Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 PeteZero Apr 02, 2015 7:54:12	I want to create a half-elf lore bard for Adventurer’s League. But, with their low AC I am thinking about taking one level of life cleric. For the build: STR 10, DEX 14, CON 15, INT 9, WIS 14, CHA 16 Improvements: CHA+2 at level 4 and 8, Level 12: Resilient CON   I was thinking of going cleric first, to get WIS saves, but loose some weapon proficiences   Skills: Acrobatics, Deception, Insight, Perception, Performance, Persuasion, Stealth At 3rd level bard add: Athletics, Intimidation, Sleight of Hand Expertise: Perception, Persuasion   Background: Entertainer   Cantrips: Cleric: Guidance, Mending, Sacred Flame   Bard: Friends, Minor Illusion, Vicious Mockery 1st level: Dissonant Whispers, Faerie Fire, Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, Sleep (replaced by Thunderwave) 2nd level: Hold Person, Silence   Any suggestions, improvements are highly appreciated.
#2 mellored Apr 02, 2015 8:13:18	You get level 1 cleric spells too.  Bless is a good one.   And you might not want sacred flame, since it will be a Wis attack and you will have Cha.  But it's not neccicaraly the worst choice.   Otherwise, that's pretty much what i would do.
#3 SterlingRat Apr 02, 2015 8:39:15	You want to mix Lore Bard and Cleric, so my first thought is a Charismatic Revival Preacher - especially with the persuasion expertise and entertainer background. My second thought is a travelling blues/gospel musician - but I would do expertise in Performance for that. Have you picked a deity?
#4 PeteZero Apr 02, 2015 11:07:27	Was thinking maybe Sune. What are other good cantrips then?  Mending and thaumaturgy are okay I guess.
#5 spanglemaker Apr 02, 2015 11:13:37	It Remember in AL, levels 1-4 you can change everything apart from your equipment, coinage and name, as you level up.   So you can use Sacred Flame, until you want to swap it out, as long as you do it on or before 4th Level. You may fancy playing with Thaumaturgy as its SFX could be useful to a bard.    Also what about your party? What roles are you doing in the party, who is covering what?   For example, I am playing a Fey Tomelock 3/ Bard 1, My party is made up of a fighter, a ranger, 2 Paladins, a barbarian and my character. The Ranger and I cover the stealth, but my character is better than him, what with an Owl Familiar, Devils Sight. Ranger and I also cover a Thieves Tools. My Bard Tomelock covers the Arcane, Persuasion and Deception roles, and supports the team with Guidance and Bardic abilities.  The Ranger is seriously good in combat, whereas my character is more utility, but it's all about what you want to play.   It looks like you want your Half Elf Lore Bard, to be confident in shady situations and be a party face useful in getting out or away from situations when caught. What type of entertainer are you? Your Deity would also be important, the charismatic preacher sounds fun.
#6 SterlingRat Apr 02, 2015 11:29:20	Sune, eh? Too hippy to be a charismatic preacher, then, but you would fit right in with the singing heartthrob... wait... omg...     Make Bieber. See how long you can last until the rest of the table kills your character. Try to make sure they don't kill you, too.     Guidance, Thaumaturgy (great for singing in a crowd), Mending (Sometimes crowds get out of hand and start tearing at your clothes - You have to look good at all times)   Bless and Command are both good L1 Cleric spells.
#7 mellored Apr 02, 2015 11:43:05	PeteZero wrote:
#8 WizardV Apr 02, 2015 15:32:02	I see nothing definitely problematic.   Keep in mind with your strength you'll lose 10 movement speed if you wear most heavy armor. You could negate this by swapping your str and dex and sucking a point from con to str. It will hurt your initiative and several bard skills though. Just an option I wanted to point out and something to remember. Otherwise you'll be using medium armor.   If you are happy with medium armor there are other domains you can consider.   For spells, I think your concentration is mostly going to be taken up by bless. Bless is just amazing, especially with bardic inspiration. Get yourself a great weapon fighter or sharpshooter pal and tear encounters up. As such I don't know if you'll get much use out of faerie fire. I would recommend disguise self if you are taking friends. Otherwise that cantrip doesnt get much use due to the immediately hostility.   If you are looking for a disable I have found phantasmal force to be both easier to land (better stat and more applicable targets) and longer lasting than hold person. As with any illusion your DM can totally make it suck though. Alternatively there is Blindness/Deafness since your concentration is probably going to be taken up by bless either way.   Some other second level spells I get a lot of use in a plot heavy game are invisibility and enhance ability.
#9 PeteZero Apr 03, 2015 3:01:43	Thanks for all the help.   As this is for Adventurer's League, very likely Prince of the Apocalypse, I need to see what team I get.   Thinking about deity, Lathander or Sune might work too.   Domains: Life is nice for Healing - and maybe take Goodberry and Aura of Vitality  later on. But, Light seems fine too.
#10 Zardnaar Apr 03, 2015 22:49:59	Level 7 you take aura of vitality and good berry if you want to cheese out your healing. Lights not that good with only a single cleric level.
#11 Ashrym Apr 04, 2015 2:09:34	You have too many concentration spells.  I would go with healing word, dissonant whispers, tasha's, sleep, blindness/deafness, and invisibility.  As mentioned, you will likely be usin concentration for bless and taking life cleric doesn't do much good without including healing spells.  You might prepare one from the cleric list but I would go with other cleric spells.  I would also drop sacred flame and just use a crossbow; if you do have damage concerns then pick up poison spray or eldritch blast later using magical secrets when there are enough damage dice to make it worth your investment.
#12 Greenstone.Walker Apr 04, 2015 4:28:43	PeteZero wrote:
#13 PeteZero Apr 04, 2015 8:29:27	It works: Cleric gives Insight and Persuasion, Background gives Acrobatics and Performance, Half-elf Deception and Stealth, then taking bard gives Perception.   I want cleric for AC, and as WIS saves are more important, WIS saves.   Basically in the end it is WIS saves vs DEX saves, some extra weapon proficiences and two musical instruments. I don't see an option to get proficiency in another save quite soon.
#14 diplomancer Apr 07, 2015 8:04:09	There are two additional drawback with going Cleric at first level. First, you lose your flexibility; suppose you realize that your party does not need that much healing, but it's lacking on knowledge skills. Too bad, you are already set with the Life Cleric benefit, you can't get the knowledge cleric. Secondly, you're delaying your 3rd level spells, which may be a big deal on some campaigns.   You may decide that proficiency on WIS saves beats these drawbacks, but it is something to consider.
#15 ChrisKlink Apr 07, 2015 8:42:18	I think the WIS saves lose some shine in light of the fact that you're half-elf.  Half-Elf gets immunity to (magic) sleep and advantage vs charm.  So, you're not getting FULL benefit from WIS save proficiency; you've already got partial coverage.