College of Woe

Many people do whatever possible to avoid negative emotion as if it is not a natural part of life. Sadness, anger, depression, the raw power of these emotions is both frightening and exciting. Those who have accepted and embraced sadness and despair are known as Woe Bards. They sing of the great tragic figures of that past, those who led arduous lives of hardship only to meet an unfulfilled end. College of Woe bards know that only those who give in to despair will ever truly understand the world.

Woeful Ballad

When you join the College of Woe at 3rd level, you gain the ability to weave a song of melancholy morass that projects your intense emotions onto others.

As a bonus action, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to cause others to experience your inner turmoil. When you do so, choose a number of creatures you can see within 60 feet of you, up to a number equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one). Each of them must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save a target takes psychic damage equal to your bardic inspiration die and is incapacitated as anguish and sorrow rack its mind. On a successful save a target takes half damage and is not incapacitated. 

A creature remains incapacitated in this way until the end of your next turn.

 

Dead Soul

Also at 3rd level, sorrow and despair are at the core of your being. You gain resistance to both necrotic and cold damage as darkness and rot become a companion rather than a nuisance.

Sadistic Song

Upon reaching 6th level, you can channel the suffering of others to bolster yourself and your allies. Once per short rest, when you cast a spell of 1st level or higher that targets one creature and deals damage, you may choose to use your reaction to weave a song of sadism that compounds upon the pain of your victim. Choose a number of creatures up to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one). You may distribute a number of temporary hit-points among these creatures that is equal to the damage dealt to the creature targeted by your spell.

Aural Authority

At 14th level, you command the chaotic emotions of others with the sound of your song, forcing them into submission.

When using your Woeful Ballad Feature, any creature within 30ft of you that fails its Wisdom saving throw is stunned, rather than incapacitated. Creatures that are stunned in this way have disadvantage on all saving throws made to resist being charmed or frightened, as their mental psyches crack under intense pressure.