay low and keep from drawing aggro.
- War Caster: I don’t have a fantastic CON, so maybe I’ll need this to help me maintain spell concentration. I just can’t tell how usable this will be because I haven’t played bard before. Not sure how many concentration spells will be practical for me and if I’ll need to worry about the concentration checks?
i think I’m most leaning towards either Inspiring Leader, Lucky, or War Caster. But could really use some advice! It’s my first time in a D&D campaign, and also my first time playing a bard. Thank you for all your help! :)
The three you’re leaning towards would be my top three also. It just comes down to how you want to portray your character. Inspiring Leader would really play well into the support role as would War Caster if you find yourself getting concentration broken. Lucky is just amazing.
Edit: War Caster can also use spells as AoO reactions which can be clutch.
Thank you! That helps at least to know I’m in the right direction. I have to kind of decide if I think the Inspiring Leader will scale nicely over levels. Or look to see if there are a lot of concentration check spells I would want War Caster for. And then decide if either of those is good enough to skip out on Lucky for!
Lucky is good enough that it has been banished from tables before. In a game of dice rolls, being able to roll more dice is almost always good, particularly when the options are as flexible as Lucky.
Warcaster is really helpful if you have nice buffs or debuffs to cast. The somatic spell bullet won't likely concern you unless you dual wield melee or manage to get shield proficiency somehow. But being able to cast a spell for an AoO is nice when you've maxed your casting stat but not your melee stat. Let's say that one of your damager buddies is a glass cannon. An enemy makes a pit stop at you to make more efficient use of their movement and attacks, but they really want to interrupt your buddy's spellcasting/arrow launching. If you have Vicious Mockery, you can cast that for 2.5 damage and make it harder for the creature to hit Glass Joe instead of taking a swing with your rapier for 4.5 damage (and being more likely to not land the attack because of the lower modifier). Not cool enough? Maybe something like [Tooltip Not Found] (a concentration spell) instead to hopefully to that creature out of commission for several rounds? Hold Person if it's a humanoid?
Spell Sniper could be interesting for you if you have spells that use an attack instead of forcing a spell save. Heck, you could even take Eldritch Blast and be able to soon (5th level, only 1 creature until then) attack 2 creatures within 240 ft while ignoring 1/2 cover and 3/4 cover (no bonus AC) for 1d10 (5.5 average damage) each or 1 creature for the full damage. Alternatively, you can use the cantrip to get Booming Blade to really make your melee moments (and potentially Warcaster AoOs) more interesting.
As a healer, being able to give your party 9-25 Temporary Hit points from inspiring leader will be nice. Those are Hit points that you don't have to worry about healing and you don't need to use resources to accomplish it. Not that you should stress about keeping players topped off either. You're main concern should be about keeping players from rolling Death saves if they drop. To that end, more THP will almost always be nice, unless everybody has an efficient way to get more THP more frequently. As a subnote, consider swapping Healing Word in for Cure Wounds. The difference in average HP gained is 2.5 vs 4.5 (not inconsequential, but...) that is balanced by the fact that Healing Word uses your Bonus Action instead of your action and you can cast it at 60 ft instead of within touch range. Being able to cast Vicious Mockery to deal a measly 2.5 average damage may not sound impressive, but being able to do it from up to 60 ft away from a fallen comrade at the creature that just felled him to give that creature's next attack disadvantage (potentially preventing damage) WHILE also casting Healing Word to give your downed fellow 2.5+5 (your spellcasting modifier) from up to 60 ft away is much better than running up within range of the creature that just gutted your buddy so that you can touch him to give him 4.5+5 (Spellcasting Modifier) HP. Only to have both of you within range of this vicious destroyer of heroes on its next turn and being able to make straight rolls on its attacks, when you could have been up to 60 ft away in relative safety (or at least not moving into a position where the creature bothering you can now bother you or your bud as can its buddy).
Back to feats, if your ability scores (particularly dex or con) are odd (is that con mod +2 because you have a 15 constitution?), you may consider a half feat. Something like Resilient (Construction) could be useful in that scenario because it would give you constitution save proficiency AND boost your score to an even number which would increase your constitution mod and give you more HP moving forward and improving your concentration checks at the same time. Other half feats could likewise help, but I don't recall dex ones being sexy for spellcasters. Only get a half feat for Strength, Wisdom, or Intelligence if it truly fits your character (the odd stat for those are less critical for a bard and getting them even is strictly a bonus. However, Jack of All Trades does make those more appealing... but still prioritize other feats or ASIs over the rest.
Definitely discuss your shortlist with your DM.
As prior poster pointed out, many DMs outright forbid Lucky, and many DMs have wildly different expectations or uses for passive perception and his/her usage of such. That way, at least, you may be able to narrow the choices and also ensure you are gaining a useful trait that the DM can roll with successfuly.
