D&D 5E How can i obtain a proficiency in a musical instrument if im not a bard

[Sword of Spirit]

Woah. Where is that rule? My dm may want to know. Im new to 5e so im just a n00b pc in that edition. He might wanna see that entry. Thats useful.

You're not the only one. A lot of people miss that one and think they have to take one of the listed "off the shelf" backgrounds. That sidebar probably should have been printed in bright metallic ink surrounded by dragons breathing an aura of fire, or something.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Wow. Thats pretty important erratta right there. Thx.

Btw, does the reduction of days needed for training according to int mod still apply?

It's not actually errata. Those are alternate downtime activities sections, and the DM is encouraged to use whichever one works for their campaign.

 

[BlivetWidget]

@Son of the Serpent yes, in fact the Training reduction in time/cost for INT only in the XGE rules. I was deliberately simplifying my examples to give you an idea of the changes, but definitely check out the rules in both.

It's not actually errata. Those are alternate downtime activities sections, and the DM is encouraged to use whichever one works for their campaign.

This is true. Like I said, both sets of rules are out there, so you just need to know which one you're dealing with.

 

[Son of the Serpent]

You're not the only one. A lot of people miss that one and think they have to take one of the listed "off the shelf" backgrounds. That sidebar probably should have been printed in bright metallic ink surrounded by dragons breathing an aura of fire, or something.

So like......i can pick any two skills, and in addition, any two tools or languages or combination of one tool one language? Wow...

 

[Sword of Spirit]

So like......i can pick any two skills, and in addition, any two tools or languages or combination of one tool one language? Wow...

Yep!

 

[Undrave]

The Monk class also gets a musical instrument proficiency.

 

[Ashrym]

@Son of the Serpent I wouldn't recommend spending a feat for a musical instrument. Backgrounds would better if you want it right away or downtime training instead.

 

[Yaarel]

At level 1, take any Background, that gives you a skill that you already have because of your class.

When this happens, YOU CAN INSTEAD PICK ANY PROFICIENCY OF YOUR CHOICE. Any skill, or any tool.

So, choose a musical instrument as your tool proficiency.

It is easy to do, but even many experienced D&D players dont realize that 5e allows you to do this.

 

[Son of the Serpent]

@Son of the Serpent I wouldn't recommend spending a feat for a musical instrument. Backgrounds would better if you want it right away or downtime training instead.

Skilled is a pretty awesome option anyway for me though. I didnt know said feat existed. Its kinda surprisingly perfect because i wanted to maximize my number of profs and feats. This (and the musical instrument) are actually for rp purposes. Im playing a warlock whos a child genius who is obsessed with learning as many knowledges, arts, and languages as possible to the point of having made a pact with a great old one expressly because such beings have the oldest rarest knowledge due to being unfathomably old and sometimes unfathomably intelligent. I made a pact with the farplanes themselves collectively. Because they are a conscious conglomeration. The abyss is the same way canonically but the far realms are much larger and evem older than the abyss.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Skilled is a pretty awesome option anyway for me though. I didnt know said feat existed. Its kinda surprisingly perfect because i wanted to maximize my number of profs and feats. This (and the musical instrument) are actually for rp purposes. Im playing a warlock whos a child genius who is obsessed with learning as many knowledges, arts, and languages as possible to the point of having made a pact with a great old one expressly because such beings have the oldest rarest knowledge due to being unfathomably old and sometimes unfathomably intelligent. I made a pact with the farplanes themselves collectively. Because they are a conscious conglomeration. The abyss is the same way canonically but the far realms are much larger and evem older than the abyss.

Assuming your DM allows you downtime, it is almost always optimal to use Skilled to pick up actual skills, because you can't officially learn those as a downtime activity like you can learn tool and language proficiencies.