There Unfortunately Isn't (30/365)
The Ravenclaw Bard as I like to call him is a project I came up with to make the Bard actually worth a flying backwards monkey fuck.
In case you can't tell, I don't particularly think the Bard is very good at anything. Admittedly, the Bard is also designed to be the 'everyman' in D&D but I personally think that the design of the Bard failed to make it useful over their 20 levels.
So I decided to try and fix it.
The Bard in question is actually one of the Thrakos family, one Revon "Rev" Thrakos. He's older than Leon and Alarian but was born when Lucian had already made a name for himself. The idea started with me removing or replacing as many of the standard bard abilities as I could because, let's be frank here, most of them suck so much horse dick you might as well be talking about a mare.
To that end I scoured the books and came upon a curious fact:
You can't replace Suggestion.
No, I'm serious. There's nothing out there for it. Well, nothing good at least.
Might I point out that this is quite possibly the most useless of useless abilities the Bard has? Because, seriously, who's gonna sit there while you sing to them. I mean, picture this with me:
Your party is negotiating and isn't gaining any ground in the talks. So your bard suddenly, out of the blue, starts playing his lute and singing and suddenly the guy leading the negotiations starts agreeing to everything you want.
How is this useful?
Anyway.
For the other abilities, I like Inspire Courage and Inspire Greatness but Inspire Heroics kind of sucks by comparison.
Countersong --> Spellbreaker Song
Fascinate --> Healing Hymn
Suggestion -->
Inspire Competence --> Planar Inspiration
Mass Suggestion -->
Song of Freedom -->
Inspire Heorics -->
As you can see there just....isn't a whole lot out there for the Bard. Roughly half the abilities don't have any sort of alternative or the alternative is just as bad as the original. Clearly, to my mind, the Bard was more or less abandoned into a niche, nearly useless role by the game designers.
This leaves me with two sources to draw from in order to make the Bard useful -- feats and PrCs. Most people would tell me the obvious choice is Sublime Chord and Bardic Music feats -- who doesn't want 9th level spells and a way to put all that bardic music to work, right?
Personally, I like Seeker of the Song better though.
My solution isn't so much to use Bardic Music feats as much as it is to use Bardic Music usages to power other abilities.
Ergo!
Level
1 Bard Skill Focus (Perform), Melodic Casting
2 Bard
3 Bard Battle Dancer
4 Bard
5 Bard
6 Bard Quicken Spell
7 Bard
8 Bard
9 Magical Trickster Snowflake Wardance
10 Magical Trickster Empower Spell
11 Seeker of the Song
12 Lyric Thaumaturge Rapid Metamagic
13 Seeker of the Song
14 Lyric Thaumaturge Captivating Melody
15 Seeker of the Song Versatile Spellcaster
16 Lyric Thaumaturge
17 Seeker of the Song
18 Lyric Thaumaturge Energy Substitution (Sonic)
19 Seeker of the Song
20 Lyric Thaumaturge
So there are probably two questions you have for me: What am I doing and where does Ravenclaw fit in?
The second question is easier to answer than the first: Simply put, originally, this bard was going to be the latest in the line of a family of heroes who all used a longsword called Ravenclaw. Hence the name and title. Now he'll just end up using a magic longsword called Ravenclaw.
As to what I'm doing?
Well that's a more difficult question to answer I think. What it boils down to is that I'm attempting to turn the Bard into a three-way gish that can use melee, spellcasting, and bardic music.
The first step is, of course, Bard with all those substitutions I talked about before. Those 8 levels give me a solid foundation for all three of the areas I wanted to work on. Three fourths BAB and all that plus most of the good bardic music abilities. I get Inspire Courage up to +2, I get Spellbreaker Song, Healing Hymn, and Planar Inspiration. Unforunately I also get Suggestion but that's a small price to pay for getting access to alot of the cool Bard abilities and spells (Seriously, read the Spell Compendium. Bard casting kinda rocks now).
From there I grab two levels of Magical Trickster and why?
Mostly for a free metamagic feat but also for the ability to "recharge" my skill tricks by using spell slots. While Bards don't have alot of extra spell slots running around it does me that extra edge every now and then and that's mostly what this character is about: Having that extra something now and again.
