Bard

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Overview & Creation

  Humming as she traces her fingers over an ancient monument in a long-forgotten ruin, a half-elf in rugged leathers finds knowledge springing into her mind, conjured forth by the magic of her song—knowledge of the people who constructed the monument and the mythic saga it depicts. A stern human warrior bangs his sword rhythmically against his scale mail, setting the tempo for his war chant and exhorting his companions to bravery and heroism. The magic of his song fortifies and emboldens them.   Laughing as she tunes her cittern, a gnome weaves her subtle magic over the assembled nobles, ensuring that her companions’ words will be well received.   Whether scholar, skald, or scoundrel, a bard weaves magic through words and music to inspire allies, demoralize foes, manipulate minds, create illusions, and even heal wounds.  

Music and Magic

In the worlds of D&D, words and music are not just vibrations of air, but vocalizations with power all their own. The bard is a master of song, speech, and the magic they contain. Bards say that the multiverse was spoken into existence, that the words of the gods gave it shape, and that echoes of these primordial Words of Creation still resound throughout the cosmos. The music of bards is an attempt to snatch and harness those echoes, subtly woven into their spells and powers.   The greatest strength of bards is their sheer versatility. Many bards prefer to stick to the sidelines in combat, using their magic to inspire their allies and hinder their foes from a distance. But bards are capable of defending themselves in melee if necessary, using their magic to bolster their swords and armor. Their spells lean toward charms and illusions rather than blatantly destructive spells. They have a wide-ranging knowledge of many subjects and a natural aptitude that lets them do almost anything well. Bards become masters of the talents they set their minds to perfecting, from musical performance to esoteric knowledge.  

Learning from Experience

True bards are not common in the world. Not every minstrel singing in a tavern or jester cavorting in a royal court is a bard. Discovering the magic hidden in music requires hard study and some measure of natural talent that most troubadours and jongleurs lack. It can be hard to spot the difference between these performers and true bards, though. A bard’s life is spent wandering across the land gathering lore, telling stories, and living on the gratitude of audiences, much like any other entertainer. But a depth of knowledge, a level of musical skill, and a touch of magic set bards apart from their fellows.   Only rarely do bards settle in one place for long, and their natural desire to travel—to find new tales to tell, new skills to learn, and new discoveries beyond the horizon—makes an adventuring career a natural calling. Every adventure is an opportunity to learn, practice a variety of skills, enter long-forgotten tombs, discover lost works of magic, decipher old tomes, travel to strange places, or encounter exotic creatures. Bards love to accompany heroes to witness their deeds firsthand. A bard who can tell an awe-inspiring story from personal experience earns renown among other bards. Indeed, after telling so many stories about heroes accomplishing mighty deeds, many bards take these themes to heart and assume heroic roles themselves.  

Creating a Bard

Bards thrive on stories, whether those stories are true or not. Your character’s background and motivations are not as important as the stories that he or she tells about them. Perhaps you had a secure and mundane childhood. There’s no good story to be told about that, so you might paint yourself as an orphan raised by a hag in a dismal swamp. Or your childhood might be worthy of a story. Some bards acquire their magical music through extraordinary means, including the inspiration of fey or other supernatural creatures.   Did you serve an apprenticeship, studying under a master, following the more experienced bard until you were ready to strike out on your own? Or did you attend a college where you studied bardic lore and practiced your musical magic? Perhaps you were a young runaway or orphan, befriended by a wandering bard who became your mentor. Or you might have been a spoiled noble child tutored by a master. Perhaps you stumbled into the clutches of a hag, making a bargain for a musical gift in addition to your life and freedom, but at what cost?  

QUICK BUILD

You can make a bard quickly by following these suggestions. First, Charisma should be your highest ability score, followed by Dexterity. Second, choose the entertainer background. Third, choose the dancing lights and vicious mockery cantrips, along with the following 1st-level spells: charm person, detect magic, healing word, and thunderwave.  