Boldly go
Lucky is amazeballs, and often banned, as other have mentioned.
I took Inspiring Leader a few levels back (at 15 now) and it's nice being able to give the whole party 21 extra HP. Sometimes, that cushion is the only damage some of my party takes...
Thank you for such a big and detailed response!
Wow! Did not expect it to be so powerful that it could be banned. That’s crazy!
The AoO thing from Warcaster definitely sounds appealing now that you’ve detailed it like that. Being able to impose disadvantage or a debuff on an enemy right before they attack could be really powerful. Especially if I am picking up that player from being downed like you said!
Spell Sniper was not one I had considered before, but I’ll definitely have to give some thought to what spells I’ll be grabbing in the future and if spell sniper could help boost them!
Its good to know that Inspiring Leader stays helpful and relevant even at higher levels. Seems super powerful right now while we’re at lower levels, but wasn’t sure with it just increasing by 1 point per level if it would stay that way. Also, yes, you are absolutely right about Healing Word! I actually usually have Healing Word and Cure Wounds ready and just use them according to the situation. If we are outside of combat but still dungeon crawling, I’ll go for the larger HP roll with Cure Wounds, but if we are mid fight and I can’t get in close, Healing Word is SO NICE. Also since it’s a bonus action, it really is powerful. Maybe I don’t need both of them prepared in the day? Haha but for now at least I’ve been running both!
Sadly, right now, all of my stats are at even numbers! D: My CON is the only stat I’ve been worried about needing to buff... Luckily War Caster does give me a buff to my CON checks for concentration purposes, but I haven’t been sure if I should worry about the stat just as a whole and spend maybe my 4th or 8th level just rounding it up by another two points? Also good to know I don’t need to worry about my STR, INT, or WIS.
Good idea! Thank you. I’ll have to see if they have any special rulings against Lucky, and I’ll also ask them how viable some of the other ones may be so that I don’t pick one that really won’t ever get used.
Good to know about Lucky! And it’s also good to hear from someone who uses Inspiring Leader that it has remained helpful to you! I knew it would be crazy good right now but was unsure about future levels. So that’s good to know!
After reading everyone's arguments, if I was you I would take Inspiring Leader. It's a surprisingly useful, but often-overlooked feat because it's not as interesting or "cool". But a nice way to think of Temp hitpoints is, honestly, to compare it to a level up. At level 4 that's 9 HP... above what some classes could possibly gain from a perfect hit die roll on level up, and still a solid roll for most classes.
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Something I'm surprised no one has brought up yet is the synergy between Dissonant Whispers and War Caster. If you're in melee with a creature (either if you seek it out or if you're fighting intelligent enemies that target casters) you can use Dissonant Whispers and if the creature fails its Wis save you get to cast another spell at it. This increases your single target DPR drastically (or you can drop another debuff on that enemy).
Hey, that’s very true! I was a little over concerned with how it would scale out into later levels, so I didn’t really think of it that way! Even at just 9 at base temp HP, that is about one level’s worth of health for an average player. No matter what level they are or how large their HP pool is, it’s still putting people at about a single level of health above their norm. Which feels a lot more powerful when I think of it that way!
That’s also a really cool combo to think of! Depending on the positioning too, if I’m lucky it could send the enemy running past other players and triggering additional AoO from other players. I definitely don’t think I valued the casting as an AoO enough (was more concerned about concentration checks), so this is actually really helpful.
So far I think I’m leaning towards maybe Inspiring Leader at 4 and War Caster at 8 (I think I’ll have more concentration spells then for me to use it on). And then maybe either a CON buff at 12 or Lucky??? Talked to the DM and he doesn’t have any issues with Lucky, so it’s a possibility. And everyone seems to value it really highly? So not sure if I should grab it early or grab it later. All of the advice has been really helpful so far though! Thank you guys!
Have you looked at crossbow expert?
It helps when enemys get too close and gives that quick reload. If thats not your jam Inspiring leader is good if your the face, so many choices lol.
Good luck.
In your case I would ignore Sharpshooter, it doesn't fit your niche and without Archery your Dex is too low to rely on the +10 damage.
I would recommend Inspiring Leader in general, the value of War Caster heavily depends on what spells you plan to take for your additional Magic Secrets. If you nab something like Spirit Guardians then it would be very valuable, but if you grab something like Fireball... not so much. +2 Con is more than adequate on a caster and if you position yourself right you won't have to worry about concentration checks too much. Depending on your race and party compisition some other feats my be appealing to you, but even without that info Inspiring Leader is a solid choice and with a max Cha already you'll have level 8 to play with feats too!
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I agree with some of the more detailed responses. Only call out for Inspiring Leader is some classes have abilities that provide temp HP and sources don’t stack. This makes it less useful in groups that already have Temp HP sources and use them often. Check party composition first.