Those two levels take up through the first ten levels of the build and the last ten levels are an even split between Seeker of the Song and Lyric Thaumaturge. The former gives me some fairly potent usages for Bardic Music plus the ability to use two different Seeker and/or Bardic Music abilities along with some fairly nice bonuses when I'm actually singing. The latter buffs my spellcasting in a way on the Sublime Chord can exceed at and I get to hammer folks with sonic damage like it's going out of style.
So feats?
At first level I pick up Skill Focus in Perform which is required for Seeker of the Song and I also get Melodic Casting which allows me to cast spells while using Bardic Music or simliar abilities (ie, Seeker Music). If I were using Flaws the two extra feats I'd grab would be Extra Music and I'd move Empower Spell down to first level (Quicken Spell would move to where Empower Spell was) and then I'd probably stick something else in place of Quicken Spell. What, I don't know. Maybe shuffle things a bit more and pick up Metamagic Song.
But I digress.
At third level I grab Battle Dancer (PHB II). It's a feat that relies on me using Bardic Music (I'd personally say anything that requires a use of Bardic Music but that's me) and moving before attacking. If I meet the requirements I get a +2 bonus on my attackk rolls. This helps with the whole "melee bit" and starts setting me up for getting multiple, if weak, hits.
Sixth level is when I get Quicken Spell normally which I need for Magical Trickster. The reason I get Quicken Spell specifically even though it's fairly useless to me for a while is because I'm able to cast spells while using my Music abilities. Using Quicken Spell means I can cast most of spells while still maintaining my bardic music. Luckily enough for me, though, I think most of my Music abilities don't require concentration.
Ninth level I grab Snowflake Wardance which is a feat from Frostburn. If I burn a use of bardic music and I can add my Charisma Mod to attack rolls with one handed slashing weapons (that have to be used in one hand for the feat to work). While it's not as awesome as it could've been, it's sort of like a mini dervish dance and will definitely let me lay the hurt on someone because I'll be hitting them pretty often.
10th level is when I get a bonus Metamagic feat and I decided on Empower Spell which'll be useful in many cases I'm sure.
12th level I grab Rapid Metamagic for the express purpose of using Quicken Spell (though Empower Spell doesn't hurt either). While I can only quicken my 1st level spells it's still pretty cool and I can empower spells of up to 3rd level.
At 14th level I get Captivating Melody as a bonus feat from Lyric Thaumaturge....I'm honestly not sure what good this'll do me but upping the save DCs of two schools of spells can never really hurt.
15th level and I grab Versatile Spellcaster from Races of the Dragon. It's sort of a mixed blessing if you want the truth. On the one hand, I need my lower level spells because I can use Metamagic on them but on the other hand, using Versatile Spellcaster lets me get off more of my big spells per day by burning the lower level ones. If nothing else it gives me the extra something when I need it which is all what this guy is about.
And then at 18th level I get my last feat: Energy Sub(Sonic). Now why Sonic? One, he's a bard. It fits. Two? Sonic Might from Lyric Thaumaturge which I get at 20th level. In essence, Sonic Might lets me add +5d6 damage to any sonic spell I cast by spending a use of music for the day....what does Energy Sub do? Oh yeah....anything can be sonic now. Noce huh?
All in all, he's not spectacluar but he's versatile and useful and all around unpredictable. He's always got an ace up his sleeve it seems which is what I wanted him to turn out as so I'm pretty happy.
Siege Engineer, Knob, Alikin, Hidden Talent Fighter, Joshua Numenor, Multiterrain Shocktrooper, Ubertrooper, Warblade/Lurk Concept Char, Balthas Kasra, Kurth, Alarian Thrakos, Tarman Vorse, Spellsmiter, Highlander Build, Original Gideon, Dragonmage, Melee-ist Fighter, Skarn Bloodclaw, Paladin of Revelry, "Standard Fighter", Master of Chains, Mounted Archer, Arisias, Whirlwind, Vykes, Anarok Tor, Cerberus Ranger, Kobold Pick Fighter, Magekiller, Ebin, William Corshek, Grappler, Stormlord Cleric, Storm Mage, Lucky Adventurer, Toguro Character, Slashing Killer, Unkillable Sorcerer, Meta-Mage, Voice of Gruumsh, Hunter of Man, Force Mage, Bardic Dervish, Dragon Avatar, Halberdier, Assassin Homage, Dragoon
In case you can't tell, I don't particularly think the Bard is very good at anything. Admittedly, the Bard is also designed to be the 'everyman' in D&D but I personally think that the design of the Bard failed to make it useful over their 20 levels.