The Bard Table

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Features	Cantrips Known	Spells Known	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	+2	Spellcasting, Bardic Inspiration (d6)	2	4	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	+2	Jack of All Trades, Song of Rest (d6)	2	5	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	+2	Bard College, Expertise	2	6	4	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4th	+2	Ability Score Improvement	3	7	4	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5th	+3	Bardic Inspiration (d8), Font of Inspiration	3	8	4	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
6th	+3	Countercharm, Bard College Feature	3	9	4	3	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
7th	+3	-	3	10	4	3	3	1	-	-	-	-	-
8th	+3	Ability Score Improvement	3	11	4	3	3	2	-	-	-	-	-
9th	+4	Song of Rest (d8)	3	12	4	3	3	3	1	-	-	-	-
10th	+4	Bardic Inspiration (d10), Expertise, Magical Secrets	4	14	4	3	3	3	2	-	-	-	-
11th	+4	-	4	15	4	3	3	3	2	1	-	-	-
12th	+4	Ability Score Improvement	4	15	4	3	3	3	2	1	-	-	-
13th	+5	Song of Rest (d10)	4	16	4	3	3	3	2	1	1	-	-
14th	+5	Magical Secrets, Bard College Feature	4	18	4	3	3	3	2	1	1	-	-
15th	+5	Bardic Inspiration (d12)	4	19	4	3	3	3	2	1	1	1	-
16th	+5	Ability Score Improvement	4	19	4	3	3	3	2	1	1	1	-
17th	+6	Song of Rest (d12)	4	20	4	3	3	3	2	1	1	1	1
18th	+6	Magical Secrets	4	22	4	3	3	3	3	1	1	1	1
19th	+6	Ability Score Improvement	4	22	4	3	3	3	3	2	1	1	1
20th	+6	Superior Inspiration	4	22	4	3	3	3	3	2	2	1	1

 
 

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Starting Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) a rapier, (b) a longsword, or (c) any simple weapon
• (a) a diplomat’s pack or (b) an entertainer’s pack
• (a) a lute or (b) any other musical instrument
• Leather armor and a dagger

 

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Spellcasting

You have learned to untangle and reshape the fabric of reality in harmony with your wishes and music. Your spells are part of your vast repertoire, magic that you can tune to different situations. See Spells Rules for the general rules of spellcasting and the Spells Listing for the bard spell list.  

Cantrips

You know two cantrips of your choice from the bard spell list. You learn additional bard cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Bard table.

Spell Slots

The Bard table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your bard spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.   For example, if you know the 1st-level spell cure wounds and have a 1st-level and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast cure wounds using either slot.  

Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher

You know four 1st-level spells of your choice from the bard spell list.   The Spells Known column of the Bard table shows when you learn more bard spells of your choice. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots, as shown on the table. For instance, when you reach 3rd level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level.   Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the bard spells you know and replace it with another spell from the bard spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.  

Spellcasting Ability

Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your bard spells. Your magic comes from the heart and soul you pour into the performance of your music or oration. You use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a bard spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.   Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier   Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier  

Ritual Casting

You can cast any bard spell you know as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag.  

Spellcasting Focus

You can use a musical instrument (see the Tools section) as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells.  

Bardic Inspiration

You can inspire others through stirring words or music. To do so, you use a bonus action on your turn to choose one creature other than yourself within 60 feet of you who can hear you. That creature gains one Bardic Inspiration die, a d6.   Once within the next 10 minutes, the creature can roll the die and add the number rolled to one ability check, attack roll, or saving throw it makes. The creature can wait until after it rolls the d20 before deciding to use the Bardic Inspiration die, but must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails. Once the Bardic Inspiration die is rolled, it is lost. A creature can have only one Bardic Inspiration die at a time.   You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (a minimum of once). You regain any expended uses when you finish a long rest.   Your Bardic Inspiration die changes when you reach certain levels in this class. The die becomes a d8 at 5th level, a d10 at 10th level, and a d12 at 15th level.  

Jack of All Trades

Starting at 2nd level, you can add half your proficiency bonus, rounded down, to any ability check you make that doesn’t already include your proficiency bonus.  

