The bard is an inspiring musician that blends magic and song, inspiring her allies and mastering arcane lore. I’ve always been a fan of prestige classes, and so I present the bard here as a prestige class as an alternative take on how they may fit into a campaign. By presenting the bard as a prestige class, I feel that it provides a way to make bards seem more unique and uncommon while still offering their abilities to those that seek them out.
A number of the features described here are based almost entirely on the wording provided by the original bard class, available under the Open Game License.
| Level | Features | Magical Secrets |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Bardic Inspiration (d6), Jack of All Trades, Spellcasting | — |
| 2nd | Magical Secrets, Song of Rest (d6) | 2 |
| 3rd | Bardic Inspiration (d8) | 3 |
| 4th | Song of Rest (d8) | 3 |
| 5th | Bardic Inspiration (d10), Countercharm | 4 |
| 6th | Song of Rest (d10) | 4 |
| 7th | Bardic Inspiration (d12), Superior Inspiration | 5 |
Prerequisites
In order to advance as a bard, you must meet the following prerequisites (in addition to the multiclassing prerequisites for your existing classes):
- Charisma 13. Bards must be confident and charming.
- Proficiency in the Perform skill. Bards are skilled performers and musicians.
- Complete a special task. You must find and enroll in a bardic college in order to begin training as a bard. Often, joining a bardic college will require a demonstration of skill in the form of a performance or musical act.
Class Features
As a bard, you gain the following class features.
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d8 per bard level
Hit Points per Level: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per bard level
Proficiencies
Tools: Two musical instruments of your choice
Saving Throws: Charisma
Skills: Any one skill
Equipment
You are given one musical instrument by your college when you begin advancing as a bard.
Bardic Inspiration
At 1st level, you learn to inspire others through stirring words or music. To do so, you use a bonus action on your turn to choose one creature other than yourself within 60 feet of you who can hear you. That creature gains one Bardic Inspiration die, a d6.
Once within the next 10 minutes, the creature can roll the die and add the number rolled to one ability check, attack roll, or saving throw it makes. The creature can wait until after it rolls the d20 before deciding to use the Bardic Inspiration die, but must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails. Once the Bardic Inspiration die is rolled, it is lost. A creature can have only one Bardic Inspiration die at a time.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (a minimum of once). You regain any expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Your Bardic Inspiration die changes when you reach certain levels in this class. The die becomes a d8 at 3rd level, a d10 at 5th level, and a d12 at 7th level.
Jack of All Trades
Also at 1st level, you can add half your proficiency bonus, rounded down, to any ability check you make that doesn’t already include your proficiency bonus.
Spellcasting
At 1st level, you have learned to untangle and reshape the fabric of reality in harmony with your wishes and music. Your spells are part of your vast repertoire, magic that you can tune to different situations. See the Bard Spell List section for the bard spell list.
Spell Slots
| Level | Spells Known | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 4 | 2 | — | — | — |
| 2nd | 5 | 3 | — | — | — |
| 3rd | 6 | 4 | 2 | — | — |
| 4th | 7 | 4 | 3 | — | — |
| 5th | 8 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — |
| 6th | 9 | 4 | 3 | 3 | — |
| 7th | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
The Bard Spell Slots table above shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher
You know four 1st level spells of your choice from the bard spell list.
The Spells Known column of the Bard Spell Slots table shows when you learn more bard spells of your choice. Each of these spells must be a level for which you have spell slots, as shown on the table.
Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the bard spells you know and replace it with another spell from the bard spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.
Spellcasting Ability
Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your bard spells. Your magic comes from the heart and soul you pour into the performance of your music or oration. You use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a bard spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Charisma modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier
Ritual Casting
You can cast any bard spell you know as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag.
Spellcasting Focus
You can use a musical instrument as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells.
Magical Secrets
By 2nd level, you have plundered magical knowledge from a wide spectrum of disciplines. Choose two spells from any classes, including this one. A spell you choose must be of a level you can cast, as shown on the Bard table, or a cantrip. The chosen spells count as bard spells for you and do not count against your number of spells known.
You learn additional spells from any classes as you continue to advance as a bard, as shown in the Magical Secrets column of the Bard table.
Song of Rest
Beginning at 2nd level, you can use soothing music or oration to help revitalize your wounded allies during a short rest. If you or any friendly creatures who can hear your performance regain hit points at the end of the short rest by spending one or more Hit Dice, each of those creatures regains an extra 1d6 hit points.
The extra hit points increase to 1d8 when you reach 4th level in this class, and 1d10 when you reach 6th level in this class.
Countercharm
At 5th level, you gain the ability to use musical notes or words of power to disrupt mind-influencing effects. As an action, you can start a performance that lasts until the end of your next turn. During that time, you and any friendly creatures within 30 feet of you have advantage on saving throws against being frightened or charmed. A creature must be able to hear you to gain this benefit. The performance ends early if you are incapacitated or silenced or if you voluntarily end it (no action required).
Superior Inspiration
At 7th level, when you roll initiative and have no uses of Bardic Inspiration left, you regain one use.
Bard Spell List
The following spells can be cast by bards. They are presented in alphabetical order.
1st Level
animal friendship, bane, charm person, comprehend languages, cure wounds, detect magic, disguise self, dissonant whispers, faerie fire, feather fall, healing word, heroism, identify, illusory script, longstrider, silent image, sleep, summon creature, Tasha’s hideous laughter
2nd Level
calm emotions, detect thoughts, enhance ability, enthrall, hold person, invisibility, knock, lesser restoration, locate animals and plants, locate object, magic mouth, silence, skywrite, suggestion, zone of truth
3rd Level
catnap, clairvoyance, dispel magic, fear, hypnotic pattern, Leomund’s tiny hut, major image, plant growth, sending, tongues
4th Level
charm monster, compulsion, confusion, greater invisibility, hallucinatory terrain, locate creature
Number Three, Never Forget 