So I decided to try my hand at making a subclass for the Bard where they don't have access to spells but use their craft and concentration to control the sound around them that they can hear and while I don't want to make it over powered I also don't want to make it under powered either I want a Bard that can mainly dish out damage so I'm willing to accept help on making the subclass. Also I want to call the Bard Subclass "Lorebound Storyteller", I'm also still thinking of what to add to the description as well.
If you don't want to click on the screenshot here is a copy and paste of the subclass so far...
Mystic Flare
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mystic Flare is when the Bard mentally pushes sound at an enemy within 30Ft of them where they must make as DEX Check to see if they resist the force of the blast from pushing them back 8 feet
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Endless Blast
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Endless Blast allows the Bard to reverberate a sound for one turn making a single enemy unable to take their next turn unless they succeed on a WIS saving throw that is equal to the roll of the player when the ability is used.
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
We're clearly missing part of it, but already a few remarks:
Those features do not say when they are gained, and don't have any limits on them (uses per long rest, short rest, ...). Mystic Flare is incomplete ? Like, the sentence stops midway ?
Endless Blast is not balanced. Giving a DC equal to a skill check will result in a greater average DC, and in a class like bard with easy access to expertise, it's even worse. The feature doesn't say what skill check it is, but I'll assume performance. At lv5, a bard could easily have a +10 to its performance, so the average DC would be 20, when the bard's spell DC is 15. Even rolling a 5 on the dice makes this just on par with the spell save. And that's a powerful effect as well. That ancient red dragon right there ? Yeah, that bard's gonna make him skip his turn.
From a wording perspective, an ability is not "cast", it is "used".
I would advise you to simply copy-paste your homebrew here rather than struggle with screenshots.
Thanks for the advice I'm still working on it also not sure about the name of the subclass though. I was think maybe taking away some of the Bard's advantages based on the fact that I want to make this subclass one where a Bard doesn't go to a Bard College so there wouldn't be many advantages to the subclass. Then I thought about making it so all of the feats/skills for the subclass require concentration on the Bard's part so there check is for that while the enemy check is against it. That seems like a good way to balance it out
Okay, so a Bard College basically gives the player 3 specific features, one awarded at 3rd level, again at 6th, and a final college feature at 14th... other than that, unless the college includes unusual detail, they're still just a classic bard.
So, going off of your concept of focusing on a Bard that controls the sound around them for attacks, I would just focus on that... it means they would primarily be dealing Thunder damage.
I think the 3rd Level Feature should be a unique attack exclusive to this class that functions similar to a cantrip. Maybe call it "Focused Sound", which allows you to use your instrument to perform a ranged attack dealing 1d8 Thunder damage, with a CON DC of your spellcasting DC. At higher levels (levels 5, 11, and 17) it allows you to fire multiple shots, which you can use to target either multiple opponents or just hit the same opponent repeatedly.
Mystic Flare I think would work well as a Bonus action that can be used to augment Focused Sound. I would word it, "When an opponent is hit with Focused Sound, as a Bonus Action you can spend one point of Bardic Inspiration to shove the target in a straight line 10 feet away from your character"
Endless Blast could also work as a Bonus Action to augment Focused Sound. "When an opponent is hit with Focused Sound, as a Bonus Action you can spend one point of Bardic Inspiration to force the opponent to make another CON save equal to your Spellcasting DC. On a failed save the target is stunned until the end of your next turn"
There probably still need to be some tweaks to make this fully balanced, but this is a fairly simple way to create a bard focused on dealing sound damage.
I want to take away the ability to learn new spells because they instead of joining a Bard College they spend their lives working on concentration so all attacks/features require so if someone uses thunder wave or another attack that creates sound the Bard would be able to focus on that sound and control it. like the bard could clap and the sound that is made they could use it.
As for the two features I may just take how you worded them and place that there instead with a few changes to Mystic Flare as I want to make it so a player could play a bard that just uses their instrument as a weapon like if they have Lute then when they strum on it the sound from it can be controlled. Also I want to make it so there is a feature called Synesthesia which is where people see sound as colors or just see sound. See this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia I just don't know how I want to add it in so it's fair and balanced because I want it to do other things as well like the bard has the ability to see if there was a sound made in an area recently.
Oh wow, that's some pretty big changes, especially removing spellcasting entirely. At that point it's less of a Subclass and more of just an entirely new class unto itself.
well not removing it entirely just making it so the spells you do have are the only one you get for the game I may make some features only available at higher levels to allow a player to get the spells they want before any of the big features kick in and they can take anymore spells though I'm not sure when to make it so that can't learn new spells I'm thinking level 5 or 10 after those levels no new spells can be learned by the Bard
The only way I can make it so people can see it here on D&D Beyond is to create a Campaign and add other users to it so you guys can see it if anyone thinks that's a good idea let me know.
Also i think the term "college" shouldn't be taken too literally when it comes to bard. It's more of a "dedication", i guess.
Also also, making a subclass that removes spellcasting is touch, because bards only choose their college at 3rd level, so what happens to the spellcasting they had at level 1 and 2 ?
Also also also, you would need some pretty powerful game-changing features to make that loss worthwhile, and I have to agree with TransmorpherDDS, at that point, you're pretty much making a new class. What does your subclass have in common with the regular bard, then ? They're a sneak attack away of being a rogue.
That's why I want to make it so that the game changing features happen at a later level right now I'm thinking about making it so at level 5 or 10 the bars can't learn new spells will do some research and see what level spells people stop using for the Bard or make it an action where the player has to spend one hour in game time to focus on the new discipline or college
At this point, I think you're just looking to create an entirely new Class. There's almost nothing in this that ties it to the Bard class other than the use of instruments, but bards aren't actually required to be musicians.
I know though I can't find the section where to create a new class all I see is BACKGROUND, FEAT, MAGIC ITEM, MONSTER, RACE, SPELL, SUBCLASS there isn't create a class feature if there's a link I'd like to know it, but I do what the class to be close to Bard though
So I was going to change the name of the subclass to Audiomancer but I found this https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Audiomancer_(5e_Class) on the D&D Wiki I'm going to read up on and work on a subclass for the Bard later now only if I could move the Audiomancer class here to D&D Beyond so I could create a character for it if someone knows how please let me know
For the moment I don't think you can homebrew classes on D&D Beyond. (Nothing to stop you doing it pen & paper, though - or Word doc or whatever...)
But yeah, the number of changes you're talking about basically takes away most of the Bard class features, so you're really wanting to homebrew a separate class, not just a bard subclass.
Yeah I want to create a class like this but it's not magical at all and most of the high level abilities require concentration when using them as the backstory for the class is that the person has spend their life training on how to control sound I could create a background for it though that would also work with the Bard Class though could backgrounds give spells or abilities to a character
The Audiomancer you linked has full spellcasting though. And the Bard spell list.
If you're looking to make a class that doesn't have spell casting, it will probably have martial abilities ? You can't spend entire fights using only abilities and powers, you have to have some sort of "basic action".
You could retheme a Barbarian, or even a Monk, to fit that subclass. Adding a subclass that focuses on using their voice, whether it's a primal scream (barbarian), or an energy-focused thing (monk).
So I decided to try my hand at making a subclass for the Bard where they don't have access to spells but use their craft and concentration to control the sound around them that they can hear and while I don't want to make it over powered I also don't want to make it under powered either I want a Bard that can mainly dish out damage so I'm willing to accept help on making the subclass. Also I want to call the Bard Subclass "Lorebound Storyteller", I'm also still thinking of what to add to the description as well.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/240230-lorebound-storyteller
If you don't want to click on the screenshot here is a copy and paste of the subclass so far...
Mystic Flare
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mystic Flare is when the Bard mentally pushes sound at an enemy within 30Ft of them where they must make as DEX Check to see if they resist the force of the blast from pushing them back 8 feet
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
Endless Blast
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Endless Blast allows the Bard to reverberate a sound for one turn making a single enemy unable to take their next turn unless they succeed on a WIS saving throw that is equal to the roll of the player when the ability is used.
I get a "page not found". Did you publish it ? I believe you need to.
Click to learn to put cool-looking tooltips in your messages!
how do I publish it
In the upper right corner there is "Share with community" By clicking that, you can share it with the community.
Tooltips | Snippet Code | How to Homebrew on D&D Beyond | Subclass Guide | Feature Roadmap
Astromancer's Homebrew Assembly
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
I figured it out I don't have the required things to publish it to the community so I took a screenshot click link below
Lorebound Storyteller
We're clearly missing part of it, but already a few remarks:
Those features do not say when they are gained, and don't have any limits on them (uses per long rest, short rest, ...). Mystic Flare is incomplete ? Like, the sentence stops midway ?
Endless Blast is not balanced. Giving a DC equal to a skill check will result in a greater average DC, and in a class like bard with easy access to expertise, it's even worse. The feature doesn't say what skill check it is, but I'll assume performance. At lv5, a bard could easily have a +10 to its performance, so the average DC would be 20, when the bard's spell DC is 15. Even rolling a 5 on the dice makes this just on par with the spell save. And that's a powerful effect as well. That ancient red dragon right there ? Yeah, that bard's gonna make him skip his turn.
From a wording perspective, an ability is not "cast", it is "used".
I would advise you to simply copy-paste your homebrew here rather than struggle with screenshots.
Click to learn to put cool-looking tooltips in your messages!
Thanks for the advice I'm still working on it also not sure about the name of the subclass though. I was think maybe taking away some of the Bard's advantages based on the fact that I want to make this subclass one where a Bard doesn't go to a Bard College so there wouldn't be many advantages to the subclass. Then I thought about making it so all of the feats/skills for the subclass require concentration on the Bard's part so there check is for that while the enemy check is against it. That seems like a good way to balance it out
Okay, so a Bard College basically gives the player 3 specific features, one awarded at 3rd level, again at 6th, and a final college feature at 14th... other than that, unless the college includes unusual detail, they're still just a classic bard.
