Bard Class

####  Quick Build

You can make a bard quickly by following these suggestions. First, put your highest ability score in Charisma, followed by Dexterity. Second, choose the Entertainer background. Third, choose the Dancing Lights*Evocation Cantrip*
**Casting Time:** 1 a
**Range:** 120 ft
**Components:** V,S,M
**Duration:** Conc, 1 min
4 torch-sized lights or 1 humanoid-sized light; 10-ft rad dim light; bns a to move 60 ft and Vicious Mockery*Enchantment Cantrip*
**Casting Time:** 1 a
**Range:** 60 ft
**Components:** V
**Duration:** Instantaneous
1 creature save or 1d4 Psychic dmg and dis. on next attack roll; CL5:2d4, CL11:3d4, CL17:4d4 cantrips, along with the following 1st-level spells: Charm Person*1st-level Enchantment*
**Casting Time:** 1 a
**Range:** 30 ft
**Components:** V,S
**Duration:** 1 h
1+1/SL humanoids save or charmed; crea adv. on save if you or your allies are fighting it, Healing Word*1st-level Evocation*
**Casting Time:** 1 bns
**Range:** 60 ft
**Components:** V
**Duration:** Instantaneous
Heals 1 living creature 1d4+1d4/SL+spellcasting ability modifier, Detect Magic*1st-level Divination*
**Casting Time:** 1 a
**Range:** Self
**Components:** V,S
**Duration:** Conc, 10 min (Ritual)
Know presence of magic within 30 ft; 1 a to see auras and determine school, and Thunderwave*1st-level Evocation*
**Casting Time:** 1 a
**Range:** 15-ft cube
**Components:** V,S
**Duration:** Instantaneous
All crea/obj in area 2d8+1d8/SL Thunder dmg, pushed 10 ft away; save halves and not pushed.

### CLASS FEATURES

As a bard, you gain the following class features.

####  Hit Points

Hit Dice:1d8 per bard level

Hit Points at 1st Level:8 + your Constitution modifier

Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per bard level after 1st

####  Proficiencies

Armor:Light armor

Weapons:Simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords

Tools: three musical instruments of your choice

Saving Throws: Dexterity, Charisma

Skills: Choose any three.

####  Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

* (a) a Rapier, (b) a Longsword, or (c) any simple weapon
* (a) a Diplomat's Pack or (b) an Entertainer's Pack
* (a) a lute or (b) any other musical instrument
* Leather Armor, and a Dagger

###  Bardic Inspiration

You can inspire others through stirring words or music. To do so, you use a Bonus Action on Your Turn to choose one creature other than yourself within 60 feet of you who can hear you. That creature gains one Bardic Inspiration die, a d6.

Once within the next 10 minutes, the creature can roll the die and add the number rolled to one ability check, Attack roll, or saving throw it makes. The creature can wait until after it rolls the d20 before deciding to use the Bardic Inspiration die, but must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails. Once the Bardic Inspiration die is rolled, it is lost. A creature can have only one Bardic Inspiration die at a time.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (a minimum of once). You regain any expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.

Your Bardic Inspiration die changes when you reach certain levels in this class. The die becomes a d8 at 5th level, a d10 at 10th level, and a d12 at 15th level.

###  SPELLCASTING

You have learned to untangle and reshape the fabric of reality in harmony with your wishes and music. Your Spells are part of your vast repertoire, magic that you can tune to different situations. For more information, refer to the rules of spellcasting and the bard spell list.

Cantrips. You know two Cantrips of your choice from the bard spell list. You learn additional bard Cantrips of your choice at higher levels, learning a 3rd cantrip at 4th level and a 4th at 10th level.

Spell Slots. The Bard table shows how many Spell Slots you have to cast your Spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these Spells, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended Spell Slots when you finish a Long Rest. For example, if you know the 1st-level spell Cure Wounds and have a 1st-level and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast Cure Wounds using either slot.

Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher. You know four 1st-level Spells of your choice from the bard spell list. You learn an additional bard spell of your choice at each level except 12th, 16th, 19th, and 20th. Each of these Spells must be of a level for which you have Spell Slots. For instance, when you reach 3rd level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level.
 Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the bard Spells you know and replace it with another spell from the bard spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have Spell Slots.

