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Alternate Bard Class v2.0.0 (Major Update)
🕑 Added 2024-08-04 13:29:42 +0000 UTCHello all!
Today I’ve got a major overhaul/update for my Alternate Bard Class. As with all my “Alternate Classes” my goal is to make the mechanics more accurately match the fantasy of that particular class, and the Bard is no different!
I’ve opted to make the Bard a ”half-caster” (maximum of 5th-level spells) to make “room” in its power budget for more thematic Bard features. Removing full spellcasting progression has allowed me to greatly increase the power of their Bardic Inspiration, Magical Secrets, Bardic Traditions (subclasses), and add new powerful bardic performances through the Chords of Power feature!
As always, I’m open to any feedback you have, so leave a comment with your thoughts!
~laserllama
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ALTERNATE BARD CLASS v2.0.0
For those who like to see "how the sausage is made", here are some of my thoughts/reasons for making the changes I made to the Alternate Bard class this time around:
Streamlining:
Personally, the previous iteration of the Alternate Bard had a lot of powerful features to make up for the loss of full progression spellcasting, but to me, it felt like they were just that. Features that were powerful but not thematic.
With this update I’ve streamlined a few things to make room for some significant thematic buffs to the class. Base weapon/tool proficiencies have been reduced, and most noticeably Magical Secrets has had its power scaled back to be more of a “choose your own subclass spell list”.
Bardic Inspiration:
You now have significantly more uses (add half your Bard level to the uses now), and you don’t have to use the Die until you know the target fails its check/attack/save. The Die size has been reduced to compensate.
Folklore / Spellcasting:
These two features have been swapped to match the feature progression of my other (and official) half-caster classes.
Chords of Power:
This NEW feature I hope carries some significant supportive (and thematic) bardic power with it. Both Song of Rest and Countersong are now sub-options within this feature (along with some other good options).
The Bardic Virtuoso feature at later levels buffs these significantly!
Bardic Traditions:
All of the Traditions that appeared in the previous version of the class have had their features adjusted (for the better IMO), and I’ve also added the TCoE subclasses in the form of the Counselor and True Singer.
Harmonious Recovery:
Another new powerful feature to regain spell slots!
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CHANGE LOG v1.2.0 -> v2.0.0
Major art and formatting updates!
Proficiencies // Weapons // Cut hand x-bows and longswords.
Proficiencies // Tools // Now one instrument and one tool.
Starting Equipment // Adjusted to reflect new proficiencies.
Bardic Inspiration // Die size reduced by 1, range reduced to 30 feet. You can now wait to use your Inspiration until after a creature fails/misses. You now get significantly more BI Dice as you level.
Folklore // Moved forward to 1st level. Now you must choose one skill and one tool/language. Levels changed to 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th.
Spellcasting // Moved back to 2nd level to match other half-casters.
Chords of Power // NEW feature! Song of Rest/Countersong are now found here. Bardic Performances fueled by BI Dice. Some instantaneous, some continuous AoEs.
Song of Rest // CUT // Now a Chord of Power you can learn.
Bardic Tradition // Added Traditions from TCoE: Counselor and True Singer.
Magical Secrets // Reworked to be more of a “Choose your own Subclass spell list”. You no longer get free casts of each Secret Spell and you are hard-locked to which level spells you select at the Bard levels you unlock them.
Harmonious Recovery // NEW feature to regain spell slots on one short rest.
Countersong // CUT // Now a Chord of Power you can learn.
Bardic Virtuoso // Renamed (Musical Expertise) and reworked around Chords. Moved up to 7th level (from 9th).
Font of Inspiration // Moved back to 10th level. Regain a BI Die on initiative.
Bard Spell List
Trimmed down in general to reinforce the flavor of the Bard class. You can still steal any spell you want up to 5th level with your Magical Secrets feature.
All of my Alt Bard exclusive spells were reworked into Chords of Power.
Cantrips // CUT // mind sliver, spare the dying, toll the dead.
1st // CUT // animal friendship, beast bond, ceremony, earth tremor, inspiring melody, speak with animals, thunderous smite, unseen servant.
2nd // CUT // animal messenger, cloud of daggers, enthrall, song of confidence.
3rd // CUT // feign death, glyph of warding, heroic anthem, speak with dead, thunderstep.
4th // CUT // dominate beast, elemental bane, polymorph, resilient sphere, revitalizing hymn.
5th // CUT // awaken, legendary ballad, planar binding, raise dead, scrying, synaptic static, telepathic bond, teleportation circle.
Fool Tradition
Satirical Theatrics // Reduced to one bonus skill. Cut innate BI Die bonus to those skills. You now learn Vicious Mockery or another Bard Cantrip.
Cutting Words // Range reduced to 30 feet.
Tumbling Fool // Reworked around a special Tumbling mechanic.
Tumbling Strike // NEW 5th level feature to deal bonus damage or trip foes.
Sharp Wit // CUT
Wondrous Tumbler // Combined the two options. You get one free use per rest.
Fools Luck // Removed DM reliance. Limited to CHA mod times per long rest.
Loremaster Tradition
Bardic Lore // Renamed (Additional Magical Secrets). One bonus Secrets Spell of each level. One INT skill proficiency. You can use CHA for INT skill checks.
Jack of All Trades // INT skill proficiency moved to Bardic Lore.
Potent Performer // You have “advantage” on all BI Die rolls.
Peerless Skill // NEW 11th level feature. Add BI Dice to your own failures.
