College of Contrivance

The College of Contrivance is one occupied by those with bardic talent who find themselves preferring to wield their mind, rather than their mouth, as a weapon. They are able tacticians, often successfully enacting plans with a small group -- such as a squad or adventuring party -- that rightly should not work. Some are skilled, lateral thinkers who simply have no desire to use a spellbook and spend hours doing research; others are silver-tongued tricksters with a gleeful sense of superiority over those who cannot keep up with them. What is undeniable is that they all have a more intellectual bent than most bards, and relative to the College of Lore, they greatly prefer practice over theory. 

Bards of the College of Contrivance can be at once more explicable and more confusing that their fellows. Some such bards wear holy symbols and utter prayers as they heal, in hopes of better emulating the healing prowess of clerics. Still others disdain the typical arcanist, yet remove specific pages from tomes on magic for later, more thoughtful study, in the hope of mastering the most useful elements of wizardry without spending years mastering all of them. Those who relish battle will often carry multiple weapons, including those they cannot use, to confuse those who would size them up -- or just in case a potentially useful ally happens to need one.

To the rest of the world, these bards may appear to be resourceful folk who see all areas of life, from battle to magic to religion, as opportunities... or they may simply look like charlatans, trying to seem more specialised and more credible than their dilettante training really makes them.

Bardic Sagacity

When you join the College of Contrivance at 3rd level, you use your Intelligence (instead of your Charisma) as your spellcasting modifier for Bard Spellcasting, and to determine your number of Bardic Inspiration uses.

Adaptability

Also at 3rd Level, you select one of the following two class features. Each class feature provides you with a new way to spend Bardic Inspiration dice.

Inspired Combat: Select two Battle Master maneuvers, as per the Battle Master subclass. You may spend a Bardic Inspiration die in place of a superiority die to use these maneuvers. You also gain a +1 bonus to Armour Class when you are not wearing medium or heavy armour.

Inspired Theurgy: You may spontaneously cast wizard cantrips and 1st- and 2nd-level spells by spending one Bardic Inspiration die, plus one per spell level, and a bard spell slot of the appropriate level. You cast each spell at the lowest level possible.

Speed of Thought

Starting at 6th level, you can spend one Bardic Inspiration die to Dash or Disengage as a Bonus Action. Once per turn when you do so, you may add your Intelligence modifier to damage on one attack with a Finesse melee or ranged weapon.

Grand Plan

Starting at 14th level, when one ally spends a Bardic Inspiration die you gave them, you may use your Adaptability class feature or Speed of Thought once on your next turn without spending a Bardic Inspiration die. If your Adaptability class feature requires you to spend multiple Bardic Inspiration dice, you spend one less. Once you benefit from this class feature, you may not do so again until you finish a Short or Long Rest.