College of Acting

Bards of the College of Acting are masters of performance, deception, and shifting identity. They use theatrical skill, magical flair, and crafted personas to influence, infiltrate, and inspire. Whether playing the noble, the beggar, or the villain, these bards slip into roles as easily as others hum a tune.

Innocent face

In the first round of combat, creatures cannot target you with attacks or harmful abilities unless you have already taken a hostile action against them. A hostile action includes attacking, casting a harmful spell, or otherwise directly interfering with that creature or its allies.

This protection ends immediately after you take a hostile action.

Level 3: Roleplay

Dramatic Training: You gain proficiency in Deception and the Disguise Kit. If you’re already proficient in Deception, you gain expertise instead. You also gain proficiency with one gaming set or artisan’s tools of your choice.

Assume the Role: As a bonus action, you can adopt a magical persona for 10 minutes. Choose one:

• The Noble: Advantage on Persuasion checks

• The Shadow: Advantage on Stealth checks

• The Fool: Advantage on Performance checks; you don’t provoke opportunity attacks this turn

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (min. once), regaining all uses on a long rest.

Level 6: Dramatic combat

The Noble – Commanding Presence
When you use your Bardic Inspiration on an ally, that creature also gains temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier. Your noble bearing bolsters those who fight beside you.

The Shadow – Sudden Strike
Once per turn, when you hit a creature with a weapon attack while hidden or before it has taken its first turn in combat, you deal additional psychic damage equal to your bard level. Your strike is swift, silent, and unsettling.

The Fool – Disrupting Display
When a creature misses you with an attack, you can use your reaction to force it to make a Wisdom saving throw (DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier). On a failure, the creature has disadvantage on its next attack roll before the end of its next turn. Your unpredictable antics throw off your enemies’ focus.

Level 14: Cloaked Crowd

Blending Step.
As a bonus action, when at least three other creatures are within 30 feet of you, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to vanish into your surroundings. You become invisible (as per the invisibility spell) until the end of your next turn, until you make an attack, or until you cast a spell. This invisibility is not magical in nature—it reflects your ability to remain unseen amid distraction, misdirection, and performance.

Hidden Strike.
While invisible from Blending Step, if you make a weapon attack, you deal an additional 6d6 damage of the weapon’s type. Immediately after the attack, you can move up to 15 feet without provoking opportunity attacks. Then, your invisibility ends.

Observers—including the target of your attack—must succeed on a Wisdom (Perception) check against a DC equal to 8 + your Charisma modifier + half your bard level (rounded up) to notice that you were the attacker. On a failed check, they misinterpret the event: they may believe the wound was accidental, self-inflicted, or caused by someone else in the crowd.

You can use the Hidden Strike feature once per long rest, or by expending another use of Bardic Inspiration.