PDA

View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next College of Illumination for Bards [PEACH]



AstralFire
2014-12-29, 05:04 PM
College of Illumination
Bards from the College of Illumination use their talents to bring goodness to the dark corners of the world. To become an Illumination Bard, the Bard must know the Light or Dancing Lights cantrip.

Crescendo Flash
At 3rd level, you can summon motes of brilliant light which distract foes. 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 use of your 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 the success of the roll. An attacker that can't be blinded is immune to this feature.

Divine Secrets
Also at 3rd level, you add the Sacred Flame Cantrip to your cantrips known. You also add the Guiding Bolt and Moonbeam spells to your spells known. They are treated as bard spells.

Radiant Interference
Starting at 6th level, when the target of your Sacred Flame cantrip fails their saving throw against the effect, it has disadvantage on the next saving throw it makes against fire or radiant damage before the end of your next round.

Additional Divine Secrets
Also at 6th level, you add the Beacon of Hope and Daylight spells to your spells known. They are treated as bard spells.

Wings of Light
Starting at 14th level, you can use a bonus action to activate brilliant wings of sunlight which last until you dismiss them using a bonus action. You emit bright light in a 60-foot radius and dim light 30 feet beyond that, and the sound of music reverberates around you. You gain a flying speed equal to your current speed.

Arracor
2015-01-01, 02:52 PM
\[T]/ Praise the sun? Praise the sun.

I should preface this by saying I have limited knowledge of 5e's balance and no practical experience. That said, I like the idea! It's appropriately thematic, it seems decently balanced with the other Bard subclasses. And, it perfectly fills a niche in my own main setting. I can easily see myself using it for NPCs, and allowing it as an option for players.

Leuku
2015-01-13, 07:03 AM
Hmm.

Huh. So Crescendo Flash is exactly the same as Cutting Words, but is impotent against non-sight enemies rather than deaf/uncharmable enemies? Sounds alright.

But then you're giving a free cantrip and 2 free spells alongside that, which the Lore Bard does not get.

The way this Light Bard is set up, it's patently better than the Lore Bard in every single way and thus almost completely invalidates choosing the Lore Bard. Who needs the Lore bard's bonus to ability checks if you can Fly? You learn 3 more spells than the Lore Bard does: 1 cantrip and two spells, and you learn them at levels sooner than the Lore Bard.

I think you should take out Sacred Flame and the two spells you learn at 3rd level.

Give Sacred Flame for free at 6th level, and give some combination of two among Guiding Bolt, Moonbeam, Beacon of Hope, and Daylight. This way you get three spells as opposed to the Lore Bard's two, but you do not get to choose which ones.

Then take Radiant Interference and put it at 14th level. There is precedent that a Disadvantage feature should come at levels later than 6. Arcane Trickster gets their disadvantage feature at level 9. Eldritch Knight gets theirs at 10.

And Take out Wings of Radiance. The way Wings of Radiance is set up, its actually better than the Draconic Sorcerer's Dragon Wings, because at least yours give off light. And Wings of Radiance don't cause your clothes to explode.

Maybe we can combine Radiant Interference and Wings of Radiance?

Corona of Radiance

As a bonus action on your turn, you can unleash a corona of radiance from you. You emit bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light 30 feet beyond that. You can end the Corona of Radiance without any type of action, and it automatically shuts off when you become unconscious.

While your corona of radiance is lit, you can spend a bonus action to select one creature within your corona's radius. That creature has disadvantage on its next saving throw against radiant or fire damage before the end of your next turn.

AstralFire
2015-01-14, 03:55 AM
First of all, thanks for the response, I really appreciate it. :smallsmile:

Criticisms taken in point, but I really do want flight to be part of this, thematically. Do you have any ideas for doing so? What if these spells were just added to the "spell list" and had to be learned as normal?

Leuku
2015-01-14, 04:56 PM
Criticisms taken in point, but I really do want flight to be part of this, thematically. Do you have any ideas for doing so? What if these spells were just added to the "spell list" and had to be learned as normal?

Flight is difficult. Flight is always very strong, so it is hard to balance. Your flight must have the same restrictions as the one the Draconic Sorcerer has.

If you take Flight, then you will have to abandon the disadvantage feature. 6th level is too early to have a disadvantage feature, and Flight is too powerful to couple it with a disadvantage feature.

Sure, you can add those spells to the Bard's spell list. But that would be too weak a feature compared to the Lore Bard.

AstralFire
2015-01-16, 07:17 AM
Hm, alright. Thanks a ton! :)