Eila Shorttrip Daerdin

Deep Gnome Support Bard • 3-Player Co-op (+ Minthara) • Buff / Debuff / Flex • Click a level

Start: STR 8 / DEX 16 / CON 14 / INT 8 / WIS 10 / CHA 17 DC driver: Charisma CHA: 17 → 18 (Ethel's Hair) → 20 (ASI)

Pick a level

LEVEL 1

Your opening kit

Start

LEVEL 2

Round out the L1 kit

LEVEL 3

College + auto-crit combo

College

LEVEL 4

Blindness — free concentration

Feat

LEVEL 5

Hypnotic Pattern spike

Spike

LEVEL 6

College feature / Haste (Lore)

College

LEVEL 7

Greater Invisibility

LEVEL 8

Crank the save DC

Feat

LEVEL 9

Hold Monster — auto-crit bosses

LEVEL 10

Magical Secrets • d10 BI

Secrets

LEVEL 11

Otto's Irresistible Dance

LEVEL 12

Capstone — full kit

Feat

Reference

BuffDebuffControl HealUtilityDamage Tags:WISC = concentration

Start Here — Character Creation

Everything to click at the creation screen, then the habits that keep your opening hours fluent.

At the creation screen — exact picks

RaceGnome → Deep Gnome (Svirfneblin). Assign the racial bonuses +2 CHA, +1 DEX. (Free in base game; gives Superior Darkvision + Gnome Cunning = advantage on INT/WIS/CHA saves.)

ClassBard. The College (subclass) is chosen at level 3 — we're going Lore (Glamour is the backup; see "Glamour vs Lore").

BackgroundEntertainer → proficiency in Acrobatics + Performance.

Ability scoresSTR 8 · DEX 16 · CON 14 · INT 8 · WIS 10 · CHA 17. CHA = your spell save DC; DEX = AC/initiative; CON = concentration.

Skills (Bard)Persuasion, Deception, Insight — you're the party face. (Acrobatics + Performance already come from the background.)

Cantrips (2)Vicious Mockery + Friends.

Spells (4)Faerie Fire · Tasha's Hideous Laughter · Sleep · Longstrider. (Healing Word later, once your heal gear is online.)

NameEila Shorttrip Daerdin.

Opening-hours habits

Every long rest: ritual-cast Longstrider on the whole party — out of combat it's free (no slots), one click each.
Combat rhythm: one concentration play (Faerie Fire / Sleep / Tasha's early) + a bonus action (Bardic Inspiration now, Healing Word once you have heal gear). Only one concentration spell at a time.
At level 3: pick your College (Lore) and Expertise → Persuasion + Sleight of Hand (or Performance). Hold Person unlocks your auto-crit combo with Greta.
CHA to 20: ASI CHA +2 at L4 (→ 19), then Auntie Ethel's Hair (→ 20). Running the feat-every-2-levels mod = 6 feats (see Feat plan). Difficulty: Tactician.

Don't-miss early pickups (in order)

⚠ Randomised loot: these are vanilla spots — with our mods they may not be there. Treat it as "what to look for," and see the loot note on the 🎒 Act 1 items page.

Emerald Grove (grab BEFORE any Grove raid): Cap of Curing · Ring of Protection (Mol) · Hellrider's Pride (Zevlor) · Wapira's Crown (Save the Refugees — permanently lost if you raid the Grove).
Goblin Camp: Whispering Promise + Boots of Aid & Comfort (Grat) · Blazer of Benevolence (Rescue Volo).
Underdark / Omeluum: Pearl of Power · Ring of Salving · Boots of Stormy Clamour · Phalar Aluve (Selûnite altar).
Mid/late Act 1: Auntie Ethel's Hair (→ CHA 20). Full detail on the 🎒 Act 1 items page.

Reality check for the first hours

Your heal-trigger gear isn't online yet, so early on you're a control bard: lead with Faerie Fire, Sleep, and Tasha's. The "healing = buffing" engine switches on once you've collected the Grove + Goblin + Omeluum package.

How to play a support bard

⚔️ We're on a more-enemies / extra-mini-bosses mod. That makes you the backbone, not a liability — a support bard scales up with enemy count:

AOE control deletes more turns. Hypnotic Pattern on 5 of a 12-pack did more than the fighter's whole turn. Stop leading with single-target Hold — lead with the group disable, save Hold for the one mini-boss.
Haste clears the extra bodies. More targets = Greta killing two a round instead of one. An extra action ≈ a 5th party member.
Counterspell on a mini-boss spell protects all four of you at once.

