College of Word Play
Bards from the College of Word Play are lovers of the spoken word with wits sharper than swords. They are known as pundits who, unlike jesters, completely disregard the pursuit and propogation of truth. Some students in this College may have been kicked out of the College of Satire. Others may have applied for the College of Swords but didn’t read the name correctly. Bards in the College of Word Play have a mastery of their language and know how to twist it to deliver punchlines or punish their foes.
Bonus Proficiencies
When you join the College of Word Play at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in Performance and Deception. If you are already proficient in either of those skills, choose another skill proficiency for each proficiency you already have.
Word Slay
At 3rd level, once per turn, when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend a use of your Bardic Inspiration to say a Vicious One-Liner. You deal bonus psychic damage to the creature based on how good the one-liner is, in addition to the weapon’s damage, and the creature has disadvantage on its next attack roll. The creature must be able to hear you, but does not have to understand you.
Your DM or your party gives the one-liner a rating from one (the lowest) to three (the highest). The rating could be based on how loud the laughter or groans are, or how well-layered the pun is. You roll one die for each rating, up to 3 dice, and the DM can grant 1 bonus die if the one-liner is especially good. The tier of the damage dice is equal to the tier of your Bardic Inspiration die.
World Play
At 3rd level, you are a master of twisting the world around you. As an action, you can repeat a sentence another creature had just spoken aloud and alter it for an audience of creatures that can hear you. You can only add, delete, or replace up to two letters in the sentence. For example, you might alter the words a goblin is saying from, “I hate your dog,” into “I ate your dog.”
When you use this feature, make a Deception (Charisma) check contested by the target’s Persuasion (Charisma) check. If you succeed, the audience believes your target had spoken your altered words. If you fail, you automatically fail on subsequent Charisma checks made to interact with the audience for the next 10 minutes.
Word Clay
At 6th level, your words can manipulate the flow of magic like soft clay. When you cast a spell, you can alter the spell’s name. You can only add, delete, or replace up to two letters in the name and you can describe your intention, but the DM decides what the altered effect becomes. An altered spell should not be more powerful than the original spell’s level.
For example, you might alter hold Person into old Person, aging your target by 10 years, or you might alter healing word into healing sword, temporarily summoning a sword that heals a creature that it hits. Once you have altered a spell, you cannot alter it the same way again for one week.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.
Word Spray
At 14th level, your vicious one-liners become words of terror. When you use your Word Slay feature, choose a creature within 30 feet that can hear you. The creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you for up to one minute. The frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Additionally, if you reduce a creature’s hit points to zero with your Word Slay feature, you regain a use of your Bardic Inspiration.
PATREON | ARIPOCKILY
Art Credit: WingBuffet