College of the Bladesong

The Elven art of Bladesinging is a beautiful dance between sword and wielder that produces a song that captivates bystanders and enemies alike. The beauty and elegance that the Bladesong projects is awe inspiring, but it is a secret that is heavily guarded by those who study it. At least, usually guarded. Some radicals believe that others would do well to learn the arts and that keeping Bladesinging as a secret is like keeping art a secret. As such, at elite places of learning, Bladesinging began to be taught to fledgling wizards. However, despite being taught to wizards, as was its history, audacious individuals known as bards saw the performance of Bladesong and decided that it wasn't right that wizards would keep it to themselves. And so, like college students sitting in on classes they didn't pay for, bards began sneaking in and learning the art of Bladesinging for themselves, then practicing it on their own to develop their own styles since it was designed for wizards. Slowly, bards began to design their own version, personalized to each performer, and handed down the tradition themselves. A bard who is taught the Bladesong by another bard finds themselves developing their own technique to weave dance, music, and battle into one seamless performance. The sounds produced by a Bladesinging bard vary greatly, with some choosing fast paced, intense music to reflect the combat around them, some choosing to produce elegant, orchestral music to inspire flowing, seamless swordplay, and others still choose other types of music to reflect mood, personality, battle theme, or whatever they feel like playing at that moment. It is really the ultimate time for the bard to show off their skills with performance and battle, so many bards put all their effort into their Bladesong because they see it as the culmination of their work, their magnum opus.

Battlefield Performer

As a Bladesong Bard you are adept at combat and performance, which is reflected by your weapon choice and performance skills. At 3rd level, you gain proficiency with medium armor and one simple or martial weapon of your choice that lacks the heavy property. You also gain proficiency in the Performance skill if you don't already have it.

If you’re proficient with a simple or martial melee weapon, you can use it as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells.

Bladesong

At 3rd level you are trained enough to perform your Bladesong in battle, which allows you to fight with supernatural speed, elegance, and precision.

You can use a bonus action and expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to start a Bladesong, which lasts for 1 minute or until you are incapacitated. You can also stop the Bladesong at any time (no action required).

While your Bladesong is active, you gain the following benefits:

• You gain a bonus to AC equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of +1).
• Your walking speed increases by 10 feet.
• You have advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks.
• You gain a bonus to any Constitution saving throws you make to maintain your concentration on a spell. The bonus equals your Charisma modifier (minimum of +1).

Extra Attack

Starting at 6th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Personalized Performance

Starting at 6th level, you have developed your Bladesong so much that you can now shift the tone to reflect the type of battle you want to have, and the song magically enforces those tones as it rings out.

When you start a Bladesong, choose one of the following styles that the song emulates. You gain the following benefits to your Bladesong depending on what style of song your choose:

• Intense - Your song intensifies and deafens the battlefield with adrenaline pumping music. You gain a bonus to damage rolls equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of +1).
• Elegant - Your song is beautiful, soft, and serene, which enhances your flowing, seamless movement. Your walking speed increases by 5 feet, and while your Bladesong is active you can take the Disengage action as a bonus action on each of your turns.
• Triumphant - Your song inspires, uplifts, and excites, making you emboldened and brave. You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened, and at the start of each of your turns while the Bladesong is active you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1).
• Somber - Your song is a deep, cathartic piece that grounds your mind in contemplation and reflection. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and on Constitution saving throws to maintain concentration on spells.
• Catchy - Your song uses specific sound progression, notes, and beats to purposefully get stuck in people's heads and be impossible to stop thinking about. When a hostile creature ends their turn within 20 feet of you while your Bladesong is active, they must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure they must subtract 1d4 from all attack rolls and ability checks made against you, as well as Constitution saving throws made to maintain concentration on spells, and saving throws against being charmed by you until the end of their next turn. Once a creature succeeds on their saving throw against this effect, they are immune to the effects of the Catchy Bladesong for 1 hour.
• Unsettling - Your song is creepy and weird in the worst ways, and just hearing it is off-putting to those around you. When a hostile creature ends their turn within 20 feet of you while your Bladesong is active, they must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure that creature is frightened of you until the end of their next turn. Once a creature succeeds on their saving throw against this effect, they are immune to the effects of the Unsettling Bladesong for 1 hour.

Once you choose a song style you cannot choose a different one unless you start another Bladesong.

Tone Shift

Starting at 14th level, your expertise in Bladesinging and your knowledge of music theory enables you to shift the tone of your Bladesong while it is active. While you have a Bladsong active, you can use an action on your turn to change the song style of the Bladesong.

Rousing Music

Starting at 14th level, your Bladesong rouses your allies with a peerless display of dance and music, causing them to benefit from residual effects from your Bladesong.

Whenever you start a Bladesong, you can expend an additional use of your Bardic Inspiration and choose any number of allies within 20 feet of you to benefit from any positive effects caused by the song style you chose for the remainder of the Bladesong. If the song style changes during the same Bladesong, the allies you chose to receive the benefits stop receiving the benefits of that song style and instead receive the benefits of the new song style.