College of Cymbalism (Side B)

A bard who uses an innate sense of vibration and groove to protect against magic. Everything is, when you get right down to it, energy. And just like artists sustain themselves with their crafts and enjoy them as much as food or drink, a particularly quirky artisan knows how to manipulate that energy to protect their allies.

Compact Disk

Your skill in enchanting and tinkering allows you to prepare a small shield to collect and channel magical energies through vibrations ("Weavelengths"). This may be made from any durable, reverberating material (tortoiseshell, metal, bone, wood, etc.), carved fresh, or adapted from an existing shield. Modified shields lose whatever existing magical properties they had. This process takes about 4 hours.

You cannot use two-handed weapons with your shield and the magical etchings reduce the shield's durability by half (+1 AC). However, you may cast spells with your occupied shield arm.

Bonus Proficiencies

You have proficency in shields, arcana and tinkerer's tools. You have double profiency for activites relating to percussion instruments, such as drums.

You also know Thunderwave and Thunderclap, which don't count against your bard spells known.

The Cymbal of Power

A number of times equal to your charisma modifer per long rest, you may make a direct attack with your Compact Disk as a Shove action. The target then must make a saving throw. If they succeed, they are deafened for a minute. If they fail, they also are knocked prone for one turn and have disadvantage on any spells cast for one minute.

Bonus Tracks

Your subclass grants you a number of optional effects that use a charge of your Bardic Inspiration. You may freely "burn" new Tracks on your CD shield but cannot replace existing tracks. Instead, you may prepare an entirely new Compact Disk during a Long Rest, which renders the previous shield inert.  The total amount of tracks per shield is half your bard level, minus 2 (minimum one track). 

 

Club Music

You learn the Shillelagh cantrip.

Flying Off The Shelves

Your compact disc shield counts as an improvised weapon with a thrown range of 30 feet, doing 1d8 force damage and magically returning to your hand. You may another d8 damage by burning an equivalent level spell slot, up to 3d8.

Freedom of Groovement

Your marching brand training allows you and your targets to ignore speed effects caused by magic or difficult terrain for up to ten minutes, but only if you move at walking pace. You also have advantage on any CON checks while marching.

Good Vibrations

You gain Tremorsense in a 20 foot radius. The distance is doubled if the user is prone, or in dim-to-dark conditions.

Hum A Few Bars

Per long rest, You can use your charisma score in place of intelligence/wisdom checks for saving or proficiency rolls a number of times 1/4th your total bard level (rounded down).

Noise Pollution

You learn how to use your wit to distract, confuse, and otherwise sap the confidence and competence of others. When a creature that you can see within 60 feet of you makes an attack roll, an ability check, or a damage roll, you can use your reaction to expend one of your uses of Bardic Inspiration, rolling a Bardic Inspiration die and subtracting the number rolled from the creature’s roll. You can choose to use this feature after the creature makes its roll, but before the DM determines whether the attack roll or ability check succeeds or fails, or before the creature deals its damage. The creature is immune if it can’t hear you or if it’s immune to being charmed.

Rocked But Rolled

You and your targets gain resistance to two types elemental damages (lighting, fire, cold, acid, or poison) for ten minutes. You may switch to two different types after a Long Rest.

Show Stopper

If they don't already know it, the bard learns Absorb Elements and Counterspell, and can cast it at their highest spell level once per long rest.

Simply Irresistible

For ten minutes, your magic spells ignore elemental resistances. If a target is normally immune to the damage, you may treat it as merely resistant to that damage.

Thunderous Applause

Once per short rest, you may cast Thunderwave at your highest spell level without costing a spell slot.

Wall of Sound

Your skill in constructing magic items returns your shield to its normal defense rating, and gives you resistance to force and thunder damage.

Peerless Skill

When you make an ability check, you can expend one use of Bardic Inspiration. Roll a Bardic Inspiration die and add the number rolled to your ability check. You can choose to do so after you roll the die for the ability check, but before the DM tells you whether you succeed or fail.