College of the Cascadeur

Amongst the entertainers, theaters, and performing arts, the talent and stars rarely are willing to take on significant risks to their life and well-beings. Thus the role of the stuntworker was born. They train to perform daring and risky actions, death defying feats, and intense combat all the while giving an convincing acting performance. They specialize in minimizing the risk of damage of their harrowing acts and, while not experts, are quite skilled in several forms of combat.

While stuntworkers may find work, it is usually short lived. Some attempt to make a name for themselves becoming solo acts such as daredevils or stunt performers who may burn bright but extinguish quickly. Others stay amongst theater or circus troupes, but eventually succumb to injury or death. However, it is said there exist a group of performers who have mastered the art of daring acts, calling themselves Cascadeurs. 

Bards from the College of the Cascadeur are said to even defy death itself, performing almost inhuman feats and are skilled in multiple areas of weaponry and martial arts. Their disciples can be found throughout acting halls and circus tents, traveling fairs and street performers. Their motivations are their own; gold, glory, or just the thrill. Never the less, a performance from a Cascadeur is considered a once in a lifetime event.

Bonus Proficiencies

When you join the College of the Cascadeur at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with firearms.

If you’re proficient with a simple, martial melee weapon, and ranged weapons, you can use it as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells.

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.

Hand to Hand

When unarmed and not wielding a shield, your unarmed attack 1d6+ your dexterity modifier. When you use the Attack action with an unarmed attack on your turn, you can make one unarmed attack as a bonus action.

Trick Shot

If you did not make a weapon attack as an action, you can use your bonus action to make a ranged weapon attack.

Two-Weapon Fighting

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

Stunt Work

At 3rd level, you learn to help others anticipate damage in battle. When an attack roll is made against a creature that has a Bardic Inspiration die from you, it can use its reaction to roll the die and add the number rolled to its AC against that attack, after seeing the roll but before knowing whether it hits or misses.

Extra Attack

Starting at 6th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Daring Acts

At level 6, you can use your Bardic Inspiration to reduce incoming damage.

Aerialist: You can spend a Bardic Inspiration when falling to reduce any falling damage you take by an amount equal to five times your bard level.

Escape Artist: When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you can spend a Bardic Inspiration to instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.

Staged Combat: When an attacker that you can see hits you with an attack, you can spend a Bardic Inspiration to halve the attack’s damage against you.

Final Act

If an attack from a creature you can see brings your total hit points below 50%, you can use your reaction to make a Performance check against the attacking creature if it is not incapacitated. If the check is higher than the target’s wisdom score, on your next turn your attack against the target is a critical hit.

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

Death Defying

Once per long rest, if an attack you can see would reduce your hit points to 0 (without the total amount of excess damage past 0 exceeding more than 25% of your total hit points) you may use your reaction to instead reduce your hit points to 1.

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