Bardic College: College of Cosplay
Bards of this college are masters of disguise, putting time and effort into taking on the visage of popular theatrical characters. They often combine this talent with singing or acting, and commissioning artists to sell their likenesses far and wide. Almost all of them do so from a love of media and a desire to inspire and uplift others.
Illusionists and transmuters may scoff at the intricate process of crafting a disguise that could be done far more easily with magic, but as any performer knows, “you can’t dispel a costume”.
Bonus Proficiencies
When you join this college at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Deception skill if you do not already have it, as well as with disguise kits.
Getting Into Character
From 3rd level, you excel at portraying the characters you cosplay as, convincing onlookers even when they know it’s not “real”. You may take 8 hours working with your disguise kit to create an elaborate costume, which you may then take 1 minute to don or doff; this costume can be of a character popular in the setting’s media, or an OC. Once you have made one such elaborate costume, you may not craft another unless you spend 50gp on materials, or you recycle your old one. While you are wearing the costume, you gain the following benefits:
- You have advantage on Charisma checks made to pass yourself off as the character, or to conceal your true identity beneath.
- You gain proficiency with one skill, tool, or weapon with which the persona you are portraying would also be proficient. When you make an ability check or attack roll using this proficiency, you may expend a use of your Bardic Inspiration and add the die to the roll, potentially changing the outcome. You can do so after rolling but before the GM determines the roll’s success or failure.
At 6th level, you gain two proficiencies relevant to the character instead of one, and you gain three at 14th level.
Character Analysis
Starting at 6th level, you take the lessons you have learned examining fictional characters and turn them on real ones. If you spend at least 10 minutes observing a creature’s conversations, mannerisms, etc., you may learn two of the following pieces of information about it:
- The creature’s Strength and Dexterity scores.
- The creature’s Wisdom and Charisma scores.
- Any skill proficiencies the creature possesses.
- The creature’s class, if it has one.
- The creature’s movement speed(s).
You may only use this feature once per creature, unless your GM allows otherwise.
Method Acting
From 6th level, when you finish a long rest, you may choose one skill, tool, or weapon proficiency from among your current elaborate costumes. You gain this proficiency even while not wearing the costume, until the end of your next long rest.
Singular Focus
At 14th level, you are so in character that you are able to partition your mind, separating your true self from the characters you embody. While you are wearing an elaborate costume from your Getting into Character feature, you gain the following additional benefits:
- You are resistant to psychic damage.
- You are immune to effects that would discern your thoughts, such as telepathy or the Detect Thoughts spell.
- Any magical attempt to alter your memories or current emotional state automatically fails.