Mantle of Majesty: is there anyway to make this good?

[Merudo]

I'm looking at Mantle of Majesty (free Command as Bonus Action for the Glamour Bard) and I can't find a decent use for it.

The only time I would activate it is for battles where I will only ever use cantrips, aka very easy fights that I wouldn't bother spend any other resources in the first place.

Command is usually a great level 1 spell - but it's main selling points are that it can be cast when concentrating on another spell, and that it can be upcasted to target multiple enemies. Mantle of Majesty takes up concentration, so it totally defeats the point of Command.

Casting Command as a bonus action is okay, but again this means you can't cast a spell as your main action. Meaning you are stuck with Vicious Mockery and other uninspiring cantrips the Bard has.

There is a neat clause saying that any creature charmed by you automatically fails its saving throw against the Command you cast - however spells and abilities inflicting the Charm status either (1) require concentration (2) are canceled once combat starts, or (3) already disable/incapacitate the target.

Am I missing something or is Mantle of Majesty as bad as it looks?

[BloodSnake'sCha]

If you cast a concentration spell before using it you can keep the construction.

Form PHB, casting a spell, concentration.

Casting another spell that requires concentration. You lose concentration on a spell if you cast another spell that requires concentration. You can't concentrate on two spells at once.
Mental of Majesty is not a spell.


At 6th level, 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, 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 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.

You can say that this makes me wrong but I think there is a different between like a spell and a spell.

[Merudo]

If you cast a concentration spell before using it you can keep the construction.


I don't think that's correct. From Xanathar’s Guide to Everything:


As soon as you start casting a spell or using a special ability that requires concentration, your concentration on another effect ends instantly.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

I don't think that's correct. From Xanathar’s Guide to Everything:

Didn't know they added it is Xanathar.

If that is the case, I am not correct.

You can still look an enemy out of battle with it.
Command him to grovel and attack him with advantage with all your friends.

[Anderlith]

I toyed around with a Conquest Paladin, Hexblade Warlock, Glamour Bard multiclass as an idea for a conquering Thulsa Doom type cult of personality who goes off to be a warlord in the name of an evil god then makes a pact with shadows for power before settling down to build his cult. He used the Mantle to gain cultists & reign over weak kings.

I never used in on the table though

[ProsecutorGodot]

Bard's aren't really meant to be offensive power houses. It's a good feature, cast command as a bonus action (no spell slot required) and use your action for any number of other things. Get creative with things.

We had a Bard in our SKT campaign who used it to great effect getting us out from a pinch dealing with Ice Giants.

[Veldrenor]

I haven't used it as a player but I have as a DM, and the way I've found it most effective is by having a whole bunch of melee allies. You use "grovel" to give your allies advantage or "flee" to provoke opportunity attacks. At the very least you're using a bonus action to cost an enemy their entire turn, that's some great action economy right there. It's for puppeting the battlefield while you focus on other things. True, the "only" other spell you can cast is a cantrip, but Vicious Mockery is a great debuff. And there are things to do during your turn other than casting spells. Dodging to avoid attacks and AoE spells. Helping an ally hit a high-AC enemy. Untying prisoners or examining glyphs or whatever other plot-related thing may be going on while the fight is happening. Heck, Countercharm! Will Mantle of Majesty be useful in every fight you go into? No, it's a 1/day situational ability, but it can work great and lock down a battlefield while saving precious spell slots for bigger fights to come.

[MikeRoxTheBoat]

I've found it most useful as a resource saver. If you're doing one battle a day, it's not very useful, but for extended crawls, it's a nice control option that essentially allows you to cast 10 spells without using any spell slots.

Grovel is nice, flee helps, even just "stop" to make someone lose a turn.

I did take a level into Sorcerer to get better attack cantrips, but I usually found a place to use it every day. I've also dropped it if I suddenly needed another concentration spell more. It's simply another resource and another option on top of the many other options that Bards have to work with.

