@Miniman Nothing necessarily from Norse. I was thinking of the same thing you were describing: an artifact so powerful (mirror for you, horn for me) that a mountain's dropped on it to destroy it... but the pieces are, themselves, magical, and slowly exert influence over their surroundings, leading to the emergence of a megadungeon, factions, layered history, and these little shards of artifact that can be found.
IIRC in the myths they bind Loki and drop a mountain on him to keep him from, yanno... being Loki. I love he idea that the "true" story is that Loki was trying to sound the horn to start Ragnarok when they dropped a mountain on him and assumed he'd been trapped/killed under there.
What little I know suggests that Vikings = light/medium armor, sword (axe?) & board, which suggests Dex-based fighting, but Dex doesn't really fit the theme, it seems to me.
@Miniman well, what's your stance on Bard? It's basically designed for exactly this sort of thing, which is why I'd enjoy the challenge of building away from it.
I do think that the ability to weave stories while telling them could certainly fall under performance.
I think about what I do in class half the time, stepping the kids through something while my mind's working through three other things... it's a lot like when I'm playing in the orchestra with my music memorized, watching the conductor all the time, focusing on intonation, taking mental notes on how other sections are doing and how I should, therefore, adjust....
One question: if the skald is typically a court poet, why are you adventuring?
@nitsua60 Not sure yet - we haven't done session 0, so I'm not at all across what Vikings-themed means to the GM.
And now I'm back in the age-old loop. "Why not dip a level of Fighter for a Fighting Style?" "Hey, if you're losing a Bard level anyway, why not dip 2 levels of Paladin for a Fighting Style and Divine Smite?" "Hey, you don't want to lose those all-important ASIs! Better make it 4 levels!" "Hey, Aura of Protection is only 2 more levels of Paladin..." "For one more level you could get Aura of Warding! "You still don't want to lose ASIs, buddy. Better make it 8."
@Miniman I feel like it really depends on how far you imagine it going. If you're going to (as most campaigns do) wrap up by L12, then an 8/4 split isn't big. But I feel like as you get into 14, 15, 16 you really start to see the lag from a 4-level (or more) MC split.
@nitsua60 As always, it's a tradeoff. My wizard sometimes really regrets his one Rogue level (mostly every time he fails to have his next level of spells on time). On the other hand, I love having a +12 to Stealth and lockpicking, and it made sense with the character concept.
It's also really related to "As a warrior bard, I'd like the majority of my actions in combat to be spent fighting, not casting spells. Now how do I make it so that that's actually the best choice?"
Methods of being good at fighting: Sharpshooter, Polearm Master, Great Weapon Master.
None of which really work with what I have in mind.
Sometimes I think it'd be better to be one of those people who doesn't think about this stuff, and makes the 16 Str/16 Dex switch hitter without ever worrying about it.
I think maybe I'll just give up and make it an archer - it's an easy way to be extremely effective, and I like that it shows off a way in which Bards can be better at fighting than anyone else.
I was thinking about whether to dip Fighter for Archery on this build, and was like "Hey, since I don't need the proficiencies, maybe I could dip Ranger and pick up an extra skill in the bargain!" Nope. Ranger doesn't get a Fighting Style until level 2. Seriously, Ranger, is there anything you're not bad at?
HotDQ discussion (warning spoilers!)
HotDQ discussion (warning spoilers!)