College of Drama

Bard Subclass: College of Drama

Bards tell tales in a variety of ways. Some sing. Others use dance, musicianship, or art to share the sagas of the ancient days. Bards of the College of Drama take a deeper approach to bringing the tales of old to life. With a combination of skill and magic, they adopt roles from sagas and bring them to life. A bard of the College of Drama immerses themselves in a role, altering their appearance and voice to bring ancient characters into the current era.

Bards of the College of Drama inspire greatness in those who witness their performances. They rally their allies to impossible feats of perseverance, reminding their allies that the heroes of old faced worse but carried through to victory.

Their magic allows them to adopt the guise of another creature. In a performance, these bards’ illusions alter their appearance and voice to become their role. This magic is flexible enough that, given a few moments to study another person, the bard can duplicate the subject’s appearance and voice.

With experience, the bard’s magic expands to allow them to create an entire cast for a performance. On adventures, their magic can transform an entire party of explorers into a guard patrol or a seemingly harmless group of merchants.

At the height of their power, bards of the College of Drama can combine rousing oration and magical inspiration to push their allies to achieve epic deeds. A mighty warrior under the influence of this bard moves in a blur, hewing through her enemies in a blur of sword blows.

Dramatic Style

As an actor, you prefer certain roles. Which ones do you love to dive into? Do you play the hero, or the villain? Do you excel at comedy, or do you deal mainly in drama?

Use the following table as inspiration for your dramatic style:

D6 Roll, or Choose

Dramatic Style

1: You excel at dark, brooding roles, often villains or mysterious outsiders. You inspire your allies by adopting roles of villains who are fearsome, but ultimately faced justice.

2: You were born to play the hero. Your performance inspires others with grand speeches, dramatic flourishes, and masterful displays of bravery.

3: You are a master of comedic roles. No matter how dire and grim things might be, you have a quip or raunchy story that lightens the mood and reminds your allies of better days to come.

4: You are a master of a variety of roles and techniques. You have played the jester, the king, and the villain. Your performance is as surprising and unique as it is inspiring, as you take on wildly different roles each time.

5: You have brought audiences to tears with your ability to play tragic roles. When times are at their worst, you deliver a mournful soliloquy. Your allies, realizing that some stories end darkly, cast aside fear and throw themselves into the fray with maniacal fury.

6: You are a chameleon, capable of fully immersing yourself into any role. Many folk you meet are unsure who the real you is. Perhaps your original identity faded long ago, pushed far to the back of your mind by the many roles you have played.

College Features

The College of Drama grants the following features.

Inspiring Performance

At 3rd level, you gain the ability to inspire greatness in your audience. As a reaction when you make a saving throw against an effect, you can expend one of your uses of Bardic Inspiration, rolling a Bardic Inspiration die and using the number rolled as a bonus to the saving throw against that effect for you and creatures of your choice that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you.

One Life, Many Roles

At 3rd level, you use your magic and dramatic training to step into a role. As a bonus action, you can cast disguise self to take on the appearance of a character from a play or to adopt the appearance, mannerisms, and voice of a creature you can see that shares your size and creature type. Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Assemble the Troupe

Starting at 6th level, when you cast disguise self using your One Life, Many Roles feature, you can select up to six willing creatures you can see within 30 feet of you. The chosen creatures gain the benefit of a disguise self spell, though you choose their appearance. While under the effect of that spell, the chosen creatures gain a bonus to all Charisma checks equal to your proficiency bonus.

Stage Direction

At 6th level you gain the ability to direct others as you inspire them, allowing them to make the most of your guidance. Before you or creature roll another creature rolls a Bardic Inspiration die you granted, you may instead choose to treat the die as having rolled its maximum result. Once you use this ability, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.

Grand Finale

At 14th level, you gain the ability to deliver a stirring performance that spurs your companions to mighty deeds. As an action, pick two creatures within 120 feet that can see or hear you. On their next turns, they each may take an additional action. Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.