Art: Z.W. Gu
Bard: College of Illumination
Bards of the College of Illumination understand the power light holds in the world. Without it, all would be lost, and the darkness would be all consuming. Those who follow this discipline seek to ward off the darkness in all its forms, both inside the soul and in the material plane through powerful incantations and abilities.
Whether its singing the praises of the divines or dancing their motes of light, illumination bards desires lie in slowly thwarting the dark through their actions, their words, and sometimes literally conjuring light when the situation calls for it. Members of this college are often guides, choosing to lead and light the path for their allies. An illumination bard's grand mission is to leave the world brighter than before.
College of Illumination Features
| Bard Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 3rd | A Thousand Lights, Mark of the Lantern |
| 6th | Luminescent Ward |
| 14th | Protector of Dawn |
A Thousand Lights
Beginning at 3rd level, you learn to conjure lights. You learn the dancing lights cantrip, which doesn't count against the number of bard cantrips you know. For you, dancing lights has the following changes:
- You can cast it as a bonus action or an action.
- You no longer need to concentrate on the spell, and the duration of the spell becomes 1 hour. The spell ends if you cast it again or dismiss it as a bonus action.
- You can create a number of lights up to three times your Proficiency bonus.
In addition, when your Spellcasting feature lets you learn a bard spell of 1st level or higher, you can instead choose the new spell from any list as long as it produces magical bright or dim light. You must otherwise obey all the restrictions for selecting the spell, and it becomes a bard spell for you.
Spells With Magical Light
For the purposes of this feature, a spell must be capable of creating light with a radius. This includes spells like daylight, fire shield, and sunburst. Your DM has final say on what spells count towards this feature.
Mark of the Lantern
Also at 3rd level, you can brand your enemies with a powerful mark. As a bonus action, you can can expend a use of your Bardic Inspiration feature and target a creature you can see within 30 feet. The target is visibly marked with a glowing sigil for 1 minute or until the mark detonates. The target sheds dim light in a 5-foot radius and can’t become invisible while the mark persists.
The next time the target takes damage, the mark detonates in searing light. The creature takes 2d6 radiant damage. The radiant damage increases when you reach certain levels in this class, increasing to 3d6 at 5th level, 5d6 at 10th level, and 8d6 at 15th level.
The mark ends at the beginning of your next turn or if you fall unconscious.
Luminescent Ward
Beginning at 6th level, you can create a beacon of light that emits a soothing aura to help restore your allies during a short or long rest. You and any friendly creatures who can see your beacon gains the following benefits:
- Creatures that complete a rest while spending at least 1 hour of the rest within 120 feet of the beacon can reduce their exhaustion by 1 if they have adequate food and drink. A creature can only benefit from this once per day.
- Creatures gain a bonus to their passive Perception during the rest equal to your Charisma modifier.
- If a creature spends one or more Hit Dice to regain hit points during the rest, treat any rolled 1's as being a 2.
Protector of Dawn
Once you reach 14th level, you feel invigorated while coated in light. While you stand in magical bright light, you have advantage on any saving throw you make. You must be conscious to gain this benefit.
Version 1.2
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