Song of Rest

Beginning at 2nd level, you can use soothing music or oration to help revitalize your wounded allies during a short rest. If you or any friendly creatures who can hear your performance regain hit points at the end of the short rest by spending one or more Hit Dice, each of those creatures regains an extra 1d6 hit points.   The extra hit points increase when you reach certain levels in this class: to 1d8 at 9th level, to 1d10 at 13th level, and to 1d12 at 17th level.  

Bard College

At 3rd level, you delve into the advanced techniques of a bard college of your choice: the College of Lore detailed at the end of the class description or another from the Player's Handbook or other sources. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th and 14th level.  

Expertise

At 3rd level, choose two of your skill proficiencies. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses either of the chosen proficiencies.  

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.   Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.  

Font of Inspiration

Beginning when you reach 5th level, you regain all of your expended uses of Bardic Inspiration when you finish a short or long rest.  

Countercharm

At 6th level, you gain the ability to use musical notes or words of power to disrupt mind-influencing effects. As an action, you can start a performance that lasts until the end of your next turn. During that time, you and any friendly creatures within 30 feet of you have advantage on saving throws against being frightened or charmed. A creature must be able to hear you to gain this benefit. The performance ends early if you are incapacitated or silenced or if you voluntarily end it (no action required).  

Expertise

At 10th level, choose two more of your skill proficiencies. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses either of the chosen proficiencies.  

Magical Secrets

By 10th level, you have plundered magical knowledge from a wide spectrum of disciplines. Choose two spells from any classes, including this one. A spell you choose must be of a level you can cast, as shown on the Bard table, or a cantrip.   The chosen spells count as bard spells for you and are included in the number in the Spells Known column of the Bard table.   You learn two additional spells from any classes at 14th level and again at 18th level.  

Magical Secrets

At 14th level, you have plundered magical knowledge from a wide spectrum of disciplines. Choose two spells from any classes, including this one. A spell you choose must be of a level you can cast, as shown on the Bard table, or a cantrip.   The chosen spells count as bard spells for you and are included in the number in the Spells Known column of the Bard table.   You learn two additional spells from any classes at 18th level.  

Magical Secrets

At 18th level, you have plundered magical knowledge from a wide spectrum of disciplines. Choose two spells from any classes, including this one. A spell you choose must be of a level you can cast, as shown on the Bard table, or a cantrip.   The chosen spells count as bard spells for you and are included in the number in the Spells Known column of the Bard table.  

Superior Inspiration

At 20th level, when you roll initiative and have no uses of Bardic Inspiration left, you regain one use.

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Subclass Options

Bard Colleges  

    The way of a bard is gregarious. Bards seek each other out to swap songs and stories, boast of their accomplishments, and share their knowledge. Bards form loose associations, which they call colleges, to facilitate their gatherings and preserve their traditions.  

College of Creation (UA)

THIS IS PLAYTEST CONTENT   The material in this article is presented for playtesting and to spark your imagination. These game mechanics are in draft form, usable in your campaign but not refined by final game design and editing. They aren’t officially part of the game and aren’t permitted in D&D Adventurers League events.   If we decide to make this material official, it will be refined based on your feedback, and then it will appear in a D&D book.   Bards believe the multiverse was given existence through word and sound, esoteric harmonies that continue to resound through existence: the Song of Creation. The bards of this college draw on this ancient power through performances of dance, music, or song to bring into being what they need most.   Members of this college might have developed their powers during experiences on other worlds or planes of existence. Those who have seen the commonalities of multiple realities might have learned how to tap into truths most mortals glimpse only for a moment. Alternatively, the bard might find themselves out of step with their own home plane, reality, or time, their connections to elsewhere allowing them to manipulate the space around them. Regardless of where a bard draws their powers from, other performers might be drawn to them, either to learn their secrets or to put an end to their dangerous manipulation of the Song of Creation.  

