So, this subclass is perhaps my absolute favorite bard subclass to date...coming out ahead of Eloquence or Swords.

Something about a bard reaching out into the universe to literally conjure stories into existence seems to embody both the "magic" of this spellcasting class, as well as the "storyteller".

As to what KIND of character this subclass let's you be...well, that's pretty flexible.

Feel free to talk about what sort of character you'd make with the "College of Spirits" below...I just want to kick things off with "Backgrounds".

"Inheritor" seems perfect for this subclass...not only does it explain how the bard receives their unusual Arcane Focus...it let's you get creative with your characters history...

Were they wealthy? Was their ancestor a necromancer wizard? Lots of potential.

"Haunted One" is a background that let's you tilt heavily into the "spooky" aspect (though, this subclass doesn't really "have" to do that).

But heck; I love gothic characters, so it makes perfect sense for a spiritual medium character...and the background even has a flaw where your character speaks to spirits only they can see.

A "Charlatan" or a "Performer" who would tell people fortunes for a living presents a bard who didn't necessarily have any special powers...they just made money while keeping people entertained.

Then one day, they get these special spiritual trinket, and...suddenly spirits are talking to them, and they can do magic.

These are just a few character ideas...I'd love to hear what other ideas people are brainstorming.

Quote from Tony1Adobe >>

Feel free to talk about what sort of character you'd make with the "College of Spirits" below...I just want to kick things off with "Backgrounds".

A "Charlatan" or a "Performer" who would tell people fortunes for a living presents a bard who didn't necessarily have any special powers...they just made money while keeping people entertained.

Then one day, they get these special spiritual trinket, and...suddenly spirits are talking to them, and they can do magic.

 Like Woopie Goldberg in Ghost. That was my plan anyway. Variant Human and Actor feat all the way.

I didn’t think I’d enjoy this subclass when I saw the video of Todd and James introduce it. I’m not a fan of Tarot or Ouija boards IRL for religious reasons, and wouldn’t want to incorporate those into my pretend play. Yes, I see the double standard of playing in a polytheistic fantasy setting with characters making pacts with fiends. It doesn’t reconcile, but it’s a line that my conscience maintains all the same. But the idea that your bardic inspiration die can be spent/rolled as a wild card spell to be held until called upon, and that narrative justification of it being you received a story and spoke it into life for you or your friends? That’s peak bardism right there.  I haven’t thought too much about what kind of character I’d make for that, but I did picture Whoopi’s character on Ghost. I’ve also heard of people suggesting the bard be channeling old characters you played and lost. But since I already mentioned my own religious bent, maybe this guy is like an Old Testament prophet. Go Hermit. And his Discovery is that his god is speaking through this burning bush (candle) which he kept a twig from and carries around. 

take the Celebrity Scion Background as your parents adventuring career got spirits involved with you in some way, or the Waterdeep Noble background.

IN LOOOOOOOVE WITH THIS NEW SUBCLASS! I pray it passes the testing phase and stays as it is.

Quote from LyLy101 >>

IN LOOOOOOOVE WITH THIS NEW SUBCLASS! I pray it passes the testing phase and stays as it is.

 I'm pretty excited by it, too!

Honestly, it isn't terribly overpowered, as far as Unearthed Arcana goes...so I don't expect much to change on that score.

Popularity is going to be the key thing, I suspect...but the popularity has already been VERY favorable, based on what I've read.

I know some people hate the table mechanic, but I think it’s novel and simultaneously reminiscent of older editions. Makes me happy in my nerdy places.

Got some real off-the-wall concepts to go with for this subclass...

The access to necromancy spells is a wonderful boon; and really frees up the characters "Magical Secrets"...I sort of want to re-create that one Lindsay Stirling music video, and have a violinist who summon undead or spirits to join in a macabre dance number..."Danse Macabre" seems fitting for this...."Entertainer" background for sure.

