Bard College
At 3rd level, a bard gains the Bard College feature. The College of Whispers is added in Xanathar's Guide to Everything. The following is a revision in hopes of better fitting the concept behind the subclass.
College of Whispers
"Most folk are happy to welcome a bard into their midst. Bards of the College of Whispers use this to their advantage. They appear to be like any other bard, sharing news, singing songs, and telling tales to the audiences they gather. In truth, the College of Whispers teaches its students that they are wolves among sheep. These bards use their knowledge and magic to uncover secrets and turn them against others through extortion and threats.
Many other bards hate the College of Whispers, viewing it as a parasite that uses the bards’ reputation to acquire wealth and power. For this reason, these bards rarely reveal their true nature unless they must. They typically claim to follow some other college, or keep their true nature secret in order to better infiltrate and exploit royal courts and other settings of power."
Xanathar's Guide to Everything
College of Whispers Features
| Bard level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Instruments of the Trade, Everybody's Friend, Unseen Presence |
| 6th | Palette of Faces |
| 14th | Mind Walker |
Instruments of the Trade
When you join this college at 3rd level, the instruments of your craft are not only musical. You gain proficiency with one of the following tools of your choice: disguise kit, forgery kit, poisoner's kit or thieves tools.
Everybody's Friend
Starting at 3rd level, you learn the friends cantrip. If you already know this cantrip, you learn a different bard cantrip of your choice. The cantrip doesn't count against your number of cantrips known.
When you cast friends, the target is unaware of you using magic to influence its mood.
Unseen Presence
At 3rd level, you can mask the presence of yourself and other creatures to pass unnoticed.
As a bonus action, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to make yourself and a number of other creatures equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one) invisible for 10 minutes. You and the affected creatures can perceive each other as fairly translucent. The effect ends for a creature that attacks or casts a spell.
The duration of the effect extends to 1 hour when you reach 10th level in this class.
Palette of Faces
At 6th level, your enchantment spells can dig into the target's mind, forming a lasting disguise of them you can assume.
If you concentrate on an enchantment spell targeted at a single humanoid for at least 1 minute, you can extract a node of their personality with no action required. This node persists until you expend it or until you finish a long rest. You can have only one node at a time.
You can use an action to expend a node and transform your appearance to perfectly match that of the humanoid whose node it was. While transformed, you gain access to all information that the humanoid would freely share with a casual acquaintance. Such information includes general details on its background and personal life, but doesn't include secrets. The information is enough that you can pass yourself off as the person by drawing on its memories.
Another creature can see through this deception by succeeding on a Wisdom (Insight) check contested by your Charisma (Deception) check. You gain a +5 bonus to your check.
While you have a node, you can preform a 1 hour ritual tying the node to an object or trinket no larger than the palm of your hand. This ritual can be done as part of a short or long rest. After the ritual is complete, the node lasts and is accessible as long as the object isn't destroyed. You can have a number of nodes saved in this way equal to your proficiency bonus. If you try to go over this number, you must choose which of the previous nodes is lost.
Mind Walker
At 14th level, the minds of others are but stepping stones towards your goals.
As a bonus action, choose a humanoid you can see within 30 feet of you. You disappear and are now inside the creature's mind until the end of your next turn. For the duration, you can see through the humanoid's eyes and hear what it hears, gaining the benefits of any special senses that the humanoid has. While inside a humanoid's mind, you can hear and see their surface level thoughts.
You cannot take any actions while inside of a creature's mind other than using your bonus action to target another humanoid you can see within range, leaving the current one. Otherwise, you appear in a space of your choice within 10 feet of your target when the effect ends.
An affected humanoid isn't aware of you entering and leaving their mind.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one). You can then expend spell slots to use the feature again. You gain all expended uses of this feature when you finish a long rest.
Roguish Archetypes
At 3rd level, a rogue gains the Roguish Archetype feature. The Inquisitve and Mastermind options were added in Xanathar's Guide to Everything. The following are alternatives with stronger and less niche features.
