Bladesinger
Bladesingers are elves who bravely defend their people and lands. They are elf wizards who master a school of sword fighting grounded in a tradition of arcane magic. In combat, a bladesinger uses a series of intricate, elegant maneuvers that fend off harm and allow the bladesinger to channel magic into devastating attacks and a cunning defense.
| Wizard Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 2nd | Trained in War and Song, Bladesong |
| 6th | Extra Attack |
| 14th | Blade Dance |
Training in War and Song
When you adopt this tradition at 2nd level, you gain proficiency with light armor, and you gain proficiency with one type of one-handed melee weapon of your choice. If you're proficient with a simple or martial melee weapon, you can use it as a spellcasting focus for your wizard spells.
You also gain proficiency in the Performance if you don't already have it.
Bladesong
Starting at 2nd level, you can invoke a secret elven magic called the Bladesong, provided that you are wielding a one-handed melee weapon and you aren't wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield. When you gain this feature, you learn three Songs options of your choice (see "Songs Options" below).
You can use a bonus action to start the Bladesong, which lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are incapacitated, if you don medium or heavy armor or a shield, or if you use two hands to make an attack with a weapon. You can also dismiss the Bladesong at any time (no action required).
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.
You gain an additional Song option of your choice when you reach certain levels in this class: 6th, 10th, and 14th level. Each time you learn new Songs, you can also replace one Song you know with a different one.
Extra Attack
Starting at 6th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Blade Dance
At 14th level, when you make a melee attack, you can active your Bladesong as part of that attack without requiring you to use your bonus action.
Song Options
The Bladesong feature lets you choose options for it at certain levels. The options are presented here in alphabetical order. If a song has prerequisites, you must meet them to learn them. You can learn the song at the same time that you meet its prerequisites. Level prerequisites refer to Wizard level, not character level.
Song of Agility
You perform elegant maneuvers and cunning moves. While your Bladesong is active, you gain advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks and Dexterity saving throws.
Song of Battle
Prerequisite: 6th level
Your magic protects you from harm and incoming attacks. At the start of each of your turns, you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1) while your Bladesong is active.
Song of Blades
While your Bladesong is active, you flourish your blades as nobody else. When you attack with a weapon, you can use your Intelligence modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity, for the attack and damage roll.
Song of Celerity
Prerequisite: 6th-level
You can entwine spells and strike naturally. When you take the attack action while your Bladesong is active, you can cast one of your cantrips in place of one of your attacks.
Song of Defense
Prerequisite: 10th level
You can direct your magic to absorb damage. While your Bladesong is active, you can use your reaction when you take damage to expend one spell slot and reduce the damage taken by an amount equal to five times the spell slot's level.
Song of Evasion
Your magic enhances your reflex and makes you elusive. When you make a melee attack while your Bladesong is active, you gain a bonus to your AC equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1) until the start of your next turn.
Song of Freedom
Prerequisite: 10th level
You can move with total freedom in combat. While your Bladesong is active, your movement is unaffected by difficult terrain and your speed can't be reduced nor you can't be grappled, restrained or paralyzed.
Song of Fury
Prerequisite: 14th level
While your Bladesong is active, you can enhance your attacks with your magic. Once on each of your turns when you miss with a weapon attack, you can make another weapon attack as part of the same action.
Song of Offense
Prerequisite: 10th level
While your Bladesong is active, you can channel your magic through your attacks unleashing powerful strikes. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can use your bonus action to expend a spell slot to deal an extra 1d8 force damage to the target, plus another 1d8 per level of the spell slot.
Song of Resistance
Prerequisite: 14th level
You can dodge and parry enemy attacks with arcane grace and supernatural speed. While your Bladesong is active, you gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing or slashing damage from weapons attacks.
Song of Retaliation
Prerequisite: 10th level
Your movements faint and catch your opponents off-balance, leaving them exposed you to your blade. While your Bladesong is active, when you take damage from a creature that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack against that creature.
Song of Valor
You can concentrate on your spells even in the worst of the situations. While your Bladesong is active, you gain a bonus to any Constitution saving throw you make to maintain your concentration on a spell equals your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1).
Song of Victory
Prerequisite: 14th level
You have mastered the art of weaving spellcasting and
weapon use into a single harmonious act. When you use
your action to cast a spell, you can make one weapon
attack as a bonus action while your Bladesong is active.
Song of Swiftness
You move nimbly and graceful while your Bladesong is active. Your walking speed increases by 10ft and when you make a melee attack against a creature, that creature can’t make opportunity attacks against you for the rest of your turn.
Song of Protection
Prerequisite: 14th level
Your magic protects you sudden danger. If you drop to 0 hit points and don’t die outright, you can choose to end your Bladesong instantaneously and drop to 1 hit point instead. When you do so, you lose concentration on any spell you were concentrating on.