You are the force multiplier, not the damage. Your turn is usually one big concentration play (AOE control or Haste) + a bonus action (Healing Word or hand out Bardic Inspiration). Every fight:

Before — ritual-cast Longstrider on the whole party out of combat (free, no slots); bank Bardic Inspiration onto allies now so it's on them regardless of initiative; later, pre-cast Haste.
Round 1 — your concentration MVP: disable the pack (Faerie Fire early, Hypnotic Pattern / Slow / Confusion later) or Haste your damage-dealer.
Every other turn — fill with no-concentration effects so you're never idle: Vicious Mockery, Dissonant Whispers, Blindness, bonus-action Healing Word (sprays gear buffs once you have the Act 1 heal items), or toss Bardic Inspiration.
Reaction — Cutting Words (Lore — shave a save so your AOE lands, or cancel a hit on Greta) or Counterspell.

The one discipline: only one concentration spell at a time — so make it a big one. Cheat-sheet — AOE first: Hypnotic Pattern / Slow / Confusion (groups) · Faerie Fire (early advantage) · Hold Person/Monster (the single mini-boss → auto-crit) · Haste (raw power). And the fix for "only 3 inspirations" is Font of Inspiration (L5) — they refill on a short rest, so ~2 short rests/long rest ≈ 9–15 uses a day (the count is fixed by level — 3→4 at L5→5 at L9 — not Charisma; the die grows d6→d8→d10). Pump CHA for your spell save DC so the AOE actually lands.

🌀 AOE & save types — swarm cheat-sheet

More enemies = AOE is your job. Lead every fight with one big group-disable (you only hold one concentration spell at a time, so make it count), then fill later turns with no-concentration effects. Pick the AOE whose save type the pack is worst at — most of your control is WIS, so keep a CON and a DEX option ready for high-WIS enemies.

Spell	Get it	Save	Why vs a pack
Faerie Fire	L1	DEXC	Lights a cluster → whole team gets advantage on them; reveals invisibility.
Sleep	L1	HP	No concentration. Knocks out low-HP packs outright. Great in Act 1.
Hypnotic Pattern	L5	WISC	The GOAT. AOE incapacitate — your default opener vs groups.
Stinking Cloud	L5	CONC	AOE "lose your action." Your answer when enemies have high WIS.
Fear	L5	WISC	Cone — enemies flee and drop weapons.
Slow (Secrets)	L6 (Lore)	WISC	Up to 6 enemies: half speed, −AC, one action only, no reactions.
Hunger of Hadar (Secrets)	L6 (Lore)	DEXC	Damaging + blinding zone — control and chip damage.
Confusion	L7	WISC	AOE chaos — enemies waste turns / hit each other.
Hold Person (upcast)	L3 · L5+ to upcast	WISC	From a higher slot: lock +1 humanoid per slot level → auto-crits for Greta.
Hold Monster	L9	WISC	Any creature — save it for the one mini-boss.

The save-type trick

Each spell forces a different save — WIS CON DEX. Most of your control is WIS, so a high-WIS enemy (mini-bosses often are) shrugs it all off. Keep a CON option (Stinking Cloud) and a DEX option (Hunger of Hadar / Faerie Fire) prepped, and hit whatever save an enemy is worst at. Check the Combat Log (top-left) after a failed cast — if they keep passing WIS, switch save types instead of banging on the same door.

The engine, start to finish

CHA raises your DC → more of the pack fails → Cutting Words (Lore reaction) trips the one straggler who barely cleared it → Greta cashes in the auto-crits on whatever's held. That loop is your whole game in a swarm.

When your concentration is busy

Only one concentration spell at a time — so fill other turns with no-concentration plays: Sleep (AOE), Blindness, Counterspell, Vicious Mockery / Dissonant Whispers, bonus-action Healing Word, or hand out Bardic Inspiration. You're never idle.

Enabling Greta (the Barbarian)

Your teammate is Greta Strongbottom, a female dwarf Barbarian — frontline damage, not just a wall. She uses Reckless Attack (advantage on her hits) and Rage (resistance to physical damage). Feed her:

Set up auto-crits. Hold Person / Hold Monster paralyzes → every melee hit is an automatic crit. A raging dwarf crit is enormous. Your signature combo.
Give her an extra action. Haste = +1 attack/turn, +2 AC, advantage on DEX saves. Biggest single swing you can hand the party.
Make her untouchable. Greater Invisibility = attack with advantage, can't be targeted. Freedom of Movement = never locked down.
Keep her up. Reckless = she gets hit more. Your heal-gear turns one Healing Word into temp HP + physical resistance + Bless on her. Healing IS buffing.

She already has advantage from Reckless, so Faerie Fire's advantage is "extra" for her — but it still lights the pack for the others and applies a condition for your gear. Keep casting it.

College: Glamour vs Lore

Same spell list either way — only your subclass features differ, at levels 3 and 6. Here's everything to weigh for a support bard in a 4-human party with Greta (Barbarian) up front.

