Bard Prestige Classes? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Bard Prestige Classes? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
ericSHINRA
04-19-06, 03:27 PM I'm going to be playing a bard in my next campaign but eventually I want him to increase his melee combat abilities. I believe there is one PrC in the Complete Warrior for Bards but I dont know anything about it.

Also, it would be nice to know of any other classes which would help by bard become a better swordsman later on.

Thanks,
ericSHINRA
Lotus Crane
04-19-06, 03:32 PM You're probably thinking of the War Chanter PrC. However, you can add a lot of fighting ability as a pure bard by taking the Arcane Strike feat, also in Complete Warrior.
ericSHINRA
04-19-06, 03:38 PM Hmm, but do Bardic Spells count as Arcane Spells?
One of the prereq's is to have 3rd Level Arcane Spell Casting.
Pliskit
04-19-06, 03:51 PM Maybe you should check Crystalkeep (http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/rules/DnD3.5Index-Classes-Prestige.pdf), the site sports a very complete index to all prestige classes available, at page 9 it shows which PrCs are available to Bards.
yuenglingdragon
04-19-06, 04:26 PM Hmm, but do Bardic Spells count as Arcane Spells?
One of the prereq's is to have 3rd Level Arcane Spell Casting.
Yes, Bards cast arcane spells. If you'd like to be an elf or half elf, the Bladesinger is interesting. You get a dodge bonus equal to your class level up to your Int bonus when wielding a long sword or rapier in one hand and nothing in your other hand. Eventually you can quicken a single spell for no cost once per day, and the cap stone ability lets you make an extra attack when you full attack but every attack gets a -2 penalty.

The War Chanter is much more martial though and may be more to your liking.
Mitchell
04-20-06, 02:13 AM And while it won't help with your casting, there is also the Dragon Disciple.
http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/dragonDisciple.html

Just thought I would mention it.
anki
04-20-06, 02:34 AM There is also the Dervish PrC from Complete Warrior,if melee is what your after.The dragon disciple is cool (played one my self) you gain all the benefits from the half-dragon template but you take a blow to your spell casting abilities.you get more spells per day but no new spells...there is also the Dirge Singer from Libris Mortis.
Vaelan
04-20-06, 07:18 AM The War Chanter really just makes you better at making others better in combat. It does relatively little for your combat ability beyond granting you full BAB.

I have found that a straight Bard is better in combat due to their spells.
Duedaine
04-20-06, 09:17 AM What about a warrior skald? They are warriors who comprise poetry while they fight.
The_Shaman
04-20-06, 09:46 AM Maybe... Personally, I was a fan of the fochsylan lyrist if you don't mind putting in a lot of levels around. You invest a lot but the rewards are imo worth it if you have the high charisma and wisdom to benefit from developing both classes. Aside from that, a harper may be nice because of RP reasons, and the BoED Troubadour of the Stars lets you really get wild at times.
Two feats I simply adore (coolness potential nearing infinity) are disguise spell from Complete Adventurer (iirc) and requiem from Libris Mortis. The first lets you cast a spell while making it look like you are doing something else (you play the harp and suddenly everyone in the tavern is charmed), while the second lets your music affect undead.
Nyaz
04-20-06, 09:56 AM Eldritch knight is available to bards at mid- to high-levels. It's in the DMG and it is the ultimate combination of fighting skills and arcane magic. In my opinion.
CaoSlayer
04-20-06, 09:58 AM The warrior skald have a mechanical fail, only have d6 for hp, so they cant stand in close combat being the full bab almost useless.

Warchanter it is a pretty good prc theme and stat wise, the interesting thing about this prc it is that you get more benefits the least bard-like you are.

for being a good warchanter, you should take only one or two levels of bard for getting the skill prerequisites, the rest of the classes it is better if is fighter, barbarian or ranger cause you get good hd and the most important thing: turns charisma into a dump stat.