Optional Rule - Elven Exclusive Songs
The following are exclusive Songs Options which only elves can learn. These songs are designed to encourage players to play Bladesingers as Sword Coast Guide Adventure suggests, being elves instead of other races. Additionally, it gives unique customization and identity to the different elven kinds.
Song of Darkness
Prerequisite: Shadar-Kai Elf ³
You channel negative energy through your attacks while your Bladesong is active. When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you may choose to frighten the target until the end of your next turn.
Song of Equinox
Prerequisite: Eladrin Elf ³
You attune with nature and the primal elements. While your Bladesong is active, you gain resistance to a damage type determined by your current season, as shown on the table below. In addition, at the start of each of your turns, you can change your current season for another (no action required).
| Eladrin's Season | Damage Resistance |
|---|---|
| Summer | Fire |
| Spring | Poison |
| Eladrin's Season | Damage Resistance |
|---|---|
| Autumn | Lightning |
| Winter | Cold |
Song of Harmony
Prerequisite: High Elf
You defend from magical attacks with easy while your Bladesong is active. You have advantage on saving throws against spell cast by creatures within 5 feet of you.
Song of Heaven
Prerequisite: Avariel ⁴ or Mark of Storm Elf ¹
You move with grace avoiding dangerous situations. When a creature moves within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to fly up to 10 feet without triggering opportunity of attacks while your Bladesong is active.
Song of Hunt
Prerequisite: Wild Elf ⁶
While your Bladesong is active, you harness the power of the wildlife. You gain advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks and Strength saving throws and you can take the search action as a bonus action.
Song of Light
Prerequisite: Moon Elf ⁴ or Pallid Elf ²
A shimmering light guides you while your Bladesong is active. You can't have disadvantage on saving throws. If you would have disadvantage, you can't have advantage neither.
Song of Night
Prerequisite: Dark Elf or Drow
Your body fades to black as you move among the shadows. While your Bladesong is active and your are in darkness, you are invisible to any creature that relies on darkvision to see you in that darkness.
Song of Perception
Prerequisite: Mark of Detection Half-Elf ¹ or Lythari ⁴
All your senses enhance and amplify while your bladesong is active. You gain 10 feet blindsight.
Song of Pride
Prerequisite: Elf or Half-Elf
You master your ancient traditions. You can make attacks with any melee weapon that your race or subrace has made you proficient despite having the two-handed weapon property while your Bladesong is active. You can also don an elven chain without ending your Bladesong.
Song of Shadows
Prerequisite: Mark of Shadow Elf ¹
While your bladesong is active, you obstruct sight of your enemies with a combinations of feints and magical distractions. A 10-foot radius around you becomes heavily obscured for creatures outside the area.
Song of Solidarity
Prerequisite: Half-Elf ⁵
While your Bladesong is active, you aid your allies in combat with tranquillity and precision. You can use the Help action as a bonus action. When you use the Help action to aid an ally in attacking a creature, if the attack hits it deals additional damage equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1).
Song of Stillness
Prerequisite: Aerenal ¹ or Star Elf ⁴
An infinite peace fills your mind and spreads through your body while your Bladesong is active. You can't have disadvantage on weapon attack rolls. If you would have, you can't have advantage neither.
Song of Tempest
Prerequisite: Mark of Storm Half-Elf ¹
You control your surroundings with great delicacy and precision. While your Bladesong is active, a 10-foot radius around you becomes difficult terrain for creatures other than you.
Song of War
Prerequisite: Sun Elf ⁴ or Valenar ¹
You resist the worst of the attacks. Critical hits against you are considered normal hits while your Bladesong is active.
Song of Waves
Prerequisite: Sea Elf ² ³
You move like the waves in the sea while your Bladesong is active. Creatures can't have advantage on attack rolls against you. If they would have advantage, they can't have disadvantage neither.
Song of Woods
Prerequisite: Wood Elf
You seem to vanish from sight from moments to moments. While your Bladesong is active, you can take the Dash, Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action.
References
¹ Eberron: Rising from the Last War.
² Explorer's Guide to Wildemount.
³ Mordekainen's Tome of Foes.
⁴ Sword Coast Adventure Guide.
⁵ Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.
Other Books & 3rd Party
Curated List (Unearthed Arcana): Ash Elf (Shadows), City Elf (Solidarity) and Desert Elf (Tempest).
Plane Shift: Kaladesh: Bishathar (Woods), Tirahr (Perception) and Vahadr (Harmony).
Plane Shift: Zendikar: Mul Daya Nation (Darkness), Joraga Nation (Hunt) and Tajuru Nation (Solidarity).
Scarred Lands Payer's Guide: Drendali (Night) and Ganjus (Woods).
Unearthed Arcana: Grugach (Hunt).