Spellcasting Ability. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your bard Spells. Your magic comes from the heart and soul you pour into the performance of your music or oration. You use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Charisma modifier when Setting the saving throw DC for a bard spell you cast and when Making an Attack roll with one.

* Spell Save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier
* Spell Attack Modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier

Ritual Casting. You can cast any bard spell you know as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag. See the ritual casting rules for more information.

Spellcasting Focus. You can use a musical instrument (see "Equipment") as a spellcasting focus for your bard Spells.

###  Jack of All Trades

Starting at 2nd level, you can add half your proficiency bonus, rounded down, to any ability check you make that doesn't already include your proficiency bonus.

###  Song of Rest

Beginning at 2nd level, you can use soothing music or oration to help revitalize your wounded allies during a Short Rest. If you or any friendly creatures who can hear your performance regain hit points by spending Hit Dice at the end of the Short Rest, each of those creatures regains an extra 1d6 hit points.

The extra hit points increase when you reach certain levels in this class: to 1d8 at 9th level, to 1d10 at 13th level, and to 1d12 at 17th level.

###  Bard College

At 3rd level, you delve into the advanced techniques of a bard college of your choice, such as the College of Lore. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th and 14th level.

###  Expertise

At 3rd level, choose two of your skill proficiencies. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses either of the chosen proficiencies.

At 10th level, you can choose another two skill proficiencies to gain this benefit.

###  Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two Ability Scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

###  Font of Inspiration

Beginning when you reach 5th level, you regain all of your expended uses of Bardic Inspiration when you finish a short or Long Rest.

###  Countercharm

At 6th level, you gain the ability to use musical notes or words of power to disrupt mind-influencing effects. As an action, you can start a performance that lasts until the end of your next turn. During that time, you and any friendly creatures within 30 feet of you have advantage on saving throws against being Frightened or Charmed. A creature must be able to hear you to gain this benefit. The performance ends early if you are Incapacitated or silenced or if you voluntarily end it (no action required).

###  Magical Secrets

By 10th level, you have plundered magical knowledge from a wide spectrum of disciplines. Choose two Spells from any class, including this one. A spell you choose must be of a level you can cast, as shown on the Bard table, or a cantrip.

The chosen Spells count as bard Spells for you and are included in the number in the Spells Known column of the Bard table.

You learn two additional Spells from any class at 14th level and again at 18th level.

###  Superior Inspiration

At 20th level, when you roll initiative and have no uses of Bardic Inspiration left, you regain one use.

## Bard Colleges

* Lore
* Valor
* Glamour
* Swords
* Whispers
* Eloquence
 main page

Bards of the College of Lore know something about most things, collecting bits of knowledge from sources as diverse as scholarly tomes and peasant tales. Whether singing folk ballads in taverns or elaborate compositions in royal courts, these bards use their gifts to hold audiences spellbound. When the applause dies down, the audience members might find themselves questioning everything they held to be true, from their faith in the priesthood of the local temple to their loyalty to the king.

The loyalty of these bards lies in the pursuit of beauty and truth, not in fealty to a monarch or following the tenets of a deity. A noble who keeps such a bard as a herald or advisor knows that the bard would rather be honest than politic.

The college’s members gather in libraries and sometimes in actual colleges, complete with classrooms and dormitories, to share their lore with one another. They also meet at festivals or affairs of state, where they can expose corruption, unravel lies, and poke fun at self-important figures of authority.

*3rd-level feature*

 When you join the College of Lore at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with three skills of your choice.

*3rd-level feature*

 You learn how to use your wit to distract, confuse, and otherwise sap the confidence and competence of others. When a creature that you can see within 60 feet of you makes an attack roll, an ability check, or a damage roll, you can use your reaction to expend one of your uses of Bardic Inspiration, rolling a Bardic Inspiration die and subtracting the number rolled from the creature’s roll. You can choose to use this feature after the creature makes its roll, but before the DM determines whether the attack roll or ability check succeeds or fails, or before the creature deals its damage. The creature is immune if it can’t hear you or if it’s immune to being charmed.

