Path of the Skald

Through action, a Man becomes a Hero. Through death, a Hero becomes a Legend. Through time, a Legend becomes a Myth. And by learning from the Myth, a Man takes action.

The skáld is the poet-warrior, one who tells and retells the histories of ancestral heroes and their legendary exploits. Over countless generations, these epic sagas have formed a magical quality all their own, enabling the skáld to bolster their allies in combat or dishearten their enemies. Outside of battle, the skáld is a composer, poet, and storyteller. But when the time comes for sword to meet shield, the skáld enters into a furious rage that emboldens their allies through war cries and fearless abandon.

Every skáld has their own manner of recounting the heroic deeds of their allies - poetry, song, dance, musical prowess, or any number of other means. What all skalds hold in common, however, is their desire to light the spark that will push others toward eternal glory and create the greatest stories ever told.

Bonus Proficiencies

3rd-level Path of the Skáld feature

When you choose this path at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with the History skill, calligrapher's supplies, and one instrument of your choice.

Moment of Glory

3rd-level Path of the Skáld feature

Your presence among your allies heartens them towards fabled moments of legendary feats. This can take the form of encouraging words, inspiring poetry, stirring music, or another method of your choice.

When a creature other than yourself within 60 feet of you who can hear you makes a Strength-based ability check, attack roll, or damage roll, you can use your reaction to give that creature one of your Moment of Glory die, a d6. The creature can roll the die and add the result of the roll to their total. You can wait until after the creature rolls the d20 before deciding to use the Moment of Glory die but must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails. Whether the die is rolled or not, it is expended.

 You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. You regain all of your expended Moment of Glory dice when you finish a long rest.

 Your Moment of Glory die changes when you reach certain levels in this class. The die becomes a d8 at 6th level, a d10 at 10th level, and a d12 at 14th level.

Emboldening Rage

3rd-level Path of the Skáld feature

While you are raging, your battle cries grant courage to your allies. When a friendly creature that is within 30 feet of you and can hear your voice receives bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage, they can use a reaction to roll a die equal to the value of your Moment of Glory dice and reduce the damage by the amount shown.

Legend Keeper

6th-level Path of the Skáld feature

You learn to recite epic songs, poems, and sagas using an ancient magical rhyme and meter known as Galdralag, which is invoked by expending your Moment of Glory dice. The powerful recitation of these epics can instill your allies with exceptional resolve, erode the conviction of your foes, or create magical effects.

Epics. You learn three epics of your choice, which are detailed under “Epics” below. You can only be reciting one epic at a time. Many epics require an action to recite, but some require minutes or even hours. If you recite an epic with a length longer than one action, you must spend your action on each turn to continue the recitation. If you stop reciting before the epic is complete, no Moment of Glory dice are expended but the epic does not take effect. If you choose to recite the epic again, you must start over.

You learn two additional epics of your choice at 10th and 14th level. Each time you learn a new epic, you can also replace one epic you know with a different one.

Saving Throws. Some of your epics require your target to make a saving throw to resist the epic’s effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:

Epic save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier

Epics

The epics are presented in alphabetical order.

And the Young, In Iron Clad

Reciting Time: 1 action

Components: V, S

Expend a Moment of Glory die and touch a nonmagical weapon. For the next hour, that weapon becomes a magic weapon with +1 to attack and damage rolls. The bonus increases to +2 when you reach 10th level in this class, and becomes +3 when you reach 14th level in this class.

Arrangement of Baron Samedi

Reciting Time: 10 minutes

Components: V, S

Expend a Moment of Glory die to cast the speak with dead spell as a ritual, requiring no material components.

Aught 'Neath a Saviour's Love

Reciting Time: 1 action

Components: V, S

Expend a Moment of Glory die, and choose a friendly creature other than yourself that can hear you. That creature can apply their proficiency bonus to the next skill check they make, or double its proficiency bonus if they are already proficient with that skill. This has no effect if the skill is already benefitting from an effect, such as Expertise, that doubles its proficiency bonus.

Battle Roar of the Uthgardt Tribes

Reciting Time: 1 action

Components: V

Roll a Moment of Glory die and choose one creature within 10 feet of you that you can see and can hear you. That creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is stunned until the end of your next turn and both you and the target take force damage equal to twice the number rolled. On a success, the target is not stunned and takes half damage. This epic has no effect on constructs.

Be Thou Dol Arrah, Our Vision

Reciting Time: 1 minute

Components: V

Roll a Moment of Glory die and choose a number of creatures other than yourself up to 1 + your proficiency bonus. For the next 8 hours, each creature’s hit point maximum and current hit points increase by the amount rolled on the die plus your Charisma modifier.

Blessing of the Mortal Men

Reciting Time: 1 minute

Components: V, S

Expend a Moment of Glory die and choose a number of friendly creatures that can hear you up to 1 + your proficiency bonus to receive protection from one of the following types of creatures: aberrations, celestials, fey, fiends, or undead (your choice). For the next hour, that type of creature has disadvantage on attack rolls against your chosen allies, and those allies have advantage on any saving throws against being charmed, frightened, or possessed by the creature type you chose.

