Character build advice: Halfling Gestalt Rogue/Bard

[Shadow_hands]

I’m in a game where I made a second character for our group which is a Halfling gestalt rogue/bard follower of tymora. We are currently 1st level cause we have someone who has never played before and someone who is so-so.
I’d like to point out I have played a few rogues before so that isn’t the problem. I haven’t played a bard or a halfling before though. My current feats are: Jack of all trades & lingering song. Planning on taking weapon finesse at 3rd level because I have either a 19 or 20 (can’t remember) DEX and a 12 STR. I don’t plan on be a front runner fighter with this cause my 1st character has that covered but I want her to be able to defend herself if/when necessary. The thing is I’m not sure where to go with this character and would just like some ideas.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Since you're still 1st level, see if you can change some of your current choices. If you build this right, your character can have an enormous support impact in combat along with being a strong combatant, and still be amazing at solving any challenge you encounter outside of combat.

Swap Lingering Song for Melodic Casting if possible. With Melodic Casting you don't need to stop inspiring courage to cast a spell or use a wand, so it makes Lingering Song obsolete. On the rare occasion that you actually want to switch which song you're using and have the previous one last a bit longer, a Harmonizing weapon (MIC) can accomplish that.

Take the Bardic Knack alternate class feature in PH2 instead of taking Jack of All Trades, it's enormously better and once you read it, Jack of All Trades will feel like waste of a feat.

Trade your Fascinate song for Healing Hymn (CC), as it even works with the 0-level spell Cure Minor Wounds. You probably should also trade Countersong for Spellbreaker Song (CM). Trade your Suggestion song for Song of the Heart (ECS), as that book's Bard section says any bardic music ability you would get can be traded for one of the bardic music feats in that book.

Learn the spell Inspirational Boost (SC), get a Badge of Valor (MIC), and if your Int and alignment permit, take Words of Creation (BoED). Your Inspire Courage is +1 at 1st level, you can get Inspirational Boost at 2nd to make it +2, Badge of Valor by 3rd to make it +3, Song of the Heart at 6th to make it +4, and with Words of Creation it gets doubled (but the badge is added last) making it +7 total as early as 6th level.

Use the Glimmerskin Halfling in Dragon Magic instead of the standard Halfling (or any other variant, that should be usable with any version of Halfling that would normally get the move silently bonus as that's the only thing you trade out for it). This gets you the Dragonblood subtype, which allows you to take Dragonfire Inspiration in that same book. This converts your Inspire Courage from +X attack and damage to +Xd6 fire damage added to everyone's attacks. So at +3 you would add +3d6 fire damage to every attack made by everyone in your party.

Consider taking Wild Cohort as it benefits from your Inspire Courage bonus. Alternatively, you could get Obtain Familiar (CA) and Improved Familiar (DMG, CW) and if you max out UMD your familiar should be able to use wands later on without issue. Also definitely plan to pick up an Eternal Wand (MIC) of Hound of Doom (CW) later on, with a good BAB and high Cha it will make a fantastic pet that scales with your level, comparable to Drizzt's panther sidekick.


You have a lot of redundancy between Rogue and Bard for a gestalt character. Rogue adds no additional HD, BAB, or base saves to the Bard chassis, and only adds two base skill points per level beyond what a Bard would have. If possible, replace Rogue with the Sneak Attack Fighter variant from UA. That gets you all three good saves, good BAB, and d10 HD, you can take Weapon Finesse instead of Jack of All Trades at 1st level, and you'll even qualify for Weapon Specialization, Melee Weapon Mastery, etc. later on. Another option would be to take Swashbuckler (CW) at 1st level, grab a few Rogue levels, then pick up Daring Outlaw (CS) and keep taking Swashbuckler to get full BAB, d10 HD, and continue gaining sneak attack.


Plan on taking Sublime Chord at 11th and 12th level, then using a full spellcasting prestige class to advance your Sublime Chord casting after that. Leading up to that you could go Bard 8 then dip two levels of something and continue your martial progression along side of that. That two levels of something should be a single high-value level in two classes such as Dragon Devotee 1, Mindbender 1, Sorcerer 1, Warblade 1, etc.

If you're not good aligned definitely get Mindbender 1 and pick up Mindsight later on, but it's not worth missing out on Words of Creation just for this. Sorcerer 1 is a must-have for utility spells (Benign Transposition, Nerveskitter), wands (Wings of Cover, Wraithstrike), and the Dragonblood Sorcerer 1 substitution level which lets you switch the damage on Dragonfire Inspiration to something like sonic, which is resisted less often and benefits from the spell Creaking Cacophony. Dragon Devotee 1 gets you +2 Cha, so it's a default go-to if you don't have any better choices. A Warblade dip after 8th level can get you Bolstering Voice, Wall of Blades, Iron Heart Surge, and White Raven Tactics, all of which are extremely significant.

You could also go Bard 8/ Virtuoso 2/ Sublime Chord 2/ Virtuoso 8 if you want to keep it simple, but maybe put a few of those above dips earlier in the build since you're gestalt. Alternatively, you could go Bard 20 along side of Whatever 10/ Sublime Chord + PrCs 10 if you want to focus more heavily on spellcasting and bard class features.

[Troacctid]

Make sure you're using the Savage Bard or Bardic Sage variant. You have good Reflex saves either way as a Rogue, so you can trade away the Bard side's good Reflex for good Fortitude or extra known spells basically for free.

I second replacing Lingering Song with Melodic Casting. It does the same thing while also allowing you to replace Concentration with Perform.

If you wanna do the melee thing then try Snowflake Wardance and make sure to take the Bladeweave spell. Memory Smith and/or Swiftblade would be my recommended prestige class choices for a melee Bard.