(Homebrew) Bard's College of Linguistics

[SleepIncarnate]

Randuir asked for this over at this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?574399-Best-Half-Feat-for-Wisdom), so with permission from my DM, here is our home brew bard college, the college of linguistics. Keep in mind, the lore of this one is mostly tied to our game world, so this will be mostly just the mechanics up front. Basically, the lore involves an interest in languages, especially the language of creation, which is a dead language that is lost to all save the creators of this world, but some rare individuals may catch glimmers of it here and there, which can awaken special abilities in them.

College of Linguistics
Bonus Proficiency: When taking this college at level 3, you gain proficiency in calligraphy tools and insight.

Master Orator: At 3rd level you can expend a use of Bardic Inspiration to speak, read, and write any language for a number of hours equal to your roll.
You may also extend the range of any spell by 30 ft. with the power of your words. The target must be able to comprehend at least one language for this feature to work. You may do this a number of times equal to your CHA modifier.

Personal Canvas: At 6th level you learn how to bond magic with your very body. As a ritual you can take 1d4 damage to allow your blood to mix with one vial of ink and, using your calligrapher’s tools, inscribe spells onto your very body. These spells require a number of days equal to the spell's level plus one to inscribe on your body. These can be spells known or spells seen on scrolls provided you understand the language it is written in and are of a high enough level to cast such a spell. The body itself can hold 24 “pages” of ink. Each spell takes up a number of pages equal to its level +1, and in the process of inscribing the spells, you effectively translate them into bard spells, allowing them to be cast with your charisma and using your spell slots.

Must Be Heard: At 14th level you are a master of languages to the point that your very speech has power in it. For one minute your voice carries otherworldly qualities. You cannot be silenced magically and your voice can be heard and understood by anyone in a 120 ft. radius as long as they know at least one language. You can direct your voice to one person or everyone in that radius. Any spell inscribed on your body can be cast during this time without the use of any components. You must finish a short or long rest before using this ability again.

[DeTess]

Thanks for sharing! There's a particular bard concept I've had in the back of my mind for quite a while now, and this could work very well for it.

Out of curiosity, could master orator be used to extend the range of spells with ranges of 'touch' or 'self'?

[Catullus64]

How does the range-expanding feature at 3rd level interact with spells that do not target creatures directly, e.g. Faerie Fire? From the description it sounds like those spells can't be used

I'm not sure exactly how the 6th level feature works; do you just get those spells added to your repertoire, a la Wizard, (in which case it seems a tad overpowered) or do you simply get to take damage to store the charge from a scroll and cast it as a bard spell (in which case it seems rather underpowered.)

All the other features look cool, but I'd add something power-wise to the subclass at 3rd level. Maybe some kind of charm ability that only functions when you and the target share a language?

[SleepIncarnate]

Out of curiosity, could master orator be used to extend the range of spells with ranges of 'touch' or 'self'?

Touch yes, self no. It's basically a bardic version of the distant cast metamagic sorcerer's get, except instead of doubling the range, it only adds 30 feet. Great for something with a short range like cure wounds, booming blade, etc., but not as good as doubling the range for something with an already long range like sleep, fire bolt, eldritch blast, and so on.


How does the range-expanding feature at 3rd level interact with spells that do not target creatures directly, e.g. Faerie Fire? From the description it sounds like those spells can't be used.

As long as the spell affects creatures that can understand some form of language (not necessarily the one I'm speaking), it works. So area effect spells like sleep or faerie fire would work when cast on something like bandits or goblins, but not on something like a pack of wolves.


I'm not sure exactly how the 6th level feature works; do you just get those spells added to your repertoire, a la Wizard, (in which case it seems a tad overpowered) or do you simply get to take damage to store the charge from a scroll and cast it as a bard spell (in which case it seems rather underpowered.)

It's basically the lore college's version of additional magical secrets on crack. If I can find a written version of a spell, regardless of the class, I can translate it (using my level 3 ability) into something I can use, and then I can inscribe it into my body, permanently gaining that as a spell. So at level 6, if I could theoretically find scrolls of counterspell, haste, fireball, healing spirit, animate dead, and lightning bolt, I could inscribe all of them over the course of basically a month (3 days for healing spirit, 4 days each for the other spells) and still have room for a cantrip.