So I decided to try and fix it.
The Bard in question is actually one of the Thrakos family, one Revon "Rev" Thrakos. He's older than Leon and Alarian but was born when Lucian had already made a name for himself. The idea started with me removing or replacing as many of the standard bard abilities as I could because, let's be frank here, most of them suck so much horse dick you might as well be talking about a mare.
To that end I scoured the books and came upon a curious fact:
You can't replace Suggestion.
No, I'm serious. There's nothing out there for it. Well, nothing good at least.
Might I point out that this is quite possibly the most useless of useless abilities the Bard has? Because, seriously, who's gonna sit there while you sing to them. I mean, picture this with me:
Your party is negotiating and isn't gaining any ground in the talks. So your bard suddenly, out of the blue, starts playing his lute and singing and suddenly the guy leading the negotiations starts agreeing to everything you want.
How is this useful?
Anyway.
For the other abilities, I like Inspire Courage and Inspire Greatness but Inspire Heroics kind of sucks by comparison.
Countersong --> Spellbreaker Song
Fascinate --> Healing Hymn
Suggestion -->
Inspire Competence --> Planar Inspiration
Mass Suggestion -->
Song of Freedom -->
Inspire Heorics -->
As you can see there just....isn't a whole lot out there for the Bard. Roughly half the abilities don't have any sort of alternative or the alternative is just as bad as the original. Clearly, to my mind, the Bard was more or less abandoned into a niche, nearly useless role by the game designers.
This leaves me with two sources to draw from in order to make the Bard useful -- feats and PrCs. Most people would tell me the obvious choice is Sublime Chord and Bardic Music feats -- who doesn't want 9th level spells and a way to put all that bardic music to work, right?
Personally, I like Seeker of the Song better though.
My solution isn't so much to use Bardic Music feats as much as it is to use Bardic Music usages to power other abilities.
Ergo!
Level
1 Bard Skill Focus (Perform), Melodic Casting
2 Bard
3 Bard Battle Dancer
4 Bard
5 Bard
6 Bard Quicken Spell
7 Bard
8 Bard
9 Magical Trickster Snowflake Wardance
10 Magical Trickster Empower Spell
11 Seeker of the Song
12 Lyric Thaumaturge Rapid Metamagic
13 Seeker of the Song
14 Lyric Thaumaturge Captivating Melody
15 Seeker of the Song Versatile Spellcaster
16 Lyric Thaumaturge
17 Seeker of the Song
18 Lyric Thaumaturge Energy Substitution (Sonic)
19 Seeker of the Song
20 Lyric Thaumaturge
So there are probably two questions you have for me: What am I doing and where does Ravenclaw fit in?
The second question is easier to answer than the first: Simply put, originally, this bard was going to be the latest in the line of a family of heroes who all used a longsword called Ravenclaw. Hence the name and title. Now he'll just end up using a magic longsword called Ravenclaw.
As to what I'm doing?
Well that's a more difficult question to answer I think. What it boils down to is that I'm attempting to turn the Bard into a three-way gish that can use melee, spellcasting, and bardic music.
The first step is, of course, Bard with all those substitutions I talked about before. Those 8 levels give me a solid foundation for all three of the areas I wanted to work on. Three fourths BAB and all that plus most of the good bardic music abilities. I get Inspire Courage up to +2, I get Spellbreaker Song, Healing Hymn, and Planar Inspiration. Unforunately I also get Suggestion but that's a small price to pay for getting access to alot of the cool Bard abilities and spells (Seriously, read the Spell Compendium. Bard casting kinda rocks now).
From there I grab two levels of Magical Trickster and why?
Mostly for a free metamagic feat but also for the ability to "recharge" my skill tricks by using spell slots. While Bards don't have alot of extra spell slots running around it does me that extra edge every now and then and that's mostly what this character is about: Having that extra something now and again.
