Bardic College
College of Pyrotechnics
The College of Pyrotechnics is for bards whose art is less about song and dance than alchemistry — bards driven to create dazzling displays of fireworks. They construct impressive rockets, able to explode with brilliant colors and thundering sound. They often find employment serving celebrations and parades, but are equally likely to be pressed into military service when their art if required.
Pyrotechnics bards are astounding entertainers, able to delight and amaze with their curious arts. They use magic to augment their fireworks, producing colors and shapes impossible with chemistry alone. Virtually all pyrotechnics bards have backgrounds involving apprenticeship or study, enabling them to learn their rarified art. They tend towards good and neutral alignments; black-hearted villains usually find more direct routes to power than entertainment displays.
College of Pyrotechnics Features
| Bard Level | Features |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Expert Illuminator, Delightful Sparklers, Fireworks Displays |
| 6th | Intentional Misfire, Emergency Flare |
| 14th | All-Fire |
Expert Illuminator
When you join the College of Pyrotechnics at 3rd level, you learn the basics of alchemical ignition and pyrotechnic displays. You gain proficiency with alchemist's supplies or another set of tools if you are already proficient. When you make ability checks to craft bombs or fireworks, you do so with advantage.
Delightful Sparklers
Also at 3rd level, you can produce small fireworks for others to use. A creature holding one of your Bardic Inspiration dice can use it to throw one of these small explosives as a bonus action. When it does so, one creature within 15 feet of it makes its next attack roll before the end of its next turn with disadvantage. If the attack still hits, its damage is reduced by one roll of the die.
Additionally, while a creature holds one of your Bardic Inspiration dice, it can choose to emit bright light in a 10-foot radius.
Fireworks Displays
Also at 3rd level, you learn how to produce stunning displays of fireworks, amazing your enemies and stunning your foes. As an action, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to perform any of your Fireworks Displays. If the Display calls for a saving throw, it uses your spell save DC. When you perform a display, you can enhance its effects by expending a spell slot of any level.
Dazzling Display
You fire a rocket at a point you can see within 120 feet. The rocket explodes in a brilliant display of color and smoke, forcing each creature within 30 feet to succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of its next turn.
Enhancement. If you expend a spell slot, creatures failing the saving throw take 1d12 radiant damage for each slot level.
Inspiring Display
You fire a series of rockets up into the sky, impressing onlookers. Up to four creatures of your choice that can see the display clearly are heartened by it, gaining temporary hit points equal to one roll of your Bardic Inspiration die.
Enhancement. If you expend a spell slot, the temporary hit points are increased by the slot level, and you can choose two more creatures for each slot level.
Intentional Misfire
At 6th level, you learn to create a new type of Fireworks Display.
Repurposed Rocket
You launch a damaged rocket which emits a shower of sparks along its path before exploding in a blast of light and sound. As an action, you can launch this rocket at a point you can see within 120 feet. The rocket throws sparks in a 5-foot-wide line as it travels, causing every creature in its path to succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take fire damage equal to half your bard level.
When the rocket reaches its destination, it explodes, causing every creature within 30 feet to make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, a creature takes 4d4 thunder damage and is deafened and staggered (reducing its speed by half) until the end of its next turn; on a success, it takes half as much damage and suffers no other effects.
Enhancement. If you expend a spell slot, every creature that fails either saving throw against the rocket's effects takes 2d4 fire damage for each slot level.
Emergency Flare
Also at 6th level, you can throw a Delightful Sparkler as a reaction before a creature attacks you.
All-Fire
At 14th level, you devise a method for releasing massive quantities of fireworks, all at once. As an action, you can expend any number of Bardic Inspiration dice. For each die you expend, you perform one of your Fireworks Displays, all simultaneously. Every creature that fails any saving throw takes additional radiant damage equal to one roll of all the Bardic Inspiration dice spent. No creature can be affected by the same type of display more than once. When performed in this way, you can only enhance one display by expending a spell slot.
You can perform an All-Fire once, regaining its use after a long rest.
College of Pyrotechnics quirks
The following are some optional quirks for a player of this subclass to choose from.
| d6 | Quirk |
|---|---|
| 1 | You like to dress in bright and shimmering colors, like your fireworks. |
| 2 | Your fingertips have permanent scorch marks. |
| 3 | You don't have any eyebrows. |
| 4 | In dark places, you prefer carrying sparklers to torches. |
| 5 | You jealously guard the secrets of your craft. |
| 6 | You always smell of gunpowder. |
Change Log
v0.2
- Added duration to Repurposed Rocket
- Fixed typos
v0.2
- Moved Delightful Sparklers to 3rd
- Added Emergency Flare at 6th
- Reworked Displays (and renamed from Pyrotechnics Displays to Fireworks Displays)
- Added spell slot dependence, changed usage from independent to BI-linked, generally reduced effects
v0.1
- Rough Draft
Credits & References:
- College of Pyrotechnics created by somanyrobots | Discord | Patreon
Art
- Explosive Welcome, by Mathias Kollros © Wizards of the Coast LLC
- Bilbo's Birthday, by Livia Prima © Wizards of the Coast LLC
Background Image Stains
Fan Content Policy
This work is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
5E SRD Content
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available here.
The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available here.
