D&D: The New College Of Spirit Bard Weaves A Ghostly Tale Of Fate, Cards, And Randomness
The Bardic College of Spirits, as unveiled in the Horror Subclasses Unearthed Arcana, is now more about actual, random ghosts.
The Bard College of Spirits subclass gets a spooky new makeover in the recent Horror Subclasses Unearthed Arcana. It gets a remarkable shift in terms of both flavor and focus from its previous incarnation in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. Where before, the College of Spirits was all about seeking out folkloric tales with supernatural power to them, now you’re more a mystic/fortune teller/seer who channels actual spirits for random effects. In a cool way!
The Bard College of Spirits – A Whole New Flavor (And New Mechanics) For A Familiar Horror Subclass
The change in flavor is very telling for this subclass. Before, these Bards were collectors of potent tales. And now this is a much more occult subclass. Which makes it a lot more fitting if we are in fact going to get another Ravenloft set of books. For me, personally, this, coupled with the Reanimator subclass for the Artificer are the strongest indicators that we’re returning to the Demiplane of Dread in the not too distant future.
Assuming all of these test well, that is. Although, even if they don’t – it still feels very much like we’re going to see another Ravenloft sourcebook. Which isn’t a bad thing. The first one was very DM-focused, with a few options for Players that were (and still are) some of the best in 5E. But with the new ruleset, a more player focused book might be freer to play with new stuff.
The new take on the College of Spirits Bard feels like something you might see from Ravenloft. More particularly, Barovia’s Vistani fortune tellers seem to fit the bill. As do other mystics of all stripes. Gone is the pretense of stories, and in its place: a whole lot of spooky magic.
“Using occult trappings, Bards of the College of Spirits conjure legendary and long-dead spirits to change the world once more. ut such entities are capricious, and what a Bard summons isn’t always entirely under their control.”
Summoning Ghosts 1301 – The Bard College Of Spirits Syllabus
Starting at level 3, the subclass comes rolling out of the gate with a huge burst of occult flavor. At Level 3 you get several features that play into the idea that you’re some sort of occult spirit channeler, starting with a feature called Channeler, fittingly enough. Channeler lets you contact spirits from beyond the pale to accomplish a couple of different things.
For one, when you cast Guidance, it has a range of 60 feet instead of touch. So you can offer help from afar. And secondly, you gain profiency with playing cards (and an actual in-game set of occult playing cards) that you can use as a Spellcasting Focus, alongside a Crystal, Orb, Candle, or Ink Pen.
But the chewy center of the College of Spirits is the newly named (and mechanically revised) Spirits From Beyond. As in the previous edition of this subclass, Spirits from Beyond is still a collection of random effects that you can roll on when you spend a Bonus Action and a Bardic Inspiration die. But now you don’t ALSO have to spend an Action to choose a target for the effect. You just get to do that as part of the Bonus Action you take, after you know what you’ve rolled. And the effects on the table are much improved:
- Beloved – heal your target for your Bardic Inspiration die plus Charisma Modifier
- Sharpshooter – deal damage equal to your Bardic Inspiration die plus Charisma modifier
- Avenger – until the end of your next turn, any creature that hits your target takes your Bardic Inspiration die plus Charisma modifer damage
- Renegade – your target can use a Reaction to teleport 30 feet to a space it can see
- Fortune Teller – your target has advantage on d20 tests until the start of your next turn
- Wayfarer – your target gains temporary HP equal to your inspiration die plus Bard level, their speed increases by 10 while so buffed
- Trickster – your target takes two of your Bardic Inspiration dice in damage and is Chamred until your next turn starts
- Shade – your target is invisible until the end of its next turn, or until it makes an attack, deals damage, or casts a spell, when this invisibility ends, anyone within 5 feet takes two Bardic Inspiration dice in Necrotic damage
- Arsonist – your target saves or taes four Bardic Inspiration dice in damage (or half if it saves)
- Coward – your target and any creature you choose within 30 feet of it must save or be Frightened until the start of your next turn, as well as having their speed halved, and only being able to take an Action or a Bonus Action, not both
- Brute – each creature of your choice within 30 feet of your target saves or takes three Bardic Inspiration dice in damage and are knocked prone
- Controlled Channeling – pick which effect you want
I really like this change. It makes it a more active class. The Action economy of it is improved. Even though it’s a random effect, you’re almost always going to get something useful. And those higher numbered options really reward you for going all in on Bard, which I’m a fan of.
Advanced Courses (Higher Level Abilities)
Of course, at higher levels, you get good stuff too. Starting with Empowered Channeling at level 6. This grants you improved spellpower. Meaning you’ll add 1d6 to a roll of healing or damage caused by a Bard Spell once per turn. Nothing to sneeze at, and you don’t even have to cast Hunter’s Mark to do it. And secondly, you learn Spirit Guardians and always have the spell prepared.
You can also cast Spirit Guardians once per Long Rest without needing a spell slot. And whenever you cast the spell, you can modify it. The modified spirits can protect you and your allies, granting Half Cover to friendly creatures within the Emanation of the spell. You can only modify it once per Short or Long Rest that way, but still—that’s a huge boon. One free 3rd-level spell per day is potent. Especially when you can make it extra defensive. Even more so with how good Spirit Guardians is right now.
And at 14th level, the subclass caps out with Mystical Connection. This lets you roll twice on the Spirits from Beyond table and choose which roll you go with. It’s less impressive overall, but it does play well with the core feature of the class. It’s a minor improvement, and as capstone abilities go, it’s pretty lackluster to me—especially compared to some of the other Bard subclasses. But hey, that’s what Playtesting is for, right?
And that’s why you should fill out the Unearthed Arcana playtest survey at the link below! Let WotC know what you really think of their new designs.
Start studying for Spirit finals!