Lucky always works and is great but keep in mind you are trading a solid advantage (higher stats) for 3x rerolls. While it can be abused it won’t generally end a fight sooner unless you have a crit-fishing build or use it liberally for offense (as a player I use it for saving throws and ability checks - it rarely seems to make a big difference). The key to its value is it ALWAYS useful regardless of other players, obstacles, enemies or types of rolls.
Excellent point about Inspiring Leader. Just remember that players can choose which source of Temp HP that they get. Outside of something like Armor of Agathys or something similar where a benefit is present when the source of the temp HP is the spell/ability, the players may still wish to keep the Temp HP from Inspiring Leader as long as it's higher and/or they can save their resources. Even if you have 1 or 2 players that don't want your Temp HP, the others might want it. Is that trade off something that works? That's where the value for you will be determined.
Inspiring Leader on a max-charisma character in a typical 4-person party that takes two rests per day (one long one short) is an awful lot of healing (or, THP allowing you to avoid healing) per day. Taken right at 4th level (where you likely still only have a +3 in Charisma), we're talking 56 HP per day, which is the equivalent of seven castings of Cure Wounds, all without requiring actions, positioning, or competing for other spell slot uses. Continues to scale well and stay relevent all the way up to 20, where we're talking 200 HP per day, which is twenty castings of Cure Wounds, or some amount of higher level/more efficient healing spells.
Unless there's an Abjuration Wizard in your party, none of them are likely to turn up their nose at the free 7-25 THP at the end of a break or start of a day, even if they have other class features which might also generate THP. I think it's probably one of the stronger feats in the game from a numbers perspective, it's just that players tend to overlook anything that doesn't directly help AC or damage per round.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
I was about to say that if I was, say... a Warlock with Fiendish Vigor I might drop it if I ended up with a teammate who took Inspiring Leader... but I still might keep it since Fiendish Vigor since it still works as an ersatz self-heal. Although I suppose a Warlock is also one of the classes that benefits greatly from taking Inspiring Leader as well.
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Adjuration Wizard's Arcane Ward doesn't interfere with Temp HP. As you can see from the description, it doesn't actually mention temporary HP at all. It's a ward that is it's own separate thing. Further, this is confirmed with a Sage Advice that this is RAI as well as RAW.
Arcane Ward
Starting at 2nd level, you can weave magic around yourself for protection. When you cast an abjuration spell of 1st level or higher, you can simultaneously use a strand of the spell’s magic to create a magical ward on yourself that lasts until you finish a long rest. The ward has a hit point maximum equal to twice your wizard level + your Intelligence modifier. Whenever you take damage, the ward takes the damage instead. If this damage reduces the ward to 0 hit points, you take any remaining damage.
While the ward has 0 hit points, it can’t absorb damage, but its magic remains. Whenever you cast an abjuration spell of 1st level or higher, the ward regains a number of hit points equal to twice the level of the spell.
Once you create the ward, you can’t create it again until you finish a long rest.
As for other sources of Temporary HP, by class:
Warlock:
Armor of Agathys builds won't want it because it competes with the spell. However, if they aren't trying to go right into Armor of Agathys, the extra Temp HP won't hurt at all. Oath of Conquest Paladins and Warlocks can get the spell naturally.
False Life is a necromancy spell and thus doesn't power Arcane Ward and Inspiring Leader would help to free up any Warlock builds that would want Fiendish Vigor to take another Invocation instead, assuming that the short rests are reasonably frequent. The Invocation Tomb of Levistus also deals with temporary HP. Both invocations do have some self-heal applications that may make them work fine anyway.
Fiend pact Warlocks do have Dark One's Blessing, but it doesn't seem to key any other ability. That would leave the warlock to choose the best temporary HP between the remaining Inspiring Leader and Dark One's Blessing, or to simply not trigger Dark One's Blessing at all. That could benefit another character that has a bonus on kill or someone with Toll the Dead.
Celestial Warlock’s 10th level ability Celestial Resilience conflicts directly with inspiring leader, since it’s a very similar mechanic. Celestial Resilience works the same for you (on your warlock levels instead of your total levels), but only grants half your warlock levels to 5 others.
Fighter:
Battlemaster's Rally would compete, but since that's not a big bit of competition. Additionally, it didn't appear to be a commonly taken maneuver from one of the posts on these forums.
Samurai’s 3rd level ability Fighting Spirit grants temporary HP and advantage on weapon attacks. Doesn’t conflict directly but could make a Samurai feel like they couldn’t use this ability with Inspiring Leader up. However, they have 3 uses on a long rest until 10th level, so that may not be much of an issue.