*6th-level feature*

 You learn two spells of your choice from any class. A spell you choose must be of a level you can cast, as shown on the Bard table, or a cantrip. The chosen spells count as bard spells for you but don’t count against the number of bard spells you know.

*14th-level feature*

 When you make an ability check, you can expend one use of Bardic Inspiration. Roll a Bardic Inspiration die and add the number rolled to your ability check. You can choose to do so after you roll the die for the ability check, but before the DM tells you whether you succeed or fail.

 main page

Bards of the College of Valor are daring skalds whose tales keep alive the memory of the great heroes of the past, and thereby inspire a new generation of heroes. These bards gather in mead halls or around great bonfires to sing the deeds of the mighty, both past and present. They travel the land to witness great events firsthand and to ensure that the memory of those events doesn’t pass from the world. With their songs, they inspire others to reach the same heights of accomplishment as the heroes of old.

*3rd-level feature*

 When you join the College of Valor at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with medium armor, shields, and martial weapons.

*3rd-level feature*

 You learn to inspire others in battle. A creature that has a Bardic Inspiration die from you can roll that die and add the number rolled to a weapon damage roll it just made. Alternatively, when an attack roll is made against the creature, it can use its reaction to roll the Bardic Inspiration die and add the number rolled to its AC against that attack, after seeing the roll but before knowing whether it hits or misses.

*6th-level feature*

 You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

*14th-level feature*

 You have mastered the art of weaving spellcasting and weapon use into a single harmonious act. When you use your action to cast a bard spell, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action.

 main page

The College of Glamour is the home of bards who mastered their craft in the vibrant realm of the Feywild or under the tutelage of someone who dwelled there. Tutored by satyrs, eladrin, and other fey, these bards learn to use their magic to delight and captivate others. The bards of this college are regarded with a mixture of awe and fear. Their performances are the stuff of legend. These bards are so eloquent that a speech or song that one of them performs can cause captors to release the bard unharmed and can lull a furious dragon into complacency. The same magic that allows them to quell beasts can also bend minds. Villainous bards of this college can leech off a community for weeks, misusing their magic to turn their hosts into thralls. Heroic bards of this college instead use this power to gladden the downtrodden and undermine oppressors.

*3rd-level feature*

 When you join the College of Glamour at 3rd level, you gain the ability to weave a song of fey magic that imbues your allies with vigor and speed.
As a bonus action, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to grant yourself a wondrous appearance. When you do so, choose a number of creatures you can see and that can see you within 60 feet of you, up to a number equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one). Each of them gains 5 temporary hit points. When a creature gains these temporary hit points, it can immediately use its reaction to move up to its speed, without provoking opportunity attacks.
The number of temporary hit points increases when you reach certain levels in this class, increasing to 8 at 5th level, 11 at 10th level, and 14 at 15th level.

*3rd-level feature*

 You can charge your performance with seductive, fey magic. If you perform for at least 1 minute, you can attempt to inspire wonder in your audience by singing, reciting a poem, or dancing. At the end of the performance, choose a number of humanoids within 60 feet of you who watched and listened to all of it, up to a number equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one). Each target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or be charmed by you. While charmed in this way, the target idolizes you, it speaks glowingly of you to anyone who talks to it, and it hinders anyone who opposes you, although it avoids violence unless it was already inclined to fight on your behalf. This effect ends on a target after 1 hour, if it takes any damage, if you attack it, or if it witnesses you attacking or damaging any of its allies. If a target succeeds on its saving throw, the target has no hint that you tried to charm it.
 Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

*6th-level feature*

 You gain the ability to cloak yourself in a fey magic that makes others want to serve you. As a bonus action, you cast Command*1st-level Enchantment*
**Casting Time:** 1 a
**Range:** 60 ft
**Components:** V
**Duration:** 1 rnd
1+1/SL crea save or follows one word command, such as approach, drop, flee, grovel, halt, without expending a spell slot, and you take on an appearance of unearthly beauty for 1 minute or until your concentration ends (as if you were concentrating on a spell). During this time, you can cast Command*1st-level Enchantment*
**Casting Time:** 1 a
**Range:** 60 ft
**Components:** V
**Duration:** 1 rnd
1+1/SL crea save or follows one word command, such as approach, drop, flee, grovel, halt as a bonus action on each of your turns, without expending a spell slot. Any creature charmed by you automatically fails its saving throw against the command you cast with this feature.
 Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

*14th-level feature*

 Your appearance permanently gains an otherworldly aspect that makes you look more lovely and fierce.
 In addition, as a bonus action, you can assume a magically majestic presence for 1 minute or until you are incapacitated. For the duration, whenever any creature tries to attack you for the first time on a turn, the attacker must make a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, it can’t attack you on this turn, and it must choose a new target for its attack or the attack is wasted. On a successful save, it can attack you on this turn, but it has disadvantage on any saving throw it makes against your spells on your next turn.
 Once you assume this majestic presence, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

 main page

Bards of the College of Swords are called blades, and they entertain through daring feats of weapon prowess. Blades perform stunts such as sword swallowing, knife throwing and juggling, and mock combats. Though they use their weapons to entertain, they are also highly trained and skilled warriors in their own right. Their talent with weapons inspires many blades to lead double lives. One blade might use a circus troupe as cover for nefarious deeds such as assassination, robbery, and blackmail. Other blades strike at the wicked, bringing justice to bear against the cruel and powerful. Most troupes are happy to accept a blade’s talent for the excitement it adds to a performance, but few entertainers fully trust a blade in their ranks. Blades who abandon their lives as entertainers have often run into trouble that makes maintaining their secret activities impossible. A blade caught stealing or engaging in vigilante justice is too great a liability for most troupes. With their weapon skills and magic, these blades either take up work as enforcers for thieves’ guilds or strike out on their own as adventurers.

*3rd-level feature*

 When you join the College of Swords at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with medium armor and the scimitar. If you‘re proficient with a simple or martial melee weapon, you can use it as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells.

*3rd-level feature*

 You adopt a style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can’t take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if something in the game lets you choose again.

* ***Dueling.***  When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.
* ***Two-Weapon Fighting.***  When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.

*3rd-level feature*

 You learn to perform impressive displays of martial prowess and speed. Whenever you take the Attack action on your turn, your walking speed increases by 10 feet until the end of the turn, and if a weapon attack that you make as part of this action hits a creature, you can use one of the following Blade Flourish options of your choice. You can use only one Blade Flourish option per turn.

* ***Defensive Flourish.***  You can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to cause the weapon to deal extra damage to the target you hit. The damage equals the number you roll on the Bardic Inspiration die. You also add the number rolled to your AC until the start of your next turn.
* ***Slashing Flourish.***  You can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to cause the weapon to deal extra damage to the target you hit and to any other creature of your choice that you can see within 5 feet of you. The damage equals the number you roll on the Bardic Inspiration die.
* ***Mobile Flourish.***  You can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to cause the weapon to deal extra damage to the target you hit. The damage equals the number you roll on the Bardic Inspiration die. You can also push the target up to 5 feet away from you, plus a number of feet equal to the number you roll on that die. You can then immediately use your reaction to move up to your walking speed to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the target.

*6th-level feature*

 You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

*14th-level feature*

 Whenever you use a Blade Flourish option, you can roll a d6 and use it instead of expending a Bardic Inspiration die.

 main page

Most folk are happy to welcome a bard into their midst. Bards of the College of Whispers use this to their advantage. They appear to be like other bards, sharing news, singing songs, and telling tales to the audiences they gather. In truth, the College of Whispers teaches its students that they are wolves among sheep. These bards use their knowledge and magic to uncover secrets and turn them against others through extortion and threats. Many other bards hate the College of Whispers, viewing it as a parasite that uses a bard’s reputation to acquire wealth and power. For this reason, members of this college rarely reveal their true nature. They typically claim to follow some other college, or they keep their actual calling secret in order to infiltrate and exploit royal courts and other settings of power.

*3rd-level feature*

 When you join the College of Whispers at 3rd level, you gain the ability to make your weapon attacks magically toxic to a creature’s mind. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to deal an extra 2d6 psychic damage to that target. You can do so only once per round on your turn.
The psychic damage increases when you reach certain levels in this class, increasing to 3d6 at 5th level, 5d6 at 10th level, and 8d6 at 15th level.

