Bard: College of Spirits
Original Source: Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft/Unearthed Arcana
Channeler
3rd-level College of Spirits feature
You learn how to contact spirits beyond the grave, letting their power and knowledge flow through you. You gain the following benefits:
Guiding Whispers. You know the Guidance cantrip. When you cast it, its range is 60 feet. Its range increases by 30 feet at 5th level and 17th level.
Spiritual Focus. You employ tools that aid you in channeling spirits. You are proficient with a gaming set of your choice, you can use arcane foci as a spellcasting focus for your Bard spells, and you can use gaming sets you are proficient with as arcane foci.
Spirits from Beyond
3rd-level College of Spirits feature
While holding a Spellcasting Focus, you can take a Bonus Action to expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration and call forth the powers of a spirit.
Roll your Bardic Inspiration die and consult the Spirits from Beyond table to determine the spirit you channel. Then choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of yourself as the spirit’s target. The spirit's effect occurs immediately, unless you choose to retain the tale in mind until you bestow the tale's effect with a bonus action , roll on this table again, or you finish a short or long rest. A tale's effect also ends if you bestow it again while it still has at least one persistent effect.
If the tale requires a saving throw, the DC equals your spell save DC.
| Bardic Insp. Die | Tale Told Through You | Level 23 Improvement |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scholar. The target adds one roll of your Bardic Inspiration to the next Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma ability checks it makes within the next 10 minutes. | The target also adds one roll of your Bardic Inspiration die to the first Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throw it makes in the next 10 minutes. |
| 2 | Duelist. The target takes Force damage equal to one roll of your Bardic Inspiration die plus your Spellcasting Ability modifier. | You make a melee spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes force damage equal to two rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die + your Spellcasting Ability modifier. This melee spell attack inflicts a critical hit on an 18 or higher. If you miss, you still deal damage equal to one roll of your Bardic Inspiration die + your Spellcasting Ability Modifier. |
| 3 | Avenger. Until the end of your next turn, any creature that hits the target with a melee attack takes force damage equal to a roll of your Bardic Inspiration die. | The Avenger spirit lingers for 1 minute or until you use it again, and deals damage whenever creatures hit it with any attack roll. |
| 4 | Trickster. The target can immediately use its reaction to teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space it can see. | The range of the teleport becomes 60 feet. When the target teleports, it can choose a number of creatures it can see within 30 feet of it up to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 0) to immediately use the same reaction. |
| 5 | Prophet. The target has advantage on d20 tests until the start of your next turn. | Attacks against the target also have disadvantage, and it gains the benefit of the Evasion trait during this time. If it already has Evasion, it gets Avoidance instead. |
| 6 | Traveler. The target gains temporary hit points equal to a roll of your Bardic Inspiration die + your bard level. While it has these temporary hit points, the target’s walking speed increases by 10 feet. | Traveler now affects the target and a creature of its choice within 30 feet of it. As long as they remain within 30 feet of eachother, they also gain +1 to their AC and saving throws. |
| 7 | Beguiler. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or take psychic damage equal to two rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die, and the target is Charmed until the end of its next turn. On a successful save, the target takes half as much damage only. | If the creature fails the saving throw, you can instead grant it the the Incapacitated condition for one minute or until it takes damage. |
| 8 | Phantom. The target becomes invisible until the end of its next turn or until it hits a creature with an attack. If it hits a creature with an attack during this invisibility, the creature must succed on a Constitution saving throw or take Necrotic damage equal to two rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die. | Creatures of the target's choice within 10 feet of the target of Phantom must succeed on the saving throw as well, and on a successful save, targets take half as much damage. The target then regains hit points equal to half the Necrotic damage dealt. |
| 9 | Dragon. The target makes a Dexterity saving throw, taking damage equal to four rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die on a failed save or half as much on a successful one. You may choose any of the following damage types: Acid, Fire, Cold, Lightning, Thunder, or Poison. | You may instead cause fire to spew in a 30 foot cone originating from any point on the target's space (you can include them or exclude them in the cone.) All creatures in the cone are subjected to the Dragon spirit's effect. If you use it on a single target, it deals six rolls of your bardic inspiration dice instead. |
| 10 | Horror. The target and each creature of your choice in a 30-foot Emanation originating from the target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or have the Frightened condition until the start of your next turn. While Frightened, a creature’s Speed is halved, and it can't take bonus actions. | Creatures who are immune to the Frightened condition still have their movement speed halved and cannot take Bonus Actions. Creatures who are not immune to the Frightened condition are instead Dazed. |
