College of Confounding (Bard Subclass) [PEACH]

[John Cribati]

I really wanted to play a Magician-type Bard, but none of the colleges really worked for me on that front, so I figured I'd toss my own idea out there.

Things I already know:
not too many Bard subclasses use their Inspiration to debuff, but I feel like that makes the most sense.
the 14th level ability might be a tad weak, and the Level 6 ability may be too strong, but in general most bard subclasses will get a combat and/or inspiration ability at level 3, some expansion to their spellcasting at level 6, and a Performance-enhancing ability at 14, so I tried to stick to that and give it the proper performance magician flavor.

Anyway, presenting:

The College of Confounding

Spoiler

Show

A group of villagers huddle around a performer, marveling at his boisterous feats of magic. He makes a coin disappear, and then pulls it from an audience member's ear. He produces flowers and scarves from within his sleeve and pulls animals out of his empty hat.
An experienced sorcerer looks on smugly, seeing the simple cantrips the performer is using and think it child's play, but won't notice his own missing coins until it's too late.
A seasoned wizard wonders how someone could bypass their mind shielding and guess a card drawn from what looks like a standard deck!
All of these people have fallen for the tricks of a Bard of the College of Confounding. These Bards use bright and flashy stunts to hide their chicanery behind a veneer of illusion, both magical and mundane.

Bonus Proficiencies
When you join the College of Confounding at Level 3, you gain proficiency with the Sleight of Hand skill, Weapons that have the Finesse property, and a Gaming Set of your choice (Most choose the Playing Card Set). You can use the Gaming Set, instead of a musical instrument, as a spell focus.

The Hand is Quicker than the Eye

"Nothing up my sleeves, but now there's a dagger between your ribs."

Starting at 3rd Level, you can use misdirection in battle to deadly effect. When you attack a creature in melee using the Finesse property of a weapon to attack with Dexterity instead of Strength, you can use a bonus action to make a Sleight of Hand check against the target's Insight or Perception. If you succeed, add your Charisma modifier to the Attack and Damage rolls for that attack in addition to your Dexterity modifier. You cannot use this feature against a creature that has Blindsense. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma Modifier plus your Proficiency Bonus, and regain all uses on a short or long rest.

Confounding Illusion
Also at 3rd level, you learn how to use your illusions to distract and confound. When one or more creatures fail to save against an Illusion spell (of 1st level or higher) that you cast, you can- in addition to the Illusion's effect- inflict the Confounded condition on them. To do this, expend one of your uses of Bardic Inspiration to roll a Bardic Inspiration die and subtract the number rolled from both the Armor Class and Attack rolls of all creatures affected by your illusion. The Confounded condition lasts as long as a creature is under the Illusion's effect (if multiple creatures are Confounded at once, the condition lasts for each creature individually- if one creature making its save does not free any other creature from the Illusion, neither does it remove the Confounded condition).
At 9th level, while you have a creature Confounded, you can cause one of the following effects per round as a free action, and at 15th level, you can cause use your reaction either to cause another effect, or to cause the same effect on a different creature's turn in that round:

• When one of your allies attacks a Counfounded creature, grant that ally Advantage to the attack roll
• When one of your allies damages a Confounded creature, they inflict extra damage equal to your Charisma modifier.
• If a Confounded creature has to roll a saving throw, it rolls with disadvantage. If multiple Confounded creatures are attempting to save against the same effect, they all roll with disadvantage.

Tools of the Trade
At sixth level, choose one magician's tool that will grant you better use of your magic. Whichever one you pick, it has a number of charges equal to your Proficiency Bonus plus your Charisma modifier, and regain all charges whenyou finish a long rest.

Magician's Hat
When you choose this tool, you learn the Find Familiar spell, and can cast it at will by expending charges of this tool. The spell is a Bard spell for you, does not count against your number of spells known. In addition, when you expend charges from this tool to cast Find Familiar:

• Your familiar can take the form of any Beast that is at least one size category smaller than you
• Choosing a familiar with a Challenge Rating less than 1 expends one charge, but you can summon a familiar of a higher CR by expending multiple charges at once: CR 1 costs 2 charges, CR 2 costs 3 charges, and so on.
• Additionally, when you take the Attack action, you can forgo one of your own attacks to allow your familiar to use its reaction to make one attack of its own.

Magic Wand
When you choose this tool, you learn 1 Evocation cantrip from any spell list; it counts as a Bard spell for you, but does not count against your number of cantrips known. You can use this tool as a spell focus to cast an Evocation spell from any Spell List by expending a number of charges equal to the level of the spell +1. Although you do not expend spell slots, you must be able to cast spells at the level of the spell you wish to cast.

Magician's Shroud
When you choose this tool, you learn the Misty Step spell and can cast it at will by expending 2 of this tool's charges. The
spell doesn't count against your number of spells known.
In addition, you can use this tool to cast an Abjuration spell- targeting only yourself- from any spell list by expending a number of charges equal to the Level of the spell +1. You must be able to cast spells at the level of the spells that you wish to cast. The spell you choose must either have a range of "Self"- with no other range modifiers such as radius or cone- or a range of "Touch" and specify a creature as the target.

My Lovely Assistants
At 14th level, your performances can become a joint effort. When you use the Performance skill or cast an illusion spell of 1st level or higher, any creatures that speak a common language with you and are friendly toward you can take the Help action as a reaction and become your Assistants. You can have a number of Assistants equal to your Charisma modifier.

• If you are using the Performance skill, your Assistants add their Charisma modifiers (minimum 2) to your Performance roll.
• If you are casting a spell, Each Assistant increases the Spell Save DC for the spell by half your Charisma modifier.