Okay well thanks for shooting me down a notch.
Plus you must realize, a lot of the game is chance, and how you role play yourself.
Much like how people are convinced on most games if you don't play a certain way, you'll suck.
It simply isn't true, especially with DnD of all games.
I'll probably make a rouge... I just hope I can find a DM that will let me be Catfolk...
Other than that, anyone have any cool campaign ideas?
We should get this thread booming!
Well, Bards are relatively bad. They're not the best choice out of all the classes. As you said, the game is chance. Therefore you have to make sure that chance leans on your side really heavily, or you can win without using chance at all. I have never said that you would
suck if you played a Half-Elf Bard. I am simply stating that those two things - your race and class if you play a Half-Elf or Bard - are bad. This is truth.
I will hereby explain why Bards are bad (at least mechanics-wise; roleplaying is irrelevant because you roleplay at the same level whether you play a bad or good character).
1. Bards don't progress well at spellcasting. They hit 2nd level spells at level 4, correct? 3rd-level spells at level 7 or something? And that is only if your stat is high enough to allow bonus spells. Bards simply don't progress very well spellcasting-wise, and spells are very powerful tools. Bards as spellcasters are typically outclassed by the Wizard and the Sorcerer, as well as other classes of that sort (save for some spontaneous spellcasters, such as the Warmage and Beguiler, but even those are arguably somewhat better than the Bard in terms of spellcasting).
2. Bards don't have any real power. They boost their party, basically. However, when you consider the fact that the spellcasters of the party don't need such boosts (Divine Metamagic for Clerics, wildshape for druids - example: Venomfire is silly, polymorph for wizards, et al.) the Bard quickly becomes a supporter for tier 4 and 5 characters such as the Fighter and the Monk. That is not a good party niche to be in and you would serve the party better if you were a Binder instead, for example, or one of the other powerful classes, instead of being a Bard. If you want to buff people, be a Marshal, because their buffs are all day long, have almost no limit on their usage, and aren't hindered by the fact you have to actually use an action to play music. If you want to counter slash buff, be a Cleric or Wizard or something like that because their spells pretty much outclass the Bard's options. If you want to skillmonkey or use Charisma for stuff like Diplomacy, be a Warlock or Rogue, because those actually have some combat ability.
That is about it. It's not that "if you don't play a certain way, you'll suck", but more of "if you play a certain way, you'll be worse than other people". This is true for a great number of things, and the same for D&D. There are many ways to craft a good character, but being a Bard isn't typically one of them. (Of course you could try some Prestige Classes to mix things up, but the power originates from those PrCs and not the Bard.)
As for Half-Elves, well... I'll explain in detail if you ask for it, but I don't really want to write another two paragraphs at the moment.
Most DMs allow Catfolk. You just lose a level because of LA+1, though that's typically not an issue because Rogues don't care THAT much about level...
Speaking of campaign ideas... I want to run a party through Ravnica: City of Guilds. I have some ideas on how to adapt 3.5 to my purposes. Failing that I want to run a party through Tomb of Horrors or Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, as those are the two favourite premade adventures that I have.
There isn't really a custom world I want to run my players through other than Ravnica at the moment.
We could probably campaign on PokeCommunity, actually... I just have to get permission to use either the Other Roleplays subforum or this one. We can roll dice through an online dicechecking thingy...
http://invisiblecastle.com/
This is the net's best, most usable gaming resource site. We provide tools to assist gamers to
roll dice and
prove that they got the rolls they said they did. Our roller is fast and flexible, with lots of options to suit most games.
