College of Heralds (5e Bard Archetype)

## **College of Heralds**

The College of Heralds is one that plays their music to attract the foul corrupted monstrosities of the Corruption, fighting alongside the creature they summon as they work to destroy their foes.

### **Bonus Proficiencies**

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

### **Call Corruption**

Starting when you choose this college at 3rd level, you learn to use your music to call upon a corrupted being. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 50 gp worth of rare oils and incenses, you call forth a corrupted creature from underground, to rise as your minion. This creature uses the statistics for your choice between an ape, a black bear, a boar, a giant badger, a giant weasel, a mule, a panther, or a wolf, however its appearance is of your choosing and it is classified as a monstrosity. When complete, your corrupted minion awakens and gains all the benefits of your Corrupted Bond ability. You can have only one corrupted minion at a time.

If your corrupted minion is ever slain, the magical bond you share allows you to return it to life. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of a further 25 gp worth of material components, you recall your minion’s spirit and use your magic to create a new body for it. You can return a corrupted minion to unlife in this manner even if you do not possess any part of its body. If you use this ability to return a former corrupted minion to life while you have a current corrupted minion, your current minion burrows underground and is replaced by the restored companion.

### **Corrupted Bond**

Your corrupted minion gains a variety of benefits while it is linked to you. The minion obeys your commands as best it can. It rolls for initiative like any other creature, but you determine its actions, decisions, attitudes, and so on. If you are incapacitated or absent, your minion acts on its own.

Your corrupted minion loses the Multiattack action, if it has one.
Your corrupted minion has abilities and game statistics determined in part by your level. Your minion uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own. In addition to the areas where it normally uses its proficiency bonus, a corrupted minion also adds its proficiency bonus to its damage rolls.
Your corrupted minion gains proficiency in two skills of your choice. It also becomes proficient with all saving throws.
For each level you gain after 3rd, your minion gains an additional hit die and increases its hit points accordingly.
 Whenever you gain the Ability Score Improvement class feature, your minion’s abilities also improve. Your minion can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or it can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, your minion can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
 Your minion shares your alignment, and you are free to determine its personality traits and flaws. Your minion shares your ideal and its bond is always: “The herald who called upon me is my permanent master, and that will never change.”

### **Coordinated Attack**

Beginning at 6th level, you and your corrupted minion are able to attack in synch. When you use the Attack action on your turn, if your minion can see you, it can use its reaction to make a melee attack.

### **Channel Corruption**

Starting at 14th level, you are able to let your minion destroy creatures with the might of the corruption. As a reaction to your minion dealing damage to a creature within 30 feet of yourself, you can expend a spell slot to cause your minion to deal additional necrotic damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 5d8. The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is a plant or fey.