All the other features look cool, but I'd add something power-wise to the subclass at 3rd level. Maybe some kind of charm ability that only functions when you and the target share a language?

I might talk to my DM about it, but I can see how master orator could count as a sort of bardic version of the Use Magic Device feature from the thief archetype. Maybe an ability to use scrolls twice, or able to use them from any class without need for an arcana roll or something of the sort.

[Enjiel]

Thanks for sharing! There's a particular bard concept I've had in the back of my mind for quite a while now, and this could work very well for it.

Out of curiosity, could master orator be used to extend the range of spells with ranges of 'touch' or 'self'?

It can be used to extend the range of touch spells, not self spells. That might be worth specifying in the ability.

[Enjiel]

How does the range-expanding feature at 3rd level interact with spells that do not target creatures directly, e.g. Faerie Fire? From the description it sounds like those spells can't be used

I'm not sure exactly how the 6th level feature works; do you just get those spells added to your repertoire, a la Wizard, (in which case it seems a tad overpowered) or do you simply get to take damage to store the charge from a scroll and cast it as a bard spell (in which case it seems rather underpowered.)

All the other features look cool, but I'd add something power-wise to the subclass at 3rd level. Maybe some kind of charm ability that only functions when you and the target share a language?

I let her use the lvl3 feature for the sleep spell. I don't have a problem using it for aoe. There are situations that it could be wicked in, but I've found that casters tend to be OP no matter what and the best way to combat your casters is to coax them to blow their spells early fight. No matter what, you're going to have to try to think ahead.

The lvl 6 spell is the defining feature of this college and was designed to skirt the Lore college but make it more desirable for those who want to act more like casters, making the bard more like a wizard than an bard. It's basically a few extra magical secrets spells. We agree that it's a bit OP, so we're trying to find a happy place between an OP college and a worthless one which I think lies in fixing this feature imo.

I really like that idea adding a charm spell based on language. I like to lean on language barriers so that would be a fun addition. I'll have to run that by the cocreator.

[Citan]

I let her use the lvl3 feature for the sleep spell. I don't have a problem using it for aoe. There are situations that it could be wicked in, but I've found that casters tend to be OP no matter what and the best way to combat your casters is to coax them to blow their spells early fight. No matter what, you're going to have to try to think ahead.

The lvl 6 spell is the defining feature of this college and was designed to skirt the Lore college but make it more desirable for those who want to act more like casters, making the bard more like a wizard than an bard. It's basically a few extra magical secrets spells. We agree that it's a bit OP, so we're trying to find a happy place between an OP college and a worthless one which I think lies in fixing this feature imo.

I really like that idea adding a charm spell based on language. I like to lean on language barriers so that would be a fun addition. I'll have to run that by the cocreator.
Hi!

Thank you very much for sharing this homebrew archetype, nice ideas and great flavor.

I will have to agree with you on level 6 feature though, it's really OP.
Because "normally" the reason whether a spell scroll is intelligible or not is just "is on spell list or not", irrelevant on language. The "tax" of using a Bardic Inspiration to transcribe it is completely negligible.

Furthermore, even if it was only restricted to your spells list, it still means you could inscribe 24/2= up to 12 1st level spell, or up to 7 2nd level, or up to 6 3rd level spells, or any combination in-between, from spells you already know.
This is already a huge power boost considering how many great spells the Bard can learn.
And it would mean the one who wants to "cheese" the things by learning "outside" spells would simply need to multiclass, not a hard price to pay at all imo.

The way I see it to make it fall back into ranks you'd need to pick either of the following changes.

1. Wideness restriction: plain and heavy reduction on "pages": make it 10, while keeping the "any spell list". This is still much better than Lore Bard since you choose how to dispatch those.

2. Linearity restriction: keep the any spell list, but make the number of pages equal to "CHA+half class level". Fluff it as the fact this blood ritual is heavy to bear on body so you learn to bear more as you progress.

3. Perimeter restriction: put number of pages at 15 but only for spelllists you have access to (although I think this suggestion completely misses the fluff, but putting it in case of).

4. Remove the "number of pages", simply make it CHA-mod number of spells one can learn in such a way, keep all other restrictions (especially the "level you can cast"), with ability to "erase" one spell with a ritual.