College of The Dark Place
A Writer's Dream
In the darkest, most desolate corners of the Shadowfell lie boundless oceans of darkness masquerading as mere lakes. Lying inside these stagnant pools are immaterial presences who yearn for the beauty of creation, but lack the ability to create. These Dark Places are only able to twist what has been given to them to suit their own wants, and so seek out artists to patronize. It is one of these esoteric Dark Places that emboldens your work- through a mutually beneficial pact, a parasitic leech upon your imagination, or a cursed muse, they teach the true potential of your craft. The only cost for such power? An otherworldly editor, heavy with biased revisions should the artist's creative vision falter...
Take Control
Starting at 3rd level, you learn to twist fate through your work and change the genre of you and your allies' story to something else, a darker story, maybe- but something under your control. When you bestow an ally a Bardic Inspiration die, you can transform it with one of the following Genres.
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Mystery Die- The killer always gets away with it... at first. When a creature rolls a Mystery die and still fails, they gain a normal Inspiration Die in its place.
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Tragedy Die- Nothing as tragic as hope for the impossible. When a creature rolls a Tragedy die, and the roll on the Tragedy die is higher than the roll on their d20, they can roll one additional Inspiration die.
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Horror Die- To kill the monster, the hero must pay the price. When a creature whose current hit points are less than half of their maximum rolls a Horror die, they can add their Proficiency Bonus to the roll.
Balance Slays The Demon
Also at 3rd level, your familiarity with the dark has, adversely, taught you how to bring out the true strengths of light. You learn the Light and Faerie Fire spells if you didn't know them already. Your light-casting magic is also amplified, gaining the following benefits:
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The first time each turn you damage a creature or object that is illuminated by bright light created by your spells, you deal an additional 1d4 Radiant damage.
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While holding an object that is casting bright light, you can use an action to "Flash Light" and focus it at a creature within the bright light's range you can see. The creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC, or else take Radiant damage equal to your Bard level, and be blinded until the end of their next turn. Using an action to Flash Light will extinguish the light source used.
The Poet and The Muse
Starting at 6th level, you hone your ability to weave spells that rely on creative input, as your talents begin to bend the rules of spellcraft. You learn the Command spell if you do not know it already. When you cast this spell your command can be spoken or written (replacing the Verbal component with Somatic) and can be up to five words long, but must be formatted in narrative prose. Furthermore, when the spell is cast at higher levels, you can choose to increase this word limit by 1 rather than the number of targets.
For Example:
"Lor'Kag dropped his beloved battleaxe."
"Victoria sneezed on the King."
And at Level 9: "Nezznar broke his scepter over his knee, and hurled both halves into the volcano."
Wide Awake
Also at 6th level, you have emboldened your light's power through supplemental writings. You have a +1 to your Armor Class against attacks made by creatures illuminated by bright light cast by your spells.
Herald of Darkness
At 14th level, you learn not just how to create, but to Scratch out what should be forgotten.
As an action, you magically steal the inner light of a creature you can see within 30 feet, attempting to Scratch them out of your story and submerge their narrative presence into the Dark Place. The target must make a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC. On a successful saving throw, the creature is aware they were targeted by hostile magic. A creature immune to being Charmed automatically succeeds on this save.
On a failed saving throw, the target is Scratched out of your story. While Scratched, the creature is charmed, has resistance against all damage except Radiant, and anyone other than you who attempts to remember the creature's name, deeds, or even existence for the duration of the effect must first succeed on an Insight(Widsom) check against your Spell Save DC.
The creature is Scratched for the next 8 hours, and can repeat its save against the effect whenever it takes damage. While Scratched the creature stumbles mindlessly about and takes no actions other than the Dodge action, but can be verbally commanded to take other actions by anyone it can hear and understand, defaulting to its most recently heard command. The Scratched creature is incapable of casting spells, or communicating in any way, except for the muttering of random phrases it has heard within the past 24 hours.
When a creature is released from this effect it has no memory of what transpired while it was Scratched, but it knows that it was charmed by vile magic.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.
Champion of Light
At 14th level, you have mastered the ability to draw power out of even the smallest glimmer of light. Any of your spells, abilities, or class features that require bright light now also work with dim light, and you can have up to two instances of the Light spell active at once.
Angel Lamp
Wondrous item, Rare (Requires Attunement)
A small brass statue of a seraphic woman, whose head was replaced with a light absorbing crystal ball.
While holding this lamp, you can use an action to point it towards a source of bright light you can see within 15 feet, causing it to immediately extinguish. When you do so, the Lamp gains one charge. While holding the lamp, you can use an action to expend 1 or more of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it, using your spell save DC:
Continual Flame or Pyrotechnics (1 charge), Faerie Fire (2 charges). or Beacon of Hope (4 charges).
The lamp can hold up to 4 charges at a time, and loses any remaining charges at sunrise each day.
The Clicker
Wondrous item, Legendary
A small electric switch, unremarkable in appearance. It radiates a maternal comfort when clasped tightly in your hand.
The Clicker is an unassuming magical artifact with immense power, sought after and feared in equal measure. A creature holding the Clicker can use its power by spending a minute in concentration, focusing their attention on a work of fiction they can see or hear. After the minute ends, pressing the clicker will unceremoniously transform the work of fiction into fact.
A subject in a photograph becomes a fully tangible, exact copy of the real thing, a painting of a landscape transforms the nearest approximate landscape into a copy of the painting, and a historical drama re-writes history as to become an accurate retelling of events. Only creatures familiar with the work of fiction are aware any kind of change has taken place. The powers of the Clicker are far-reaching and often have unforseen consequences required to manifest this new reality- for example, changing a fictional poem about a King dying into fact may require the creation of an entire guild of assassins powerful enough to do so, and duplicating a one-of-a-kind sword retroactively suggests even further copies could have been made.
After the Clicker is used, it vanishes, reappearing in a random mundane location (such as a bedside table in an inn) within 100 miles.
Sources:
Graffiti Header: Textures from Alan Wake 2®, Remedy Entertainment, texture rip from "AutisticAce."
Watercolor Splashes: /u/flamableconcrete's wonderful gallery.
Cityscape Footer: Alan Wake 2 promotional article.
Subclass inspired by Remedy Entertainment's Alan Wake®
Created by WickerWight
