Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana: Bard Colleges!

Mantle of Inspiration is downright unnerving, and not in a good way. More of a stalker-ish vibe, or should I say stalk-ee?

 

[Leatherhead]

This, simply, because I appreciate your analysis, humor, and eloquence.

Thank you! I still think I need to get a proofreader though.

 

[CapnZapp]

I hope they don't focus too much on Clerics and Wizards. Domains and Schools got more in the PHB than anyone else. The Bard and Barbarian got 2 in the PHB. Barbarian got one in SCAG. Bard got 2 in UA already. 3 new Barbs and 2 new Bards boosts both to 6.

Well, subclass equality is not a quality woth striving for all by itself.

To me its quite natural Wizards have more subclasses than Fighters, Cleric more subclasses than Paladins.

This does not mean I want to deny you more subclasses in general. 2 subclasses is a small number regardless.

Just that I'm buying the argument "my class only has 2 subclasses, this is why it needs and deserves more" over the argument "my class has way fewer subclasses than that other class, this is why it needs and deserves more".

 

[CapnZapp]

Mantle of Majesty: "...any creature charmed by you automatically fails its saving throw against the spell"

I feel this needs clarification.

Does this mean the charmed condition in general? Does this include the previous Enthralling Performance?


Unbreakable Majesty: so... is this an impressive feature, or only a ribbon feature?

"In addition, through this feature, you can cast sanctuary on yourself"
In addition to what? Generally looking awesome? How do you cast it? Is it an action? What does "through this feature mean"? Isn't the "fierce and lovely" part a static upgrade? Or do you switch it on and off, and only when you switch it on, is Sanctuary cast? Or what?

If this said "You can cast Sanctuary without spending [a slot, components, an action, etc]" it would clear things up.

 

[fuindordm]

Good stuff overall. The College of Whispers is a very interesting take on the Bard, but I agree that the Venomous Blade ability doesn't feel right for the class. Rather, give them a proficiency in using mundane poisons/drugs, and let then use Inspiration to demoralize opponents in combat.

Ben

 

[delericho]

Cool.

As I mentioned on another thread, Bard is the one class I've seen both PHB subclasses used, and also one of the ones that didn't get anything in SCAG. So having more subclasses, even in playtest form, is nice.

 

[Aldarc]

Thanks. I'll give my assessment later, but at first glance, I'm not a fan of the direction that these bards are taking. (And honestly, I think that a number of the newer UA subclasses share a similar pattern.) Thematically, a fey-themed and a spy-themed bard are fantastic additions. Mechanically, they appear to be too finicky and convoluted. I would personally prefer something more straightforward for the bard subclasses. For example, at 6th level, the Lore bard gets Magical Secrets, which is simply two bonus spells, whereas the Valor bard gets weapon and armor proficiency. They are both significant subclass-defining abilities that provide a lot of bardic flexibility while also being exceptionally mechanically simple. There is just something about these bardic subclasses that just seem a bit off perhaps? And there have been a number of fantastic 3pp bard material that potentially cover the same themes better, so I'm not entirely sure what these bard subclasses are offering in terms of quality. Apart from sheer flavor, I'm not sure why mechanically I would pick these two subclasses. A lore bard could arguably be a better fey/glamour bard by virtue of their magical secrets allowing them to take some key thematic spells. The same is true for a spy bard, who would also likely appreciate having a few more roguish skills.

 

[Charles Rampant]

College of Whispers
Because deep down, you really wanted to play that sleazeball of a character who manipulates the kingdom while walking around with a staff and a goatee. But then you realized that Wizards don't have very good social skills, Warlocks are really just about blasting things, and Sorcerers have to grow scales or something.

I love that you managed to explain in two sentences why I should include this guy as an NPC in my next campaign.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I like the glamour bard right now.

Essentially, it is "Rock Star" the power. Anything you can imagine a Famous Singer in this world convincing a massive fan to do after a performance, this college can pull off on anyone.

Honestly, I think the most powerful ability is the fact that not charming them with the performance doesn't let them know you tried to magic them.

I do agree some of the language needs tidied up, but it looks good to me, and makes a very powerful enchanter.


The Whispers

The frighten ability needs to make two things more clear. 1) Are they scared of the bard too? (My assumption is yes, but a light touch of friends may make it not matter) and 2) the running and hiding is if they are left to their own devices.

Let's say you have someone your buddies want to interrogate? You just need 10 minutes and they are so scared all they want to do is hide in a dark corner. Now you've got them in a position where they will tell you things. You've given a gang's Lieutenant fear and paranoia, and Rary's Telepathic bond. Now as he flees, you keep up the pressure, paranoia, paranoia, are you sure your boss didn't want you murdered, are you sire you can trust him, you should strike before he does, ect. You the bard have done nothing, even better, you might not have even been seen with them but they attack their boss.

Actually, another thing we may need a clarification on is what happens after that hour is up. How do they perceive the bard and the last hour?

Mantle of Whispers is stupid good, because nothing says you can't use the same shadow multiple times. And it only takes an action to refresh. You can kill a someone innoucous, take their appearance and as long as you can find a handful of seconds every hour to refresh it, you could pose as a bodyguard during an important meeting, maybe get the boss alone and fear him into running out and leaving you in charge of this very important meeting.

This is really shaping up to be one of the ultimate intrigue classes of the game.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

I hope they don't focus too much on Clerics and Wizards. Domains and Schools got more in the PHB than anyone else.

I'd at least like to see Love and Forge domains. Those are major godly spheres of influence that are poorly represented by existing domains.

 

[Belltent]

Is this real? The header is missing and the copyright info is different than all other UAs