The restrictions I know of are fairly small; Eberron setting ( so no out of setting material, like Forgotten Realms PrCs and races ), no Warforged ( plot reasons, bleh ) and no Tome series class ( so much for Bard\Warblade! ) although I can take Feats from them (
DM is being fickle.. ) which leaves just about every book ever published by WotC and any articles I can find and print out for his records.For starters my stats rolled up with said DMs method are, quite frankly, ridiculous; 18, 18, 18, 16, 16, 16.
This'll be a high-power game no doubt! Where I put them may be affected by my race selection but with stats like that I can be fairly liberal about where I CAN put them ( Dwarf Bard anyone? :D I kid, I kid.. ) so the question then becomes... what Race?Human is almost always my default for almost every single class I've played and campaign I've been in, as they can do no harm. Boring perhaps, a bit cliched yes, but it wouldn't hurt.. and there is the added perk that I'd be the only one in the group who isn't an unsociable Shifter wildman or a boozing Warforged lout ( this PC confused me too but apparently THAR CAN BE ONLY WUN!
) with negative modifiers in their Charisma and no Diplomacy\Bluff\etc skills to speak of ( Fighter didn't even twink out his Intimidate... ). By default that would, I think, make me the party face. Let's not resort to Diplomacy shenanigans here, though, I'd prefer to be in more then just one session!I'm also teetering on Feats and PrCs as the two can go hand in hand. Arcane Strike and Snowflake Wardance are almost a must and optimizing Inspire Courage for this melee-centric group is a necessity. Other then that I'm short on ideas or what PrCs can continue this growth without setting me back in Bardic Music or my meager spellcasting. In otherwords.. I want a gish that has it all -- everyone's dream, right?
Then there is the matter of gear. I have equivalent wealth to work with ( at 9th level that's 36k gp ) and have a Badge of Valor and Crystal Harmonizing Echo Sword all lined up but my mind is shot beyond that. A Cloak of Charisma perhaps or should I just prepare Eagle's Splendour scrolls\spells till I can afford the +6 one? Or do I aim for utility? Are metamagic rods a necessity ( Extend, Quicken, etc ) or are bajillions of utility spell scrolls worth more? This is my first, serious, optimized Bard so I'm lost on what to pick up.. the other two characters mentioned are, as I said, melee centric, a TWFer and a 2hander pure Fighter, so I may need to work my purchases around that, too, because I'm not playing God..err.. I mean CoDzilla.
Help me out here, will ya'!
You could also go with a diplomancer, as bards are good at that role, and it can be very powerful. A 1 level dip into Binder is awesome for that, to bind Naberius which lets you take 10 on Bluff and Diplomacy, and use Diplomacy as a standard action with no penalty. It also gives you Disguise Self at will, and a few other things. :D
Marshall is another good 1-2 level dip for bards, and something for Cha to saves is good, too.
And then there is also the Sublime Chord option, if you want sorcerer spells.
You can upgrade magic items. So go ahead and get a +Cha item, and upgrade it as you can afford to. The upgrade cost is just the difference in costs of the two items.
You could also go with a diplomancer, as bards are good at that role, and it can be very powerful. A 1 level dip into Binder is awesome for that, to bind Naberius which lets you take 10 on Bluff and Diplomacy, and use Diplomacy as a standard action with no penalty. It also gives you Disguise Self at will, and a few other things. :D
Marshall is another good 1-2 level dip for bards, and something for Cha to saves is good, too.
And then there is also the Sublime Chord option, if you want sorcerer spells.
Is the Dragon Shaman worth dipping into? Or is the Marshal better?
edit: doh, thought it was Cha-based but it's level based instead.... Marshal may be it!
Also, depending on what you'll be doing in eberron, you may want to pick up songs for different occassions. I'm currently playing in a sea campaign where our bard functions as a wind-maker, and essentially propels our ship by singing all day long.
Marshall has auras which allow you to apply your charisma modifier to different ability and skill checks. Taking a single level will give you the ability to apply your charisma bonus to one type of check (you have to choose when you take marshall though). Its basically like taking skill focus, except that it applies to everyone within 60 feet of you and goes up when your charisma goes up (which is totally worth it imo).
There should be a handbook to bards, which you can find in surreal's handy links, which should be the first post in the character optimization board. Good luck!
Human Fighter 2/Bard 4/Abjurant Champion 4/Seeker of the Song 2/Lyric Thaumaturge 8.
That should net me; BAB 16, 6th level Bard spells, Inspire Courage at +3, plus a bunch of extra Spell Slots, known Spells and some new Bardic Music uses and the ability to Combine two Songs simultaneously, which more then makes up for the lack of +1 ( or with WoC, +2 ) from that final leg of Inspire Courage.
Variants I'm taking are Bardic Knack ( Knowledge Devotion synenergy ) and Spellbreaker Song ( meh, why not? ).
My main hiccups are Feats. I've got Melodic Casting, Arcane Strike, Knowledge Devotion, and Words of Creation so far leaving me with three Feats. I've considered Power Attack - Leap Attack - Leap of the Heavens OR TWF - ITWF - Dual Strike. The bonuses from Inspire Courage, Snowflake Wardance, Arcane Strike, etc. would make up for full Power Attack penalty but my weapon of choice ( Crystal Echo Blades ) is not a two-handed weapon and Leap Attack forces me into a charger build .. so should I just focus on making lots of attacks or a few big ones? Also is Spring Attack more important for me to pick up?
Turn into a sorcerer from level 11 on up with nearly full bardic music. Optimize for Inspire Courage and use your Telepathy to sing in other peoples heads, preventing the announcement of your party's presence to the whole world. Take the feat Mindsight from Lords of Madness ~p. 123, allowing you to see invisible people and people trying to sneak up on you, as long as they have an int score (even Int 1-2 is high enough to see). Take Melodic Casting so you never have to break song to cast, then NEVER break song. Then focus on GOD spells (as outlined in Treantmonk20's guide) and maximize your disabling spells. Take your Crystal Echoblade, and put Sudden Stunning (DMGII) on it, and then toss it with Whirling Blade (SpC) to have a powerful ranged reflex save disable. The DC on Sudden Stunning is Cha and level based, so it'll always rival your highest level spell slots.
For race, either Human or Silverbrow Human (Races of the Dragon). If Silverbrow, go for Dragonfire Inspiration, otherwise normal IC is strong enough once optimized.