Why D&Ds College Of Spirits Is Huge For Bards (& Their DMs)

Why D&D’s College Of Spirits Is Huge For Bards (& Their DMs)

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Dungeons & Dragons’ College of Spirits subclass adds a seance-roulette table for the Bard, and its chaotic nature could help D&D DMs’ storytelling.

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Why D&Ds College Of Spirits Is Huge For Bards (& Their DMs)

There is no class more divisive in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons than the Bard. Some find the jack-of-all-trades class a well-rounded one, with class features that can really contribute to a party’s success in all sorts of situations. Others, however, find D&D’s Bard to be an underwhelming and limited spellcaster.

Unearthed Arcana’s new College of Spirits subclass, though, is an addition that will likely draw interest, regardless of which side of the Bard debate a player finds themselves. The new college adds an interesting tweak to the standard Bardic Inspiration abilities, which could easily be utilized by a game’s Dungeon Master for narrative purposes, as well.

Though leaning a little into the domain of D&D’s Grave Cleric (pun absolutely intended), the College of Spirits Bard still offers a lot of originality. Reminiscent of the Wild Magic Sorcerer, the new Bard subclass relies heavily on chance. When using Bardic Inspiration as a bonus action, the College of Spirits Bard rolls their inspiration die to find out what happens based on the new Spirits’ Tales table. Basically, this table dictates which ghost the Bard communes with and what effect it has. For example, entries like “Friends” and “Celestial” provide healing, and “Giant” and “Dragon” deal extra damage. “Runaway” is particularly interesting, as it both gives the effect’s target the ability to teleport 30 feet as a reaction and allows them to give a number of other creatures (based on the Bard’s Charisma modifier) the same ability. Now, though the random nature of these effects can seem a little too chaotic to some, it could be argued that chaos fits the Bard class perfectly (especially if a player really wants to make their character Klaus from Umbrella Academy).

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This addition also doesn’t feed into the over-saturated archetype of the musician Bard, which is a huge plus. Not everyone who wants to play a D&D Bard likes the idea of improvising a song or a limerick in-game. Not that Bards are always like that, but the College of Spirits allows a player to roleplay a much darker bard. However a player feels about this subclass, any addition to the Bard that makes it a more original class is a step in the right direction.

How D&D’s Bard College Of Spirits Can Help DMs

The options on the Spirits’ Tale table also leave plenty of room for a Dungeon Master to add lore and story. A little homebrew about what these spirits do, what they say, and who they are makes for some solid jumping-off points, from a narrative perspective. The effects themselves could be changed, as well, and a seasoned GM could add multiple options per number to keep things even more interesting. Being ambitious enough to make a Spirits’ Tale table of their own would allow a DM to affect some party members differently than others and to use it as an easy excuse to delve deeper into character backstories. The narrative avenues Dungeons & Dragons’ College of Spirits Bards could add – especially in a Halloween, horror, or combat-heavy campaign – are extremely useful.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/dungeons-dragons-bard-college-spirits-subclass-unearthed-arcana/

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