College of Blight

Most experienced bards are lauded for the healing capabilities of their music. It's customary in the College of Lore to be able to provide sanctity and warmth via song to their listeners and companions alike. What if the bard were to infect those listeners with instead? Born out of Lore exiles, the College of Blight festers in the shadows. They appear to be like other bards, sharing news, singing songs, and telling tales to the audiences they gather. In truth, the College of Blight teaches its students that they are wolves among sheep. These bards use their knowledge and magic to sap their enemies' strength by cursing their lifeforce.

Many other bards avoid the College of Blight, viewing it as a danger to society that uses the playful reputation of the art form to acquire wealth and power. For this reason, members of this college rarely reveal themselves. They typically claim to follow some other college, or they keep their actual calling secret in order to keep their prey in the palms of their cursed and bloodied hands.

Curse Pulse

When you join the College of Blight at 3rd level, you gain the ability to guarantee the Bestowal of curses with spell attacks and musical performances.

A Bestowed curse lasts until the creatures falls unconscious or dies and can only be dispelled by magical means, such as Remove Curse.

When you successfully curse a creature with a spell attack or performance, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to Bestow that curse to the target while also dealing necrotic damage equal to your Bardic Inspiration die. You can do so up to three times at once per round on your turn.

Ruinous Words

At 3rd level, you learn to infuse curses into your songs that can infect those that are within listening range.

While performing, you can secretly attempt to seed the Ruinous Curse into up to 3 listening creatures within a 15 ft sphere. At the end of the performance, the targets must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC or be afflicted. The target is cursed this way for 3 turns (18 seconds).

Cursed creatures take 2d4 additional necrotic damage at the end of their turn for 3 turns. Afflicting both the Ruinous Curse and the Hoarfrost Curse on a creature will Bestow the oldest of the two curses inflicted on the affected creature. Bestowed curses can only be removed by magical means such as Remove Curse or by being knocked unconscious. 

If the target succeeds on its saving throw, the target has no hint that you tried to curse it.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Melody of Malady

At 6th level, you gain the ability to harvest the cursed essence from a creature, and use it to infuse your next musical performance with horrifying necrotic energy.

As a reaction when a cursed creature comes within 20 ft. of you, you can sap their accursed lifeforce into a musical instrument you are proficient with, removing the curse. As an action, you can then perform a rancorous melody, dealing 6d6 necrotic damage in a 20 ft. sphere around you, forcing all creatures in range to make a CON saving throw. On a successful save, creatures take half damage. On a failed save, you may inflict creatures with the Curse of Chthonic Malady for three turns. 

While cursed, creatures are frightened of you, have halved movement, and take 3d10 thunder damage of the end of their turns as their blood vessels violently vibrate. The Curse of Chthonic Malady cannot be bestowed by normal means.

After performing, you cannot harvest cursed essence from any creatures until you perform a short or long rest.

At Higher Levels: At 10th level, the damage increases to 6d8. At 14th level, the damage increases to 6d10. At 18th level, the damage increases to 6d12.

 

Accursed Attunement

At 14th level, your body and mind attune to a particular type of cursed energy, gaining immunity to that curse's effects, empowering yourself based on the type of curse, and empowering that curse's effects when you inflict it.

Chthonic Attunement

You gain resistance to psychic, thunder, and lighting damage. You can add your Charisma modifier to all psychic damage you deal with attacks. The Curse of Chthonic Malady is automatically Bestowed upon a creature when inflicted.

Hoarfrost Attunement

You gain resistance to cold damage. You can add your Charisma modifier to all cold damage you deal with attacks. The Hoarfrost Curse is automatically Enhanced when you inflict it on a creature, dealing 1d6 cold damage at the end of the turn, have disadvantage on dexterity saving throws, and produce a pool of ice in a 5 foot square around themselves at the start of every turn.

Ignisbane Attunement

You gain resistance to fire damage. You can add your Charisma modifier to all fire damage you deal with attacks. The Ignisbane Curse is automatically Enhanced when you inflict it on a creature, dealing 1d6 fire damage at the end of their turn. Upon exposure to any additional fire damage while cursed, the bead ignites and explodes for 4d12 fire damage in a 10 foot sphere, removing this curse and knocking away all nearby creatures away 10 ft.

Ruinous Attunement

You gain resistance to necrotic damage. You can add your Charisma modifier to all necrotic damage you deal with attacks. The Ruinous Curse is automatically Enhanced when you inflict it on a creature, dealing 2d10 necrotic damage at the end of the afflicted creature's turn.

Stoneblight Attunement

You gain resistance to bludgeoning damage. You can add your Charisma modifier to all bludgeoning damage you deal with attacks. The Stoneblight Curse is automatically Enhanced when you inflict it on a creature. While the target is cursed their movement is reduced by half. They gain resistance to piercing and slashing damage, and vulnerability to bludgeoning damage. The target makes a Dexterity saving throw at the start of every turn while afflicted. Upon failure, the target is magically encased in stone and smothered for 3d6 bludgeoning and 1d6 poison damage. This save can be failed twice, upon which the curse ends.