Hello all! I am a huge fan of the college of creation subclass, I think it offers players who think outside the box more ways to play. However I feel as though the subclass doesn't really pick up until level 6, and really spikes at level 14. I love this subclass, but have noticed that not many people play or talk about it. Thoughts anyone?
I think it's very cool and I was going to play one, but the way my character wound up playing, by the time we reached level 3 another college made more sense.
I think the bardic inspiration feature is probably overcomplicated, considering it asks other players to recall and understand how it works while they have it. It feels a little messy to me, and doesn't really fit the theme super well, but I assume it's fairly powerful.
I think it's very cool and I was going to play one, but the way my character wound up playing, by the time we reached level 3 another college made more sense.
I think the bardic inspiration feature is probably overcomplicated, considering it asks other players to recall and understand how it works while they have it. It feels a little messy to me, and doesn't really fit the theme super well, but I assume it's fairly powerful.
That's a fair point - it's really weird how the buff to how inspiration dice work varies by use. Contrast with other Bard subclasses, where if it varies by use, like with Swords Bards, only the Bard needs to worry about it. It'd make a lot more sense if the benefit was static at grant time, so the Bard could explain it. There are multiple ways to do that - the Bard could choose at grant time, or could have to commit to a buff every short or long rest, or the subclass could be re-written entirely so only one of the benefits exists to begin with. Not sure which is ideal for balance, but regardless, only giving the target one thing to remember would add a lot of playability.
I just started to play as a creation bard and I think one of the things that could be a little off-putting, is how you flavor the class. It's fairly open ended and it's a little hard to figure out how to roleplay your character.
Other than that, I'm looking forward to being able to creatively solve any issue that the group could come across. It also plays well as a support class, as most of the other bard sub classes benefit the bard itself, as this class has lots of options for buffing and leaves more room for debuffing while having something in the way to take the heat off.
I just started to play as a creation bard and I think one of the things that could be a little off-putting, is how you flavor the class. It's fairly open ended and it's a little hard to figure out how to roleplay your character.
Other than that, I'm looking forward to being able to creatively solve any issue that the group could come across. It also plays well as a support class, as most of the other bard sub classes benefit the bard itself, as this class has lots of options for buffing and leaves more room for debuffing while having something in the way to take the heat off.
Of the 8 Bard subclasses, the only ones that are "greedy", rather than helping the Bard buff more capably, are Whispers, Swords, and I haven't counted them, but multiple options on the Spirits Bard table, so functionally Spirits Bards, since they can't choose not to be greedy, it's random and gets more random as they level. Not for nothing, Whispers and Spirits are the worst Bard subclasses - the only remarkable thing here is that Swords is better than Valor, despite Swords being greedy and Valor being generous. And all four are the bad Bard subclasses - the good ones are the ones focused on buffing the party better. The greediest of the good ones is Glamour, the one that hands out THP to the whole party and grants them mobility.
I just started to play as a creation bard and I think one of the things that could be a little off-putting, is how you flavor the class. It's fairly open ended and it's a little hard to figure out how to roleplay your character.
Other than that, I'm looking forward to being able to creatively solve any issue that the group could come across. It also plays well as a support class, as most of the other bard sub classes benefit the bard itself, as this class has lots of options for buffing and leaves more room for debuffing while having something in the way to take the heat off.
Of the 8 Bard subclasses, the only ones that are "greedy", rather than helping the Bard buff more capably, are Whispers, Swords, and I haven't counted them, but multiple options on the Spirits Bard table, so functionally Spirits Bards, since they can't choose not to be greedy, it's random and gets more random as they level. Not for nothing, Whispers and Spirits are the worst Bard subclasses - the only remarkable thing here is that Swords is better than Valor, despite Swords being greedy and Valor being generous. And all four are the bad Bard subclasses - the good ones are the ones focused on buffing the party better. The greediest of the good ones is Glamour, the one that hands out THP to the whole party and grants them mobility.
If I may ask, why do you think the Spirits Bard is so bad?
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
That's a fair point, the addition to bardic inspiration, while super fun to use and creative, does overcomplicate itself and doesn't exactly fit the theme. I think it's a super useful addition though and makes bardic inspiration that much more flexible, and adds alot of flavor for the user.
(Playing a level 9 Creation Bard in a party of 6.) The bonuses to inspiration are really nice, there's been several times when the temp HP saved someone's life, and getting to roll the die with advantage on skill checks is also really handy. It does create more work for you to remind the party of what the effects do, but most bards already have to remind the party they have inspiration anyway. Since we play online I also create a little info blurb I can copy-paste to them that briefly lists their options. By level 9 my party remembers what most of the effects do and will ask for inspiration when they're wanting something specific (like temp HP), though most of the time I just give them inspiration like normal and tell them/the DM what the additional effects are whenever they choose to use them.