Glamour — the team shield

Buff/protect-focused. You keep the squad topped and punish whatever swings at them.

L3 · Mantle of Inspiration

Bonus action, spend 1 Bardic Inspiration → temp HP to nearby allies.

5 HP to 2 allies → 8 HP / 3 allies at L6 → 11 HP / 4 allies at L10. Anything that melee-hits a shielded ally is Charmed. Repeatable every fight (Font of Inspiration refills your dice on a short rest).

L6 · Mantle of Majesty

Bonus-action Command (flee / approach / freeze / prone / drop weapon).

Charmed targets auto-fail the save — so the charm from Mantle of Inspiration feeds guaranteed Commands. 1 / long rest.

L10 · Magical Secrets

2 cross-class spells (≤ L5) — same as every bard. This is where Glamour finally grabs Haste.

Lore — the flexible controller

Control/flex-focused. You make disables land, protect with a reaction, and steal whatever the party needs.

L3 · Cutting Words + 3 skills

Reaction, spend 1 Bardic Inspiration → −1d6 to an enemy's attack roll, ability check, OR saving throw.

In BG3 it hits saving throws too — shave an enemy's save so your Hold / Hypnotic lands, or turn a boss's crit on Greta into a miss. Plus proficiency in 3 extra skills (party face / skill monkey).

L6 · Additional Magical Secrets

Learn 2 cross-class spells (≤ L3) — four levels early.

This is how you get Haste + Counterspell at L6 instead of L10.

L10 · Magical Secrets

2 more spells (≤ L5). Lore ends with 4 stolen spells total vs Glamour's 2.

What each means for THIS party

Glamour makes you a repeatable AOE shield. With three squishier human teammates, 8–11 temp HP sprayed every fight (on top of your heal-trigger gear) is a pile of effective HP, and the charm-on-melee punishes anything that swings at a buffed ally. Mantle of Majesty then gives a lockdown that ignores saves on charmed enemies. The cost: your Haste is stuck until L10.

Lore doubles down on your control identity. Cutting Words is both a defensive reaction (cancel a big hit on Greta) and an offensive enabler (drop an enemy's save so your disable sticks). The 3 bonus skills make you the undisputed party face. And the headline: Haste on Greta at character L6 — on a Reckless, raging Barbarian that's an extra attack every turn, four levels sooner.

Pick Glamour if…

Your 4 humans get low a lot and you want a repeatable team-wide shield.
You like a "keep everyone topped, wade in" support style.
You value guaranteed Commands (charm → auto-fail) as lockdown.
You're okay getting Haste late (L10).

Pick Lore if…

You want to max Greta's damage — Haste at L6 is enormous.
You want your Holds / Hypnotic to land more often (Cutting Words on saves).
You want to be the party's skill monkey / face.
You like flexibility — 4 stolen spells patches any party gap.

Decided: Lore (Glamour = backup)

This comp — a melee Barbarian who loves Haste, plus a controller who wants disables to land — already pointed to Lore. The more-enemies mod settles it. Crowded fights are exactly where Lore wins: Cutting Words shaves an enemy save so your AOE catches the whole pack (one die can mean Hypnotic landing on 3 vs 5), and Haste on Greta at character L6 — four levels before Glamour can reach it — is what actually clears the extra bodies. Glamour stays the live backup: if the denser fights start deleting the four humans faster than we can heal/control, flip to its repeatable AOE shield. The pick is made fresh at character L3 in-game, so changing our mind before then costs nothing.

Feat / ASI plan

You'll likely run the feat-every-2-levels mod, which turns 3 feats into 6 — at L2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12. Take them in the order below (earlier = higher priority for a support/control bard).

Primary plan — 6 feats (mod on)

L2War CasterAdvantage on the CON saves that keep concentration up — and you can cast spells as opportunity attacks. Your entire kit (Faerie Fire, Hold, Hypnotic, later Haste) is concentration; dropping it mid-fight is catastrophic. Non-negotiable, take it first.

L4ASI: CHA +217 → 19 (→ 20 with Auntie Ethel's Hair). Your "damage" is enemies failing saves, so spell-save DC is your scaling stat — this makes every disable land more often, and adds Bardic Inspiration uses + face-check power.

L6Alert+5 initiative, can't be Surprised. A controller who acts first locks the enemy down before they move — opening turn-1 Hypnotic Pattern can end a fight outright. Initiative is king for control.

L8Resilient: CON+1 CON (→ 15) and proficiency on CON saves. The proficiency (≈ +prof bonus) stacks with War Caster for near-unbreakable concentration — that's the real prize, far bigger than the +1.

L10Lucky3 luck points / long rest. Reroll a failed concentration save, force a key disable to land, or make a boss reroll a crit aimed at Greta. The clutch button.

