College of Divinity

Bards of the College of Divinity dedicate themselves to a higher understanding of the beings in the upper planes. While clerics may gain divine power through open devotion to their deities, and paladins channel the might of their gods through their conviction to holy oaths, the ecclesiastical bard instead gains divine power through rigorous study and gaining a truer understanding of the nature of the divine.

While some such bards will happily earn their knowledge in the safety of churches and priestly communities, others will often strike out on the roads, becoming travelling mendicants in pursuit of otherworldly knowledge.

Bonus Proficiencies

When you join the College of Divinity at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in Religion, and the ability to speak, read, and write in Celestial.

Scriptures of Divinity

Also at 3rd level, you gain the ability to invoke the powers of the divine to aid you. You gain one Channel Divinity option from either Clerics or Paladins, and gain the ability to use it once per long rest. If a Channel Divinity feature requires a creature to make a save, the DC = 8 + your Proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier.

At 9th-level, you gain an extra Channel Divinity feature of your choice, and the ability to use your Channel Divinity once per short rest. At 14th-level, you gain a third Channel Divinity feature of your choice.

Holy Fervor

Starting at 6th level, when a creature uses your Bardic Inspiration to influence an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, they gain the ability to make one attack with their bonus action until the end of their next turn.

Guardian Angel

At 14th level, you gain the ability to call an angel down from the heavens to protect an ally. As an action, you can place a benevolent ward on an ally for one hour. They gain temporary hit points equal to your Bard level + your Charisma modifier, and the first attack made against them per round is made with disadvantage, as the divine spirit intervenes to protect their ward from harm.

Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.