Does anyone here play D&D? I just started my first ever bard and wanted to see if anyone has any tips or tricks. I usually play as a rogue or barbarian so it's going to be a bit of a shift in play style from fighter to support role. This will also be my first time using magic, so I'm in for a learning experience. Luckily my wife's character is a sorcerer gnome, and our DM is awesome, so hopefully I'll catch on quick lol. Would love to hear thoughts and stories from other peoples' campaigns!
Oh boy, how much time do you have? I'm a big D&D and TTRPG enthusiast and have been DMing for many years now, so let me try and help if I can. Bards in D&D are extremely versatile, especially in 5th edition, which I assume you're playing. Your spells will range from supportive with your bardic inspiration, which adds additional dice to your party member's dice pool, to damaging, starting with one of my favourite spells in the entire game, "Vicious Mockery". You basically insult someone so hard they take psychic damage. But bards can also be very proficient in melee combat, depending on the subclass you decide on as you level up. Using finesse weapons like rapiers they can dance across the battlefield, dishing out attacks. Their versatility is balanced by the fact that they are not as strong as Barbarians or Fighters, or quick like Monks. They also have a limited access to spells compared to sorcerers or wizards, but make up for it with pure flair. And as a first time magic user, the limited spell list might come as a blessing, as I often find spellcasting can be a bit overwhelming for newcomers. They lend themselves very well to roleplaying and shenanigans, which is why I love them so much. They are Jacks Of All Trades that are versatile enough that you could technically play an entire campaign with a group of nothing but bards. Make sure to speak to your DM about your character to explore their possibilities and take a look at the different Bard Colleges (aka subclasses) to see where they might be headed. I'm sure you'll find something that's right up your alley
Thanks Jan, I appreciate the input. For spells I tried to balance offensive, defensive, and supportive. My wife and our DM both *highly* recommended vicious mockery to me as a cantrip. My wife also mentioned that I'm lucky I don't have access to the spells she has as a sorcerer, as she has to roll several dice at this point for her casting rolls. It's funny you mention rapier, as that's what I chose for a melee weapon. We also play the Star Wars SW5e TTRPG, and my Chiss pirate/smuggler has a vibrorapier. I find them to be more interesting than just your typical swords. My wife said I rolled very well for my stats. It's been a long time since I started as a Level 1, but it's also been a long time since I've had all stats above zero. My starting HP is a bit concerning, but I'm not totally upset with my base AC. I play my Chiss pirate/smuggler in SW5e very charismatically (picture a mix of Hondo, Lando, and Han, with a dash of Thrawn's brilliance), often trying to talk my way out of situations (or setting my group and myself up for a good attack position), so I figured playing a bard in D&D wouldn't be too steep of a learning curve. In SW5e, while my party was infiltrating an asteroid fortress, I once convinced a pirate leader three times (after I kept getting caught snooping around) that I couldn't find the bathroom and that *he* would need to show me the way himself lol. I think the hard part is until I level up and get some light armor, is remembering to use my spells and not immediately roll for melee attacks until I get to the point where I can dance across the battlefield as you noted. My prior characters have very much been a shoot and ask questions later type (except for my SW5e character, he asks questions then shoots... chaotic neutral is fun lol).
Thanks for the tips and the well-wishes! I just reached Level 3 and was able to pick my College. I ended up going with Lore as I want to lean into using magic more going forward. So far I haven't had to roll a melee attack once, and have used my magic to buff and support the other two players in my party. I ended up putting my Jack of All Trades into my persuasion and stealth. I like talking my way into and out of trouble as needed, and being able to sneak around combat for some hit and run attacks. I also picked up my first two Level 2 spells, going with Pyrotechnics and Crown of Madness. I'm trying to find a balance of attack and support spells, preferring to buff my party and incapacitate/disadvantage combatant NPC's. So far things are going well, and I'll continue to share my progress and high jinks. Our latest session, our DM had us choose between confronting either a bear-sized goose or two goose-sized bears. We ended up rescuing both and freeing them into the wild!