L12Tough+2 HP per level, retroactive (+24 HP at L12). You're a squishy Small-race caster — raw HP keeps you alive to keep concentrating. (Swap for Mobile or ASI: DEX if you'd rather have speed/AC.)

If the mod's off — standard 3 feats (L4 / L8 / L12)

Keep the top three: War Caster (L4) → ASI: CHA +2 (L8) → Resilient: CON or Alert (L12). Drop Lucky / Tough / the second concentration feat first. With only 3 feats, concentration + DC are the priorities; survivability waits.

Swap pool — situational alternatives

SpeedMobile+3m move (fixes Deep Gnome's 25ft) + Dash in difficult terrain + no opportunity attacks from things you've hit. Lower priority since ritual Longstrider already patches your speed for free.

ACASI: DEX +216 → 18: +1 AC, initiative, DEX saves, Stealth. A clean survivability/AC bump if you keep getting focused.

Anti-mindResilient: WIS+1 WIS + proficiency on WIS saves; stacks with Gnome Cunning for near-immunity to charm/fear/mind-control. Great vs casters and mind flayers (Act 2–3).

UtilityMagic Initiate: ClericGuidance (+1d4 to any skill check — busted out of combat) + a cantrip + a L1 spell (Bless / Shield of Faith). Big utility for the party face.

SkipSkilled+3 skill proficiencies. Diminishing returns — Jack of All Trades already covers untrained checks, and Lore piles on skills. Last resort.

Where your stats land

CHA 17 → 19 (ASI L4) → 20 (Auntie Ethel's Hair, mid-Act-1) — max spell DC. · CON 14 → 15 + proficiency (Resilient) — plus War Caster advantage = concentration that almost never breaks. · DEX stays 16 (bump to 18 via the swap pool only if you want more AC).

Act 1 Gear

What each item does for you · when you can get it · where · which slot. Act 1 only.

⚠ We're on randomised loot — read this as "what to recognise"

We're running Ancient Mega Pack (randomised "REL" loot) + Fade's Equipment Distribution, so the specific items and "Where" locations below are the vanilla picture — on random loot they may not drop there, or at all. Use the catalog two ways: (1) it's what your ideal support kit does, so you spot the effects when something drops; (2) vendor stock & quest rewards may still hold, so it's not dead weight. The green list below is the mod-proof version — learn the effects, not the addresses.

🔎 What to grab on sight (support bard, any loot)

"Heal a creature → it also gets …" items — your whole engine, and there are many (Bless, physical resistance, temp HP, bonus HP, self-heal). You don't need a specific one — collect whichever drop; each turns one Healing Word into a team-wide buff.
"Grant Bardic Inspiration → …" items (a heal, or temp HP) — free value every time you hand out a die, and you hand out a lot.
Condition-on-hit synergy — anything that triggers off inflicting a condition (Reverberation gear and friends). Your Faerie Fire / Hold / debuffs set it off constantly.
+CHA / +spell save DC / +spell attack — how often Hypnotic / Hold / Slow actually land (and your face skills). The top stat to chase.
Concentration protection (advantage / bonus on CON saves, or "can't be broken") — keeps your one big control spell alive.
+Initiative — acting earlier lets your AOE land before the swarm moves (big with the more-enemies mod).
Light-armour / clothing with AC, saves, or wards — you're not a heavy-armour wearer, so value those slots.

Your engine: the heal-trigger package

Once you've collected these, a single Healing Word (bonus action) sprays multiple buffs onto the target at once: Whispering Promise (Bless: +1d4 attack & saves), Hellrider's Pride (physical resistance), Boots of Aid & Comfort (+3 temp HP), Ring of Salving (+2 HP). With Cap of Curing / Blazer of Benevolence, even handing out Bardic Inspiration heals. Healing = buffing. On random loot you may assemble it from different pieces — grab any "heal → also does X" item you find.

Act 1 gaps (don't go hunting — they don't exist yet)

No cloak with stats drops in Act 1 (grab Cloak of Protection at Last Light Inn the moment you reach Act 2). No spell-save-DC or +CHA equipment exists in Act 1 either — your only DC boost is the consumable Auntie Ethel's Hair. (That's the vanilla picture — our equipment mods may add cloaks / +CHA / DC gear earlier, so keep an eye on what actually drops.)

🎒 In our randomised-loot run, watch for these to drop: concentration, +CHA / spell-save-DC and heal-boost gear can show up anywhere. → See the loot & gear guide for the full grab-on-sight list.

👑 Got the Fashion Prince helm? It refunds +2 Bardic Inspiration whenever enemies are Charmed — a charm-powered engine built for Eila. → See which spells trigger it.

What it does: HealingBuffingDefense ControlUtilityMobilityCHA / DC