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View Full Version : College of Echoes - a bardic college for 5th edition



Heloria
2018-11-20, 06:03 AM
I don't know whether anyone has made this before, but I wanted to design a bard college loosely inspired by ventriloquism.
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College of Echoes

Lingering Inspiration
Starting at 3rd level, whenever one of your allies uses one of your Bardic Inspiration, a second ally within 30 feet may roll 1d4 and add it to one attack roll, ability check or saving throw they make within the next minute. A creature cannot benefit from this additional die if it is affected by the deafened condition.
This die increases to 1d6 at 10th level.

Mimicry
Additionally, at 3rd level, you have learned to mimic sounds you have heard, including voices. A creature that hears the sounds you make can tell they are imitations with a successful Wisdom (Insight) check opposed by your Charisma (Deception) check.

Ventriloquism
You have become adept at exploiting magical acoustics to throw your voice. At 6th level, whenever you cast a spell that requires a verbal component, you may choose a creature you can see within 30 feet as the point of origin for the effect. An unwilling creature may make a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC to resist this, in which case the spell fails.
Furthermore, you have advantage on Charisma (Deception) checks to make it appear as though your voice is emanating from a nearby creature or object.

Magical Encore
Your command of magical acoustics allows you to echo magic itself. Starting at 14th level, whenever you lose concentration on a spell, you may expend a single use of your Bardic Inspiration as a reaction to maintain the effect until the end of your next turn. A spell effect maintained in this way does not require concentration.
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This is my first homebrew, so please offer comments or criticism if you like. I am sure there are unintended side effects of the subclass features but I don't yet know how severely unbalanced they might be.

jiriku
2018-11-20, 09:36 PM
Power level seems on the low side. Most of the abilities are small, brief, or situational, which limits their impact on the game.

Lingering Inspiration: Specify who chooses the ally -- the bard or the ally using inspiration. I expect you'd need it to be the ally, since the bard may have left the area entirely by the time the inspiration die is used.

Man_Over_Game
2018-11-21, 02:17 PM
Power level seems on the low side. Most of the abilities are small, brief, or situational, which limits their impact on the game.

Lingering Inspiration: Specify who chooses the ally -- the bard or the ally using inspiration. I expect you'd need it to be the ally, since the bard may have left the area entirely by the time the inspiration die is used.

I agree with Jiriku. It's a bit weak, but it does a lot of unique things. I have a few suggestions to make sure it stands out:



For Lingering Inspiration, I'd say to make it something like "When an ally uses your Bardic Inspiration, they can also gift another ally with Lingering Inspiration. This functions the same as Bardic Inspiration, but uses a 1d4 for the die and cannot provide other allies with Lingering Inspiration." The way it's written now sounds like a secondary set of rules your players have to track, so I think it'd be easier to refer to something they're already familiar with (Bardic Inspiration) that shares the same rules.

For Mimicry, replace it with adding a bonus equal to your proficiency to Performance and Deception checks related to sounding like another creature. This way, it stacks with things like Rogue Mastermind or the Actor feat.

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For Ventriloquism, I'd just set it to work off of creatures who are currently under the benefit of your Bardic Inspiration or Lingering Inspiration, as long as you can perceive the target and your ally with your senses. Doing so spends the Inspiration and converts it into Temporary Hitpoints for your ally.

I'd also add Echolocation, the ability to always perceive characters with your Bardic or Lingering Inspiration, as long as you can hear them.

Combined, this means you can do some cool combos, like casting Cure Wounds without having to be near or visible to your allies.
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For Magical Encore, I'd change it to adding a Bardic Inspiration to your Concentration save, and adding its value as temporary hitpoints. It's cleaner and has a direct effect, and it can be quite versatile.

I'd also add Improved Echolocation, which is that you and allies with your Bardic or Lingering Inspiration have Blindsense 15, but a character loses this sense if they cannot hear (as is with the Giant Bat).


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All in all, it's a really cool idea! Keep up the good work!

Magic Myrmidon
2018-11-21, 03:37 PM
Just wanted to echo everyone else (pun intended).

I really like the idea, and a lot of implementation! I particularly like Lingering Inspiration. I do think the 3rd and 6th level abilities could use some buffing, maybe? I wouldn't be too excited to get those features as I was leveling. That being said, I haven't gone back and examined what the other subclasses are like at those levels, so maybe they're in line.