The College of Archery focuses on teaching the arts of bow-fighting and arrow-nocking. Bards of this college have their bows fashioned from materials of their instruments; their bow's body might be made out of the wood of a lute, and its bowstring might be fashioned from an organ's or piano's strings. This allows for them to channel their magic through each instrument and augment their shots with their bardic abilities.

This college finds its roots in Innanheim, where scions of the Huntress Queen Skaði told tales and embodied her way of battle by combining the art of the arrow and music into their routines. Over time, the two worlds would begin to meld with each other, and it seemed that the bows they wielded were musical instruments in and of themselves.

Archer's Proficiencies

3rd-level College of Archery feature

You gain proficiency with simple and martial ranged weapons. If you have proficiency with one of these weapons, you can use it as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells.

Whistling Arrow

3rd-level College of Archery feature

You can augment your bow with your bardic abilities to achieve greater shots. When you take the Attack action to make an attack with a ranged weapon you are proficient with, opportunity attacks against you are made at disadvantage until the end of your turn. Additionally, you can expend a use of bardic inspiration on your ranged weapon attack and use one of the following options. You can only use one option per attack.

Song of Piercing. You gain a bonus to your ranged attack's damage equal to one roll of your bardic inspiration die. If you roll a 1 or 2 on that die, you can choose to regain the use of bardic inspiration that was expended on this feature.

Song of the Far Shot. Your ranged attack's normal and long range increases by a number equal to ten times the number rolled on one of your bardic inspiration dice. You can choose to regain the use of bardic inspiration that was expended on this feature if the attack made against the creature within this extended range misses.

Song of Double Fire. You can make another ranged attack against a creature within 15 feet of the creature you target. If this attack hits, it deals damage equal to one roll of your bardic inspiration die. You can choose to regain the use of bardic inspiration that was expended on this feature if this attack misses.

Bardic Volley

6th-level College of Archery feature

You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn. Additionally, you can cast one of your cantrips in place of one of those attacks.

Bowstring Melody

14th-level College of Archery feature

The use of your special bow can empower your allies for a short time. Once per turn when you use one of your Whistling Arrow options, you can choose one creature other than yourself within 60 feet of you that can hear you. That creature gains one of your bardic inspiration dice without you needing to expend another use of your bardic inspiration. This special bardic inspiration die lasts until the end of the chosen creature's next turn, and the same creature cannot gain this special bardic inspiration die for 1 minute afterwards. You cannot use this feature if you chose to regain the expended use of your bardic inspiration for your Whistling Arrow option.