Note of Potential

3rd-level College of Creation feature   You can manipulate the Song of Creation to summon a floating musical note of possibility:   Whenever you give a creature a Bardic Inspiration die, you can create a Note of Potential. The note orbits within 5 feet of the creature. The note is a Tiny object that is intangible and invulnerable, and it lasts until the Bardic Inspiration die is lost. A creature with a note can use it in the following ways.  

Note of Destruction

Immediately after the creature rolls the Bardic Inspiration die to add it to an attack roll, the creature can expend the note to create a burst of sound. Each other creature within 5 feet of it must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC or take thunder damage equal to the number rolled on the Bardic Inspiration die.  

Note of Protection

Immediately after the creature rolls the Bardic Inspiration die and adds it to a saving throw, the creature can expend the note to gain temporary hit points equal to the number rolled on the Bardic Inspiration die + your Charisma modifier, provided the creature doesn't already have temporary hit points.  

Note of Ingenuity

When the creature rolls the Bardic Inspiration die to add it to an ability check, the creature can expend the note to roll the Bardic Inspiration die again and choose which roll to use.  

Animating Performance

6th-level College of Creation feature   Your mastery over the Song of Creation allows you to magically bring items to life. As an action, you can target a Large or smaller nonmagical item you can see within 30 feet of you and animate it. The animate item uses the Dancing Item stat block and is under your control for 1 hour or until it is reduced to 0 hit points.   In combat, the item shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take one of the actions in its stat block or the Dash, Disengage, Help, Hide, or Search action.   When you use your Bardic Inspiration feature, you can command which action your animated item takes as part of the same bonus action.   Once you animate an item with this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest or until you expend a spell slot of 3rd level or higher to use this feature. You can have only one item animated by this feature at a time; if you use this action and already have a dancing item from this feature, the first one immediately becomes inanimate.  

Dancing Item

Large or smaller construct, neutral  

Armor Class

16 (natural armor)  

Hit Points

equal the dancing item’s Constitution modifier + your Charisma modifier + five times your level in this class  

Speed

40 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
18 (+4)	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	4 (−4)	10 (+0)	6 (−2)

 

Damage Immunities

poison  

Condition Immunities

charmed, exhaustion, poisoned, frightened  

Senses

darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10  

Languages

understands the languages you speak  

Endless Waltz

Immediately after the item makes a slam attack, it can take the Dodge action as a bonus action.  

Immutable Form

The item is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form..  

Actions

(Requires Your Bonus Action)  

Force-Empowered Slam

Melee Weapon Attack: your spell attack modifier to hit, reach 5 ft., one target you can see. Hit: 1d10 + your Charisma modifier force damage.  

Performance of Creation

14th-level College of Creation feature   Your performance can manipulate the magic of creation, briefly transforming the world around you. As an action, you can create one nonmagical item of your choice in an unoccupied space within 10 feet of you. The item must appear on a surface or in a liquid that can support it. The gp value of the item can’t be more than 20 times your bard level and must be Large or smaller. Tiny glimmering, intangible notes float around it, and a creature can faintly hear music when touching it.   For examples of items you can create, see the Armor, Weapons, Adventuring Gear, Tools, and Mounts and Vehicles tables in chapter 5, “Equipment,” of the Player’s Handbook.   The created item disappears at the end of your next turn, unless you use your action to maintain it. Each time you use your action in this way, the item’s duration is extended to the end of your next turn, up to a maximum of 1 minute. If you maintain the item for the full minute, it continues to exist for a number of hours equal to your bard level.   Once you create an item with this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest or until you expend a spell slot of 5th level or higher to use this feature. You can have only one item created by this feature at a time; if you use this action and already have an item from this feature, the first one immediately vanishes.  

College of Lore

Bards of the College of Lore know something about most things, collecting bits of knowledge from sources as diverse as scholarly tomes and peasant tales. Whether singing folk ballads in taverns or elaborate compositions in royal courts, these bards use their gifts to hold audiences spellbound. When the applause dies down, the audience members might find themselves questioning everything they held to be true, from their faith in the priesthood of the local temple to their loyalty to the king.   The loyalty of these bards lies in the pursuit of beauty and truth, not in fealty to a monarch or following the tenets of a deity. A noble who keeps such a bard as a herald or advisor knows that the bard would rather be honest than politic.   The college’s members gather in libraries and sometimes in actual colleges, complete with classrooms and dormitories, to share their lore with one another. They also meet at festivals or affairs of state, where they can expose corruption, unravel lies, and poke fun at self-important figures of authority.  