But I also have this really bonkers idea of a Warforged who lost their head at some point...a "Soldier" background, where they were built for battle but got damaged...and had to replace their head with a skull.

So now the Warforged has a talking skull for a head...and it lets them commune with spirits!

The "Cloistered Scholar" or "Sage" backgrounds are great for one idea I had...a librarian at Candlekeep, or one of the other repositories for magical knowledge, who would spend their nights tending to the endless volumes of books & tomes...then he finds a peculiar candlestick whose flame changes colors in accordance with the story being told...and it brings those stories to life briefly through the "tales". He then decides to go adventuring, believing now that stories are just another form of afterlife.

Concept

I'm putting the finishing touches on a College of Spirits (UA) Bard, Human, and am very excited to make it work. I've decided to base him on the bardic cultures and religious/spiritual practices found in Africa and the Caribbean, as I know of a wealth of rich bardic and spiritualist cultures to draw upon from my extremely useful Ethnomusicology degree (the study of music through culture; the study of culture through music). The character will have a lawful-neutral alignment, where themes of ancestral power, possession, rites & sacrifices, bargains and the price of breaching, purification and pollution, will be treated by this character as the natural yin & yang of balance in the world (e.g. necromantic magic is not inherently evil; there are kind and malevolent spirits; deities are complex and contradictory etc).

Aesthetics & Inspiration

Here are the musical and cultural inspirations behind this character:

• Being a bard –a College of Spirits Bard no less– this character will spout stories, parables and proverbs at any opportunity that presents itself. I'll be drawing on the many tales of Anansai the Spider Man, while also paraphrasing a wealth of Swahili proverbs (in English) as the language is very well known for being highly poetic and expressive
• The Griot/Jeli of Mande culture (West Africa: Senegal, Mali etc) are historians, storytellers, praise singers, poets and mediators, best known for their kora music. The character's name is drawn from common male names among this culture.
• The Gnawa, who have historically  lived in the Sahel (North Africa: Northern Mali, Morocco etc), are sufis that fuse together west-African spirituality and Islamic beliefs and practice musical spirit possession rites.
• The Azmari (East Africa: Ethiopia, Eritrea) are musical bards, known for their satirical musical social commentaries and have historically drawn the laughter of the people and the ire of rulers and politicians 
• The Voodoo and Vodun belief and practices are found in West Africa and the Caribbean. Many of us will probably associate 'voodoo' with 'evil' thanks to christianity (much like much like paganism is viewed) and colonialism, but it is just one of many of human belief systems throughout the ages and the character's alignment will be Lawful-Neutral, which I think would fit how these belief systems might view themselves.

Background

• I went for a Custom background, which I named Tikori Jnawi. Jnawi is the name for those that hail from the bardic caste that I came up with (fusing Griot and Jeli into one word) while Tikor is the world in a pre-colonial/Afropunk-inspired RPG setting called Swordsfall that I came across while researching for this character (it looks great)
• I've chosen Far Traveler Background Features for him, as I expect any campaign he is played in won't focus on areas culturally and geographically comparable to North-West Africa. He'll be different to most folk, that's for sure.
• I've also chosen Personal Characteristics from Gladiator, Far Traveler and Acolyte, as a performer, foreigner and spiritualist
• The background includes proficiencies in Persuasion, Medicine, the Herbalism Kit and Poisoner's Hit, allowing him to lobby the powerful, mediate with diplomacy, provide council, as well as perform the rites of purification, sacrifice and appeasement that his spiritualist practices requires

