Bard: College of Madness

Bards of the College of Madness  are court jesters, dueling performers, and masters of weaponized praise. They weave mockery and admiration into a single blade, drawing secrets from the mind while dazzling enemies with acrobatics and spectacle. Their movements are guided by phantom applause, and their victories end in thunderous, unseen ovations.

To a Madness bard, every battle is a stage, every foe an unwilling participant in the act.

Level 3: Bonus Proficiencies

You gain proficiency in:

• Medium armor

• Scimitars

• Acrobatics

• Performance

If you already have proficiency in Acrobatics or Performance, you gain Expertise in one of them.

You learn the Prestidigitation cantrip.
You can use weapons, props, tankards, juggling knives, staves, or hoops as a spellcasting focus.

Level 3: Level 3 – Color Trick (Passive)

Your magic carries a constant, theatrical distortion.

Whenever you create or manipulate an element (fire, water, lightning, smoke, magical energy, etc.), you can alter its appearance:

• Change its color (blue fire, gold lightning, neon water, etc.)
• Make it transparent, pitch-black, pastel, or stylized
• Add visual effects such as:
  • Confetti bursts
  • Sparkles or dripping paint
  • Cartoon outlines or exaggerated motion

This:

• Requires no action
• Applies to spells and magical effects you produce
• Is purely visual and but can slightly alter mechanics such as making a flame appear invisible by colouring it to the environment

Level 5: Maddening Flourish

You weave motion and mockery into combat.

When you take the Attack action, you can expend one Bardic Inspiration to perform a Flourish. You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for these attacks if you aren’t already.

Choose one:

• Slapstick Strike (Offensive)

• Add your Bardic Inspiration die to the damage roll
• The target must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or:
  • Fall prone, or
  • Be pushed 10 feet (your choice)

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• Grand Entrance (Defensive)

• Add your Bardic Inspiration die to your AC until the start of your next turn
• You can move up to 10 feet without provoking opportunity attacks

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• Mocking Setup (Control)

• Add your Bardic Inspiration die to damage
• The next attack against that target before your next turn has advantage

Gag Magic

Your magic manifests as unpredictable comedic effects.

Whenever you expend a Bardic Inspiration die, roll a d6 to trigger a gag:

Gag Table (d6)

1. Banana Peel – Target must make a Dex save or fall prone
2. Joy Buzzer – Target takes lightning damage equal to your CHA modifier and cannot take reactions until its next turn
3. Disembodied Applause – You gain temporary HP equal to your Bard level
4. Laugh Track – Target has disadvantage on its next attack roll
5. Confetti Burst – 5 ft radius around target becomes lightly obscured until your next turn
6. Rubber Reality – You teleport up to 10 feet

Level 6: Extra Attack

You can attack twice when you take the Attack action.

Level 8: Chromatic Absurdity

Elemental Rewrite (Mechanical Control)

Your magic reshapes the nature of energy itself.

When you deal damage with a spell, you can change its damage type to:

• Fire, Cold, Lightning, Thunder, or Psychic

Additionally, once per turn, when you deal damage with a spell or weapon attack, you can impose one effect:

• Reduce target speed by 10 ft
• Prevent reactions until the start of its next turn
• Impose disadvantage on the next saving throw it makes

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Elastic Acrobatics

Your movements mimic exaggerated, cartoon-like physics:

• You take half damage from falling
• Standing from prone costs only 5 feet of movement
• Opportunity attacks against you are made with disadvantage

Level 14: Grand Finale: Master of the Bit

Chaos Routine (1/Long Rest)

As a bonus action, you enter a heightened performance state for 1 minute:

• At the start of each of your turns:
  • Roll 1d6 twice on the Gag Table and choose either result
• Your movement speed increases by 10 feet
• You have advantage on Dexterity saving throws

Whenever you use Bardic Inspiration:

• On a roll of 5–6, the die is not expended

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Reality Doesn’t Matter

While Chaos Routine is active:

• You can move through enemy spaces
• You ignore difficult terrain
• You cannot be forced prone unless you choose to be