Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Scandal 09-27-04, 12:46 PM	want to make a bard BBEG but I want to find a way to get offensive music for him if possible.. I want to more focus on Music and combat ability then spells If I have to choose a way to go.. the build I was working with before was Bard 6/warchanter 5/ Warrior Skald 6/ warchanter 3?? For the two songs ability and the song of distress?? (warchanter I think) + song of Heroics?? (warrior skald 6th level song) and be able to melee If I need to and have 2nd level spells for little buffs.. But not sure if this is a sound build, no pun intended.. I do not have access to Dragon Magazine I do have the books listed in my Sig.. With those books what can I do to make an offensive bard type BBEG -Scan
UMiskatonic 09-27-04, 01:20 PM	Summon monster spells are on the bard list, as is improved invisibility, haste, and other good defensive spells. With a bard's high Charisma, they are also naturals for leadership. So, Players see the bard's cohort, and monsters start showing up as well. Bard song affects ALL of them with inspire courage, and possibly inspire greatness for the cohort. They can be hasted as well by the invisible bard. They can probably hear the bard, but with enough pressure from the rest of the crowd, they won't have time to go and look for him. He could easily be protected by, say, improved blink as well.
SolitudeSeraph 09-27-04, 01:29 PM	Cast Ventriloquism before you start singing..that'll throw them off to your location... But if you don't want to be a minion buffer...Satori made a very good melee bard you can find it here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=283425) My build is more robust than that.. Warrior Skald grants Bard Song stacking same as Warchanter does, and aside from the really cool Fear effect song, Song that Removes Fatigue, and the Endurance song, it gives me access to the Inspire Heroism, which starts counting additional targets after Character level 5!! Warchanter gives me the ability to Twist my Inspire Heroism with my Inspire Recklessness, and with Lingering Song, those last for as long as I sing +10 rounds. Why Inspire Recklessness you ask? Because it gives a Morale bonus to-hit equal to the person listening's H.D., which can be used to supplement Power Attack loss to attack, and lets everyone Power Attack (Including that character, since hes a Greatsword weilding Power Attacker himself) for, get this, all of their base attack! Very useful in a party with a couple THF bruisers and maybe even a Frenzied Berserk <shudder>. The next round is twisting the Lyricists Song of Fear (120' radius) and Inspire Toughness, then its on to just under a minute of death and destruction! You want to know the sick part? He uses Words of Creation to double the bonus' from Inspire Heroism (+8 to attack/damage, +8 to saves, and +8 Dodge bonus to AC) and add +2 MORE to the DC's of the Fear song (on top of the +2 from Dragonsong feat). And I only use Inspire Courage when there are more people than me and 5 others who need it, like hirelings and whatnot.
Scandal 09-27-04, 02:05 PM	I still need to get the Draconomicon so until then I don't have access to the Lyricist.. But I do like his build I have looked at it before ;-) But I also love Bard 6 for suggestion ability.. -Scan
CrippleMrOnion 09-27-04, 02:31 PM	I'm at work and don't have access to it right now, but if you'd like, I created a single-player Bard BBEG build that replaces the traditional "mutually-beneficial" music with more dangerous BBEG style music that'll allow you to use him in-game for multiple insidious plans and encounters. If you'd like a copy, just PM me and I'll email it to you later this evening. Most of the music is used to create chaos rather than cohesion like a normal bard. I also developed a specialized fighting style for him using a crook (like a shepherd uses). It sounds like it might be quite broken, but I worked to balance it... besides a single NPC vs. four people needs every advantage he can get.