College of Satire

Bards of the College of Satire are called jesters.

They use lowbrow stories, daring acrobatics, and cutting jokes to entertain audiences, ranging from the crowds in a rundown dockside pub to the nobles of a king's royal court. Where other bards seek forgotten lore or tales of epic bravery, jesters ferret out embarrassing and

hilarious stories of all kinds. Whether telling the ribald tale of a brawny stable hand's affair with an aged duchess or a mocking satire of a paladin of Helm's cloying innocence, a jester never lets taste, social decorum, or shame get in the way of a good laugh.

While jesters are masters of puns, jokes, and verbal barbs, they are much more than just comic relief. They are expected to mock and provoke, taking advantage of how even the most powerful folk are expected by tradition to endure a jester's barbs with good humor. This expectation allows a jester to serve as a critic or a voice of reason when others are too intimidated to speak the truth.

Jesters are loyal to only one cause: the pursuit and propagation of the truth. They use their comedy and innocuous appearance to break down social barriers and expose corruption, incompetence, and stupidity among the rich and powerful

Whether revealing a con artist's treachery or exposing a baron's plans for war as driven by greed and bloodlust, a jester serves as the conscience of a realm.

Bonus Proficiency

When you join the College of Satire at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with thieves' tools. You also gain proficiency in Sleight of Hand and one additional skill of your choice. If you are already proficient with thieves' tools or in Sleight of Hand, choose another skill proficiency for each proficiency you already have.

Razor Tongue

Few can lay claim to as sharp a tongue as yours, nor one as adept at dressing down those in positions of authority that would seek to abuse it. At 3rd level, you gain the Vicious Mockery cantrip, or another Bard cantrip if you already have it. It does not count against your total cantrips known and the damage it deals increases to 1d8 (2d8 at 5th level, 3d8 at 11th level and 4d8 at 17th level). In addition, any creature in a position of power, be it the head of a pack of goblins or the leader of a kingdom, makes the wisdom save against it at disadvantage. You can also chose to expend one bardic inspiration and add the number rolled on the die to your damage roll while simultaneously imbuing your already wounding words with one of the following effects:

• Far-reaching Mockery: Gains a range of 100 feet for the next minute
• Widespread Mockery: Affects up to 4 other creatures of your choice within 20 feet of the target
• Enduring Mockery: The disadvantage imposed by the spell lasts for one minute. The target can reattempt the saving throw at the end of its turn, but does so with disadvantage if you are visible to it and within 10 feet of it
• Debilitating Mockery: Imposes disadvantage on the next attack roll saving throw or ability check
• Swift Mockery: Can be cast as a bonus action

Tumbling Fool

At 6th level, you master a variety of acrobatic techniques that allow you to evade danger. As a bonus action, you can tumble. When you tumble, you gain the following benefits for the rest of your turn:

• You gain the benefits of taking the Dash and Disengage actions.
• You gain a climbing speed equal to your current speed.
• You take half damage from falling.

Incite Fury

At 14th level, your words cut so deep that your enemies often find themselves unable to focus their aggression on anything but you. Fortunately, you have the fortitude to withstand it.

When a creature that can see you fails a saving throw

against a casting of Vicious Mockery that you have empowered with the Sharpened Tongue feature, you can choose to draw all their attention onto yourself until the start of your next turn. For the duration, they are unable to target anything but you with an attack. They can still cast spells or similar magical affects on other creatures, but only if you are also one of the targets of that spell or magical effect.

You have resistance to any damage you take from a creature focused on you in this way and advantage on any saving throws they force you to make. Additionally, you automatically succeed on any constituion saving throws you make to maintain concentration on a spell as a result of taking damage from such a creature.