Bardic College
College of the Quiver
The College of the Quiver is a bardic order dedicated to the hunt, practiced with ranged weaponry and oriented around displays of martial skill. They are still performers, but with the bow as their brush and a hunting quarry as a canvas. Quiver bards practice daily with bow, crossbow, or firearm, but their mastery of weapons is limited, and focused on skill for its own sake. They sometimes make fearsome warriors, but just as often prefer contests or target shooting to the battlefield.
Quiver bards can be of any alignment and background. Some are flashy chevaliers, exercising their skills for the good of all. Others are selfish showmen, intent only on dominating the competition. And while some quiver bards idly-rich nobles practicing a sporting hobby, others may work their way up from humble origins, as trackers, soldiers, or hunters.
College of the Quiver Features
| Bard Level | Features |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Thrill of the Hunt, Arrowsong |
| 6th | Swift Shot |
| 14th | Merciless Hunt, Sure Shot |
Thrill of the Hunt
When you join the College of the Quiver at 3rd level, you take on a fierce love of the hunt. You gain proficiency in either Survival or Perception , or another skill of your choice if you're already proficient in both. You also gain proficiency with all martial ranged weapons, as well as all martial weapons with the thrown property.
Additionally, as a bonus action when you make a Wisdom (Survival) check to attempt to follow a creature's recent trail, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration, rolling your Bardic Inspiration die and adding the result.
Arrowsong
Also at 3rd level, you hone your mastery with ranged weapons to a remarkable degree, learning a number of special techniques, known as arrowsongs. Once per turn on your turn when you make a ranged weapon attack, you can choose to use one of these special techniques.
- Song of Seeking: Your projectile homes in on its foe. Your attack is made at advantage and ignores cover.
- Song of the Heart-Seeker: Your projectile is aimed directly for the target's weak point. Your attack scores a critical hit on a roll of 18-20.
- Song of Thunder: Your projectile carries a wave of thunder as it slams into the target. On a hit, the target must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC or take 3d6 thunder damage and fall prone.
You can use each of these techniques once, regaining its use after finishing a short or long rest. You can also expend a spell slot when you use a technique to increase its power. If you do so, the attack deals 1d6 additional force damage per slot level, up to 5d6 at 5th level.
Ranged Weapon Expert
Also from 3rd level, you can make ranged attacks with tremendous swiftness. When you make a ranged attack through your subclass features, you can ignore the loading property. If the attack is with a thrown weapon, you can draw an additional thrown weapon as part of the attack.
Swift Shot
At 6th level, your skill with ranged attacks is almost automatic. When you grant Bardic Inspiration to a creature as a bonus action, you can make one ranged attack with the same bonus action.
Merciless Hunt
Starting at 14th level, you can enter a fearsome focus state, tearing into your enemies with a barrage of ranged attacks. As an action, you can expend a spell slot of 3rd level or higher to immediately make two ranged attacks against a single target. For each two slot levels above 3rd, you can make one additional attack.
Sure Shot
Additionally at 14th level, your ranged attacks take on a deadly precision. The first time each turn you hit a target with a ranged attack, you can add your Charisma modifier to the damage dealt.
College of the Quiver quirks
The following are some optional quirks for a player of this subclass to choose from.
| d6 | Quirk |
|---|---|
| 1 | You run at your fastest when on a creature's trail. |
| 2 | You mark a notch on your bow for every kill. |
| 3 | Your back is covered with tattoos of fearsome prey you've downed. |
| 4 | You like to use a crossbow bolt as an eating utensil. |
| 5 | Your fingers are gnarled and calloused from the bowstring. |
| 6 | You sing an atonal hymn as you loose your arrow. |
Change Log
v0.2
- Fixed the rest recharge on Arrowsong.
v0.1
- Rough Draft
Credits & References:
- College of the Quiver created by somanyrobots Discord | Patreon
Art
- Vivien's Arkbow, by Zack Stella © Wizards of the Coast LLC
Fan Content Policy
- 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.