But Neither Fire Nor Iron Told Upon Them

Prerequisite: 10 levels in this path

Reciting Time: 1 action

Components: V, S

Expend a Moment of Glory die and touch a nonmagical suit of armor or shield. For the next hour, a creature other than yourself wearing (armor) or wielding (shield) the item gains a +1 to armor class. The bonus increases to +2 when you reach 14th level in this class.

Drink and Be Jolly, and Drown Melancholy

Reciting Time: 1 minute

Components: V

Expend a Moment of Glory die and choose a number of creatures up to 1 + your proficiency bonus. Once during the next hour, if a creature you chose drinks a pint of beer, ale, mead, or wine, they regain hit points equal to the maximum value of the expended Moment of Glory die.

Flyting Words of the Master Poet

Reciting Time: 1 action

Components: V

Roll a Moment of Glory die and choose a creature within 60 feet of you that can hear you. The creature must subtract the number rolled from the next saving throw it makes before the start of your next turn.

Forward We, Unto Fate

Reciting Time: 10 minutes

Components: V

Roll a Moment of Glory die. For a number of hours equal to the result shown on the die, you and up to eight companions you choose can conduct a Forced March without making Constitution saving throws to avoid exhaustion (see “Adventuring” for rules on travel pace and forced march). This epic cannot be recited again until you finish a long rest.

Hail, Hail, Lord of the Klauthen Vale

Reciting Time: 1 hour

Components: V

Expend a Moment of Glory die and choose a number of creatures up to 1 + your proficiency bonus. For the next 24 hours, each creature you chose has advantage on saving throws against the breath weapons of creatures with the dragon type and on Charisma skill checks made to interact with dragons.

Mead of Suttungr

Prerequisite: 14 levels in this path

Reciting Time: 1 hour

Components: V, S, M

Expend a Moment of Glory die to cast the legend lore spell as a ritual with a casting time of 1 hour. All material components for the spell are required to complete the casting as part of this epic.

Mnemonic of the Olden Blades

Reciting Time: 11 minutes

Components: V, S

Expend a Moment of Glory die to cast the identify spell as a ritual, requiring no material components.

Rune Word 'Alacrity'

Reciting Time: 1 action

Components: V

Roll a Moment of Glory die and choose a friendly creature within 60 feet who can hear you. That creature can immediately use their reaction to make a weapon attack, adding the number rolled on the Moment of Glory die to the attack’s damage roll.

Rune Word 'Endurance'

Reciting Time: 1 reaction

Components: V

When a friendly creature within 60 feet of you who can hear you takes damage that is not bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing, you can use your reaction to roll a Moment of Glory die and subtract the number rolled from the damage roll. This reduction is applied before any resistances.

Siren of the Effigy Host

Prerequisite: 10 levels in this path

Reciting Time: 1 action

Components: V

Expend a Moment of Glory die, and choose a creature within 60 feet that can hear you. That creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or lose any resistance to either bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage (your choice) until the end of your next turn. If the creature that fails the saving throw has immunity to the type of damage chosen, it has resistance instead.

Wailing Lament of an Elvish Maid

Reciting Time: 1 action

Components: V

Expend a Moment of Glory die. Each creature you choose within 15 feet of you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you for one minute. While frightened in this way, a creature must take the Dash action and move away from you by the safest available route on each of its turns, unless there is nowhere to move. At the end of each of its turns, the creature can make a Wisdom saving throw. On a successful save, the effect ends for that creature.

War Dance of Tāne-rore

Prerequisite: 10 levels in this path

Reciting Time: 1 minute

Components: V, S

Roll a Moment of Glory die and choose a number of creatures other than yourself who can hear and see you equal to 1 + your proficiency bonus. You spend the next minute leading them in an ancient war dance. Each creature gains temporary hit points equal to the number rolled on the die, and for the next hour if they are hit with a weapon attack, their next weapon attack is made with advantage.

With a Good Ship Taught and Free

Reciting time: 10 minutes

Components: V, S

Expend a Moment of Glory die. For the next 12 hours, any seagoing vessel you are embarked on has its travel speed doubled. This epic cannot be recited again until you complete a long rest.

Battle Song

10th-level Path of the Skáld feature

You learn two further epics of your choice. Additionally, if an epic costs an action to recite, you can choose to recite it using a bonus action instead.

Heroes Get Remembered

10th-level Path of the Skáld feature

Your immersion in the myths of heroes past has imbued you with an exceptional recall of history. Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check to recall information about legendary figures or events, you can treat a d20 roll of 9 or lower as a 10.

But Legends Never Die

14th-level Path of the Skáld feature

You learn two further epics of your choice. Additionally, when a creature other than yourself within 30 feet of you that you can see and that can hear your voice is reduced to 0 hit points as a result of taking damage or subjected to an effect that would kill it instantaneously without dealing damage, you can use your reaction to expend a Moment of Glory die to delay the creature falling unconscious until the end of its next turn, at which point the effect ends.

While the creature has 0 hit points, taking damage causes death saving throw failures as normal, and if this effect ends on a creature with three death saving throw failures it dies as normal or falls unconscious if it has 0 hit points. You can choose to maintain the effect on the creature by continuing to expend further Moment of Glory die.