Those two levels take up through the first ten levels of the build and the last ten levels are an even split between Seeker of the Song and Lyric Thaumaturge. The former gives me some fairly potent usages for Bardic Music plus the ability to use two different Seeker and/or Bardic Music abilities along with some fairly nice bonuses when I'm actually singing. The latter buffs my spellcasting in a way on the Sublime Chord can exceed at and I get to hammer folks with sonic damage like it's going out of style.
So feats?
At first level I pick up Skill Focus in Perform which is required for Seeker of the Song and I also get Melodic Casting which allows me to cast spells while using Bardic Music or simliar abilities (ie, Seeker Music). If I were using Flaws the two extra feats I'd grab would be Extra Music and I'd move Empower Spell down to first level (Quicken Spell would move to where Empower Spell was) and then I'd probably stick something else in place of Quicken Spell. What, I don't know. Maybe shuffle things a bit more and pick up Metamagic Song.
But I digress.
At third level I grab Battle Dancer (PHB II). It's a feat that relies on me using Bardic Music (I'd personally say anything that requires a use of Bardic Music but that's me) and moving before attacking. If I meet the requirements I get a +2 bonus on my attackk rolls. This helps with the whole "melee bit" and starts setting me up for getting multiple, if weak, hits.
Sixth level is when I get Quicken Spell normally which I need for Magical Trickster. The reason I get Quicken Spell specifically even though it's fairly useless to me for a while is because I'm able to cast spells while using my Music abilities. Using Quicken Spell means I can cast most of spells while still maintaining my bardic music. Luckily enough for me, though, I think most of my Music abilities don't require concentration.
Ninth level I grab Snowflake Wardance which is a feat from Frostburn. If I burn a use of bardic music and I can add my Charisma Mod to attack rolls with one handed slashing weapons (that have to be used in one hand for the feat to work). While it's not as awesome as it could've been, it's sort of like a mini dervish dance and will definitely let me lay the hurt on someone because I'll be hitting them pretty often.
10th level is when I get a bonus Metamagic feat and I decided on Empower Spell which'll be useful in many cases I'm sure.
12th level I grab Rapid Metamagic for the express purpose of using Quicken Spell (though Empower Spell doesn't hurt either). While I can only quicken my 1st level spells it's still pretty cool and I can empower spells of up to 3rd level.
At 14th level I get Captivating Melody as a bonus feat from Lyric Thaumaturge....I'm honestly not sure what good this'll do me but upping the save DCs of two schools of spells can never really hurt.
15th level and I grab Versatile Spellcaster from Races of the Dragon. It's sort of a mixed blessing if you want the truth. On the one hand, I need my lower level spells because I can use Metamagic on them but on the other hand, using Versatile Spellcaster lets me get off more of my big spells per day by burning the lower level ones. If nothing else it gives me the extra something when I need it which is all what this guy is about.
And then at 18th level I get my last feat: Energy Sub(Sonic). Now why Sonic? One, he's a bard. It fits. Two? Sonic Might from Lyric Thaumaturge which I get at 20th level. In essence, Sonic Might lets me add +5d6 damage to any sonic spell I cast by spending a use of music for the day....what does Energy Sub do? Oh yeah....anything can be sonic now. Noce huh?
All in all, he's not spectacluar but he's versatile and useful and all around unpredictable. He's always got an ace up his sleeve it seems which is what I wanted him to turn out as so I'm pretty happy.
Siege Engineer, Knob, Alikin, Hidden Talent Fighter, Joshua Numenor, Multiterrain Shocktrooper, Ubertrooper, Warblade/Lurk Concept Char, Balthas Kasra, Kurth, Alarian Thrakos, Tarman Vorse, Spellsmiter, Highlander Build, Original Gideon, Dragonmage, Melee-ist Fighter, Skarn Bloodclaw, Paladin of Revelry, "Standard Fighter", Master of Chains, Mounted Archer, Arisias, Whirlwind, Vykes, Anarok Tor, Cerberus Ranger, Kobold Pick Fighter, Magekiller, Ebin, William Corshek, Grappler, Stormlord Cleric, Storm Mage, Lucky Adventurer, Toguro Character, Slashing Killer, Unkillable Sorcerer, Meta-Mage, Voice of Gruumsh, Hunter of Man, Force Mage, Bardic Dervish, Dragon Avatar, Halberdier, Assassin Homage, Dragoon