College of Nature

Bards of the College of Nature find the music of wilderness. They see and want to protect the beauty of nature. A deer or a bird are as good an audience as a human or a dwarf. 

Nature's observer

When you join the College of Nature at level 3, you gain proficiency in the Nature and Survival skill. You also learn the druidcraft cantrip, which you can cast even in your animal form.

Animal Form

Starting at level 3, you can shape shift into a CR 0 animal, that you have seen, as an action. This effect lasts for 1 minute, and the animal can't have swimming or flying speed. 

You can revert to your normal form earlier by using a bonus action on your turn. You automatically revert if you fall unconscious, drop to 0 hit points, or die.

At level 5, the animal can have swimming speed and the effect can last up to 10 minutes.

At level 8, the animal can have flying speed and the effect can last up to 1 hour. Additionally, you can continue giving bardic inspiration in animal form.

 You can use this effect the number of times equal to your Charisma modifier. This resets after a long rest. 

While you are transformed, the following rules apply:

• Your game statistics are replaced by the statistics of the beast, but you retain your alignment, personality, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. You also retain all of your skill and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to gaining those of the creature. If the creature has the same proficiency as you and the bonus in its stat block is higher than yours, use the creature’s bonus instead of yours. If the creature has any legendary or lair actions, you can’t use them.
• When you transform, you assume the beast’s hit points and Hit Dice. When you revert to your normal form, you return to the number of hit points you had before you transformed. However, if you revert as a result of dropping to 0 hit points, any excess damage carries over to your normal form. For example, if you take 10 damage in animal form and have only 1 hit point left, you revert and take 9 damage. As long as the excess damage doesn’t reduce your normal form to 0 hit points, you aren’t knocked unconscious.
• You can’t cast spells, and your ability to speak or take any action that requires hands is limited to the capabilities of your beast form. Transforming doesn’t break your concentration on a spell you’ve already cast, however, or prevent you from taking actions that are part of a spell, such as call lightning, that you’ve already cast.
• You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source and can use them if the new form is physically capable of doing so. However, you can’t use any of your special senses, such as darkvision, unless your new form also has that sense.
• You choose whether your equipment falls to the ground in your space, merges into your new form, or is worn by it. Worn equipment functions as normal, but the DM decides whether it is practical for the new form to wear a piece of equipment, based on the creature’s shape and size. Your equipment doesn’t change size or shape to match the new form, and any equipment that the new form can’t wear must either fall to the ground or merge with it. Equipment that merges with the form has no effect until you leave the form.

 

Animal song

At level 14, you can continue casting spells in animal form. If a spell needs material components, you can cast it if you had those components on your person when changing shape and you chose your equipment to melt into your new form. 

Nature's secrets

At 6th level, you learn two spells of your choice from the druid class. A spell you choose must be of a level you can cast, as shown on the Bard table, or a cantrip. The chosen spells count as bard spells for you but don’t count against the number of bard spells you know.

Inspired by nature

A person using your inspiration die is surrounded by thick overgrowth, which creates an area of difficult terrain under the inspired character, who is unaffected by it. This area deals 1d4 piercing damage to any character who enters it. 

When inspiration die changes to a d8, the area of this effect extends to a 5 foot radius sphere.

When inspiration die changes to a d10, it extends to 10 feet.

When inspiration die changes to a d12, damage from this effect changes to d6 magical piercing damage.