Best Bard Spells [Archive] - Wizards Community

Best Bard Spells [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
FabulousRex
05-29-06, 03:15 AM Hey there, I'm starting up a new PC for a friend's campaign setting, and I was wondering what some of the new and improved Bard spells are like that are out there. Now, I do have a personal reason for this, but I'm also interested in just a general repository of good Bard spells that work for various different play styles.

Bard spells have always seemed to be a tad hard to use, due to the inherent lower level and much lower DCs. However, given the sheer variety available, there's probably a bunch of spells that I've either overlooked, or simply not thought of as any good.

So let's see what's out there, what's good, what's bad, and what's just plain fun! :D
Pandaemoni
05-29-06, 04:12 AM For my money, Glibness and Modify Memory have always been the best bard spells (plus both are bard-only). Both are more in the way of role-playing, rather than combat spells though.

For combat against spell casters, Silence is a great spell. One of my favorites is to cast silence on an unobtrusive item of my own (such as a gold piece or some bat guano or other common spell component) so there is no saving throw, then use Sleight of Hand to slip it into a wizard's backpack, beltpouch (or spell component pouch for the bat guano/spell component) of other obvious container.

Generally, on how this works mechanically, I'd argue (or, in my games, rule) that this is no harder than stealing an item from the same wizard, so DC 20 to successfully plant the coin/item. If you fail the wizards sees what your doing and you have failed to plant the item. Even if you succeed, the wizard gets a Spot sheck to determine if he knows you are planting it.

If you succeed (and he doesn't Spot what you're doing) he may not even know what item to dump to get himself "unslienced." Even if he knows to get rid of the container, if that container is his spell component pouch, he may be screwed. At higher levels, your Sleight of Hand score can be far higher than the typical wizard's Spot score, so the tactic only gets better.

On other spells, Grease is always a good pick. Also, I personally prefer spells that buff my allies of 4th level or lower over those what debuff my opponents (other than Dispel Magic). You generally get the same bonus for your side that you get as a penalty on your enemies, but without a saving throw. Lower level spells saving throws are too low to be useful at higher levels. The Heighten Spell feat can eliminate the problem, but only at the cost of having little you can do withoutr low level spell slots.

I do like Tasha's Hideous Laughter while at low levels though (later swapped out for something more effective).
CaoSlayer
05-29-06, 04:45 AM There are three ways to use a bard spell: offense, buffs and tools.

The spell list will depend of the kind of bard you are, there is not a must take list because a bard it is versatile and if you focus in a thing you should forget the spells of the other kind.

If you have a low charisma, you should forget about using offensive spells cause the low DC as you note, then you still can be a superb caster using buffers and tools and you can ever mix offensive spells without save such as grease (it is a balance check), otto´s dance and silence.

for an offensive bard there are two posible schools, illusion and enchantment. Illusion isnt a great school for attacking but have the added value of this high versatile tool spells such as veil or the image family so enchantment it is the stronger school for a bard, my personal two favorite enchantment spells are confusion and otto´s dance, confusion it is usually an overlooked spell but it is a battle winner, yes, it have little use against BBEGs but if you confuse the nearby minions you can easily disable them and ever make them attack the BBEG, it is a powerful field control spell. About otto, it is obvious, it is a spell that disables a foe without any save and so will work always against any enemy without enchantment inmunity.
FabulousRex
05-29-06, 02:59 PM Hmm, that's a pretty good point, there.

I suppose my style of Bard will be Melee Offensive, as I'm playing in a pretty rediculously high stat game, so I can afford to hit hard and have a really high CHA. All of the Enchantments do seem to offer quite alot of power, but I was also thinking of spells that are swift-action cast to enable more combat options. Greater Mirror Image from the PHB2 is fantastic, and Bladeweave could work really well for what I'm trying as well.

As for utility, I'm taking Glibness at the very least, but I'm unsure about alot of the other spells. I always figured that proper stat allocation would serve to cover up social interaction so that your spells could go towards combat, where you kinda need alot of help...
Lotus Crane
05-29-06, 03:08 PM Improvisation from the Spell Compendium is a 1st level bard spell that actually scales so well it becomes even more valuable at higher levels. Check it out, it'll be your best friend ever.
utilitarian
05-29-06, 09:21 PM for offense, try Sound Lance from the Spell Compendium (and probabaly from somewhere else, but I've given up refrencing any older sourcebook for spells)

