College of Blade Dance (Swords Reimagined)

The College of Blade Dance is a reimagined version of the College of Swords subclass. Play testers and feedback welcome.

Bards of the College of Swords are called blades, and they entertain through daring feats of weapon prowess. Blades perform stunts such as sword swallowing, knife throwing and juggling, and mock combats. Though they use their weapons to entertain, they are also highly trained and skilled warriors in their own right.

Their talent with weapons inspires many blades to lead double lives. One blade might use a circus troupe as cover for nefarious deeds such as assassination, robbery, and blackmail. Other blades strike at the wicked, bringing justice to bear against the cruel and powerful. Most troupes are happy to accept a blade’s talent for the excitement it adds to a performance, but few entertainers fully trust a blade in their ranks.
Blades who abandon their lives as entertainers have often run into trouble that makes maintaining their secret activities impossible. A blade caught stealing or engaging in vigilante justice is too great a liability for most troupes. With their weapon skills and magic, these blades either take up work as enforcers for thieves’ guilds or strike out on their own as adventurers.

Bonus Proficiencies

When you join the College of Swords at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with medium armor and the scimitar.
If you’re proficient with a simple or martial melee weapon, you can use it as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells.

Fighting Style

At 3rd level, you adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can't take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.

Dueling

When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.

Thrown Weapon Fighting

You can draw a weapon that has the thrown property as part of the attack you make with the weapon. In addition, when you hit with a ranged attack using a thrown weapon, you gain a +2 bonus to the damage roll.

Two-Weapon Fighting

When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.

Inspiring Blade Work

Starting at 3rd level, you can inspire your companions with your art of the blade. When you use your bonus action to inspire another creature, you can make one melee or thrown weapon attack.

Blade Flourish

At 6th level, you learn to conduct impressive displays of martial prowess and speed.

Whenever you take the Attack action, your walking speed increases by 10 feet until the end of the turn.

You also learn 2 Blade Flourish options of your choice from the list and can use one of them, when you hit a creature with a weapon attack on the same turn you used the Attack action. You learn 1 additional Blade Flourish option of your choice at 11th and 17th level. Each time you learn a new Blade Flourish option, you can also replace one Blade Flourish option you know with a different one.

You can only use Blade Flourish once per turn.

Binding Flourish

When you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can cause the weapon to deal extra damage to the target you hit and place your weapon beyond its defenses. The damage
equals the number you roll on 1 Bardic Inspiration die. If it moves out of your melee range before the end of your next round or until you move out of its melee range or use the weapon to attack, it takes another 1 Bardic Inspiration die damage.

Bouncing Flourish.

When you hit a creature with a ranged or thrown weapon attack, you can cause the weapon to deal extra damage to the target you hit and to one other creature of your choice that you can see within 5 feet of it. The damage equals the number you roll on 1 Bardic Inspiration die.

Defensive Flourish

When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, roll 1 Bardic Inspiration die and add the result to your AC and Dexterity saving throws until the end of your next round.

Evasive Flourish

When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, roll 1 Bardic Inspiration die. Until the end of your next turn, all damage you receive from that creature is reduced by the result times 2.

Mobile Flourish

When you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can cause the weapon to deal extra damage to the target you hit. The damage equals the number you roll on 1 Bardic Inspiration die. You can also push the target away from you up to a number of feet equal to the number you roll on that die rounded up to the next 5 feet.

Skirmishing Flourish

When you hit a creature within 5 feet with a weapon attack, you can cause the weapon to deal extra damage to the target you hit. The damage equals the number you roll on the Bardic Inspiration die. You can also push yourself away from the target up to a number of feet equal to twice the number you roll on that die rounded up to the next 5 feet. Doing so does not provoke attack of opportunities.

Slashing Flourish

When you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can cause the weapon to deal extra damage to the target you hit and force all creature of your choice (including the one you hit) that you can see within 5 feet of you to make a Dexterity saving throw against your attack roll or take the same amount of extra damage. The damage equals the number you roll on 1 Bardic Inspiration die.

One Up

Starting at 14th level, you won’t be outdone by the feats of heroism of your inspired companions.
When a creature within 60 feet of you, that you can see or hear, uses one of your inspiration dice, you can use your reaction to make one melee or thrown weapon attack immediately afterwards. If that attack hits, you can use a Blade Flourish for that attack. Instead of rolling, you replace the bardic inspiration die with the result of the roll of the inspiration die that was used to trigger this feature.