College of Empathy (PJ's Homebrew)

The College of Empathy is one that emphasizes the importance of emotion in magically charged music. Empathic bards who congregate in this college often make great use of enchantment magic to deescalate tense situations, and even unaided by magic, a bard of this college can typically use their charming words and compassion to create a better environment for all.

Affinity for Emotion

When you join the College of Empathy at 3rd level, you learn to exercise your emotional expertise amidst basic conversation. Whenever you make an Insight check to determine if a creature is lying, or to determine a creature’s current mood, your proficiency bonus is doubled for the check.

You also add the Calm Emotions spell to your list of known bard spells. You can cast the spell once at 2nd level without expending a spell slot, and you must finish a short or long rest before you can cast it in this way again. You can also cast the spell with any spell slots of 2nd level or higher that you may have available.

Encore of Comfort

Also at 3rd level, you gain the ability to use your inspiring charm to magically comfort those who are discouraged. Whenever an allied creature within 30 feet of you expends a Bardic Inspiration die granted to them by you, adds the roll to a saving throw, and succeeds the saving throw, you regain one use of your Bardic Inspiration, and the allied creature can add your Charisma modifier to the saving throw in addition to the Bardic Inspiration die they used. The allied creature must be able to see or hear you to receive these benefits.

Magical Compassion

At 6th level, your words and deeds of compassion can spark magic anew in your fellow adventurers. As a bonus action on your turn, you can expend a spell slot of a level you have access to, allowing an ally you can see within 60 feet of you to regain a spell slot of a level of their choosing; however, the spell slot the creature regains must be of a level equal to or less than the level of the spell slot you consume, and the spell slot cannot be of 6th level or higher. 

Expending a spell slot in this way consumes a use of your Bardic Inspiration, and you cannot use this feature while you have no remaining uses of Bardic Inspiration.

Soul Comprehension

Also at 6th level, you learn how to reach for the emotions experienced in a creature’s soul to communicate with them. As an action, you can grant a creature within 30 feet of you the ability to telepathically communicate basic ideas and language to you in the form of emotions. You are able to talk to the creature in the same way, and you can host this communication for up to 1 hour. If a targeted creature wishes to end the empathic connection early, it can use its action to sever the telepathic bond instantly. If you target a creature that has an Intelligence or Charisma score of 4 or lower, the mental connection finds no purchase and the use is wasted.

You can create this emotional connection with a creature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier, and you regain the ability to do so again when you finish a long rest.

Ire Abounds

At 14th level, the enemies you face lay their clearest emotions and intents bare to you. Whenever a creature you can see makes a successful attack roll against an ally that has Bardic Inspiration, you can use your reaction to redirect the damage that would be done to your ally. Choose another creature within 60 feet of you and force them to make a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, the targeted creature takes the full damage dealt by the initial attack, and the damage cannot be reduced in any way. On a successful save, the creature takes half of the damage dealt by the attack.

Regardless of failure or success, roll a Bardic Inspiration die. Then roll a number of d4 equal to the number you rolled on the Bardic Inspiration die. Your ally that was initially targeted by the attack gains a number of temporary hit points equal to the sum of the d4 rolls.

Once you have redirected an enemy’s virulence in this way, you cannot do so again until you finish a short or long rest.