Inquisitive
"As an archetypal Inquisitive, you excel at rooting out secrets and unraveling mysteries. You rely on your sharp eye for detail, but also on your finely honed ability to read the words and deeds of other creatures to determine their true intent. You excel at defeating creatures that hide among and prey upon ordinary folk, and your mastery of lore and your sharp eye make you well equipped to expose and end hidden evils."
Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Inquisitive Features
| Rogue level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Keen Empath, Eye for Detail, Quick Study |
| 9th | Steady Eye |
| 13th | Unerring Eye |
| 17th | Infallible Senses |
Keen Empath
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in Insight. You can double your proficiency bonus for any ability check using this proficiency.
Eye for Detail
Starting at 3rd level, you can use a bonus action to make a Wisdom (Perception) check to spot a hidden creature or object or to make an Intelligence (Investigation) check to uncover or decipher clues.
Quick Study
At 3rd level, you use each mistake as a learning opportunity, making you a formidable opponent. When a creature you can see hits you with an attack, that creature makes all subsequent attack rolls against you with disadvantage. You can apply this effect to only one creature at a time. The effect lasts for 1 minute or until you apply it to another creature.
Steady Eye
At 9th level, you gain advantage on any Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) check if you move no more than half your speed on the same turn.
Additionally, when you haven't moved more than half your speed during a turn, you gain a bonus to your Dexterity saving throws equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of one) until the end of your next turn.
Unerring Eye
At 13th level, your senses are almost impossible to foil. At all times, you can sense the presence of illusions, shapechangers not in their original form, and other magic designed to deceive the senses within 30 feet of you, provided you aren't blinded or deafened. You sense that an effect is attempting to trick you, but you gain no insight into what is hidden or into its true nature.
Infallible Senses
At 17th level, nothing can stay hidden from you. Your rogue Blindsense feature extends to 30 feet, and you gain truesight up to 15 feet.
Additionally, when an effect or spell would blind you, deafen you, or both, you can choose to automatically succeed on resisting it. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.
Mastermind
As a Mastermind rogue, you excel in scheming and executing your plans which might take years to fulfill. You are the one behind the curtain pulling the strings. Your greatest weapon is your knowledge of the inner workings of people's minds and knowing how to bend them to your will.
Mastermind Features
| Rogue level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Master of Intrigue, Master of Tactics |
| 9th | Soul of Deceit |
| 13th | Behavioral Analyst |
| 17th | Grand Strategist |
Master of Intrigue
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with the disguise kit, the forgery kit, and one gaming set of your choice. You also learn two languages of your choice.
Additionally, you can unerringly mimic the speech patterns and accent of a creature that you hear speak for at least 1 minute, enabling you to pass yourself off as a native speaker of a particular land, provided that you know the language.
Master of Tactics
At 3rd level, you can use the Help action as a bonus action. Additionally, when you use the Help action to aid an ally in attacking a creature, the target of that attack can be within 30 feet of you, rather than 5 feet of you, if the target can see or hear you.
Also, whenever an ally within 30 feet of you hits a creature with a weapon attack, you can use your reaction to roll half of your Sneak Attack dice (rounded up) and add the result to the damage.
Soul of Deceit
Starting at 9th level, your thoughts can't be read by telepathy or other means, unless you allow it. You can present false thoughts by making an Intelligence (Deception) check contested by the mind reader's Wisdom (Insight) check.
Additionally, no matter what you say, magic that would determine if you are telling the truth indicates you are being truthful if you so choose, and you can't be compelled to tell the truth by magic.
Behavioral Analyst
At 13th level, you can peer into a creature's thought process and start predicting its behavior. As a bonus action, you can make an Intelligence (Insight) check against a creature you can see within 60 feet of you, contested by the target's Charisma (Deception) check. If you succeed, the target has disadvantage on all attacks against you, and you have advantage on all saving throws against the target's spells or abilities, and the target can't make attacks of opportunity against you for the duration.
This effect lasts for 1 minute, or until you successfully use the feature against another creature.
Grand Strategist
At 17th level, your plans are intricate and they overlap, perfectly orchestrated in your head. You may ready an action in addition to your regular action.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.
