College of Puppetry

Flavor: You animate puppets as extensions of your art: spies, soldiers, and actors in one.

Level 3: Puppet Companion

At 3rd level, you create or awaken a Puppet Companion, a Tiny or Small magical construct that acts as an extension of your Bardic performance. You can flavor it however you wish — a wooden marionette, an armored doll, a shadow puppet, or even a cloth homunculus.

As an action, you can summon or resummon your puppet in an unoccupied space within 10 feet. The puppet lasts until it drops to 0 hit points or until you summon it again.

You can control the puppet with your Bonus Action, commanding it to move and make attacks. It acts immediately after your turn on the same initiative.

If you are incapacitated, it takes the Dodge action.

Puppet Companion

Small Construct, unaligned

Armor Class: 13 + your proficiency bonus
Hit Points: 5 × your bard level + your Charisma modifier
Speed: 30 ft.

Saving Throws: use your proficiency bonus
Skills: Performance + your proficiency bonus
Damage Resistances: bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Condition Immunities: charmed, frightened, poisoned, exhaustion
Senses: darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages: understands the languages you speak

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Actions

Slam (Bonus Action Command).
Melee Weapon Attack: your spell-attack modifier to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 1d6 + your Charisma modifier bludgeoning damage.

At 10th level, the damage becomes 1d8 + your Charisma modifier.

Traits

Magical Construct.
The puppet counts as a magical creature. It uses your saving throw DC for any ability or spell that references its controller’s magic.
A puppet becomes inert if it ends its turn more than 60 feet from you
At 10th level, they get resistance to non magical BPS.

Reanimate.
If the puppet drops to 0 HP, it crumbles or falls inert. You can reanimate it during a short or long rest, or by expending a 1st-level spell slot as an action.

Level 3: Strings of Control

When you cast a Bard spell that targets only one creature, you can instead have it originate from your Puppet Companion if the target is within 30 feet of it.

Level 6: Multi-Threaded Performance

6th-level College of Puppetry feature
Action Type: Passive / Bonus Action

You can control two puppets at once. When you summon a puppet, you can instead summon two if you wish.

• Each puppet acts on your initiative and uses your Bonus Action to command.

• When you command your puppets with your bonus action, each puppet can take a different action

• When you command both puppets, they can each make a Slam attack if they are both within 30 feet of you.

• You can split your Bonus Action to command them separately (one attacks, the other performs another simple action such as Help).

Battle Synchrony.
When you cast a spell while both puppets are active, the puppets can perform use a reaction to create a distraction making ennemies have disadvantage on opportunity attacks against you.
(You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier per long rest.)

Level 14: Grand Marionette

Your puppets become extensions of your very soul, moving as if controlled by unseen celestial strings.

As an action, you can animate a Grand Marionette Ensemble — up to three puppets (new or existing) that act as semi-independent extensions of your will for 1 minute.

When active:

• 2 puppet of the 3 puppets can attack independently using your Bonus Action, or one can be commanded to cast a cantrip you know (requires your concentration, 1/turn).

• When you command your puppets with your bonus action, each puppet can take a different action

• Puppets gain temporary hit points equal to your Bard level.

• When a puppet hits a creature, you can expend Bardic Inspiration to force a Wisdom saving throw (DC = 8 + Prof + CHA). On a failure, the target is charmed or frightened (your choice) until the start of your next turn.

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