Bonus Proficiencies

When you join the College of Lore at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with three skills of your choice.  

Cutting Words

Also at 3rd level, you learn how to use your wit to distract, confuse, and otherwise sap the confidence and competence of others. When a creature that you can see within 60 feet of you makes an attack roll, an ability check, or a damage roll, you can use your reaction to expend one of your uses of Bardic Inspiration, rolling a Bardic Inspiration die and subtracting the number rolled from the creature’s roll. You can choose to use this feature after the creature makes its roll, but before the DM determines whether the attack roll or ability check succeeds or fails, or before the creature deals its damage. The creature is immune if it can’t hear you or if it’s immune to being charmed.  

Additional Magical Secrets

At 6th level, you learn two spells of your choice from any class. A spell you choose must be of a level you can cast, as shown on the Bard table, or a cantrip. The chosen spells count as bard spells for you but don’t count against the number of bard spells you know.  

Peerless Skill

Starting at 14th level, when you make an ability check, you can expend one use of Bardic Inspiration. Roll a Bardic Inspiration die and add the number rolled to your ability check. You can choose to do so after you roll the die for the ability check, but before the DM tells you whether you succeed or fail.  

College of Spirits (UA)

THIS IS PLAYTEST CONTENT   The material here is presented for playtesting and to spark your imagination. These game mechanics are in draft form, usable in your campaign but not refined by full game design and editing. They aren’t officially part of the game and aren’t permitted in D&D Adventurers League events. If this material is made official, it will be refined based on your feedback, and then it will appear in a D&D product that you can unlock on DDB.   If this material is not made official, it will be removed from DDB following the playtest period and you will need to replace it with another option. Stories of the past are powerful; they hold lessons of history, philosophy, and magic. Bards of the College of Spirits seek the stories of those from beyond the material plane. Using gaming sets, they reach out to hear their stories, but the bards have no control over what story they find.  

Guiding Whispers

3rd-level College of Spirits   You can reach out to spirits to guide you and others. You learn the guidance cantrip, which doesn’t count against the number of bard cantrips you know. For you, it has a range of 60 feet when you cast it.  

Spiritual Focus

3rd- and 6th-level College of Spirits feature   Your practice of contacting spirits can employ special tools. You can use the following objects as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells: a candle, a crystal ball, a talking board, a tarokka deck, or a skull.   At 6th level, when you cast a bard spell that deals damage or restores hit points through the Spiritual Focus, roll a d6, and you gain a bonus to one roll of the spell equal to the number rolled.  

Tales from Beyond

3rd-level College of Spirits feature   You reach out to spirits who tell their tales through you. While you are holding your Spiritual Focus, you can use a bonus action to expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration and roll on the Spirits’ Tales table using your Bardic Inspiration die to determine the tale told. You retain the tale in mind until you bestow the tale’s effect or you finish a short or long rest.   You can use an action to choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of you (this can be you) to be the target of the tale’s effect. Once you do so, you can’t bestow the tale’s effect again until you roll it again.   You can retain only one of these tales in mind at a time, and rolling on the Spirits’ Tales table immediately ends the effect of the previous tale. If the tale requires a saving throw, the DC equals your spell save DC.