Design Notes
My thought process an reasoning behind the changes and new features
College of Whispers
The College of Whispers is beyond interesting to me as a concept. However, I had issues with it I thought could be improved. I admit, there were so many changes, this subclass is basically brand new. Rather than a revision, this is a "What it should have been.", in my humble opinion.
Replaced Features
Psychic Blades - Unseen Presence
The bard is a support class first and foremost. They are at their best when buffing allies and debuffing foes. Even though this feature gives you a hunk of damage, it is once per turn and uses up a valuable recourse for a bard. And even when the damage reaches 8d6 at 18th level, you are still outclassed in damage by other classes. Keep using Bardic Inspiration for support and creativity, leave sneak attacks to the rogue.
Instead, I added a feature that benefits the whole party and will find use in adventures. I'd be surprised to find an adventure where having invisibility wouldn't be at worst somewhat useful.
Words of Terror - Everybody's Friend
While the frightened condition is beyond useful, this feature must be done outside of combat in a social encounter. I don't see much use for it beyond doing it before a combat, or a very narrow roleplaying use for it where you want a creature frightened of someone else, which can also be achieved with usual skill checks and roleplaying.
So instead, I gave this bard an upgrade on the firends cantrip. The effect of the target becoming hostile is the reason why you wouldn't use it. So I got rid of it. Now the Whispers Bard can be eeringly charismatic and succeed in getting someone frightened just by the virtue of their skill checks.
Mantle of Whispers - Palette of Faces
I really dislike having to kill a target of this feature. This bard is supposed to get into a place, meddle, and get out with no one being the wiser. However, I really like the rest of it and wanted to build upon it. Taking the likeness of someone and being able to mimic them almost identically... that's a Whisper bard right there.
So I went with a feature inspired by the Spy from Team Fortress 2, who has a repertoire of disguises for each enemy class. This bard can now have their own little repertoire of disguises which they can keep, build upon and change up.
However, it requires the bard to be concentrating on an enchantment spell with a single target for at least 1 minute. And if you remember, this bard was given just that when he joined this college. Psst... Firends ...
Mind Walker
So lets face it, an enchantment/illusion spellcaster needs a capstone feature of controlling someone's actions? Once per long rest? The same bard who can cast Geas twice per day? A spell that lasts 30 days? Yeah... I don't know about that.
So instead, I went in a completely different direction. I love the idea of a bard jumping from one mind into another and getting into a place or up to their target. It has a decent number of uses, plus an option of expending spell slots for additional uses, so that the bard can do this a bunch of times in a crowded place. It can also be used as a scouting feature, or even to come up to an ally in a distance. It definitely has a lot of creative potential.
Added Features
Instruments of the Trade
It feels natural to give this subclass a proficiency in one of those tools. It might be excessive and I'm willing to remove it if there is enough criticism on it. But to me, a character all about intrigue and subterfuge should have on of those tools under their belt.
I also realize there are backgrounds with some of those proficiencies, but not one for each of them. So I give the bard an option to pick one they feel is lacking.
Inquisitive
The Inquisitive rogue was (is) definitely the hardest to work with. This rogue is really outside of the mold and doesn't fixate on combat almost at all in theme. But I need to give it solid combat boosts which don't become assassin-like. So here is what I ended up with after taking into account some criticism.
Replaced Features
Eye for Deceit - Keen Empath
While this is thematically perfect and screams roleplay value, mechanically it is completely lost when the rogue reaches 11th level. Given the whole Wisdom and Insight orientation of the class, the player will most likely pick Insight as one of their proficiencies, and even Expertise, at 1st level (if not 1st, most likely at 6th). So this feature is "Cool" at first, then "Okay", and soon completely null.
Instead, I gave advantage to all Wisdom (Insight) checks. It will always help, and the core idea of the feature is retained.
Insightful Fighting - Quick Learner
So this feature was solid. Solid in its mission to give a rogue a pretty consistent Sneak Attack on each turn. Not many creatures have good Deception rolls to avoid it, so it's okay. But I think these checks can become excessive for both the player and the DM, if the player wants to cover more enemies with it.