To my fellow D&D players on here, has anyone else noticed that as you level up and get access to more advanced spells that a lot of them start to look and feel the same? I'm noticing this with a lot of the elemental damage spells in particular, where they vary only slightly, but just seem the same. I'm at the point now where I'm considering just picking up lower level spells and casting them at higher spell slots, as it seems the lower level spells cast at higher slots tend to pack more punch than some of the higher level spells that start at that slot. Also, what are your tactics for using higher level spells and slots? I find myself saving my best and most impactful spells for any big bads we find in dungeons and while out exploring, but then feel like I missed out on using them when the DM only has us fighting a grumpy witch with a skeleton bodyguard. Yet I know the one time I use a high level spell to comically obliterate a zombie, our DM's throwing some OP monstrosity at the party as soon as we round the corner. DTG Harry dtg_jan as our resident D&D mods, do either of you have any input?
I always get excited when I get a notification for a new post in this thread Regarding your question, as a bard you gain a lot of support and "crowd control" spells - for example healing spells like Lesser Restoration or Power Word Heal, utility spells like Greater Invisibility or Mordekainen's Magnificent Mansion and so on. The lower level spells often have more powerful alternatives later on, Power Word Heal fully restores a creatures HP, removes debuffs and lifts them up if they are prone. In comparison, Cure Wounds heals 1d8 + your spell modifier, higher level spell slots "only" add 1d8 of extra healing and 8 HP is not a lot after a certain point. However, as you already pointed out, "upgrading" lower level spells by using higher level spell slots kind of circumvents your lack of access to a large number of damaging spells. Thunderwave for example increases by 1d8 per higher level spell slot, and is essentially free damage since it always hits creatures in it's range. But while you don't gain a lot of damage spells you excell at supporting your group members. For example, Faerie Fire doesn't only make invisible creatures visible (provided they fail their dex save), your party members also gain advantage on attacks against enemies tagged like this. Any rogue in your party will thank you for this since they now gain sneak attack against that foe, potentially causing massive damage. Traditionally your role as a Bard is to support the other damage dealers - I personally oppose that kind of playstyle, everybody should be able to play how they want, but D&D has it's roots in stratigical wargames and especially players that grew up with 3rd edition or older still tend to play like this. If you really want more powerful damage spells you can always talk to your DM about multiclassing as wizard, sorcerer or warlock. You'll lose the ability to gain level 20 as a bard (unless your DM is cool and allows going above level 20), but you gain a wider array of spells. Finally (I swear my ramblings are almost over), I hope your DM does not punish you for playing well. If they throw harder enemies at you because you defeated something "too easily" they threw at you before, talk to them about it. There is this misconception that the players and DM are opposing each other, when in reality it's a cooperative effort.
I didn't find that to be rambling at all, I genuinely appreciate the insight. As far as support spells go, I've started adding more as I level up, but the biggest issue has been trying to remind my party to actually use my support. My wife plays as a high level Gnome sorcerer, my DM's husband plays as a Gith warlock, and my DM plays with us as her own character, a Tiefling Necromancer. None of them have ever played with a bard prior to me creating my new character back in the Spring, so I frequently have to remind them, "Hey, use your Bardic Inspiration!". I've also started using Motivational Speech and Healing Word more as well, although usually mostly on our Gith, as he is the "squishiest" in the party and likes to just run right into enemy hoards. Overall we're all pretty good about backing each other up. My wife's character typically regularly Mage Armor on herself and the party, and our DM's necromancer usually conjures some skeletons to use as damage sponges and distractions. My DM's husband's Gith, well, he likes to spray and pray. We roll for DEX a lot to avoid friendly fire lol. He is great for intimidation, though, and has Distort Value which comes in handy when trying to squeeze some extra gold out of a miserly trader. Also, when his shots hit, ooh boy, they hit hard lol. That said, I do support my party, but more in a combat support role? If that makes sense? I like to roll for stealth and hide on the edges of the combat area, and cast spells like Conjure Animals, Crown of Madness, Hideous Laughter, Pyrotechnics... anything to distract, confuse, blind, and disorient enemies while the rest of my party moves in and attacks while they have the advantage. I even used Dimension Door in one of our last sessions to pull my wife's character out of being attacked by an enemy. Outside of combat, I play to my character's strengths in charisma, as well as into his backstory of having been raised in a library. I've played the lute to charm and distract crowds, and used my strength in reading and seeking