| 11 | Giant. Each creature of the target’s choice it can see within 30 feet of it must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes thunder damage equal to three rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die and is knocked prone. A creature that succeeds on its saving throw takes half as much damage and isn’t knocked prone. | Creatures who are knocked prone either lose concentration on a spell they are casting or lose their reaction (your choice). |
| 12 | Angel. The target regains hit points equal to two rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die + your Spellcasting Ability modifier, and you end one condition from the following list affecting the target: blinded, deafened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, silenced, or diseased. If you don't end a condition, you can restore four rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die instead. | Instead of removing one of the other conditions, the Angel Spirit can choose one of the following options instead: Remove one level of fatigue and strife. Remove one of the following conditions: Charmed, Slowed, or Stunned. End one curse, including the target's attunement to a cursed magic item. Remove any reduction to one of the target's ability scores. End one effect reducing the target's hit point maximum. If the target is reduced to 0 hit points or dies instantly within the next minute, its hit points instead change to to two rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die plus your Spellcasting Ability Modifier. |
| 13 | Mind-Breaker. The target must succeed on an Intelligence saving throw or take psychic damage equal to three rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die and be stunned until the end of its next turn. A creature that succeeds on its saving throw takes half as much damage and isn’t stunned. | You may instead inflict the Paralyzed condition on a target who fails this saving throw. |
| 14 | ???. ??? | ??? |
| 15 | Space. ??? | ??? |
| 16 | Time. The target gains the benefits of the Haste spell until the end of your next turn next round. It does not suffer any penalties when it ends. | At the end of your turn, the target immediately gets an additional turn, during which it can use actions and move as normal. This turn ends immediately if something the target does affects a creature other than it or an object being worn or carried by someone else. |
| 17 | Death. If the target has 50 or fewer hit points, it dies immediately. Otherwise, it takes four rolls of your Bardic Inspiration dice of psychic damage. | – |
| 18 | Genesis. ??? | – |
| 19 | Apocalypse. A meteor falls on a target you can see within 1 mile. Creatures in a 40 foot emanation from the target must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or Fire damage equal to three rolls of your Bardic Inspiration dice, or half as much on a successful save. Objects in the area take double damage from this tale. | – |
| 20 | Deity. You cast a spell of 5th level or lower at 5th level from any spell list, ignoring components and cast times. You must follow all other rules for casting the spell. | – |
Empowered Channeling
6th-level College of Spirits feature
Your ability to channel spirits improves. You gain the following benefits:
Power from Beyond. Once per turn, when you cast a Bard spell that either deals damage or restores Hit Points, roll a d6. You gain a bonus to one of the spell’s damage rolls or the total healing equal to the number rolled.
Spiritual Manifestation. You always have the Spirit Guardians spell prepared. You can cast it once without expending a spell slot, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a Long Rest.
Whenever you cast Spirit Guardians, you can modify it so the spirits also guard against worldly threats. When cast in this way, you and your allies within the spell’s Emanation gain Half Cover. Once you modify the spell this way, you can’t do so again until you finish a Short or Long Rest.
Spirit Session
6th-level College of Spirits feature
Spirits provide you with supernatural insights. You can conduct an hour-long ritual channeling spirits (which can be done during a short or long rest) using your Arcane Focus. You can conduct the ritual with a number of willing creatures equal to your proficiency bonus (including yourself). At the end of the ritual, you temporarily learn one spell of your choice from any class.
The spell you choose must be of a level equal to the number of creatures that conducted the ritual or less, the spell must be of a level you can cast, and it must be in the school of divination or necromancy. The chosen spell counts as a bard spell for you but doesn't count against the number of bard spells you know. As long as you have your Arcane Focus, you can ignore any material components for this spell.
Once you perform the ritual, you can't do so again until you start a long rest, and you know the chosen spell until you start a long rest.
Mystical Connection
14th-level College of Spirits feature
You gain mastery over the spirits you call forth.
Whenever you roll on the Spirits from Beyond table, you can roll the Bardic Inspiration die twice and choose which of the two effects to bestow. If you roll the same number on both dice, you can choose any effect on the table.
Greater Spirits from Beyond
23rd-level College of Spirits feature
The tales of your spirits grow more potent. Each of your spirit tales gains Level 23 Improvements listen on the Spirit Tales table above.
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27th-level College of Spirits feature