1d8 damage per level, 3rd level (maybe even 2nd for bards, I can't remember as I have it as a scorc) single target, but being sonic damage it's a huge boon, as almost nothing has sonic resistance and you do full damage to objects.
Vaelan
05-29-06, 11:03 PM Arcane Strike may be useful if you don't spend Spells Known on offensive options.
smrtgmp
05-31-06, 05:30 AM siren's grace is pretty amazing. among other things, it adds your Cha bonus to your AC in the form of a deflection bonus.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
FabulousRex 05-29-06, 03:15 AM	Hey there, I'm starting up a new PC for a friend's campaign setting, and I was wondering what some of the new and improved Bard spells are like that are out there. Now, I do have a personal reason for this, but I'm also interested in just a general repository of good Bard spells that work for various different play styles. Bard spells have always seemed to be a tad hard to use, due to the inherent lower level and much lower DCs. However, given the sheer variety available, there's probably a bunch of spells that I've either overlooked, or simply not thought of as any good. So let's see what's out there, what's good, what's bad, and what's just plain fun! :D
Pandaemoni 05-29-06, 04:12 AM	For my money, Glibness and Modify Memory have always been the best bard spells (plus both are bard-only). Both are more in the way of role-playing, rather than combat spells though. For combat against spell casters, Silence is a great spell. One of my favorites is to cast silence on an unobtrusive item of my own (such as a gold piece or some bat guano or other common spell component) so there is no saving throw, then use Sleight of Hand to slip it into a wizard's backpack, beltpouch (or spell component pouch for the bat guano/spell component) of other obvious container. Generally, on how this works mechanically, I'd argue (or, in my games, rule) that this is no harder than stealing an item from the same wizard, so DC 20 to successfully plant the coin/item. If you fail the wizards sees what your doing and you have failed to plant the item. Even if you succeed, the wizard gets a Spot sheck to determine if he knows you are planting it. If you succeed (and he doesn't Spot what you're doing) he may not even know what item to dump to get himself "unslienced." Even if he knows to get rid of the container, if that container is his spell component pouch, he may be screwed. At higher levels, your Sleight of Hand score can be far higher than the typical wizard's Spot score, so the tactic only gets better. On other spells, Grease is always a good pick. Also, I personally prefer spells that buff my allies of 4th level or lower over those what debuff my opponents (other than Dispel Magic). You generally get the same bonus for your side that you get as a penalty on your enemies, but without a saving throw. Lower level spells saving throws are too low to be useful at higher levels. The Heighten Spell feat can eliminate the problem, but only at the cost of having little you can do withoutr low level spell slots. I do like Tasha's Hideous Laughter while at low levels though (later swapped out for something more effective).
CaoSlayer 05-29-06, 04:45 AM	There are three ways to use a bard spell: offense, buffs and tools. The spell list will depend of the kind of bard you are, there is not a must take list because a bard it is versatile and if you focus in a thing you should forget the spells of the other kind. If you have a low charisma, you should forget about using offensive spells cause the low DC as you note, then you still can be a superb caster using buffers and tools and you can ever mix offensive spells without save such as grease (it is a balance check), otto´s dance and silence. for an offensive bard there are two posible schools, illusion and enchantment. Illusion isnt a great school for attacking but have the added value of this high versatile tool spells such as veil or the image family so enchantment it is the stronger school for a bard, my personal two favorite enchantment spells are confusion and otto´s dance, confusion it is usually an overlooked spell but it is a battle winner, yes, it have little use against BBEGs but if you confuse the nearby minions you can easily disable them and ever make them attack the BBEG, it is a powerful field control spell. About otto, it is obvious, it is a spell that disables a foe without any save and so will work always against any enemy without enchantment inmunity.
FabulousRex 05-29-06, 02:59 PM	Hmm, that's a pretty good point, there. I suppose my style of Bard will be Melee Offensive, as I'm playing in a pretty rediculously high stat game, so I can afford to hit hard and have a really high CHA. All of the Enchantments do seem to offer quite alot of power, but I was also thinking of spells that are swift-action cast to enable more combat options. Greater Mirror Image from the PHB2 is fantastic, and Bladeweave could work really well for what I'm trying as well. As for utility, I'm taking Glibness at the very least, but I'm unsure about alot of the other spells. I always figured that proper stat allocation would serve to cover up social interaction so that your spells could go towards combat, where you kinda need alot of help...
Lotus Crane 05-29-06, 03:08 PM	Improvisation from the Spell Compendium is a 1st level bard spell that actually scales so well it becomes even more valuable at higher levels. Check it out, it'll be your best friend ever.
utilitarian 05-29-06, 09:21 PM	for offense, try Sound Lance from the Spell Compendium (and probabaly from somewhere else, but I've given up refrencing any older sourcebook for spells) 1d8 damage per level, 3rd level (maybe even 2nd for bards, I can't remember as I have it as a scorc) single target, but being sonic damage it's a huge boon, as almost nothing has sonic resistance and you do full damage to objects.
Vaelan 05-29-06, 11:03 PM	Arcane Strike may be useful if you don't spend Spells Known on offensive options.
smrtgmp 05-31-06, 05:30 AM	siren's grace is pretty amazing. among other things, it adds your Cha bonus to your AC in the form of a deflection bonus.