Bardic Feat Selection
Bards, as Ryan put it, are used far less than any other class, possibly because they are the worst. There are ways to “beef them up”, though, you just need to know what you are doing. This guide will help you realize your Bard’s full potential. Note: This build is meant for a solo-Bard. That doesn’t mean it won’t be good in a team, just that you are able to support yourself. (This is also for a human Bard, you will need the bonus feat. 
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Level 1: Extra Music (Complete Adventurer)
The main ability of the Bard is his Bardic Music. Too bad for him, he doesn’t get that much of it. This feat counteracts that obvious shortcoming.
Level 1 (bonus): Skill Focus (Perform):
Many of the Bard’s key Bardic Music abilities require a saving throw. You may think that, at high levels, you will be able to affect any monster. This isn’t true, though, as monsters’ saving throws rise just as fast as your Perform skill does. This feat gets you a head start on those monsters.
Level 3: Lingering Song (Complete Adventurer)
If you thought Bardic Music effects didn’t last long enough after you stopped singing, this feat changes that. Without any negative effects, you can add a whole minute, that’s ten whole rounds, to the effect of your Bardic Music.
Level 6: Battle Dancer (Player’s Handbook II)
This feat gives you a +2 morale bonus on attack rolls if you are using Bardic Music and have moved at least five feet in this round. This effectively allows you to use Bardic Music on one extra person (yourself) at a time. Even better, the morale bonus stacks with the competence bonus from Inspire Greatness, so you can have an extra bonus from your Bardic Music.
Level 9: Subsonics (Complete Adventurer)
So you can sing enemies into submission, make them attack each other, and buff yourself, all with Bardic Music. That doesn’t stop their teammates from killing you before your (temporary) minions do it to them. This feat, however, does. With this feat, you can have your Bardic Music affect creatures without them ever actually hearing you. You still sing, just so softly that no one consciously hears you. This way, you can be hiding, sneak up on the enemy and fascinate them all. Once this is done, it is a simple matter to use suggestion and get them killing each other. And they will never know what hit them.
Level 12: Arcane Flourish (Player’s Handbook II)
If your Bardic Music is just not affecting as many enemies as you want it to, or you are going to fight a monster with a high will save, you use this feat to sacrifice a spell. You then get a bonus on the Perform check equal to the spell level + 1. While Bard spells only go up to level six, you may think this feat isn’t as useful as it would seem, but even a +3 bonus will tip the scales in your favor.
Level 15: Acrobatic Strike (Player’s Handbook 2)
If you have been putting ranks into Tumble so that it is at its current max (and you should have been, it is a very useful skill), then this feat allows you to get a +4 bonus (that’s an untyped bonus, so it stacks with everything) on an attack. To use this feat, simply Tumble by an opponent so that you avoid an attack of opportunity by going through a threatened square or the square they occupy, and then attack. Use this in conjunction with Bardic Music and Battle Dancer, and you have a killer combination.
Level 18: Extra Music (Complete Adventurer)
If you see a better feat to use here, go for it, but I’ve run out of Bard-enhancing feats. Still, more Bardic Music is always a good thing.
February 6, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Ah I think a few of those seem quite useful. shame I can’t get CA easy…
Cursed out of printness…
On that thought, I maybe ought to look into amazon to see if theres any for sale.
February 6, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Thanks a lot Dom. You’ve kind of helped prove my point that bards aren’t all bad. They can be very useful, however for the same reason not many people play them, I doubt anyone will play one up to level 18 or higher. And with the coming of 4th edition (around may) the “yodeling gnome” will soon be extinct.
(In case you didn’t know, gnomes are being taken out as a core race. Also, you should read “The Bard Class, in Core Write-ups.)
February 6, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Well it looks like with fourth edition we will be forced to use humming elfs and dancing orcs so sad.
February 6, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Gnome may not be a core race any more, it’s still in the Monster manual to be. so you can still have those gnomes.
February 7, 2008 at 5:58 am
Bards aren’t all bad, but they do suck.
Just tossin’ that out there.
February 8, 2008 at 12:40 pm
What’s this? Dave admits bards are good? I need a moment to take this in.
February 29, 2008 at 11:09 am
You missed Lyric Music, which allows you to sacrifice bardic music to cast spells. Combine that with the sublime chord prestige class and you have a significantly spell boosted bard. However, your spell selection needs to be really focused. Would not do that with a DM whose style of play I don’t know. Too easy to waste spells.
I cannot say too much about it, not having built my bard to that level, but I expect to have fun.
You do need to talk to and negotiate with your DM though, to squeeze everything out of the bard. Be prepared to focus in one area, spells, skills or bardic music and choose your feats to suit.
Here was my concept: “The bard is especially good with illusions and sound, although he is an all rounder.”
Hence I asked my DM to allow me Lesser orb of sound, as a flavour equivalent to the sorcerer’s magic missile – very much a tactical and flavour decision! . I dropped Mage armour and asked to be allowed Blur at first level as an illusion equivalent. In future I will prefer illusion and sound spells to sorcerer spells, to make the bard “different”. Much more important than being the most powerful.
Lvl 1 feats: Exotic weapon Spiked chain (flavour as well as useful with reach to disrupt enemy flanks). Extra Bardic Music.
Lvl 3: Improved Initiative. ( I quickly discovered that II is essential if other PC’s have it, even more so as a support caster and chanter. You gotta go first. Don’t like it, but there you have it.) As a DM I may well disallow II for that reason in future.
Lvl 6: The big one, intend to get Lyric Music. Potentially I can then cast 5 times extra at level one. Note that the returns on this diminish as your spell level increases. Principally this allows you to cast your maximum level spell twice extra.
Another useful one is the one that allows you to sustain more than one bardic melody at once (Sorry to be so vague, but I fergot what the dem ting is called), but only at higher levels and with extra chants like the Ironskin chant (Another useful feat from Complete Adventurer, if I remember correctly).
The Bard is in general a bit underdeveloped, especially in 3.0. 3.5 addresses a lot of things, but still needs work. Advice: Build from a tight character conception. This makes it more likely that your DM will allow your requests. Keep play balance in mind. You are not there to compete with the sorcerer. Being the support caster is fun if you can tell yourself at the end that your silly Grease and Tasha’s Hideous laughter made all the difference.
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June 10, 2009 at 10:34 pm
If your wanting a bard who can also due a little better damage. I’d suggest Arcane Strike and Snowflake Wardance. Arcane Strike so you can sacrifice some spells (the bard gets a decent amount) and have a much higher chance to hit (up to +12) and more damage (up to 6d4). While Snowflake Wardance you add your Cha modifier to your Str or Dex modifier to attack rolls.