Druids:
Druids would want to talk to their DM about how they'll treat temporary HP and wild shape. There isn't anything to suggest that the temporary HP should drop off that I've found, the closest that I could find on a quick check was this sage advice talking about Sleep and Power Word:Kill stating that you never combine HP and Temporary HP.
Circle of Shepherds 2nd level Spirit Totem has a Bear Spirit option that grants 5+druid level temp HP and some other stuff when the Spirit appears.
Circle of Dreams 2nd level Balm of the Summer Court gives 1 temporary HP per die spent, but also has actual healing involved with it.
Bards:
College of Glamour 3rd level ability Mantle of Inspiration competes with Inspiring Leader, but it is triggered off of Bardic Inspiration and can thus be used in a complementary fashion to rebuild temp hp after several hits have been taken. Can be applied to 1-5 creatures depending on your charisma modifier but grants static temp HP based off your bard level.
Barbarian:
Path of the Storm Herald’s Storm Aura at 3rd level has an option that competes directly with Inspiring Leader. However, it only occurs when the effect is activated. It grants between 2-6 temp HP to creatures of your choice within a 10 ft aura.
As for the healing aspect, Chicken_Champ does a good job of putting the temp HP into perspective generally. Considering that the OP has maxed Charisma, it's a touch better than the lower number than was given as an example. It certainly can help to think of it in terms of spell slot efficiency, since that can help you to imagine what kind of other spells you could be casting in place of your healing spells spent to top people off/bring people back up from 0.
I like the idea of taking Inspiring Leader, when you add up the total number of Temp HP dished out to the whole party over the course of an adventuring day(figuring you use it once every Short Rest, at Level 4 we're talking like 27 HP per party member), that equates to a fair amount of spell slots you'd otherwise be reserving for healing spells, or that party members would be burning Hit Dice on. Sure it's probably not as good at higher levels, but unless your party is routinely obtaining Temp HP through other means it's a solid choice. Plus it's thematically in line with a character in a support role. If you don't think if yourself as the "leader" of the group(but let's be honest, doesn't every Bard think they're the leader to some degree?), think of yourself more like a motivational speaker type.
Based on my post just before this one, at level 4, you'll have a good idea who will be using temp HP on the regular, barring a 3 level dip down the line. The Celestial Warlock is the only one that gets an ability post level 3 that deals with temp HP currently.
Unless artificer has some abilities... I forgot to check that one and think that the artillerist does with the Protector (healing) mode of Eldritch Cannon 3rd level.
Alchemist 9th level can add temp HP.
That means that you'll only have Alchemist Artificer and Celestial Warlock to worry about post level 4 and to keep an eye on multiclassed characters (but a simple warning since they'll get the abilities after should suffice).
Hey all! Sorry for the delayed response here. Thank you all for the really detailed responses! I really appreciate the support and advice from the community!
Thank you! I hadn’t really considered crossbow expert since I don’t think I can attack more than once per turn (so I think that may lower the value of being able to quick reload?). But I could be wrong on that, so I’ll definitely double check on it. I definitely have to fill the face role, so Inspiring Leader feels like a good fit! Especially since I do a lot of healing.
Thats good to know! Yeah, I’m not really the damage dealer in the party. I chip in when needed or act defensively, but I usually spend my turns healing or buffing/debuffing. Or Inspiring of course. That’s good to know about War Caster as well. It all comes down to what spells I think I’ll be using, so I’m thinking maybe I’ll save War Caster for level 8 when I have a better idea of my spell list. Also good to know about my CON. I felt it was fairly average but wasn’t sure if it could use a boost. Thank you!
That’s a good idea! I didn’t realize other classes could have their own temporary HP abilities built in, and that would definitely hurt the usability of Inspiring Leader if other players didn’t need it. I think some other posts below detailed out some helpful tips about classes with temporary HP abilities, so I’m going to start there! Also that’s true. I definitely don’t have any crit type abilities. But I could see myself using it on saving throws etc to avoid status effects and things. Those can be so punishing, and I am the only support in the group, so if I go down... good luck everyone else lol.
Those numbers!! That’s extremely helpful as a breakdown. Any healing I can avoid having to dish out is super helpful because it means I can use my spell slots for more buff and debuff or utility purposes. Sometimes my buffs/debuff have to be glanced over because I’m hoarding my last couple spell slots in case of emergency healing needs. And even though I know they would help, I don’t really get to see them played that often! So saving myself the extra healing could be really powerful.
Oh, absolutely. Being the only support in the group amongst a bunch of DPR types and a tank or two, I often feel like if I went down, the party would crumble within so many rounds. That makes me somewhat of a Leader right?? And I’m definitely the emotional support for all of the party members thus far as well as the combat support. So, it think it falls perfectly in line character wise. And it sounds from your numbers and from others’ as well that the THP can make a big difference in a day.