College of the Couturier

True elegance is a weapon of absolute precision. While other bards distract with boisterous songs or fleeting poetry, artisans of the College of the Couturier command the battlefield through the flawless design of high fashion, the sharp intent of the needle, and an unyielding commitment to presentation. To these bards, combat is a runway, and a poorly tailored line is a fatal flaw.

Often found dominating high-society salons or curating elite theater wardrobes, these bards treat clothing as an extension of identity, form, and function. They can elevate an ally into an imposing masterpiece, ensuring they look breathtaking whether they are taking a bow or taking a life. With an elegant needle in hand and a discerning eye for structural perfection, a Couturier does not just survive a fight—they orchestrate it with impeccable style.

Tools of the Trade

You gain proficiency with weaver’s tools and the Sleight of Hand skill.

The Needle: You carry a specialized, oversized tailoring needle designed for both masterwork stitching and lethal self-defense. You gain proficiency with this needle, and you can use it as a martial melee weapon. It has the Finesse and Light properties, deals 1d8 piercing damage on a hit, and counts as your spellcasting focus.

Unarmored Defense: While you aren’t wearing any armor or wielding a Shield, your base Armor Class equals 10 plus your Dexterity and Charisma modifiers.

Clothing Alteration

Your mastery over fabric allows you to effortlessly manipulate a creature's appearance and identity. You gain proficiency with disguise kits and can tailor your craft to gain the following features.

• The Disguise: You can use your needle to rapidly alter a set of clothing to transform a creature's identity. By spending 10 minutes adjusting a garment, you can grant a target creature a physical disguise to pass themselves off as a specific individual, social class, or profession. An observer can see through the disguise only by succeeding on an intelligence (Investigation) check against your Spell Save DC. This lasts until the wearer finishes a long rest or the disguise is unraveled using Quick-Change.
  
  
• The Quick-Change: As an action, you can pull a hidden thread on a altered garment worn by a target creature within 5 feet of you. The outer disguise instantly unravels, shedding away to reveal their original clothing underneath. When a disguise is unraveled in this way, the creature can immediately use its reaction to move up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.

Seamless Wound Suture

You learn to use your threads with surgical elegance to stabilize wounds.

• Stabilize: You can use an action to stabilize a target creature wounds.
  
  
• Stitch: As a bonus action, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to touch a creature and knit their injuries back together. The target regains hit points equal to the number rolled on the Bardic Inspiration die + your Charisma modifier.

Extra Attack

You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Clothing for any Occasion

Your mastery of tailoring allows you to rapidly spin minor enchantments into everyday clothing. At the end of a long rest, you can use your weaver’s tools to touch up to three sets of clothing or armor worn by yourself or your companions. You choose one of the following fashion styles for each garment, which lasts until your next long rest:

• Silk Garments: The garment clings fluidly to the wearer's form, allowing for frictionless movement. The wearer has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks, and moving through difficult terrain costs them no extra movement.
• Regal Lapels: The garment features structural lines that demand respect or project menace. The wearer has advantage on Charisma (Persuasion or Intimidation) checks.
• Reinforcing Lining: The garment is magically lined to insulate against environmental extremes. The wearer gains resistance to one of the following damage types of your choice when you sew it: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder.

A creature can benefit from only one garment from your Clothing for any Occasion at a time.

In addition, you always treat your own garments with hidden seams and tear-away sections. You have advantage on ability checks made to escape a grapple or end the restrained condition. Furthermore, when a creature successfully grapples you, you can use your reaction to instantly escape the grapple by shedding an outer layer of your clothing and immediately moving up to half your speed without provoking attacks of opportunity from the grappler. Once you use this reaction, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest.

 

Thread the Needle

When you take the Attack action on your turn, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to execute a sequence of cuts, trailing an unbreakable silk cord behind your strikes. You can make three melee attacks with your needle this turn instead of two.

• The Snag: Every creature you hit with your needle during this turn is snagged by your thread until the end of your turn.
• The Pull: At the end of your turn, you yank the thread taut. Each snagged creature must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC or be pulled up to 15 feet directly toward another snagged creature of your choice.
• The Collision: If two or more pulled creatures collide with each other (or if a single pulled creature hits a solid object like a wall), the thread snaps violently. Each colliding creature takes bludgeoning damage equal to two rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die and is knocked prone.