Human Going off lvl 5
Thinking: STR: 15 DEX: 13+1 (lvl 4)=14 CON: 10 INT: 13 WIS: 10 CHA: 16
If it is indeed 32 point buy(stats not determined yet)
Feats
1 Melodic Casting, Jack of all Trades (bardic Knack)
3 SnowFlake Wardance (So i am not useless in a fight)
6 Requiem (a must saddly)
9 Haunting Melody (sounded cool and worked with flavor)
12 Necromantic Presence (think these 2 are
15 Necromantic Might worth it?)
18 Dark Speech (just kinda threw this one in as it sounded like good Flavor)
Spells
W/e these are lvl 0 spells
Minor Disguise
Detect Magic
Lullaby
Ghost Sound
Open/close
Invisibility, Swift (butter)
Ironthunder Horn (eh ... it will help in tough situations)
Improvisation (amazing spells luck bonus to skill checks and attack!)
Ventriloquism since i cant afford Subsonics (or Beastland Ferocity w/ weapon)
Blur (another survival trait)
Wave of Grief (debuff for survival) but am debating swift flight or w/e
Sonic Weapon (damage is good)
Items- I think these would help survivability since con will most likely be low
I want to go for a Vampieric rapier (+1 adds extra die that heals me for damage) with Vampire Hide Armor (studded leather +1 w/ DR 5/silver)
These viable for a lvl 5 bard? Its been a while ... these may be 2 much for this lvl.
Just limited with i am not allowed other campaign books other then what is already used ;p
only some short things (I can't read out the books allowed from your post ... but assuming your feat-choices, i'll consider most of the interesting ones (completes, races, phbs and maybe miniatures handbook):
1) your stat array (32 point buy)
I see you wasting a ability point and ultimatly a modifier (because of STR 15 ...) so i'd rather suggest something like this:
STR 14
CON 10
DEX 14
WIS 10
INT 14
CHA 16+1=17
allthough i'd rather take the CON14 and STR 10 - your own HP are more important than 10% chance to hit and 2 Damage
2) Dipping and PrC doesn't hurt actully ...
one imho very strong dip is one level of marshall with the determined caster Aura:
you get a d8 HD in exchange for 2 less Skillpoints - and your CHA mod on Checks VS spell resistance (so will your allies)
OR
take the initiative Aura (you and your allies get your CHA mod on initiative rolls)
OR
(wich works pretty well with point 3) take the motivate intelligence aura - CHA mod to all INT based skills
3) another Dipp: one level of Dragonfire Adept (Dragon Magic) - and the least invocation "Draconic Knowledge" - use all Knowledgeskills and spellcraft even untrained and get a +6 bonus for free - works well with bardic Knack and motivate intelligence ... as well as with knowledge devotion!
4) try to get into sublime chord asap (so at level 11) - become a sorc/bard hybrid and be happy - and get higher spelllevels earlier!
so, to put it all together
Build:
Bard1/Marshall1/DFA1/Bard7/SC10
noteworthy feats: Melodic casting, Knowledge Devotion, Practiced spellcaster (OR Race - illumian (VaunKrau sigil)), Improved Toughness (as soon as you are in Combat - you will need any single HP)
your spelllist looks quite ok ... consider heroism and other buffs - because your BSF will need them and you have great use for them
enough stupid comments ? ;)
But
STR 14
CON 10
DEX 14
WIS 10
INT 14
CHA 16+1=17
Sounds abit more spell oriented ... i will take a look into those dips though
heroism is a domain? how do i get that?
But if you are going to take the class, take PrCs that synergize with your fear effect. I'd recommend taking Mindbender (+Mindsight feat) and Nightmare Spinner. I’m not familiar with the class but I heard Dread Witch gives you an ability to bypass fear immunity so that could be nice.
Bard 5/ Mindbender 1/ Dirgesinger 5/ Nightmare Spinner 5/ Dread Witch 4/
Take Requiem @ 3lvl and Mindsight @ 6lvl.
If you want to dump Con, you might want to be a Necropolitan.
edit:
Sorry, you cannot take Requiem @ 3lvl. My bad. Take Mindsight @ 9lvl instead.
Heroism is a 2lvl spell from PHB, by the way
I will look into Dread witch ... but from the glimpse i had of it i dont know. And i dont actually have complete mage it seems for Nightmare Spinner.