Mechanics

Character in DnD Beyond

• Far from a powerbuild, I've been keen to give him a strong WIS stat to match his wordiness and bolster his Insight skill
• He's currently sitting in DnD beyond as a Bard 6 / Cleric 1 (domain TBC)
• I uncomfortably felt compelled to add Cleric, as with just Bard he ended up with a laughable HP & AC combination and thought some medium armour/cleric spells would improve his terrible survivability
• I've never really liked the Warlock class much, since I feel it's a really obviously cheesy multi-class and think DMs rarely present Warlocks with difficult obligations from their patron, but I'm now considering remaking him Warlock 1 (hexblade) / Bard 6 for mechanical purposes. Yet to be done.
• I picked up the Magic Initiate - Druid feat for some more animistic flavour and as a means of making his high WIS combat-worthy in melee with the Sheleighly cantrip
• I've also given him Ritual Caster, as rituals and rites will feature heavily in his roleplay
• I intend him to use a knobkerrie (club/quarterstaff), and/or a yklwa, possibly with shield
• Spells are thematic, such as Bestow Curse, Speak with Dead, Vicious Mockery, Zone of Truth, Healing Word, Purify Food and Drink, Speak with Animals, Unseen Servent etc. His spell gained from the Spirit Session feature will be, for now, Revivify. I may want to rethink spells depending on whatever party makeup this character ends up in

After reading this thread, and looking into it a little, I felt like I had to create a character, in case the UA gets dropped. At least, maybe this way, my PC can still do all the stuff. Maybe. Otherwise, I can attempt to create my own subclass.

I'm sort of modeling him a little bit like Klaus Hargreeves, in the Umbrella Academy. He can see, hear, and channel the dead around him, and uses Tarot cards and a series of cryptic tattoos on his forearms to communicate with the dead, and as a spellcasting focus. Like, he flips up a card at random, and that directs his actions. Can't decide between Drow and Tiefling, but he'd be pretty impulsive and careless. Haunted One background, probably... his daughter was taken from him by a supernatural being, and he's trying to get her back. Might look into multi-classing... maybe Sorcerer, or Warlock.

Oh, yeah - if I MC with Warlock, the ubiquitous EB would be like Gambit throwing one of his cards...

I was looking at this subclass for inspiration and when I saw that a crystal ball was one of the special spell foci that I can use i just wanted to make ..

So an eladrin with either the Charlatan or Far Traveler Background. His general MO is to amuse, bemuse, and befuddle the masses because it's fun, but he's also looking for something or someone. His exotic magical creature act is a smokescreen to help flush out his prey.

Quote from Mongolian_dude >>

Concept

I'm putting the finishing touches on a College of Spirits (UA) Bard, Human, and am very excited to make it work. I've decided to base him on the bardic cultures and religious/spiritual practices found in Africa and the Caribbean, as I know of a wealth of rich bardic and spiritualist cultures to draw upon from my extremely useful Ethnomusicology degree (the study of music through culture; the study of culture through music). The character will have a lawful-neutral alignment, where themes of ancestral power, possession, rites & sacrifices, bargains and the price of breaching, purification and pollution, will be treated by this character as the natural yin & yang of balance in the world (e.g. necromantic magic is not inherently evil; there are kind and malevolent spirits; deities are complex and contradictory etc).

Aesthetics & Inspiration

...

I've begun fleshing out my College of Spirits (UA) Bard's appearance in HeroForge:

Him donning his Traveler's Clothing, presumably communing with a spirit/casting Speak with Dead. The lute is as close to a kora or gimburi as I could get:

Here he is donning medium armour and doing battle. His staff is to be the vehicle for the Shillelagh cantrip. He's traded in the lute for a Fula Flute, which could be more wieldy in combat:

Ever since I first read this UA, the idea that comes to my mind is that of this shaman or medium-like character who travels from place to place. Their powers didn't just appeared one day, but it would be a knowledge passed down for generations, and the character would have learned it from their tribe, family or a mentor.

The bard would go around collecting information and stories, bits of knowledge here and there, like a Lore bard. But here's the kicker: While those bards focus on the living or in stories that didn't go unnoticed, like heroes and legends, this bard would focus on the stories of the people who died before their stories could be heard.

A man is not dead as long as his name is still remembered. A College of Spirits bard comunicates with the souls of the dead to share their stories with the living, and make sure the world do not forgets them through their art and song. With their music, the bard strives to make these long forgotten souls immortal.