So, going off of your concept of focusing on a Bard that controls the sound around them for attacks, I would just focus on that... it means they would primarily be dealing Thunder damage.
I think the 3rd Level Feature should be a unique attack exclusive to this class that functions similar to a cantrip. Maybe call it "Focused Sound", which allows you to use your instrument to perform a ranged attack dealing 1d8 Thunder damage, with a CON DC of your spellcasting DC. At higher levels (levels 5, 11, and 17) it allows you to fire multiple shots, which you can use to target either multiple opponents or just hit the same opponent repeatedly.
Mystic Flare I think would work well as a Bonus action that can be used to augment Focused Sound. I would word it, "When an opponent is hit with Focused Sound, as a Bonus Action you can spend one point of Bardic Inspiration to shove the target in a straight line 10 feet away from your character"
Endless Blast could also work as a Bonus Action to augment Focused Sound. "When an opponent is hit with Focused Sound, as a Bonus Action you can spend one point of Bardic Inspiration to force the opponent to make another CON save equal to your Spellcasting DC. On a failed save the target is stunned until the end of your next turn"
There probably still need to be some tweaks to make this fully balanced, but this is a fairly simple way to create a bard focused on dealing sound damage.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
I want to take away the ability to learn new spells because they instead of joining a Bard College they spend their lives working on concentration so all attacks/features require so if someone uses thunder wave or another attack that creates sound the Bard would be able to focus on that sound and control it. like the bard could clap and the sound that is made they could use it.
As for the two features I may just take how you worded them and place that there instead with a few changes to Mystic Flare as I want to make it so a player could play a bard that just uses their instrument as a weapon like if they have Lute then when they strum on it the sound from it can be controlled. Also I want to make it so there is a feature called Synesthesia which is where people see sound as colors or just see sound. See this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia I just don't know how I want to add it in so it's fair and balanced because I want it to do other things as well like the bard has the ability to see if there was a sound made in an area recently.
Oh wow, that's some pretty big changes, especially removing spellcasting entirely. At that point it's less of a Subclass and more of just an entirely new class unto itself.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
well not removing it entirely just making it so the spells you do have are the only one you get for the game I may make some features only available at higher levels to allow a player to get the spells they want before any of the big features kick in and they can take anymore spells though I'm not sure when to make it so that can't learn new spells I'm thinking level 5 or 10 after those levels no new spells can be learned by the Bard
The only way I can make it so people can see it here on D&D Beyond is to create a Campaign and add other users to it so you guys can see it if anyone thinks that's a good idea let me know.
Just copy paste the text here. It's fine.
Also i think the term "college" shouldn't be taken too literally when it comes to bard. It's more of a "dedication", i guess.
Also also, making a subclass that removes spellcasting is touch, because bards only choose their college at 3rd level, so what happens to the spellcasting they had at level 1 and 2 ?
Also also also, you would need some pretty powerful game-changing features to make that loss worthwhile, and I have to agree with TransmorpherDDS, at that point, you're pretty much making a new class. What does your subclass have in common with the regular bard, then ? They're a sneak attack away of being a rogue.
Click to learn to put cool-looking tooltips in your messages!
That's why I want to make it so that the game changing features happen at a later level right now I'm thinking about making it so at level 5 or 10 the bars can't learn new spells will do some research and see what level spells people stop using for the Bard or make it an action where the player has to spend one hour in game time to focus on the new discipline or college
At this point, I think you're just looking to create an entirely new Class. There's almost nothing in this that ties it to the Bard class other than the use of instruments, but bards aren't actually required to be musicians.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
I know though I can't find the section where to create a new class all I see is BACKGROUND, FEAT, MAGIC ITEM, MONSTER, RACE, SPELL, SUBCLASS there isn't create a class feature if there's a link I'd like to know it, but I do what the class to be close to Bard though
So I was going to change the name of the subclass to Audiomancer but I found this https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Audiomancer_(5e_Class) on the D&D Wiki I'm going to read up on and work on a subclass for the Bard later now only if I could move the Audiomancer class here to D&D Beyond so I could create a character for it if someone knows how please let me know
For the moment I don't think you can homebrew classes on D&D Beyond. (Nothing to stop you doing it pen & paper, though - or Word doc or whatever...)
But yeah, the number of changes you're talking about basically takes away most of the Bard class features, so you're really wanting to homebrew a separate class, not just a bard subclass.
Yeah I want to create a class like this but it's not magical at all and most of the high level abilities require concentration when using them as the backstory for the class is that the person has spend their life training on how to control sound I could create a background for it though that would also work with the Bard Class though could backgrounds give spells or abilities to a character
The Audiomancer you linked has full spellcasting though. And the Bard spell list.
If you're looking to make a class that doesn't have spell casting, it will probably have martial abilities ? You can't spend entire fights using only abilities and powers, you have to have some sort of "basic action".
You could retheme a Barbarian, or even a Monk, to fit that subclass. Adding a subclass that focuses on using their voice, whether it's a primal scream (barbarian), or an energy-focused thing (monk).
Click to learn to put cool-looking tooltips in your messages!