College of Melodies

This bard subclass specializes on controlling Initiative at the start of combat,  then they gain the ability to empower multiple allies or themselves with single bardic inspirations.

Musical performance

When you join the College of Melodies at 3rd level you learn this Feature.

When initiative is rolled and provided you carry an instrument you are proficient with you can perform one of the melodies below.

Crescendo
You use one Barding inspiration dice to increase the Initiative of an ally of yours by the roll of the inspiration dice. On an 6 or higher on the roll, that ally gains the benefit of Haste for the first round (without its drawback)
Performing Crescendo impedes you from performing Cadence until the next roll of initiative

Cadence
You use one Bardic Inspiration dice to reduce an enemy`s initiative roll by the roll of your inspiration dice.
Should a group of enemies share the same stat block/initiative they are all affected by this feature. On a 6 or higher on the roll the enemy/group of enemies have their AC reduced by 2 for the first round.
Performing Cadence impedes you from performing Crescendo until the next roll of initiative

Song of peaceful Rest

Also at 3rd level, your musical performance remains with your allies for a time after a good rest. Whenever you would use your Song of Rest feature, you can grant temporary hit points equal to the roll of your bardic inspiration + your level to a number of allies equal to your PB + Charisma modifier

 

Musical Performance (6th)

Starting at 6th level you learn additional musical performances you may use when giving bardic inspiration.

Chorus

When you use your bardic inspiration on an ally, select additional allies and make a performance check. The DC is 18 plus 3 for each additional ally. On a successful check, the selected allies all gain bardic inspiration. On a failure no one gains bardic inspiration but you don´t lose the inspiration dice.

Solo

Whenever there are no allies nor enemies adjacent to you, you can use your bardic inspiration on yourself. When you use the bardic inspiration dice, you increase your initiative number equal to the roll of the dice and you gain advantage on your next Attack Roll or Ability skill check.

Marching Ballad

Starting at 14th level, you add half your proficiency bonus to all your allies initiative rolls including you at the start of initiative.

Additionally, whenever you use bardic inspiration during your turn, you can further increase the initiative roll of the affected creatures by half your proficiency bonus, this effect is applied at the start of the next round.