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So, basically I need help.
Being somewhat cought up in the "Good Samaritan" crap, it hit me to go and play a Bard of our beloved lady.

Most classes I played were melee orientated (Barbarians, Fighters, etc. etc.), with the exception of a Rouge or two. and in short I have no idea how to make a proper Bard.

I got stuck after the stat system;

Str 10
Dex 12 (Dodge)
Con 12 (Survive the prickly thorn)
Int 18 (Skills)
Wis 12 (Don't need the captivator to be captivated)
Cha 16

Standard 4d6, drop lowest.

For skills I was hopping to add more Knowladge ( . . . . ), and Gather Information.

I'm not going melee orientated, but more social, I have no idea why.
Help...

Never forget the Bluff, Sense Motive and Diplomacy. Done right, the Diplomacy goes out the friggin' roof very quickly.

Bluff is great not just for the standard "lying" but also for seduction. Also, Diplomacy is what I normally accept (when I run) for conversion attempts, if rolls need made. Sense Motive is invaluable for making sure that the nice innkeeper isn't a Thayan allied slave dealer.

I also suggest Perform. Of course, singing, dancing, and some sort of interesting... but if you're an Eili' you may want to consider taking something a little surprising (in my games I permit Perform (massage) since it is a bit of a performance art among the Drow.)

Well, I will need Diplomacy and Bluff to save my ass, since I won't be able to swing a dagger right.
When do I get my spells? Fourth level? Crap...no Wizard so it all falls on me...sweet.

Well, in standard 3.5, you're starting with 4 0-level spells (2+Charisma modifier per day). They're not great, but they do have their uses. If you have access to the Spell Compendium, I'd flip through that, before making an decisions on spells.

Also, the Bardic Music is pretty helpful, especially Countersong.

Of course, if you're DM's running the Pathfinder rules... well, then... let the snippy snappy of the Bard class begin.

I would suggest, if there's no wizard, maybe considering multiclassing as a Sorceress. It's an option since both classes' spells are based on Charisma.

Anotehr way of running the bard, is going with several of the rouge type skills, such as pick pocket, pick lock, and concealment skills. Using your preformaces to cover up your otehr activities. One Performance skill my old Dm allowed was acrobatics. It was useful in combat as well as in dungeoun crawling, adn many other places as well.

As for another performance that is useful for combat as well is knife throwing.

I don't know if Knife Throwing is that useful as a skill. Unless it's backed up with a ton of feats, and has the proper prestige classes, and I don't think that's what Rocky's looking for right now.

Knowledges are always useful, though. But, don't forget as a Bard you have Bardic Knowledge (aka Geek Lore), you've heard every story about just about everything. It's a fun little ability when your Knowledge check fails, if your DM lets you fall back on it.

Well, Argoth is more of a spy, being a drow and all, diplomacy and stuff isn't all that desired of. But I love that class. Bluff, diplomacy, performance should be useful when you'd want to use bardic music, dunno what else. Maybe some sneaking skills could also be needed.

Nah, don't need sneakines...hI'll probably multiclass at some point, for the kicks...

Reminds me of a comic I saw in the Dragon magazine a number of years back.

Character 1: "You're a bard? What type of instrument do you play?"
Hot chick: "A gong."
Character 1: "But monsters will hear you coming miles away!"
Hot chick: "Yeah, but what other instrument provides 3/4 cover?"

That's soo true. O and at times Argoth at level 10 or something was a better warrior then a ranger at the same level, thanks too a combination of high dex, cha and int, and some very useful feats. O and an extended critical on his twin short swords. That aside. I don't know what else would you need for your bard character. If you want it to be a sociable bard, why not looking closer at Danilo Than?

Last time i played a drow Bard, i went all out on Perform. You can buff allies and/or debuff enemies with it with ease, making the overworked cleric's job that much easier. It also fits you into the role of party support character rather than tank / meatshield, allowing you to take the back row in combat without anyone looking twice.

Still, if it were me i'd go for a lower Int score, given the avalanche of skill points that would be coming my way. Personally, i'd bump up Dex to get more to-hit on bows and small weapons with the Weapon Finesse feat (the dex-based AC bonus doesn't hurt either at low levels). Just that may not be much in combat, but combined with the ability to wear Light armor without getting spellcasting penalties should keep you alive for a few rounds until the party barb can tear him in half (thanks to your to-hit and damage buffs).

As an added bonus, light armor, daggers and bows don't weigh a ton so you'll have no problem with encumbrance at 10 STR

I'm going for a long, long, VERY long distance support character, focusing on Negotiation and long eye-lashes, healing/arcana.

I decided to junk weapons and armor, appart darts. Singing, Diplomacy, Bluff , and one Thieving skill - Hide in shadows.

How about a re-write of stats;

Str 8
Dex 14
Con 10
Int 18
Wis 12
Cha 16

Dropped the armor completly, so all I have until I receive my lashes is run away far, sing and be cute.

Good idea.

Works too, with enough ranks in UMD you can pretty much wear whatever class-restricted robe you want. Modified to a dress, of course. You need to wear something after all (depending on how you plan to negotiate) and robes are like, 10 lbs.

They also get all the cool enchantments

[quote="Rooky":osefgnc7]I'm going for a long, long, VERY long distance support character, focusing on Negotiation and long eye-lashes, healing/arcana.

I decided to junk weapons and armor, appart darts. Singing, Diplomacy, Bluff , and one Thieving skill - Hide in shadows.

How about a re-write of stats;

Str 8
Dex 14
Con 10
Int 18
Wis 12
Cha 16

Dropped the armor completly, so all I have until I receive my lashes is run away far, sing and be cute.[/quote:osefgnc7]

Keep at least one dagger, I would advise 4 and light armor and wear a sword (you do not want to look like a Wizard)

You might want Wis a little higher for Bardic Lore (IIRC) at the cost of Int.
Place most of skill points in things like Bluff and Perform. Hey you might talk an elf into giving you Elven Chain, my Bard was given such.

STR. is not a problem, with Bardic Lore you stand a good chance to ID a belt of Str. and convince the rest of the party it is just a plain belt that you liked the buckle on.

There is never a perfect answer to the best build, however Bard class has many skill points and should use them. The Sword Dancer Build in 3.X requires 2 levels of Bard in order to be a Sword Dancer with level 8