College of Eldritch Death Metal • LMS

You are one of the few and proud inducted into the prestigious College of Eldritch Death Metal, founded long ago by the legendary musician known as Sabbath, The Black.

They wade ecstatically into war, being able to strike hard against their foes or empower their allies with their music. The flames of the Abyss in their tongues, the horns of Valhalla in their songs, the spirit of demons and the undead in their hearts; they are like roiling thunder crashing through the battlefield with booming voice and cacophonous performance.

Bards of the College of Eldritch Metal are known for their electrifying energy and thunderous voices that even give banshees a run for their money. They can imbue themselves and their listeners with adrenaline-fueled aggression to hit harder when in battle. These bards typically play as part of a band, including a drummer, a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a lead guitarist, and a singer, but sometimes like to "go solo" and leave a band to join other adventurers. A strange breed of bards, the members of this college are known for their love of loud music and raucous, near-violent parties, which often involve an odd form of dance combat, a style copied by their more enthusiastic fans.

Fighting Style

At 3rd level, you adopt a 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 something in the game lets you 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.

Great Weapon Fighting

When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.

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.

Heavy & Metal

3rd-level College of Eldritch Death Metal feature

You gain proficiency with heavy armor and martial weapons. 

You become proficient in Performance and gain a new type of instrument of your design, which can be powered by the lightning you generate: the Heavy Instrument.

Crafting this item takes a total of 4 hours, and 20gp worth of materials. The time required to craft this item may be spent during a long rest. The item's appearance can be that of a yarting, viol, lute, or any other feasible instrument. When wielding, it also functions as a martial weapon of your choice. You may add your Charisma modifier to attack rolls made with this weapon, but not damage rolls.

As a bonus action, you may supercharge your Heavy Instrument, leaving it Amp'd-Up for 1 minute.

While in this state, the sound it produces becomes that of an electric guitar (or other electric instrument variant), lightning constantly crackles around you, and you absorb lightning damage and recover the amount as hit points. You may add your Charisma modifier to the healing or damage roll of any spells you cast through your Amp'd-Up instrument, as long as the spell doesn't have a range of touch. You supercharge your Heavy Instrument a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus and regain all uses on a long rest.

[To add a Heavy Instrument, customize any weapon/s you have equipped or in your inventory and rename them, e.g., Greataxe Guitar, Longsword Bass, Viola Heavy Crossbow, etc.]

Aggressive Tendencies

3rd-level College of Eldritch Death Metal feature

As you shred on your Heavy Instrument, you learn to amplify your Bardic Inspiration with static electricity. Whenever you give a creature a Bardic Inspiration die, the sound of your music continues to play in the creature’s mind, filling them with adrenaline-fueled aggression. This effect can be seen as the creature visibly headbangs while tiny bolts of lightning streak from the creature’s eyes, and lasts until the Bardic Inspiration die is lost. While empowered by your Bardic Inspiration, the creature absorbs lightning damage and recovers the amount as hit points.

Immediately after the creature rolls the Bardic Inspiration die to add it to an attack roll against a target and hits, it is overwhelmed by the sheer might of your metal and strikes its target with tremendous speed and force. The target takes additional lightning damage equal to the number rolled on the Bardic Inspiration die + your Charisma modifier.

Ready for Anything

6th-level College of Eldritch Death Metal feature

Your electrifying performances have made you alert and ready for anything on the stage; you gain proficiency in Dexterity saving throws. While wielding your Heavy Instrument, when you hit a creature with an attack on your turn, you may cast a cantrip as a bonus action.

Unfathomable Stage Presence

6th-level College of Eldritch Death Metal feature

Your inscrutable stage presence and boundless charisma flourish, making others want to serve you. As a bonus action, you cast Command without expending a spell slot, and you take on an appearance of eldritch resplendence for 1 minute or until your concentration ends (as if you were concentrating on a spell). You retain any spells you were previously concentrating on but this ability and any previous spells end if concentration is lost. During this time, you can cast Command as a bonus action on each of your turns, without expending a spell slot.

Any creature charmed by you automatically fails its saving throw against the command you cast with this feature.

If you are performing when you use this ability, any affected creatures visibly headbang while tiny bolts of lightning streak from the creature’s eyes.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Mosh Pit

14th-level College of Eldritch Death Metal feature

You can unleash a performance the likes of which few have experienced.

As an action on your turn, you and all allies within 100 feet of you that can hear gain a Bardic Inspiration die. These dice are not taken from your Bardic Inspiration pool. Additionally, all hostile creatures within 50 feet of you that can hear must make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC, taking 8d6 thunder damage and being stunned for 1 round on a failed save. On a successful one, they take half as much damage and are not stunned.

Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest.