The College of Blues

Some bard colleges are formed by those that practice similar magic, or those that study in a particular place or style, not so for the College of Blues. Any weary soul is welcome among their number, their bond being only their hardship, for difficulty and misfortune fall to all sorts. A group of storytellers and musicians as diverse as their tales, they sing of love lost and of betrayals, of tribulations and unfair hands dealt. 

With a soulful tune and a somber view, the bards of the College of Blues are often wanderers, drifting from place to place to find a cure to their woes, or seeking some goal or destiny across the landscape.

Commonly, these people are often goodhearted, but are far from optimists due to their life experiences, and generally fall into Chaotic or Neutral alignments and are rarely Evil.

Pain Is the Best Teacher

To be part of the College of Blues is to know and understand pain, and you’ve learned to be careful with opening your heart and mind to others. When you join the College of Blues at 3rd level, you gain resistance to psychic damage, and have advantage on saving throws against charm and fear effects.

Blue Notes

Also at 3rd level, the College of Blues grants access to a deeply sorrowful word of magic that can be used to suppress and inhibit the spirit of a chosen creature. The peculiar notes of your music sink into a creature's heart and overwhelm it with negative emotions, you choose the emotion when casting (sorrow, loneliness, anger, etc.), weakening the offense or defense of their form.

As a bonus action, you can expend one use of Bardic Inspiration, choosing an enemy that can hear you within 60 feet, forcing that creature to roll and subtract the die from their attack rolls or saving throws (your choice) until the start of your next turn.

Tales of Woe

The sorrowful tales you weave in your songs reach the heart of any who hear them, and you’ve learned to direct that energy against your foes, even while your focus is elsewhere. Once per turn (at the start or end of your turn, you choose), whenever you are Concentrating on a spell, you may choose any creature within 30 feet of you that can hear you, and deal psychic damage to that creature equal to your Charisma modifier + the level of the spell you are concentrating on.

The Blues Scale

The unique sounds of the Bards from the College of Blues are made special by a few chosen musical notes that provide their signature. Similarly, Bards that join the College of Blues eventually develop a signature of their own, special notes and spells unique to the caster. Some choose a single showstopper, others a series of smaller effects, their repertoire entirely their own.

You may select any number of spells that you know that add to a total spell slot level of 6, and cast each of those spells without using a spell slot once per long rest.