Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Dinue13 11-03-05, 08:59 PM	i have been thinking about making an elven bard for my campaign. the group im in now consists of a Barb, Pal, Fighter, 2 Druids, and a Sorc. the sorceror is into magic missles. we have no real skill people although one of the druids spread out his skills and has a ring of invisibility. we are level 2-3, ill be starting at level 2. the DM isnt really all that great at how skills work so im worried about making my bard. see i want him to be a real "charmer" (smart, handsome, polite,) i am hoping to influence attitudes and use my music to create more dialogue in our campaign. i figure skills are what defines a characters personality more than anything so i want to take diplomatic skills, (diplomacy, sense motive, gather information, bluff). although with no skill monkey in our group things like escape artist, hide, move silent and listen seem important too. also should i take 2 perform skills singing seems like the best option but id like to play the recorder too. hes smart so knowledge skills come into play i know i want knowledge history. what are some good options here? also when it comes to spells whats some interesting selections, i was thinking 0 level: Dancing lights Mage hand Prestitigatin Summon instrument Message Flare 1st Level: Charm person Hypnotism? Disguise Self? Cure light wounds? i really want him to be a pleasure to have around out of combat but also a worthy utility character to have during a fight. he'll probably use a Longbow, a Whip (Disarm, Trip) (combat expertise for better tripping and disarming) and a longsword or rapier just in case. which is why i think singing is important, hard to play a recorder when your shooting at the BBEG. anyhow i need some input on making a great gentleman bard, nothing to wild as far as builds and stuff or strange ideas. just some sound advise on roleplaying skills, and feats. any past experiences with a bard of this sort how will he get along with the Sorc or Barbarian (gnome)?
eagleye 11-04-05, 04:35 AM	Since you posted this in Character Development and not Character Optimalisation, the stats don't really matter. I understand you problem though: you want to play your character, and have the great idea of a gentleman. On the other hand do you want to contribute as much to the party as you can, filling in the large gab of utility skills it currently has. As you found out by now, you can't have it all. A good way might be to put your highest score in Int, and your second best in Cha, then Dex. With the high int, you might just have enough skill points to put a little in all. Remember that the bard is a Master Of None. So put some ranks in all, withouth trying to max them. Also try to make as much use of Skill Synergy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/usingSkills.htm#skillSynergy) as you can. If you want Knowledge Skills, take 5 ranks in both Knowledge(Local) and Knowledge(History), giving a +2 bonus to Gather information and Bardic knowledge. Your high Int gives a nice little bonus to your Knowledge skills, so 5 ranks should do. As a race choice, you might consider the Half-Elf, trying to be an ambasador between Humans and Elves, trying to bring them closer to each other. The bonus to both diplomacy and gather information is nice too ;)
Shar_Narishma 11-06-05, 02:11 PM	also, if you wish to conserve your skill points, only max 1 perform skill, and take the feat diverse preformer i belive it is called, from complete adventurer. it allows you to treat a # of perform skills equal to your int modifier as if you had ranks in them equal to your highest perform skill. so say you have 5 ranks in perform singing, and had an int modifier of 3, you would also be considered to have 5 ranks in perform wind*for the recorder* and 2 of perform skills of your choice... probably like dance*a gentleman must know how to dance* and then one other. that could help with the skills, allowing you to use them on skills other than perform.