The created items have also served many uses. I can make small-scale spell components for other people, and I can make some of my own expensive spell components. By level 14 when the gp value limit goes away we'll pretty much never have to worry about expensive spell components at all. (That's a free Heroes' Feast every night!) It came in clutch due to the specific events in our campaign, so this might be situational. When we lost all our stuff I was able to make a spell focus for myself. I made a silvered sword for the party member that didn't have any weapons that could bypass damage resistances. Made a giant watermelon so we could also 'drink water' to avoid exhaustion levels from heat. Made a giant cake to impress a crazy elf.
I haven't used the dancing item that much cause the party is large and had a few pets already, but I needed it I really needed it.
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Hello all! I am a huge fan of the college of creation subclass, I think it offers players who think outside the box more ways to play. However I feel as though the subclass doesn't really pick up until level 6, and really spikes at level 14. I love this subclass, but have noticed that not many people play or talk about it. Thoughts anyone?
I think it's very cool and I was going to play one, but the way my character wound up playing, by the time we reached level 3 another college made more sense.
I think the bardic inspiration feature is probably overcomplicated, considering it asks other players to recall and understand how it works while they have it. It feels a little messy to me, and doesn't really fit the theme super well, but I assume it's fairly powerful.
That's a fair point - it's really weird how the buff to how inspiration dice work varies by use. Contrast with other Bard subclasses, where if it varies by use, like with Swords Bards, only the Bard needs to worry about it. It'd make a lot more sense if the benefit was static at grant time, so the Bard could explain it. There are multiple ways to do that - the Bard could choose at grant time, or could have to commit to a buff every short or long rest, or the subclass could be re-written entirely so only one of the benefits exists to begin with. Not sure which is ideal for balance, but regardless, only giving the target one thing to remember would add a lot of playability.
I just started to play as a creation bard and I think one of the things that could be a little off-putting, is how you flavor the class. It's fairly open ended and it's a little hard to figure out how to roleplay your character.
Other than that, I'm looking forward to being able to creatively solve any issue that the group could come across. It also plays well as a support class, as most of the other bard sub classes benefit the bard itself, as this class has lots of options for buffing and leaves more room for debuffing while having something in the way to take the heat off.
Of the 8 Bard subclasses, the only ones that are "greedy", rather than helping the Bard buff more capably, are Whispers, Swords, and I haven't counted them, but multiple options on the Spirits Bard table, so functionally Spirits Bards, since they can't choose not to be greedy, it's random and gets more random as they level. Not for nothing, Whispers and Spirits are the worst Bard subclasses - the only remarkable thing here is that Swords is better than Valor, despite Swords being greedy and Valor being generous. And all four are the bad Bard subclasses - the good ones are the ones focused on buffing the party better. The greediest of the good ones is Glamour, the one that hands out THP to the whole party and grants them mobility.
If I may ask, why do you think the Spirits Bard is so bad?
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
That's a fair point, the addition to bardic inspiration, while super fun to use and creative, does overcomplicate itself and doesn't exactly fit the theme. I think it's a super useful addition though and makes bardic inspiration that much more flexible, and adds alot of flavor for the user.
Creation Bard can be wicked greedy too....in a niche anyway. Keep giving your large construct inspiration and have it use grapple checks XD
(Playing a level 9 Creation Bard in a party of 6.) The bonuses to inspiration are really nice, there's been several times when the temp HP saved someone's life, and getting to roll the die with advantage on skill checks is also really handy. It does create more work for you to remind the party of what the effects do, but most bards already have to remind the party they have inspiration anyway. Since we play online I also create a little info blurb I can copy-paste to them that briefly lists their options. By level 9 my party remembers what most of the effects do and will ask for inspiration when they're wanting something specific (like temp HP), though most of the time I just give them inspiration like normal and tell them/the DM what the additional effects are whenever they choose to use them.
The created items have also served many uses. I can make small-scale spell components for other people, and I can make some of my own expensive spell components. By level 14 when the gp value limit goes away we'll pretty much never have to worry about expensive spell components at all. (That's a free Heroes' Feast every night!) It came in clutch due to the specific events in our campaign, so this might be situational. When we lost all our stuff I was able to make a spell focus for myself. I made a silvered sword for the party member that didn't have any weapons that could bypass damage resistances. Made a giant watermelon so we could also 'drink water' to avoid exhaustion levels from heat. Made a giant cake to impress a crazy elf.
I haven't used the dancing item that much cause the party is large and had a few pets already, but I needed it I really needed it.