In 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, subclasses let players add some flair and personality to the standard classes. They are great for homebrewers, since they let players create character options with a strong theme without making a full class progression. However, there are certain things to consider when homebrewing subclasses for different classes. Here are some tips for making a Bard College, either for personal use or publication.

Balancing Spells

Art of fantasy character holding rapier and using magic

Bards have a full spellcasting progression, which means that they get the same progression of spell slot levels as classes like wizards and sorcerers. However, they have a limited number of spells known at any given level. Like sorcerers, this is a method of balancing the versatility of the spellcasting of the class. Unlike sorcerers, this versatility comes not from metamagic, but instead from the usefulness of the bard spell list itself, as well as the ability to choose from the spell lists of other classes at higher levels.

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This balance exists for a reason, so creators should be careful when adding more spells. Bards do not have expanded spell lists for subclasses, so creators that want to add spells that fit the theme of the class may want to include abilities with spell-like effects instead. Creators that really want to add extra spell options should look to the College of Lore for guidance, which adds more known spells at the expense of other abilities.

Jack Of All Trades

Bards are the only class in the game to rival rogues in terms of the useful skills they can get. In addition, abilities like Expertise can increase the effectiveness of certain skills. This means that bards will be able to fulfill a lot of roles that a fighter, or even a wizard, might not. Bards can act as thieves, as trackers, or as diplomats depending on their class skill proficiencies and the proficiencies granted by their background.

Increasing this skill potency should be approached with caution. Bards are already very skilled, and more skill potency could unbalance them. The College of Lore bard adds more skill potency at the expense of more active skills, and it outpaces many other bard subclasses.

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Taking Inspiration

Many subclasses find other uses for Bardic Inspiration. The base use of Bardic Inspiration is already very good. Not many class abilities allow players to add a straight bonus (rather than advantage) to a variety of rolls. Therefore, any more uses for Bardic Inspiration dice should be worth using a limited resource on. This means that they should be good enough to use in place of the basic Bardic Inspiration use, or diverse enough from the original use that they are only useful in certain circumstances.

However, creators should be cautioned against using Bardic Inspiration as purely another resource that is entirely separate from the value of the Bardic Inspiration dice. It cannot lose the uniqueness that is a central part of the class progression.

Creators should keep these guidelines in mind, and make sure they don’t make the subclass too strong or too weak at any given level. As for coming up with the flavor for the archetype, they’ll have to use their imagination for that.

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