With almost no spellcasting, you can have a low charisma and the most important, thing: you dont have ASF with bardic music, so you can be a bard in full plate armor all the time.
frasmage
04-20-06, 01:55 PM If you like that arcane strike stuff, might I suggest the subblime chord PrC (CA)
it gives you many spells and higher levels to allow more powerful arcane strikes, not to mention fun new songs
Vaalingrade Ashland
04-20-06, 03:01 PM You're better straight classing bard. Most PrCs, including Warchanter make you sacrifice all your good bardy stuff (Inspire courage, greatness, mass suggestion).
Blank_the_Bard
04-20-06, 05:11 PM You might want to see if your DM will let you adapt the Dawncaller from Races of Stone to a non-Goliath race. They get a full BAB, decent hps, some interesting bardic music abilities (inspiring rage, fatigue immunity, damage reduction, etc), and the levels stack with bard levels for inspire courage. You do lose the spellcasting, but if you're looking for a more combat oriented bard, I'd say the Dawncaller is pretty good for it.
Jaxgaret
04-20-06, 06:42 PM The only two melee Bard-only PrCs I can find are the Battle Howler of Gruumsh (Dragon 311) and the Harper Paragon (PGF).

The War Chanter is, as other people have stated, not really a true Bard PrC. It is best suited to be used as a hybrid PrC for a character with one level of Bard and levels in melee classes such as Barbarian.

The most common way for a Bard character to become more melee-oriented is to splash a few levels of a full BAB class directly, and leave the rest as Bard. Bard16/Melee4 is the usual build, netting you 16 BAB and 7th-level spellcasting at level 20. Melee can be any combination of Fighter, Barbarian, Ranger, Eldritch Knight, Hexblade, etc.
CaoSlayer
04-22-06, 03:55 AM The most common way for a Bard character to become more melee-oriented is to splash a few levels of a full BAB class directly, and leave the rest as Bard. Bard16/Melee4 is the usual build, netting you 16 BAB and 7th-level spellcasting at level 20. Melee can be any combination of Fighter, Barbarian, Ranger, Eldritch Knight, Hexblade, etc.

or ever prc...