knowledge to pass INS and INT checks. I am definitely not a fighter, and will usually try to BS or charm my way out of combat, but if it happens then I'm ready to set my party up for some good kills. I've thought about multi-classing, but with taking the College of Lore, I'm pretty much there now. I'm able to choose non-bard spells every few levels, and I've picked some pretty diverse ones across different classes. I think I have at least one each now from necromancy, sorcery, and druid magic. I've also been able to buff my skills with half proficiency in everything, proficient in many, and mastery in some. I most recently buffed my INV and PER to the point where my passives are 20's; I will never fail a perception check again! lol Our DM is a long time family friend and is amazing, and if she does toy with us it's all in good fun. She comes up with some fantastic plots and her world building is top notch. Almost every enemy encounter will have the option to not fight, but our party is pretty XP hungry lol. On days she is feeling sadistic she'll openly admit that she's feeling a little "murder-y". When we do play well, especially together, or think outside the box (or just amuse her with shenanigans) she'll reward us with an Inspiration Die to use towards any roll of our choosing; basically a Bardic Inspiration die. She also splits XP evenly among us, which is how I've managed to level up so quickly. Even though my wife the sorcerer is the one literally throwing handfuls of dice in a single attach, our DM recognizes that we all had a part in the combat situation. The only thing she really discourages is us acting like "murder hobos", and doing really ethically wrong acts. She also is great with downtime activities between sessions, where you can role play for a little extra XP, extra gold, and to learn new skills and proficiencies. I usually use my downtime to have my character read about history, languages, cultures, etc. so that he can gain advantages on INS checks.
We had our first session in about a month today, and I was able try out some of my new spells and perks since hitting level 10. We had a "go fetch" style mission where a scroll teleported us to an abandoned island cave. If I had to describe the session, it would be "EVERYTHING IS A MIMIC!" lol. It was my character's first time fighting mimics, but I fought them before as my fighter, so it was very hard not to "meta" game. Song of Rest came in handy a few times, as did Healing Word. I tried Faithful Hound for the first time which worked great alerting the party to enemies, and even got a good multikill with Thunderwave. Our DM also got the gameboard displayed on the TV to also sync with our phones and allow us to move our own tokens and point things out. It saved a ton of time when trying to loot, explore, and line up spells. Next month's our next session, and in the meantime I get to start writing a Star Wars campaign. Our DM has asked if I'd be open to running a game so we can alternate. She knows I'm more familiar and comfortable with Star Wars lore versus D&D's, so it was awesome of her to compromise. I have a basic storyline down, and once I get playersheets from everyone I'll focus it more and get a session ready. I've never run a game before, but I'm pretty excited regardless.
I got bored and designed my Kenku bard in Hero Forge yesterday, I'm pretty happy with how it came out... I ended up ordering the 2" miniature, so I'll share pics once it arrives. It's free to design and screenshot your own characters, and they have creatures and components for all sorts of themes, including sci-fi and other fantasy besides D&D; I highly recommend anyone interested in such to take a look. Has anyone else here ordered from Hero Forge? I'd love to see others' miniatures. dtg_jan DTG Harry have either of you had miniatures made up of your characters?
I let the players of my table group design their characters, then bought the STL files, printed them out and painted them as a gift for our first session. I've never ordered miniatures from them directly though, would be interesting to know if they're good quality.
I'll be sure to report my findings. One of my coworkers plays as a Halfling and ordered an unpainted mini from them, he said the quality was fair. I have zero-patience for painting models, so I sprung for the painted mini. There's a lot of fine details on my bard model, it'll be interesting to see the end-result on the physical mini once it arrives.
As promised dtg_jan , photos of my HeroForge figure. For the life of me I could not get my phone to focus on his facial detailing. The quality is good, I don't feel like anything's going to break off and it has a nice heft to it. I'm sure it won't survive a fall to the floor without losing the lute or smaller pieces, but as a display piece I'm very happy with it. It's also the larger mini size that HF offers, so I'm sure the increased scale helps the quality. The paint looks a little dull on the physical model as compared to the digital, but that's really my only critique.
Oh wow, that looks pretty good! Quite a lot of detail on this, too. I assume it looks a little dull because there is no highlighting or shading on the miniature itself, other than the base. If you're feeling confident you can always try to add a few highlights yourself to make it "pop" a bit more. It sounds more difficult than it is, but you can improve looks a lot with just a little drybrushing or edge highlighting.
