Author Topic: Bard / Druid - Skillmonkey and Tank  (Read 3475 times)

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nightshade

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Bard / Druid - Skillmonkey and Tank
« on: April 13, 2011, 04:57:59 PM »
Hey y'all,

since my Rogue died for the sake of our group I need to create a new character.
The idea i have in mind would be a Bard / Druid buffer with Bardic Knack and a strong Animal Companion, since our group lacks a tank and a skillmonkey.

Our group consists of a Blaster Wizard, a Healbot Cleric and me. Once in a while there is a Fighter/Wizard too, but thats only like 1/5th of the time.

The build I thought of is something along those lines:

level 6, stats rolled, Silverbrow Human Bard 3/Druid 2/Green Whisperer 1
8 str
16 dex
12 con
14 int
16 wis (+1 lvl)
16 cha

Feats:
1:Dragonfire Inspiration
Flaw Bonus: Able learner
Flaw Bonus: Melodic caster
Human Bonus: ??(maybe Jack-of-all-Trades)
3: Obtain Familiar
3[Eberron Bard]: Song of the Heart (if it's possible to trade it for IC even though IC would be a prerequisite)
6: Theurgic Bond (Animal Companion)
9: ?? (Improved Familiar)
12: ?? (Words of Creation)

Do you have any suggestions regarding the build (how would you advance?), items and/or feats? Should I spend some feats on Archery, TWF or for an Improved Familiar?

nighti  :)


CrimsonDeath

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Re: Bard / Druid - Skillmonkey and Tank
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2011, 05:18:55 PM »
Does your DM like traps?  If so, I'd suggest a Rogue dip, which could even lead to Fochlucan Lyrist.  Otherwise, this looks pretty solid.

Kind of wondering what Theurgic Bond does.

Might consider Bard 2/Druid 3 and using Green Whisperer as a bridge to Arcane Heirophant, unless you're really counting on having two separate pets.  Either way, the Companion Spellbond feat will give your animal companion more mobility.

Blood Wind looks like a pretty good spell for this build, especially if you can get some natural weapons for yourself.


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Re: Bard / Druid - Skillmonkey and Tank
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2011, 05:26:35 PM »
Obtain Familiar requires an arcane caster level of 4th.

Inspire Competence is a pre-requisite to take the feat, therefore you need to have it to take the feat.  That said, I've recently become attached to simply taking Inspire Competence at 3rd, anyway, since I like Suggestion and Inspire Greatness, so there's really no other musics to trade out for it.

I wouldn't bother with Able Learner.  The idea behind the Bardic Knack/Jack of all Trades combo is that you're not going to be cross-classing skills.

Switch around your stats... 16 Str, 12 Dex, 14 Con, 8 Int.  Again, you're falling back on Bardic Knack/Jack of all Trades to function as a skillmonkey.  The SRD has a version of the Jack of all Trades feat that lacks the Intelligence pre-req, it only requires a Character Level of 6.

Start as a Bard 4/Druid 1/Green Whisperer 1.  You'll eventually get Inspire Greatness that way, which is actually rather abusable.  You only need 1 level of Druid with Theurgic Bond, anyway.

nightshade

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Re: Bard / Druid - Skillmonkey and Tank
« Reply #3 on: April 13, 2011, 05:35:02 PM »
Kind of wondering what Theurgic Bond does.
Your arcane caster level and druid levels stack for either familiar or animal companion

Obtain Familiar requires an arcane caster level of 4th.

as far as i know it requires Knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks and arcane caster level 3rd, but i may be mistaken.

Start as a Bard 4/Druid 1/Green Whisperer 1.  You'll eventually get Inspire Greatness that way, which is actually rather abusable.  You only need 1 level of Druid with Theurgic Bond, anyway.
You are right about Bard 4/ Druid 1, definitely something I should consider.
« Last Edit: April 13, 2011, 05:43:59 PM by nightshade »

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Re: Bard / Druid - Skillmonkey and Tank
« Reply #4 on: April 13, 2011, 07:23:12 PM »
Kind of wondering what Theurgic Bond does.
Your arcane caster level and druid levels stack for either familiar or animal companion
Technically, it's familiar-granting class levels, so a Wizard 3/Druid 3/MT 2 could get a 6th-level AC with the feat.  It's the Obtain Familiar feat that gives you the "arcane caster level" part.

As such, if you happen to go Bard 4/Druid 1/Green Whisperer 5/Arcane Hierophant 10 and use Practiced Spellcaster (Bard) + Inspire Greatness to get a Bard CL of 23, your effective Wizard level for you familiar would be either 23 or 33 (depending on how you read Arcane Hierophant stacking with it), leading to an effective druid level of either 34 or 44 (again, depending on AH stacking) with Theurgic Bond.  Assuming you go with the higher values, just for the sake of insanity, you'd get a beast with the following adjustments:

+28 animal HD, +45 Natural Armor, +14 Str/Dex, Int 22, 15 bonus tricks (if that even still applies, it's going to be far more intelligent than you are), and 2 once-per-day SLAs.

nightshade

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Re: Bard / Druid - Skillmonkey and Tank
« Reply #5 on: April 13, 2011, 07:53:34 PM »
Technically, it's familiar-granting class levels, so a Wizard 3/Druid 3/MT 2 could get a 6th-level AC with the feat.  It's the Obtain Familiar feat that gives you the "arcane caster level" part.

As such, if you happen to go Bard 4/Druid 1/Green Whisperer 5/Arcane Hierophant 10 and use Practiced Spellcaster (Bard) + Inspire Greatness to get a Bard CL of 23, your effective Wizard level for you familiar would be either 23 or 33 (depending on how you read Arcane Hierophant stacking with it), leading to an effective druid level of either 34 or 44 (again, depending on AH stacking) with Theurgic Bond.  Assuming you go with the higher values, just for the sake of insanity, you'd get a beast with the following adjustments:

+28 animal HD, +45 Natural Armor, +14 Str/Dex, Int 22, 15 bonus tricks (if that even still applies, it's going to be far more intelligent than you are), and 2 once-per-day SLAs.

then its even better than I thought  :D

fdu

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Re: Bard / Druid - Skillmonkey and Tank
« Reply #6 on: April 13, 2011, 08:00:49 PM »
Have you considered Wild Cohort?

nightshade

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Re: Bard / Druid - Skillmonkey and Tank
« Reply #7 on: April 13, 2011, 08:19:11 PM »
Have you considered Wild Cohort?
not yet, but I get the feeling that my character would get too strong for the current party with another animal companion/wild cohort.

As such, if you happen to go Bard 4/Druid 1/Green Whisperer 5/Arcane Hierophant 10 and use Practiced Spellcaster (Bard) + Inspire Greatness to get a Bard CL of 23, your effective Wizard level for you familiar would be either 23 or 33 (depending on how you read Arcane Hierophant stacking with it), leading to an effective druid level of either 34 or 44 (again, depending on AH stacking) with Theurgic Bond.  Assuming you go with the higher values, just for the sake of insanity, you'd get a beast with the following adjustments:

I just realised that I need trackless step to enter AH. That means I need at least 3 levels of Druid.