Wufflykins
2017-01-05, 11:14 PM
I found the following PDF floating around the internet (made by our own Giegue I think - let me know if I'm wrong).
College of the Macabre (https://www.pdf-archive.com/2016/09/03/college-of-the-macabre-2/)
Overall - I love it! It's dripping with flavour and look forward to my chance to play it.
However it does break from a few core design principles of the bard class which I want to attempt to remedy (I could be wrong though but hear me out). With homebrew, my personal philosophy is to push the bounds of convention. To look at what is there in core, but to change and add to it, rather than to keep completely faithful to what already is.
Firstly I'm not sure about the bonus proficiencies
- I get why medicine is a flavourful choice but I'm not sure about locking players into this if it doesn't fit their idea of a Dirgesinger.
- Proficiency in Death Saving throws. I get the why and I'm not sure that it's really broken at all; but it feels like a thing that isn't meant to exist within and pushes too far out of the confines of 5e.
I'm looking for ideas to replace this as a whole - I'm looking at the new colleges from the UA and I like the idea of some kind of performance (a rough outline is detailed in a spoiled box below the ability). I've sketched up an ability 'Haunting Refrain' that is intended to replace the bonus proficiencies.
Secondly - I personally don't like bardic inspiration uses that don't involve rolling dice, thus I've added a couple to make of for the overall loss of utility from replacing the bonus proficiencies.
That's all I've changed so far - as it was a really solid archetype to begin with. Let me know what you think and if you think I've gone to far.
COLLEGE OF THE MACABRE
BONUS PROFICIENCIES
Starting at 3rd level when you select this college, you add your proficiency bonus to your death saving throws.
Additionally, you gain proficiency with the medicine skill.
Starting at 3rd level, you can charge your performance with haunting deathly magic.
If you perform for at least 10 minutes, you can attempt to draw your audience into a deep melancholy by singing, playing an instrument or reciting a poem. At the end of the performance, choose a number of intelligent creatures within 60 feet of you who watched and listened to all of it, up to a number of them equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one). Each target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or be incapacitated. While incapacitated in this way, the creature is oblivious to it's surroundings and unresponsive to any verbal interaction. This effect ends on a target after 1 hour, if it takes any damage or if you attack it. Upon rousing from this state it has no memory of any events that occurred during it's melancholy.
If a target succeeds on it's save against this effect, the target has no hint that you tried to incapacitate it.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
DREADFUL DIRGE
At 3rd level you learn how to perform music or oration that fills your foes with dread or grants unholy vigour to your companions. You gain the following uses for your bardic inspiration:
As an action you can spend 1 use of your bardic inspiration to make 1 creature within 30ft that can hear your voice the target of your dreadful dirge. When you do this the target must make a wisdom save against your Bard spell save DC. On a successful save that creature cannot be the target of your dreadful dirge again for 24 hours. On a failed save this feature is treated as a concentration spell that can be maintained for 1 minute As long as you concentrate on this feature the target is frightened of you. Creatures who can't hear you or are immune to being charmed are immune to this effect.
As a bonus action you can spend 1 use of your bardic inspiration, rolling the die twice and adding the two rolls together. You can then choose up to six creatures that can hear you within 60ft to increase their current and maximum hit points by the total roll plus your Charisma modifier. These hit points do not stack with themselves and any remaining disappear at the end of the creature's next short rest.
When a creature you can see within 60 feet of you makes a death saving throw, you can use your reaction to expend one of your uses of Bardic Inspiration, rolling a Bardic Inspiration die and adding it to the creature's roll.
DANSE MACABRE
At 6th level you learn vile words or music that let you call the dead back for one last dance. You gain Animate Dead as a bonus spell known. Additionally, at 11th level you gain Create Undead as a bonus spell known. These spells are considered bard spells for you and do not count against your total spells known as-per the bard table. When you cast a Necromancy spell that creates undead (such as Animate Dead or Create Undead) that spell gainst the following additional effects (These benefits do not stack with the benefits of the Undead Thralls wizard feature):
The undead this spell creates increase their hit points by your Bard level.
The undead this spell creates add your proficiency bonus to their weapon damage rolls.
If this spell is Animate Dead it can target 1 additional corpse on bone pile and create 1 additional skeleton or zombie (as applicable).
RULE THE STILL HEART
At 14th level you learn how to perform music or oration that dominates the undead. As an action you can target any number of undead who can see or hear you within 60ft whose total combined CRs do not exceed your bard level. These creatures make a charisma saving thow against your Bard spell save DC. Intelligent undead are harder to control with this feature; undead with 8 or more intelligence have advantage on their saving throw.