Wondrous Success // Moved back to 15th level. Replace d20 roll with your level.
Skald Tradition
Bardic Warrior // Now grants you 1 additional Hit Point per Bard level.
Combat Inspiration // You can add this to your own attack rolls. When you use BI with an attack roll and it hits you add it to the damage roll as well.
Extra Attack // Reworked.
Gallant Charge // Range increased to 30 feet.
Ringing Strikes // Bonus BI damage with weapons. Forgo for advantage.
Heroic Inspiration // Renamed (Heroic Ballad). Now works with every BI use. Temp hit points reduced but it gives a speed bonus.
Blade Tradition
Renamed (Sword Dancer Tradition)
Fighting Style // Updated with the most recent versions of all these.
Blade Exploits // Renamed (Elegant Exploits).
Extra Attack // Reworked.
Deadly Reprisal // Renamed (Deadly Flourish) and reworked to be useful.
Conspirator Tradition
Cunning Influence // Cut innate BI bonus to skills. Instead you can “whisper” the verbal components of your Bard spells to a single target for stealth casting.
Seeds of Terror // Streamlined - same effects.
Devious Strike // Removed limitations. Reworked around BI damage bonus.
Stolen Visage // Renamed (Visage of Shadows). Streamlined/clarified.
Sinister Manipulation // Now an improved version of Seeds of Terror.
Counselor Tradition
NEW Bardic Tradition inspired by the College of Eloquence from TCoE!
Mesmer Tradition
Glamorous Mantle // Renamed (Wondrous Performance). Range now 30 feet.
Mesmerizing Presence // Charm Person bonus cut. Replaced with Enthralling Performance Chord of Power (basically the same effect but an AoE).
Otherworldly Visage // Renamed (Greater Performance). Rewritten for clarity.
Reflexive Charm // Costs BI Die but can be used after a hit. Free if your Glamorous Mantle is active.
Mantle of Protection // Now includes Chords of Power and benefits against illusion spells. Can use Mantle as a reaction when you roll initiative.
Majestic Presence // Renamed (Fey Presence). Can use when your Mantle isn’t active with a BI Die.
True Singer Tradition
NEW Bardic Tradition inspired by the College of Creation from TCoE!
Comments
laserllama
Nope - no instrument necessary. You need to do some kind of "performance" (sing, tell stories, etc) that targets need to hear.
Bradley Webb
Do you need an instrument in your hand to use Chords of Power? Or is an instrument apart of any of the features specifically?
laserllama
Thanks for checking out the class! I'm glad you like the direction its going in. 1. Good call - consider the change made! 2. When I used the class at my table there were a lot of dice flying. I know some people like that, but at the end of the day Expertise is a little bit cleaner and helps the game move a little faster while accomplishing the same thing. 3. Yes! I shamelessly stole this from my Forgewright Alt Artificer subclass, but now I'm realizing that subclass's version is limited to melee weapons. Maybe the Skald needs the same limit? Or just the ability to generate advantage once per turn. 4. The "audience" is any creature within 60 feet who listened to your performance. Unlike most charm effects this doesn't reveal that you attempted to charm creatures. I picture a Bard using it to get a mob going while they are at a tavern, etc. I think the requirement of creatures needing to listen to you for a full minute will prevent most abuse, and in most settings doing anything too drastic would result in jail time and be "risking their lives" (medieval jail is scary). 5. NOPE! That is an error I need to fix as this is too powerful. 6. Probably! A lot of the Chords of Power need some field testing, and I tend to err on the side of caution when designing abilities that impact combat.
Sean P Havern
I just started playing a Bard Skaald. He is a dwarf warrior scribe. Really enjoying it. Mechanically the change to Combat Inspiration is great allowing to add the BI to both attack and damage. I understand the change to extra attack so no more boosting personal damage with booming blade on one of my attacks, but it is still a good feature. As always great job! Can’t wait to play the update.
23BLUENINJA
This is great - really great even. I love that you're encouraged to actually make music with your action in a way that makes sense. I do have some feedback after reading through the whole thing but all in all fantastic job - 1. I'd alter Bardic Inspiration to say 'when a creature makes an ability check or fails an attack roll or saving throw', otherwise checks with degrees of failure become incredibly annoying to arbitrate. 2. I'm a little sad about the loss of +bardic die to skill checks, that felt right for the class IMO, more than normal expertise. This doesn't really affect how it functions though, so 3. Ringing strikes.. is permanent advantage? This subclass gets extra attack and martial weapon proficiency, two attacks at advantage is always going to be better than potential bonus damage. Was this supposed to be once a turn? 4. Enthralling Performance - this one feels.. problematic. What is an audience? 1 person? Does the DM have to make a roll for every single person in a crowd to see if any one of them realize they were charmed? and if they do it as a group check, the outcomes are either you get chased out of town or have a literal entire crowd of people willing to do *almost anything* for you? That seems... overly powerful for not having a level restriction. This feels like something that should be tier 3, possibly even 4 5. Countersong doesn't require a reaction. Is this intended? If so that's pretty neat but I wasn't sure. 6. Heroic Anthem - this should probably come down a few levels, as much of the time straight damage is the best option but this one comes into play so late. This could also be adding one bardic die to the first damage roll each affected creature makes. Would cement the play pattern of using chords of power with your action and continuing them much sooner. I just don't really see a reason it needs to be 10th level (especially if you switch to using bardic dice, that's optimally 3d4 a round in extra damage) Thats it though! great stuff.
