College of Witchcraft

Embracing the darkest of arts, witches call forth curse magic and are the embodiment of the shiver felt in the dark of the night. Chanting incantations, they weave their power through creatures, objects and even magic itself, twisting all to their will. Though not inherently evil, it would certainly be rare to call them good.

While many bards pursue levity, stories and the joy of performing for a crowd, witches do not shy away from the inky gloom of this world; rather embracing it and asking "Are you afraid of the dark?"

Hedgewitch Initiation

When you select this subclass at 3rd level,  you begin to learn the secrets of witchcraft from those of your ilk. You learn the Chill Touch cantrip. Charisma (CHA) is your spellcasting ability for this spell and it is treated as a Bard spell for you, though it does not count against your total number of cantrips known.

The Hex spell is also added to the Bard spell list for you. 

Additionally, you learn to channel the arcane using more than just your voice and instruments. You can now use a broom, wand, crystal or orb as an arcane focus for your Bard spells.

Teachings of the Coven

At 3rd level, you learn ways to bend your magic in unique and dark ways, earning yourself the title of "Witch". 

Drawing from the teachings of witches over the ages, you learn to spin your inspiration into curses that beguile, scorn and vex.  You can expend a use of your Bardic Inspiration to invoke one of the following curse options:

Death's Hold Curse. When you cast a spell of 1st level or higher that causes damage to an enemy as an action, you can choose to expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to cause the spell to deal extra necrotic damage. The damage equals the number you roll on the Bardic Inspiration die. Additionally, on the turn you invoke this curse, you can also cast the Chill Touch cantrip as a Bonus Action.

Scorned Lover's Curse. When a creature you can see attempts to regain hit points, as a reaction you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to deny them. Negate the healing that triggered this curse and instead you gain hit points equal to the healing negated by this curse, plus the number you roll on the Bardic Inspiration die. 

Fool's Stupor Curse. As a reaction, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration and target one creature that you can see, placing them in a foolish stupor. For a number of turns equal to half the number you roll on the Bardic Inspiration die (rounded up), you can concentrate, (as if concentrating on a spell) to impose disadvantage on the target creature's attack rolls and saving throws for the duration. This curse effect ends after the designated number of rounds has passed or if you lose your concentration. 

Dark Moon's Curse. When you cast a spell that you know (from the list below) using a spell slot, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to lace darkness through your magic. If a spell augmented by this curse requires the a creature(s) to make a saving throw, and the they fail the initial save, they must wait a number of turns equal to the number you roll on your Bardic Inspiration die before resuming any saving throw attempts (as the spell would have allowed otherwise) to break the spell.  Spells augmented by this curse cannot be dispelled except by the Remove Curse or Greater Restoration Spells, though they are not immune to the effects of Counterspell.

The following spells can be augmented by this curse:

1st level

Bane, Hex

2nd level

Blindness/Deafness, Crown of Madness, Phantasmal Force

3rd level

Bestow Curse, Enemies Abound, Fear

4th level

Confusion, Polymorph

5th level

Geas, Modify Memory

 

Defying Gravity

Starting at 6th level,  your ability to weave dark enchantments has reached a new high.

You can now choose to spend your long rest creating a Broom of Flying. You set its command words as a part of it's creation. At the end of the rest used to create your broom, you do not regain any hit points or hit dice and you gain two levels of exhaustion.

You can only have one Broom of Flying that was created in this way, at a time. If you use this ability a second time, the previous broom becomes a mundane broom.

While your broom created by this feature is within 100ft, you have advantage on Constitution (CON) saving throws made to maintain concentration on a spell or curse effect.

Secrets of the Altar

Your dedication to the dark arts is so ingrained in who you are that your blood itself is cursed.

Starting at 14th level, whenever you are hit with a melee attack (weapon or spell) you can use your reaction to deal necrotic damage to the creature that damaged you. The damage dealt is equal to two rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die. Using this feature does not expend a use of your Bardic Inspiration. You can do this a number of times equal to your Constitution (CON) modifier per short rest.