*3rd-level feature*

 You learn to infuse innocent-seeming words with an insidious magic that can inspire terror. If you speak to a humanoid alone for at least 1 minute, you can attempt to seed paranoia in its mind. At the end of the conversation, the target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or be frightened of you or another creature of your choice. The target is frightened in this way for 1 hour, until it is attacked or damaged, or until it witnesses its allies being attacked or damaged.
 If the target succeeds on its saving throw, the target has no hint that you tried to frighten it. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

*6th-level feature*

 At 6th level, you gain the ability to adopt a humanoid’s persona. When a humanoid dies within 30 feet of you, you can magically capture its shadow using your reaction. You retain this shadow until you use it or you finish a long rest.
You can use the shadow as an action. When you do so, it vanishes, magically transforming into a disguise that appears on you. You now look like the dead person, but healthy and alive. This disguise lasts for 1 hour or until you end it as a bonus action. While you’re in the disguise, you gain access to all information that the humanoid would freely share with a casual acquaintance. Such information includes general details on its background and personal life, but doesn’t include secrets. The information is enough that you can pass yourself off as the person by drawing on its memories.
 Another creature can see through this disguise by succeeding on a Wisdom (Insight) check contested by your Charisma (Deception) check. You gain a +5 bonus to your check.
 Once you capture a shadow with this feature, you can’t capture another one with it until you finish a short or long rest.

*14th-level feature*

 At 14th level, you gain the ability to weave dark magic into your words and tap into a creature’s deepest fears. As an action, you magically whisper a phrase that only one creature of your choice within 30 feet of you can hear. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. It automatically succeeds if it doesn’t share a language with you or if it can’t hear you. On a successful saving throw, your whisper sounds like unintelligible mumbling and has no effect. On a failed saving throw, the target is charmed by you for the next 8 hours or until you or your allies attack it, damage it, or force it to make a saving throw. It interprets the whispers as a description of its most mortifying secret. You gain no knowledge of this secret, but the target is convinced you know it.
 The charmed creature obeys your commands for fear that you will reveal its secret. It won’t risk its life for you or fight for you, unless it was already inclined to do so. It grants you favors and gifts it would offer to a close friend.
 When the effect ends, the creature has no understanding of why it held you in such fear. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

 main page

Adherents of the College of Eloquence master the art of oratory. Persuasion is regarded as a high art, and a well-reasoned, well-spoken argument often proves more powerful than objective truth. These bards wield a blend of logic and theatrical wordplay, winning over skeptics and detractors with logical arguments, and plucking at heartstrings to appeal to the emotions of entire audiences.

*3rd-level feature*

 You are a master at saying the right thing at the right time. When you make a Charisma (Persuasion) or Charisma (Deception) check, you can treat a d20 roll of 9 or lower as a 10.

*3rd-level feature*

 You can spin words laced with magic that unsettle a creature and cause it to doubt itself. As a bonus action, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration and choose one creature you can see within 60 feet of you. Roll the Bardic Inspiration die. The creature must subtract the number rolled from the next saving throw it makes before the start of your next turn.

*6th-level feature*

 Your inspiring words are so persuasive that others feel driven to succeed. When a creature adds one of your Bardic Inspiration dice to its ability check, attack roll, or saving throw and the roll fails, the creature can keep the Bardic Inspiration die.

*6th-level feature*

 You have gained the ability to make your speech intelligible to any creature. As an action, choose one or more creatures within 60 feet of you, up to a number equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one creature). The chosen creatures can magically understand you, regardless of the language you speak, for 1 hour.
 Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend a spell slot to use it again.

*14th-level feature*

 When you successfully inspire someone, the power of your eloquence can now spread to someone else. When a creature within 60 feet of you adds one of your Bardic Inspiration dice to its ability check, attack roll, or saving throw and the roll succeeds, you can use your reaction to encourage a different creature (other than yourself) that can hear you within 60 feet of you, giving it a Bardic Inspiration die without expending any of your Bardic Inspiration uses.
 You can use this reaction a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

 Classes
 Equipment
 Worldbuilding