Bardic Inspiration Die	Tale
1	Beast. You recite the tale of a clever animal. For 1 minute, the target has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks and advantage on attack rolls against a creature if another enemy is within 5 feet of it, and that enemy isn’t incapacitated.
2	Warrior. You recount the story of a renowned duelist. Make a melee spell attack against the target as an attacking spectral warrior briefly appears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the target before vanishing. On a hit, the target takes force damage equal to two rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die + your Charisma modifier
3	Friends. You recite the tale of friends who found each other in the afterlife. The target and another creature of its choice it can see within 5 feet of it regains hit points equal to a roll of your Bardic Inspiration die + your Charisma modifier.
4	Runaway. You tell the tale of an adventurer that could escape an confinement. The target can immediately use its reaction to teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space it can see. 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 1) to immediately use the same reaction.
5	Avenger. You recount the tale of an avenging knight. For 1 minute, whenever a creature the target can see within 30 feet of it is damaged by a creature, the target can use its reaction to deal force damage equal to a roll of your Bardic Inspiration die to the attacker.
6	Hero. You speak the tale of an epic hero. Choose a creature you can see within 30 feet of you. 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.
7	Fey. You recount the tale of a mischievous fey. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become charmed by you until the end of its next turn. The charmed target must use its action to make a melee attack against a creature other than itself that you mentally choose. The target can act normally on its turn if you choose no other creature.
8	Dark Spirit. You speak a dreadful tale of a slayer in the dark. 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, that creature takes necrotic damage equal to a roll of your Bardic Inspiration die and is frightened of the target until the end of its next turn
9	Giant. You speak of the deeds of a mighty giant. Each creature of the target’s choice it can see within 30 feet of it must make a Strength saving throw, taking force damage equal to two rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die on a failed save and is knocked prone. A creature that succeeds on its saving throw takes half as much damage and isn’t knocked prone.
10	Dragon. You breathe a poem of a wrathful dragon. The target magically spews fire from their mouth in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking fire damage equal to three rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one
11	Celestial. You speak of the exalted deeds of a celestial. The target regains hit points equal to two rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die + your bard level, and you end one disease or a condition from the following list affecting the target: blinded, deafened, paralyzed, petrified, or poisoned.
12	Unknown. You utter an incomprehensible fable from a being beyond the stars. Choose a creature you can see within 30 feet of you. The target must succeed on an Intelligence saving throw or take psychic damage equal to three rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die, and the target is unable to speak any language for 1 minute.

 

Spirit Session

6th-level College of Spirits feature   You can channel spirits to gain insights into magic. You can conduct an hour-long ritual channeling spirits (which can be done during a short or long rest) using your Spiritual Focus.   You can conduct the ritual with a number of 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 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.   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.  

Spiritual Focus

3rd- and 6th-level College of Spirits feature   Your practice of contacting spirits can employ special tools. You can use the following objects as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells: a candle, a crystal ball, a talking board, a tarokka deck, or a skull.   At 6th level, when you cast a bard spell that deals damage or restores hit points through the Spiritual Focus, roll a d6, and you gain a bonus to one roll of the spell equal to the number rolled.  

Mystical Connection

14th-level College of Spirits feature   Your connection to spirits has become semi-permanent. Whenever you use your Tales from Beyond feature, you can roll a d6 and use it instead of expending a Bardic Inspiration die. You still use your Bardic Inspiration die for the tale’s effect, without expending it.  

College of Valor

Bards of the College of Valor are daring skalds whose tales keep alive the memory of the great heroes of the past, and thereby inspire a new generation of heroes. These bards gather in mead halls or around great bonfires to sing the deeds of the mighty, both past and present. They travel the land to witness great events firsthand and to ensure that the memory of those events doesn’t pass from the world. With their songs, they inspire others to reach the same heights of accomplishment as the heroes of old.  

Bonus Proficiencies

When you join the College of Valor at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with medium armor, shields, and martial weapons.  

Combat Inspiration

Also at 3rd level, you learn to inspire others in battle. A creature that has a Bardic Inspiration die from you can roll that die and add the number rolled to a weapon damage roll it just made. Alternatively, when an attack roll is made against the creature, it can use its reaction to roll the Bardic Inspiration die and add the number rolled to its AC against that attack, after seeing the roll but before knowing whether it hits or misses.  

Extra Attack

Starting at 6th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.  

Battle Magic

At 14th level, you have mastered the art of weaving spellcasting and weapon use into a single harmonious act. When you use your action to cast a bard spell, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action.