Bard College - Unbound Scribe

While many gnomes of House Sivis spend their days as notaries or carrying out seemingly mundane duties, the Unbound Scribes are a group who instead seek out adventure in pursuit of knowledge and magical power. They are often intense and eccentric, flitting between projects with apparent randomness, and are usually much more sociable than their quieter counterparts.

They often seek new ways to use magic, along with making it more widely accessible for others. A common mantra for Unbound Scribes is that the rising tide lifts all ships and that by making magic available to all, that more interesting and potent forms of magic will rise to the top. They will generally share their knowledge willingly, though with the unspoken (and sometimes spoken) expectation that their counterpart share what they know in return. This willingness to share makes them ideal for adventuring parties, were cooperation is key.

In order to take this subclass you must be a gnome with a Mark of Scribing.

Master Scribe

You are a master of scribing, and are able to quickly create spell scrolls. From 3rd level you gain the ability to create 'Unbound' scrolls as a 1 minute ritual, more magic than paper or ink. These scrolls can be of a spell level equal to 1/4 of your bard level, rounded down, and can only be made from spells you have learned as part of leveling up as a Bard - you cannot create an Unbound scroll of a spell you acquired via the Magical Secrets feature or multiclassing.

You may create a number of these scrolls equal to your proficiency bonus, refreshing on a long rest. Any scrolls not used when you complete a long rest vanish. Unbound scrolls can be used by any creature without requiring a spellcasting ability check or needing to know the spell, and use your spellcasting save DC/attack roll. However, using an Unbound scroll is draining. An individual creature must complete a short rest before being able to use another Unbound scroll.

If you choose to create an Unbound scroll for a spell with a costly material component, this must be provided and consumed as part of the scroll's creation. If the scroll remains uncast, the components are still lost.

In addition, you gain proficiency with calligraphy supplies, and when you scribe a more permanent spell scroll as part of crafting items, the time you must spend to scribe these scrolls is halved.

Charged Words

You are able to add notations to your Unbound scrolls that increase their power. From 6th level when you create an Unbound scroll you can choose to have it be cast from 1 spell level higher than it would normally be cast from. This feature can be used once, refreshing on a short or long rest.

From 17th level in this class the affected Unbound scroll is treated as having been cast from a spell slot 2 levels higher than normal.

Ghost Writing

Your mastery of scribing allows you to make use of scrolls more than once. As part of a long rest you can forge a second layer onto an existing scroll in your possession, allowing the scroll to be cast from without consuming it - instead the ghost writing is consumed. If the spell from the scroll you chose has costly material component, this must be provided and consumed as part of the ghost writing process.

Only one scroll can possess your ghost writing at a time, and the scroll you use must be of a level for which you have spell slots. The scroll otherwise follows the standard rules for casting from a scroll.

Metamagic Scroll

At 14th level you learn two Metamagic options from the Sorcerer metamagic list, other than the Twinned spell metamagic. You cannot apply these to your normal spells, only the Unbound scrolls you can create. Each Unbound scroll may only have one Metamagic applied to it at a time.

In addition, Unbound Scrolls can now be used by an individual twice, before requiring a long rest to use any more of them.