Zodiac Empires of Player's Guide: Acer'rin (Waves), Ele'rin (Harmony) and Vae'rin (Shadows).
Bladesinger Builds
The suit of song you choose, when combined with spells and feats, allows you to create a broad range of bladesingers, each with its own flavor and play style. Below are recommendations for how you might build a Bladesinger to reflect various styles of fighting.
Each of these builds contains suggested songs options, spells and feats. It also includes weapons, fighting styles and maneuvers even if Bladesingers don't get them in case you take the Weapon Master, Martial Adept or Fighting Initiate feats.
Bird Style
- Weapons: Battleaxe, Handaxe, Light Hammer, War Pick
- Songs: Agility, Blades, Defense, Evasion, Freedom, Victory
- Spells: Divination, Transmutation
- Feats: Charge, Mobile, Savage Attacker, Weapon Master
- Fightying Styles: Thrown Weapon Fighting,⁵ Two-Weapon Fighting
- Maneuvers: Evasive Footwork, Pushing Attack, Quick Toss,⁵ Sweeping Attack, Trip Attack
Styles that focus on the use of a hafted weapon, such as an axe or hammer, have been grouped together as bird styles, yet they vary wildly. All relatively new styles, they use weapons not typically favored by elves. Eagle-style bladesingers use small handaxes, and many maneuvers in the style focus on fluid ways to throw the weapon and draw a new one. Raven style uses a pick, and spells associated with it grant the bladesinger more agility in combat.
Cat Style
- Weapons: Longsword, Scimitar, Shortsword
- Songs: Agility, Celerity, Evasion, Fury, Valor, Swiftness
- Spells: Illusion, Transmutation
- Feats: Alert, Dual Wielder, Mobile, Lucky, Warcaster
- Fightying Styles: Two-Weapon Fightning
- Maneuvers: Ambush,⁵ Commanding Presence,⁵ Lunging Attack, Menacing Attack, Parry, Precision Attack
Styles that employ a sword belong to this family. The lion style, the eldest, trains practitioners in the use of the longsword and doesn't favor any particular type of spells. Leopard style focuses on the shortsword and spells of illusion and stealth. Red tiger, a style just three centuries old, has its bladesingers using the scimitar in a whirling dance of defense from which they launch into sudden leaps and attacks.
Dog Style
- Weapons: Club, Quaterstaff
- Songs: Battle, Blades, Defense, Resistance, Retaliation, Valor
- Spells: Abjuration, Enchantment
- Feats: Inspiring Leader, Sentinel, Tough, Weapon Master
- Fightying Styles: Interception,⁵ Protection, Defensive
- Maneuvers: Bait and Switch,⁵ Brace,⁵ Distracting Strike, Goading Attack, Parry
Perhaps the first style developed by non-elves, the dog
style was created by humans. The fox style uses club and focuses on spells of enchantment and defense. Wolf, a style typical of humans that prefers to fight in groups, focuses on quarterstaff and pact tactics. They don't favour any particular type of spells though they don't use spells with an area of effects to not hurt their allies.
Snake Style
- Weapons: Flail, Whip, Morningstar
- Songs: Battle, Celerity, Freedom, Offense, Retaliation, Swiftness
- Spells: Illusion, Necromancy
- Feats: Mobile, Observant, Poisoner, Skulker
- Fightying Styles: Blind Fightning,⁵ Duelist
- Maneuvers: Ambush,⁵ Brace,⁵ Disarming Attack, Distracting Strike, Feinting Attack, Grappling Strike,⁵ Riposte
Practitioners of these styles use a flail, chain, or whip. Viper style uses a whip, despite its inelegance as a weapon, and has almost as long a history as the lion style. Its masters punctuate their bladesong with a stunningly rapid rhythm of whip cracks, which can keep many foes at bay and allow the bladesinger space to cast the cruel spells of poison and disease favored by the style.
Bladesinger
Here is a rework for the amazing Bladesinger subclass from SCAG and TCoE.
The ability to use weapons as an arcane focus has been added from the College of Swords.
Bladesong has been redesigned to have more emphasis in melee combat while being more special, interactive and unique for each bladesinger, creating some sort of Totem Spirit system. This allows the creation of different styles, such as the Red Tiger or the Raven style.
The ability to cast cantrips from Extra Attack has been separated into Song of Celerity to prevent exploits while not using Bladesong.
Song of Victory damage bonus hass been removed as bladesinges already have high damage at high levels thanks to Extra Attack and Song of Celerity.
If you want to play as close as possible to the normal bladesinger, you can take the following Songs Options: Agility, Celerity, Defense, Evasion, Fury and Valor.
Version 26/2/23. Created by /u/Enderluck, Eldritch Entertainment.
Art from: Charlie Bowater and Arif Wijaya.
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