[Amechra]

Their 2nd level feature is an undetectable Charm that doesn't necessarily end at the beginning of combat... as long as they aren't being damaged, you can Command them to keep them locked down.

It also fits majestically on an Autumn Eladrin. If they fail the save against your Fey Step's Charm, you have two enemies that you can Command out of the fight as a bonus action. It also breaks on damage, but eh.

If you have access to Unearthed Arcana, the Diplomat feat's Charmed condition does not have a condition that ends it due to damage. If you can get the check off (before combat), you can literally beat them to death without them being able to fight back...

[BloodSnake'sCha]

I've found it most useful as a resource saver. If you're doing one battle a day, it's not very useful, but for extended crawls, it's a nice control option that essentially allows you to cast 10 spells without using any spell slots.

Grovel is nice, flee helps, even just "stop" to make someone lose a turn.

I did take a level into Sorcerer to get better attack cantrips, but I usually found a place to use it every day. I've also dropped it if I suddenly needed another concentration spell more. It's simply another resource and another option on top of the many other options that Bards have to work with.

I had a DM laugh at me when my bard attacked with his crossbow the enemies he commanded with mental of majesty.

[Chaos Jackal]

It's a resource saver for long fights. Bonus action AoE save or lose the turn for 1 minute is a pretty strong effect in fights against multiple enemies, especially later in an adventuring day when more powerful control spells might be in short supply.

[Merudo]

Bonus action AoE save or lose the turn for 1 minute is a pretty strong effect in fights against multiple enemies

The Command targets a single creature at a time. What's AoE about it?

[da newt]

Convince your DM that the command "SLEEP" results in the unconscious condition for auto melee crits, prone and drop all gear (or "FREEZE" results in paralysis). For flavor, play it up as a hypnotists act, then let the half orc barbarian or rogue take them out.

[Composer99]

Even without the Xanathar's clarification, I'm not sure how one parses "as if you were concentrating on a spell" as anything except that the mantle requires your concentration resource, and therefore follows the normal rules for concentration.

You can only use the mantle once in between long rests, so it's not exactly a major combat feature. As others have said, it's best used when you're running low on spells to cast.

Finally, there are, I am sure, possibilities for a clever player to use it outside of combat. In such circumstances, you could get as much mileage as you could out of the minute duration.

[Chaos Jackal]

The Command targets a single creature at a time. What's AoE about it?

Yeah, scratch the AoE part, I'm not sure why I wrote that... The rest still applies though.

[Zuras]

Even a single-target Command is valuable fighting any creatures with low Wisdom whose actions do more damage than yours. Not great every combat, but pretty good against giants and other dumb muscle.

[Contrast]

I've found it most useful as a resource saver.

This. You spend a combat telling whoever is currently looking most dangerous to grovel and don't expend any spells doing so.

Bards also don't currently actually get access to Command - more options is always good. I have recently used it just to delay someone from running away from combat to call in reinforcements at which point even a single turns worth of use was sufficient.


Their 2nd level feature is an undetectable Charm that doesn't necessarily end at the beginning of combat... as long as they aren't being damaged, you can Command them to keep them locked down.

That ability ends if it takes damage or is attacked or if sees you doing those things to its allies either so there are very limited combat uses. Out of combat there's more scope:

*performs for lord*
*walks up after performance and hands him a document outlining his guilt in a plot against the king*
Majestic Bard: Sign

[Amechra]

That ability ends if it takes damage or is attacked or if sees you doing those things to its allies either so there are very limited combat uses.

Ah, but it doesn't end if your allies are attacking their allies. As long as you aren't attacking people yourself and they aren't getting hit, they stay Charmed.

So you lock down the lord (or whoever) while your buddies murder their guards. And then you start beating on him.

[Frozenstep]

*performs for lord*
*walks up after performance and hands him a document outlining his guilt in a plot against the king*
Majestic Bard: Sign

DM: The lord transforms into a standard red stop sign.