most fighter/mage prc works nicely for getting the final attack, I personally recomend bladesinger because a bard 16/blade singer 4 ends with bab 16 and a spellcasting of 18, also keeps itself thematic.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ericSHINRA 04-19-06, 03:27 PM	I'm going to be playing a bard in my next campaign but eventually I want him to increase his melee combat abilities. I believe there is one PrC in the Complete Warrior for Bards but I dont know anything about it. Also, it would be nice to know of any other classes which would help by bard become a better swordsman later on. Thanks, ericSHINRA
Lotus Crane 04-19-06, 03:32 PM	You're probably thinking of the War Chanter PrC. However, you can add a lot of fighting ability as a pure bard by taking the Arcane Strike feat, also in Complete Warrior.
ericSHINRA 04-19-06, 03:38 PM	Hmm, but do Bardic Spells count as Arcane Spells? One of the prereq's is to have 3rd Level Arcane Spell Casting.
Pliskit 04-19-06, 03:51 PM	Maybe you should check Crystalkeep (http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/rules/DnD3.5Index-Classes-Prestige.pdf), the site sports a very complete index to all prestige classes available, at page 9 it shows which PrCs are available to Bards.
yuenglingdragon 04-19-06, 04:26 PM	Hmm, but do Bardic Spells count as Arcane Spells? One of the prereq's is to have 3rd Level Arcane Spell Casting. Yes, Bards cast arcane spells. If you'd like to be an elf or half elf, the Bladesinger is interesting. You get a dodge bonus equal to your class level up to your Int bonus when wielding a long sword or rapier in one hand and nothing in your other hand. Eventually you can quicken a single spell for no cost once per day, and the cap stone ability lets you make an extra attack when you full attack but every attack gets a -2 penalty. The War Chanter is much more martial though and may be more to your liking.
Mitchell 04-20-06, 02:13 AM	And while it won't help with your casting, there is also the Dragon Disciple. http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/dragonDisciple.html Just thought I would mention it.
anki 04-20-06, 02:34 AM	There is also the Dervish PrC from Complete Warrior,if melee is what your after.The dragon disciple is cool (played one my self) you gain all the benefits from the half-dragon template but you take a blow to your spell casting abilities.you get more spells per day but no new spells...there is also the Dirge Singer from Libris Mortis.
Vaelan 04-20-06, 07:18 AM	The War Chanter really just makes you better at making others better in combat. It does relatively little for your combat ability beyond granting you full BAB. I have found that a straight Bard is better in combat due to their spells.
Duedaine 04-20-06, 09:17 AM	What about a warrior skald? They are warriors who comprise poetry while they fight.
The_Shaman 04-20-06, 09:46 AM	Maybe... Personally, I was a fan of the fochsylan lyrist if you don't mind putting in a lot of levels around. You invest a lot but the rewards are imo worth it if you have the high charisma and wisdom to benefit from developing both classes. Aside from that, a harper may be nice because of RP reasons, and the BoED Troubadour of the Stars lets you really get wild at times. Two feats I simply adore (coolness potential nearing infinity) are disguise spell from Complete Adventurer (iirc) and requiem from Libris Mortis. The first lets you cast a spell while making it look like you are doing something else (you play the harp and suddenly everyone in the tavern is charmed), while the second lets your music affect undead.
Nyaz 04-20-06, 09:56 AM	Eldritch knight is available to bards at mid- to high-levels. It's in the DMG and it is the ultimate combination of fighting skills and arcane magic. In my opinion.
CaoSlayer 04-20-06, 09:58 AM	The warrior skald have a mechanical fail, only have d6 for hp, so they cant stand in close combat being the full bab almost useless. Warchanter it is a pretty good prc theme and stat wise, the interesting thing about this prc it is that you get more benefits the least bard-like you are. for being a good warchanter, you should take only one or two levels of bard for getting the skill prerequisites, the rest of the classes it is better if is fighter, barbarian or ranger cause you get good hd and the most important thing: turns charisma into a dump stat. With almost no spellcasting, you can have a low charisma and the most important, thing: you dont have ASF with bardic music, so you can be a bard in full plate armor all the time.
frasmage 04-20-06, 01:55 PM	If you like that arcane strike stuff, might I suggest the subblime chord PrC (CA) it gives you many spells and higher levels to allow more powerful arcane strikes, not to mention fun new songs
Vaalingrade Ashland 04-20-06, 03:01 PM	You're better straight classing bard. Most PrCs, including Warchanter make you sacrifice all your good bardy stuff (Inspire courage, greatness, mass suggestion).
Blank_the_Bard 04-20-06, 05:11 PM	You might want to see if your DM will let you adapt the Dawncaller from Races of Stone to a non-Goliath race. They get a full BAB, decent hps, some interesting bardic music abilities (inspiring rage, fatigue immunity, damage reduction, etc), and the levels stack with bard levels for inspire courage. You do lose the spellcasting, but if you're looking for a more combat oriented bard, I'd say the Dawncaller is pretty good for it.
Jaxgaret 04-20-06, 06:42 PM	The only two melee Bard-only PrCs I can find are the Battle Howler of Gruumsh (Dragon 311) and the Harper Paragon (PGF). The War Chanter is, as other people have stated, not really a true Bard PrC. It is best suited to be used as a hybrid PrC for a character with one level of Bard and levels in melee classes such as Barbarian. The most common way for a Bard character to become more melee-oriented is to splash a few levels of a full BAB class directly, and leave the rest as Bard. Bard16/Melee4 is the usual build, netting you 16 BAB and 7th-level spellcasting at level 20. Melee can be any combination of Fighter, Barbarian, Ranger, Eldritch Knight, Hexblade, etc.
CaoSlayer 04-22-06, 03:55 AM	The most common way for a Bard character to become more melee-oriented is to splash a few levels of a full BAB class directly, and leave the rest as Bard. Bard16/Melee4 is the usual build, netting you 16 BAB and 7th-level spellcasting at level 20. Melee can be any combination of Fighter, Barbarian, Ranger, Eldritch Knight, Hexblade, etc. or ever prc... most fighter/mage prc works nicely for getting the final attack, I personally recomend bladesinger because a bard 16/blade singer 4 ends with bab 16 and a spellcasting of 18, also keeps itself thematic.