D&D 5E How many fans want a 5E Jester

[DEFCON 1]

Master Juggler
At 6th level, you have become so accomplished at juggling and manipulating objects that you can put your skills to use in combat in two ways.

First, if you have multiple light, thrown weapons, you may juggle them during combat. If you take the Attack action while juggling, you can attack twice, instead of once. You must have both hands free to juggle. You may safely juggle a number of weapons equal to your Proficiency bonus during combat.

I think right here is the best ability made for a potential Jester sub-class. The thrown-weapon combat style is underplayed in the game right now, but letting someone get one additional attack with light / finesse / thrown weapons does not break the damage bank, and gives things like darts a foothold back in the game that they are currently missing. A Bard getting to throw three d4 damage darts per round (using TWF) would give those weapons back some heft. (The only potential concern would be the handaxe, as its the only light / finesse thrown weapon that is 1d6 rather than 1d4 and thus damage-wise might be a little too high with three attacks at level 1.)

 

[Minigiant]

What's the deal with blue dragons? They're blue but they breathe lightning and live in the desert. I mean Cmon. Was Tiamat drinking that day? With her five wine glass like a tired suburban mom on a Tuesday jealous of other gods. Aaaah screw it. Make the dessssert one blue. That way Bahamut can't get blue.

 

[JackOfAllTirades]

We've got the Entertainer background already. Playing a "Jester" is just a matter of choosing an appropriate class to go with it. Bard would be an obvious choice. Rogue might work (any except Assassin), as would a Trickery Cleric, maybe a Fey pact Warlock (?) or a Favored Soul (Trickery domain again).

Other classes might be harder to pull off. I dare anyone to play a Barbarian "Jester" cuz if you can make RAGE funny you're a better role-player than I am.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

One could argue its more iconic than the Warlord

One could argue literally anything - but that doesn't make it a good idea to do so.

 

[TwoSix]

One could argue its more iconic than the Warlord

One could also make a poll to determine if it is more iconic, but I don't recommend it.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I'll agree, the jester could be easily folded in with the bard class.

In a recent 1e throwback campaign I ran, the one player made a jester. The character concept was a hoot, but actually ended up being crazily effective.

 

[the Jester]

No need. The bard can be a jester just fine. That said, a jester subclass for the bard might be awesome.

 

[mellored]

Befuddling Verbosity
Also at 3rd level, you learn to change the speed and cadence of your speech such that you can talk others into strange knots. When trying to influence someone, you may spend one of your uses of Bardic Inspiration, rolling a Bardic Inspiration die and adding the number to either a Charisma (Deception) or Charisma (Persuasion) roll. You must still be able to communicate with the target normally. If you are attempting to sway multiple individuals, the bonus applies against all, if they are all part of the same "audience". This technique is known to offend some people; anyone so swayed is permitted a Wisdom (Intuition) check, an hour after your interaction. The DC is equal to 8 + your Charisma modifier + your proficiency bonus. If they succeed, they realize that they were bamboozled by your browbeating and may be less friendly the next time you encounter them. This check is permitted whether or not the bonus from the Bardic Inspiration die made a difference in your success.

Quicker version.

You gain the friends cantrip. When the spell ends a creature must succeed on a wisdom saving throw to know that they where manipulated. Otherwise they remain unaware.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

All these polls and not one for the fighting man?

 

[Shadowdweller00]

The rules arguably are already equipped to handle the concept. That said, I have found most incarnations of jester-type characters to be only slightly less annoying than the bane of all - the kender.