Bard: College of Whistles
Bard College
Old tales speak of the dangers of whistling: the hollow, haunting pitches call to the spirits of the departed and invite them back to the world of the living. Bards of the College of Whistles take these stories and set them to their own warbling tunes, whistling forth their bardic magic and summoning spirits to aid in their travels. These bards wander even more than most of their fellows, drawn to traveling and gathering both stories and ghosts like patches in tattered clothing.
Level 3
The wandering visits table offers suggestions on places you've visited during your travels where you met the various spirits drawn to your whistles. You may use the examples as they're given, mix and match the locations and the spirits, or create your own.
| 1d6 | Location |
|---|---|
| 1 | You found an abandoned tavern with a single place still set at a table in the corner. A melancholy spirit waited there for someone who would never arrive. |
| 2 | Scorched foundations are the only remains of a cottage that burned long ago. The echo of a singing child watched over travelers who stopped there. |
| 3 | You stayed in a manor house's haunted tower quarters. The angry spirit there is the remnant of someone who died, old and infirm - helpless to stop the wickedness they saw from afar. |
| 4 | The mournful song of a lingering soul drew you to an old, covered bridge - the only place where the spirit found hope in life. |
| 5 | An orphanage with a positive reputation housed the hopeful shade of a child who died of sickness. It was a companion to other orphans until they grew or were taken in by homes. |
| 6 | A misty roadside meadow was once the site of a terrible battle. The spirit of a soldier who died there vented its fury against con artists and bandits who preyed upon the roadway. |
You may call forth haints - vagabond spirits. Whenever you inspire a creature with bardic inspiration, you may summon a ghostly apparition that drifts around the inspired target. The haint creates a 15ft. radius aura from the target. It vanishes after 1 minute, when you summon a new haint, when you use the reaction it grants you, or if you are incapacitated or die. Whenever you summon a haint, choose its form:
Grump. This red-tinged, elderly spirit dressed in threadbare rags threatens your foes, and harangues your allies to do better. The inspired creature and any number of creatures of your choice within the aura gain advantage on Intimidation (CHA) checks, and STR saving throws. Additionally, whenever a creature inside the aura deals damage, you may use your reaction to increase the damage dealt to one target by a roll of your bardic inspiration die + CHA.
Sad Sack. The bluish, melancholic spirit saps the fervor from your foes. The inspired creature and its allies within the aura gain half cover against ranged attacks. Additionally, whenever a creature inside the aura takes damage, you may use your reaction to reduce the damage taken by an amount equal to a roll of your bardic inspiration die + CHA.
Scamp. The gold-hued, childlike spirit delights and invigorates your allies. Whenever the inspired creature or any number of creatures of your choice starts a turn in the aura, that creature's speed increases by 10ft. until the end of its next turn. Additionally, whenever a creature inside the aura fails a saving throw, you may use your reaction to let the creature reroll it.
You've shaped the superstition of whistling to the dead into a potent instrument. You gain the following benefits:
Wanderer's Bindle. Whenever you finish a long rest, you may touch a nonmagical bag, sack, or similar container, and turn it into a magical container called a bindle. This container functions as a handy haversack. If you crate a second bindle, if your bindle is more than 1mi. away from you, or if you die, the bindle loses its magic, and anything inside appears in unoccupied spaces closest to the container.
Whistled Spells. You may whistle in place of verbal components for your bard spells. Observers unfamiliar with this tradition must succeed on a DC 15 Arcana (INT) check to recognize your spellcasting for what it is by whistled verbal components alone.
Level 6
You may whistle to conjure a ghostly train that returns you and your companions to a known destination. Whenever you finish a long rest, you may leave a mark at that location using paint, chalk, carving, or some other medium (which may be erased, defaced, or destroyed normally). Thereafter, you may use this feature to cast the @teleportation circle spell using the mark as the destination. Whenever you cast the spell in this way, a phantom train whisks away creatures who enter the circle. You may have a number of marked locations equal to your CHA (minimum of 1) at any one time. If you mark a location beyond your maximum, one mark of your choice will fade. You may use this feature once per long rest. Additionally, when you reach 9th level in this class, you always have the @teleportation circle spell prepared, and may use any of your marked locations as the destination whenever you cast it.
As an action, you may whistle to summon a spectral locomotive into existence. It hurtles forward in a 120ft. long, 10ft. wide line from you, and it passes through objects and creatures. You and up to 6 willing creatures of your choice may hitch a ride on the train. You teleport to an unoccupied space of your choice in the line, and any creatures who accompanied you appear in the closest unoccupied spaces next to you. Each other creature in the line must succeed on a WIS saving throw, or be deafened until the start of your next turn, be pushed up to 10ft. in a straight line away from the line's point of origin, and take an amount of psychic damage equal to 3 rolls of your bardic inspiration die. You may use this feature once per long rest. You may use a spell slot of 3rd level or higher to use this feature without expending a use.
Level 14
The ghostly shrill of your whistle now draws the living closer to the world of the dead. As an action, you blow a whistle that is audible up to 300ft. away from you. Up to 6 creatures of your choice that you can see within that range must succeed on a CHA saving throw, or be cursed for 1 minute. Whenever a cursed target takes psychic damage, it is frightened of the source of that damage until the end of its next turn. The first time a cursed target takes psychic damage, it gains vulnerability to that psychic damage. The target may repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. You may use this feature once per long rest. You may use a spell slot of 7th level or higher to use this feature without expending a use.
Source: The Crooked Moon