Indepth questions about the Bard/Cleric

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hi folks!

yes i want to play a bard/cleric but this is a very difficult build. you have to find a fair balance between dex, wis and cha. int and con isnt that unimportant too, and really low str is unplayable. sooo...

problem is that your char has to have high wis and cha. few races are capable to offer enough boni to build that. so far i picked a female drow and started as bard, going to lvl 11 for the war song and all
question: what would be your preferred race and why ? and plz add your starting abilities then.

second thing is bard spells. of course i want to pick spells the cleric has no access to later or at least only the useful of the spells that the bard gets from the clerics. thats one point why i like bards, they get arcane and cleric spells
question: what would you pick?

third and last, the equipment. i got an idea of what to use, generally i would say any weapon and shield that offer decent defensive capabilities because this char has a lot of spells and if they go out, she's gonna get out her harp and sing ("brave sir robin ran away ...") . but i have no idea what armor to use because the mail of draxx is promised to another char in my party.
question: what decent armor is there except mail of draxx to give to her, and do you have good ideas about the rest of the equipment ?

happy brainstorming

 

That sounds like a good idea... I tried a Sorcerer/Cleric once and she was absolutely great! The Sorcerer's spells give an edge to the offensive capabilities of the Cleric. That's a nice Multiclass, however slightly detrimental to your Drow's abilities as a Cleric (high CHA helps when turning undead though) since you'll need 11 levels as a Bard.

Playing a Drow it shouldn't be too hard to max your character's stats. No [edit: no other] race has Cleric as a favourite class so you would have to use a Human or Half elf character and then your scores wouldn't be so good (compared to a Drow's) so I think you made the right choice when you decided to create a female Drow.

[ October 09, 2004, 18:59: Message edited by: Caradhras ]

 

Aasimar if you're going to multiclass it evenly, i.e. have more or less the same level in both classes (maximal difference of 1 level). Both WIS and CHA get increased by 2, also allowing you to start off with 20. You will need at least 16 in both for safe comfort of casting. Depending on your fighting style, go for DEX or STR. Don't really try to have both, it won't be worth it.

I would go for your roleplaying vision. Just how you see the character. Whether it's going to be a cleric/bard with a serious weapon, or a Finesse-based build.

The benefit of the Finesse build would be greater dexterity that you also use for AC, with better Ref save as well. Bull's Strength can raise your STR, then there's also Holy Power or Champion's Strength... you know, you can use clerical magic to get like +4 damage bonus.

If you go for a serious weapon, you could even be forced to bear with some risk of arcane spellcasting failure. However, whatever bonuses to STR or directly to damage apply, you'll be able to have them as well. Helping your AC will be tricky, though. As shields impare arcane casting, you'll be better off with a two-handed weapon. Lots of damage, together with clerical spells, easy to overcome enemy damage reduction. Lots of healing spells if your HP runs low, so it's not like you're going to die so easily. But still, it could be not exactly a merry ride.

If we deviate a bit from my obvious Celtic-like connotations, you could make a female drow bard/priestess like Caradhras said. Also raw +4 stat points, some useful bonuses, and the ability to close bard at level 11 (all songs) and focus on cleric levels - if that's what you want, of course.

As with any multiclassed caster, I strongly suggest taking feats that help your spells affect the enemy. Those will be Spell Focus, Spell Penetration and elemental feats.

With arcane-casting soloers, I strongly suggest Spirit of Flame, Greater Spell Focus: Evocation, Greater Spell Penetration. When you're done with these, Greater Spell Focus: Transmutation can help you do things like disintegrating dragons or drider priestesses.

Don't waste your feats on things like Weapon Focus or save boosts.

 

thx for the advice, i thought 9 10 12 13 18 18 would be good abilities to start as this char isnt planned as mageguard or something like that, its gonna be pure support.
i am going to lvl the bard to 11 first and then be a cleric. what made me not choose aasimar was the xp penalty for dualclassing with no preferred class.

weapon choice isnt that difficult, i want to use the hellbolter and if i am forced to fight closecombat, i switch to longsword + targos buckler and activate defensive fighting (thats why int 13).

well, i WILL need a replacement for phaens robes i bet ...

 

IMO, I would bottom out INT and go with something like this:

Female Drow Bard 11/Cleric X
10 16 12 4 18 20
Take Weapon Finesse and use Bows & Short Swords.