All targets that make their save cannot be affect by this feature again for 24 hours. All targets that fail their save are dominate by you temporarily. This effect is treated as a concentration spell that can be maintained for 4 hours. As long as you maintain concentration on this effect you have control of all targets that failed their saves as if they were beasts under the effects of a Dominate Beast spell cast by you.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
College of the Macabre (https://www.pdf-archive.com/2016/09/03/college-of-the-macabre-2/)
Overall - I love it! It's dripping with flavour and look forward to my chance to play it.
However it does break from a few core design principles of the bard class which I want to attempt to remedy (I could be wrong though but hear me out). With homebrew, my personal philosophy is to push the bounds of convention. To look at what is there in core, but to change and add to it, rather than to keep completely faithful to what already is.
Firstly I'm not sure about the bonus proficiencies
- I get why medicine is a flavourful choice but I'm not sure about locking players into this if it doesn't fit their idea of a Dirgesinger.
- Proficiency in Death Saving throws. I get the why and I'm not sure that it's really broken at all; but it feels like a thing that isn't meant to exist within and pushes too far out of the confines of 5e.
I'm looking for ideas to replace this as a whole - I'm looking at the new colleges from the UA and I like the idea of some kind of performance (a rough outline is detailed in a spoiled box below the ability). I've sketched up an ability 'Haunting Refrain' that is intended to replace the bonus proficiencies.
Secondly - I personally don't like bardic inspiration uses that don't involve rolling dice, thus I've added a couple to make of for the overall loss of utility from replacing the bonus proficiencies.
That's all I've changed so far - as it was a really solid archetype to begin with. Let me know what you think and if you think I've gone to far.
COLLEGE OF THE MACABRE
BONUS PROFICIENCIES
Starting at 3rd level when you select this college, you add your proficiency bonus to your death saving throws.
Additionally, you gain proficiency with the medicine skill.
Starting at 3rd level, you can charge your performance with haunting deathly magic.
If you perform for at least 10 minutes, you can attempt to draw your audience into a deep melancholy by singing, playing an instrument or reciting a poem. At the end of the performance, choose a number of intelligent creatures within 60 feet of you who watched and listened to all of it, up to a number of them equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one). Each target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or be incapacitated. While incapacitated in this way, the creature is oblivious to it's surroundings and unresponsive to any verbal interaction. This effect ends on a target after 1 hour, if it takes any damage or if you attack it. Upon rousing from this state it has no memory of any events that occurred during it's melancholy.
If a target succeeds on it's save against this effect, the target has no hint that you tried to incapacitate it.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
DREADFUL DIRGE
At 3rd level you learn how to perform music or oration that fills your foes with dread or grants unholy vigour to your companions. You gain the following uses for your bardic inspiration:
As an action you can spend 1 use of your bardic inspiration to make 1 creature within 30ft that can hear your voice the target of your dreadful dirge. When you do this the target must make a wisdom save against your Bard spell save DC. On a successful save that creature cannot be the target of your dreadful dirge again for 24 hours. On a failed save this feature is treated as a concentration spell that can be maintained for 1 minute As long as you concentrate on this feature the target is frightened of you. Creatures who can't hear you or are immune to being charmed are immune to this effect.
As a bonus action you can spend 1 use of your bardic inspiration, rolling the die twice and adding the two rolls together. You can then choose up to six creatures that can hear you within 60ft to increase their current and maximum hit points by the total roll plus your Charisma modifier. These hit points do not stack with themselves and any remaining disappear at the end of the creature's next short rest.
When a creature you can see within 60 feet of you makes a death saving throw, you can use your reaction to expend one of your uses of Bardic Inspiration, rolling a Bardic Inspiration die and adding it to the creature's roll.
DANSE MACABRE
At 6th level you learn vile words or music that let you call the dead back for one last dance. You gain Animate Dead as a bonus spell known. Additionally, at 11th level you gain Create Undead as a bonus spell known. These spells are considered bard spells for you and do not count against your total spells known as-per the bard table. When you cast a Necromancy spell that creates undead (such as Animate Dead or Create Undead) that spell gainst the following additional effects (These benefits do not stack with the benefits of the Undead Thralls wizard feature):
The undead this spell creates increase their hit points by your Bard level.
The undead this spell creates add your proficiency bonus to their weapon damage rolls.
If this spell is Animate Dead it can target 1 additional corpse on bone pile and create 1 additional skeleton or zombie (as applicable).
RULE THE STILL HEART
At 14th level you learn how to perform music or oration that dominates the undead. As an action you can target any number of undead who can see or hear you within 60ft whose total combined CRs do not exceed your bard level. These creatures make a charisma saving thow against your Bard spell save DC. Intelligent undead are harder to control with this feature; undead with 8 or more intelligence have advantage on their saving throw.
All targets that make their save cannot be affect by this feature again for 24 hours. All targets that fail their save are dominate by you temporarily. This effect is treated as a concentration spell that can be maintained for 4 hours. As long as you maintain concentration on this effect you have control of all targets that failed their saves as if they were beasts under the effects of a Dominate Beast spell cast by you.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.