Welcome to the second subclass release from Broken Knives: The College of Harmony bard subclass.
You can access the subclass on dmsguild.com here.
Here on the blog we'll discuss some of the thought and design processes behind the class and why we've made the design decisions we've made.
So what's the basic idea of the subclass? The College of Harmony is a bard based on the idea of manipulation. A bard that isn't afraid to use both natural and magical methods to make things go her way.
Part of the description we gave the artist was:
“She has a friendly look on her face and is gesturing with her hand, as if she has just tried to convince you of something.”
The 3rd level feature, Amiable to a Fault, is a buff to the friends cantrip, including an in-combat use. This solidifies their use of enchantment spells to manipulate their enemies as well as not necessarily being combat focused. The other feature, Expert Manipulator lets them use their bardic inspiration with Wisdom savings throws.
Unlike other bards, those of the College of Harmony do not receive bonus skills or proficiencies.
The 6th level ability, Quick Tongue is this bards buff to combat utility. Valor bards get an extra attack, lore bards get extra spells. Harmony bards get limited bonus action cantrips as long as they are inspiring their allies.
The final ability Wellspring of Inspiration allows the bard to generate uses of bardic inspiration when their tanks are running dry. This reflects that as long as magic is flowing through them, so are words.
We also want to not only give the players options, but to give the subclass some substance in the world. To that end, we included a brief description of Sylyra Brightleaf, a College of Harmony NPC in Neverwinter. Her description also includes an adventure hook that a DM might use. We also detail how the College of Harmony might fit in the world of Ravenloft.
We look forward to any feedback!