So I scrapped it completely and went in a defensive direction. I want this rogue to observe and learn quick, so in a circumstance where he does get hit, he can quickly adapt to the opponent's fighting style and avoid the same mistake.
Eye for Weakness - Infallible Senses
The feature is gone since it was relying on Insightful Fighting which I removed. A suitable cap feature for this rogue is a tricky one. Flat out more damage isn't nearly creative enough for such an interesting subclass. For now I settled with a flat boost to the 14th level Blindsense rogue feature, and truesight. Both seem very fitting, and 17th level can step into the unnatural even for a nonmagic subclass such as this one. Additionally, this rogue can completely avoid whatever effect would try to rob him of his sight or hearing, once a day.
Added Features
Steady Eye
Steady Eye is a good feature, but I feel it isn't enough. I've pondered for a time and I don't want to take it away from this subclass, so I added onto it. Now this rogue benefits even more from taking his time to take it all in. The bonus to Dex saves is definitely a good buff and I believe a fitting one. Especially taking into account that this rogue is always moving slower in order to have both benefits active at all times. Which calls for interesting roleplaying opportunities.
Mastermind
I just really like all these subclasses and what they try to be. So I also felt the need to meddle with the Mastermind, an archetype I would LOVE to play anytime.
Replaced Features
Insightful Manipulator - Soul of Deceit
The Soul of Deceit feature is a great one and fits the subclass really well. But... It arrives at 17th level. The very fitting, not commonly useful feature that you get as the cap feature. It's so underwhelming. Not only that, but the effect you get is easily made up for with spells and magic items you or your group posses at this level. I want to be a schemer with their mind under lock and key much much earlier.
Insightful Manipulator is firstly a weird name since you aren't manipulating anyone with it, and secondly, it takes time out of combat to learn someone has a bigger Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma than you. As a rogue, neither of these is your focus ability. Only Intelligence is the focus of this subclass. Finding out someone has a higher Wisdom or Charisma score than you won't be useful at 9th and later levels, given your scores in those abilities are most likely low.
Misdirection - Behavioral Analyst
This feature is overly situational, and it takes up the hefty 13th level slot. There is so much a rogue can do to avoid damage as it is. This feature will come up rarely, and be equally useful. It's gone, we can do better.
Instead, you get an activated single target ability that's incredibly useful and is on brand for the Mastermind.
Added Features
Master Tactician
I really like this feature, but I needed something more to really drive home the concept of this subclass. Using a bonus action to give another ally advantage isn't quite enough for me. Since the rogue might miss their attack and want to use their offhand weapon for the Sneak Attack, or use their Cunning Action.
So to really incentivize this rogue to help their allies, they get to empower successful weapon attacks of their allies. Give that paladin advantage and help them absolutely destroy their target
Grand Strategist
Given I moved Soul of Deceit down a peg, I needed a new feature to finish off this subclass. And I found just the right one.
This feature is almost word for word taken from a Mastermind Rework by /u/Shanderraa, all credit to them on this one. I already had some floating thoughts of multi reactions and such, so when I saw it put to words, I instantly loved it.
Now, why I say almost word for word, is that Shanderraa decided to use Charisma as the subclass' core ability, which is a decision I disagree with.
To me, the Mastermind is an Intelligence based subclass and especially with this feature where the rogue is literally planning ahead as well as multitasking.
Reasoning by Shanderraa
"Finally, Grand Strategist is an entirely new capstone that is more generally applicable in most situations, but keeping in with Mastermind, it requires kind of preparation and outsmarting the enemy to work to its fullest potential.
I agree with their reasoning, which is no surprise since I basically copied their idea.
And it goes without saying, but thank you for reading the entirety of my little ramble.
The Sly
The Watchful &
The Cunning
Here I try to rework three subclasses from the XGtE: The College of Whispers, Inquisitve, and Mastermind.
Art Credit in order of appearance:
Watercolor pages: /u/flamableconcrete
Masquerade: Sebastian Kowoll
Insightful Investigator: SIXMOREVODKA STUDIO
Hamza: Marko Djurdjevic
Gnome Artificer: Vablo
Vattier de Rideaux: Lorenzo Mastroianni