Bardic College
College of Myth
The College of Myth is for bards who revere the old tales, who seek out lost legends and ancient stories and attempt to bring them back to life. Where other bards might sing songs or read poetry, a College of Myth bard would instead choose to recite a forgotten epic, weaving their words so skillfully the audience can picture the heroes contained therein. A myth bard's recitations are so powerful, in fact, they can imbue their allies with the spirit of those lost heroes - emboldening listeners to repeat mighty deeds that are only spoken of in legend.
Myth bards are rarely combatants themselves, save with a backup dagger or emergency crossbow. Their place is behind their allies, weaving stories while avoiding the fray themselves. Myth bards are somewhat more likely to come from wealthy or powerful backgrounds - high status helps afford years of research in dusty libraries, after all. But they can be of any alignment, as they seek to uncover old myths for whatever purpose fits their need.
College of Myth Features
| Bard Level | Features |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Careful Historian, Mythic Tales |
| 6th | Teller of Tales |
| 14th | Mythic Might |
Careful Historian
When you join the College of Myth at 3rd level, you focus your skills on the deep and dedicated study of myths. You gain proficiency in the History skill, or another skill of your choice if you are already proficient. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for all History checks.
Mythic Tales
Also at 3rd level, you can inspire your allies to feats of legendary valor when you recite ancient myths. When you grant a creature a Bardic Inspiration die, you can also endow them with the essence of a mythic hero. Instead of using the die to modify a roll, they can expend it as a bonus action to call upon the myth and gain a powerful benefit for 1 minute afterward. You know all of the following mythic tales, but can only prepare two each day. You may imbue each prepared tale into a creature once, regaining its use after a long rest. You can change your selections after a long rest.
The Clever Fool
The clever fool is a hapless figure, tested beyond their limits but always succeeding despite themselves. When an ally calls upon the clever fool, they may treat any result of 1 on the d20 as a 20 instead when rolling ability checks, attack rolls, or saving throws. As a reaction after they miss with an attack or fail a saving throw, they may choose to end this effect in order to succeed at the roll.
The Indomitable Warrior
The indomitable warrior is a mighty champion, undefeated in combat despite facing terrible odds. When an ally calls upon the indomitable warrior, they gain temporary hit points equal to half your proficiency bonus after every time they take damage. Attacks against them are made at disadvantage while they have temporary hit points from this effect. When they are reduced to 0 hit points, they may choose to end this effect to instead drop to 1 hit point and immediately make one attack.
The Cursed King
The cursed king is a tragic figure, doomed to fail despite (or sometimes because of) his good intentions. When an ally calls upon the cursed king, they select a creature within 30 feet to share the king's fate. The target has disadvantage on all ability checks and attack rolls, and takes psychic damage equal to your proficiency bonus every time it misses with an attack. The target can make a Wisdom saving throw at the end of each of its turns to end the effect.
As a reaction after the target misses with an attack, the ally may choose to end the effect to reveal the target's fate. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become incapacitated by despair until the end of its next turn.
The Peerless Huntress
The peerless huntress is an iconic warrior, wandering the forests and tracking game with an unerring eye. When an ally calls upon the peerless huntress, they may select any creature within 60 feet as their quarry. Their ranged attacks against their quarry may ignore half and three-quarters cover, and have their normal range doubled. As a reaction when the enemy leaves their sight, they may choose to end the effect to immediately move up to their speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
The Savage Beast
The savage beast is a fearsome brute, a terrifying creature that stalks the wilderness. When an ally calls upon the savage beast, their jump distance is doubled and their speed increases by 15 feet. As a reaction after they move 20 feet and hit with a melee attack, they may choose to end this effect to deal 2d8 bonus damage. This damage increases by 1d8 when your proficiency bonus increases.
The Pious Lord
The pious lord is a noble hero, faithful to the gods and heedful of all obligations. When an ally calls upon the pious lord, they gain 1d4 temporary hit points at the start of each of their turns. As a reaction after an ally fails an attack roll or saving throw, they may choose to end this effect to give that ally a Bardic Inspiration and immediately add it to the result, potentially changing the outcome.
Teller of Tales
Starting at 6th level, your mythic recitations embolden you as well as your audience. When an ally within 30 feet calls upon one of your mythic tales, you immediately receive temporary hit points equal to your bard level, and recover one spell slot of a level equal to or lower than your proficiency bonus. These temporary hit points last until the ally is no longer inspired by your tale.
Mythic Might
Starting at 14th level, your tale-telling is nearly as legendary as the tales themselves. You gain the following benefits:
- You may prepare three Mythic Tales each day instead of two.
- When an ally calls upon one of your Mythic Tales, all creatures of their choice within 15 feet must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or become either charmed or frightened of the ally (ally's choice) until the end of their next round.
- When a non-hostile creature starts its turn within 5 feet of a creature benefiting from your Mythic Tales, it gains advantage on the first attack it makes before the end of its turn.
College of Myth quirks
The following are some optional quirks for a player of this subclass to choose from.
| d6 | Quirk |
|---|---|
| 1 | You cannot resist listening anytime you hear a story you don't know. |
| 2 | You insist on telling your comrades bedtime stories, even if they protest. |
| 3 | You maintain that ancient civilizations have lost wisdom, which must be rediscovered. |
| 4 | Your allies carry extra socks for stuffing in your mouth as needed. |
| 5 | You won a memorization contest once as a child, and just...never stopped. |
| 6 | You have a historical reference for every situation. |
Change Log
v0.3
- Cleaned up Language on Mythic Might
v0.2
- Buffed the Savage Beast (prof scaling-ish)
v0.1
- Rough Draft
Credits & References:
College of Myth created by somanyrobots Discord | Patreon
Art Tamiyo the Moon Sage, by Lius Lasahido © Wizards of the Coast LLC
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This work is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
5E SRD Content
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available here.
The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available here.