I would love to take Necropolitan .... but i dont know if my DM would be to thrilled lol. And knowing one other player is a cleric ... he would none stop rebuke/turn my arse.
Why the "Dirgesinger is “Don't”? Looks like a solid enough class ... only real problem with it i see is no spell caster progression.
Yup, you've hit the nail. 5lvls of dead-magic zone. Don't get me wrong. I like the class (hence the build). However, I would choose higher spell-casting ability (through such class as Sublime Chord mentioned above) over a cool PrC with interesting abilities.
And i dont actually have complete mage it seems for Nightmare Spinner.
That’s too bad. This is the point where I ask you to list up your available books, so that other people and I can give you more constructive suggestions.
I would love to take Necropolitan .... but i dont know if my DM would be to thrilled lol. And knowing one other player is a cleric ... he would none stop rebuke/turn my arse.
1) Be nice to your cleric friend. Tell him frankly that he owns your arse.
2) Tell him you have composed a song in his name.
3) Sing Suggestion. Suggest that he would rather throw his (un)holy symbol away.
4) Profit!
. The suggestion would be a good trick ... but i dont get it till lvl 6 and i dont believe i will be joining them before then, (probably around lvl 5 the DM said). And being the Heroes of Horror campaign it could get interesting. I would have to add alter self to my spell list as a must. Minor disguise wont be enough to hide the fact of undead. Maybe i can hide my undead arse for a few lvls .... being a cha bard has its advantages.
As for being a spell caster .... well what i like most about the bard is that he is a gish and dosnt just relies on spell casting, Skills and melee ability is also incorporated, (And they are fun as hell to play). I dont want to drop my str too much so that i dont have to always use Snowflake tohit ... but also when i do hit i dont want to just have Sonic Weapon for damage. I firmly believe in carrying a bag of tricks .... Blur ... Sonic Weapon ... and debating dropping Ironthunder for critical strike for a low lvl trick.
As for heroism ... i would love to add it but lack of spells and i rather get debuffs rather then buffs for flavor. I really would like to hear opinions about those necromantic feats though. Are they a waste of slots or are the worth it? By lvl 10 i will be having bascially an undead companion ... kinda ... and if i am undead well all the better for me
.Those stats you suggested i was cha 17 didnt sit well with me till i realized ... +2 is what i was looking for and that +3 would only improve damage seeing as with snowflake cha helps with
Yup, you've hit the nail. 5lvls of dead-magic zone. Don't get me wrong. I like the class (hence the build). However, I would choose higher spell-casting ability (through such class as Sublime Chord mentioned above) over a cool PrC with interesting abilities.
The thing is though, he asked for help building a Dirge Singer, not a Sublime Chord. And yes, spells are awesome and I would recommend them, but in this case, dirge singer was picked. You need to respect that.
The question I have is this: is complete adventurer open for use? And is UA or the SRD open for use? If the anwser is yes, try a devoted performer build. Start with LE Paladin and then take bard at 3rd level (and devoted performer). A two or four level dip is best for this -- divine grace and turn undead respectively are gained. Then find a way to get Perform as a paladin. Segue into Dirge Singer. After that, rebuild your casting with blackguard or pious templar. Or go seeker of the song, which I realize isn't the most ideal of prestige classes, but it fits with the idea of the character. You need to find a way to get both K(Arcana) and Perform as paladin skills.
However, you may also want to go "straight" bard and choose to ignore devoted performer.
Doomspeak is absent from your list of feats, and really it should be there since you're going the debuffer route.
Dm okayed my race and even rolled my stats which he did better then my 32 point buy ... with a 14 str 18(17+1 lvl 4) dex 0 con (undead) 14 int 13(probably raise to 14 lvl 8) wis and 18 cha (should be 20 when all is said and epic). With dirge singer i am just missing out on 6th lvl spells which from what i saw werent that amazing.
Right now for spells (minus my wand and armor) i have ... well see for your self. This is what i have for my lvl right now ... will probably stick to bard for 1 more lvl then at 7 roll into dirge singer, I want suggestion.
http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=92649
The only thing not approved yet is my cursed sword ... he wanted to put a curse on me b/c i didnt have to lose a lvl and the exp to even me out for now. So i made that one up feel free to pick at it as well