Bard - Base Class

Duncehack Edition

So who are you?

Just some tosser with an over inflated sense of self importance.

Send verbal abuse via Minds.com

What is the Duncehack?

It emerged from a place of frustration. There's quite a number of areas where 5e could be improved but... it's not going to happen for various reasons.

The Duncehack is my attempt to fix these problems I have. Plan is to go through the whole game - all of it - and homebrew it into the game I think is should have been.

Feel free to disagree with me, but ultimately I think there's no harm in putting my thoughts out there, at the very least if even one DM decides to adopt these rules, then my job is done.

No DM Guild? No OGL Release?

I chafe under binding contracts and both of these are exactly that.

The DM Guild gives you more room to mess with established rules, but basically demands that all be under the service of flagship settings.

The SRD on the other hand gives more room for interesting settings but clamps down extremely hard on what established rules you're allowed to use. Their biggest contention is that they don't want someone to sell a sourcebook that removes the need for core books. Translation: they don't want Pathfinder to happen all over again.

More to the point, both assume money will change hands. I don't want money, I just want Wizards to fix their game.

Groundrules

Groundrules for the Duncehack are as follows:

• No Nerfs: the goal is to bring weaker archetypes on the level of the stronger ones.

• Remove Traps: incentives built into classes and archetypes should provide an active payoff, rather than be the suboptimal choice.

• Frontload Agency, Backend Power: Generally speaking, people like having more options to do things, rather than more raw power. As a design rule: things that feel like core class features, or are defining class mechanics, should happen in the first ten levels, sheer numeric increases in power should come after that.

No money changed hands here

This is a passion project. I want to keep it that way.

I also want to avoid legal issues for self-evident reasons.

No UA?

Too much changes between UA and official release.

The fewer corrections I have the do between UA changes, the better.

Obligatory Natural Crit Plug

http://www.naturalcrit.com/

Someone else made a thing that lets me make homebrews without having to post them on pastebin or something. They deserve a lot of credit for that.

Obligatory /tg/ Plug

The feedback I got from various Anons on this helped me build it into something that wasn't bad and stupid.

I love you all in a way only abused spouse can possibly understand.

No Images?

Needed to get it under 8mb so I could upload it literally anywhere.

So what in Bard needs to be fixed?

Bards are on the brink of being horribly overloaded in the first few levels.

Then in the later levels there's huge gaps of 'nothing to see here' and the capstone is awful.

What if I think this is too much

Countercharm as a bonus action feature.

The biggest issue with Bard is the fact that feature is godawful.

Class Features

As a Bard, you gain the following class features

Hit Points

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• Hit Dice: 1d8 per Bard level
• Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
• Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per Bard level after 1st

Proficiencies

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• Armor: light armor, bucklers
• Weapons: simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords
• Tools: three musical instruments of your choice, any tool proficiency of your choice, any game proficiency of your choice.

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• Saving Throws: Dexterity, Charisma
• Skills: Choose any three.

In addition, you gain a language proficiency of your choice.

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
• any musical instrument, any game set
• Leather armor, and a dagger
• Tools of a kind you are proficient with

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 chapter 10 for the general rules of spellcasting and chapter 11 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, learning a 3rd cantrip at 4th level and a 4th at 10th level.

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.

Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher

You know four 1st-level spells of your choice from the bard spell list.

You learn an additional bard spell of your choice at each level except 12th, 16th, 19th, and 20th. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

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.

Spell Versatility

Whenever you finish a long rest, you can replace one spell or cantrip you learned from this Spellcasting feature with another spell from the bard spell list. The new spell must be the same level as the spell you replaced.

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 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.

If a creature has a Bardic Inspiration die from you and casts a spell, the creature can roll that die and add the number rolled to one damage or healing roll of the spell. The Bardic Inspiration die is then lost.

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 short or 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 by spending Hit Dice at the end of the short rest, 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 from the list of available colleges. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th and 14th level.

The list is: Lore, Valor, Swords, Whispers and Glamor

Bardic Inspiration

I get the rationale they have for holding off the short rest part of the feature until 5th level, they specifically don't want Bards to be the dip class.

That's fair.

But Fighters exist.

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.

At 10th level, you can choose another two skill proficiencies to gain this benefit.

Ability Score Improvement

At 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th levels you gain +2 to one ability score, or +1 to two ability scores. You cannot raise an ability score above 20 this way.

Countercharm

At 5th level, you gain the ability to use musical notes or words of power to disrupt mind-influencing effects.

As a bonus action, you can start a performance that lasts until the end of your next turn. During that time, you and any friendly creatures within 60 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).

Curtain Call

At 7th level, whenever you reduce a hostile creature to 0hp, you can spend your reaction to use either Countercharm or a Bardic Inspiration charge.

When you roll initiative, you can spend your reaction to use either Countercharm or your Bardic Inspiration feature during the first round of combat.

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.

Font of Inspiration

At 18th level, when you roll initiative and have no uses of Bardic Inspiration left, you regain one use.

Finale

At 20th level you have +4 Charisma and your Charisma maximum is raised to 24.

As combat progresses, you can draw on the fury and passion of combat with your performance, building it into a well of magic, waiting to be unleashed.

You have a Finale Spell Slot that changes as battle progresses. This spell slot only comes into existence when initiative is rolled, and is only stable enough to last one round after combat ends.

When you roll initiative, this spell slot's level begins at 1st level. At the beginning of you turn, this spell slot level increases by 1, up to a maximum of 9th level.

This spell slot may only be used for Bard spells you know.

You regain usage of this feature after a short or long rest.

Countercharm

I can't take credit for this one, it's a common houserule.

But it's how you make the feature objectively not godawful.

Curtain Call/Opening Act

These two exist to ease off the bonus action crowding that Bards can sometimes suffer.

Font of Inspiration

Changed the name because I just rolled the old Font of Inspiration into Bardic Inspiration.

Moved it down here because as a 20th feature it was awful.

Finale

Why don't Bards get something appropriately flashy for their capstone?

Note on Magical Secrets:

Been asked about why Magical Secrets are counted as part of the Bard known spells rather than being in addition to them.

Honestly, that was unchanged from the base version of the Bard. If you want to throw a bone to your Bard you simply change it to "These spells do not count against your number of known Bard spells".