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In the world ofDungeons & Dragons, bards have always believed that music was the language of the universe. Through music, one could harness the fundamental energies and channel them into magical endeavors, whether that’s encouraging your friends to greater feats of heroism or chucking a fireball at a particularly nasty golem.
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Bards who enroll with the College of Creation take this knowledge to the next level. Through music, a College of Creation bard can harness their fundamental knowledge of the cosmos to bring into being anything their heart desires or even imbue life into previously lifeless objects. If you want to sing the song of creation for your party, read on to learn how to build a College of Creation bard.
Features Of A College Of Creation Bard
Once you join the College of Creation, creating whatever you want becomes possible.Performance of Creation, learned at level three, allows you to create any nonmagical item of your choice as an action, provided it is medium size or smaller and is worth no more than 20 times your bard level in gold.
The created itemlasts a number of hours equal to your proficiency bonus. Once performed, you cannot use this feature again until you finish a long rest or unless you expend a spell slot of second level or higher. Only one item may be created at a time. The size of the item increases tolargeat level six andhugeat level 14.
Your Performance of Creation gets even better at level 14 withCreative Crescendo, which allows you to create up to five items at once provided none of them are larger than a small size item. It also removes the gold value limit on items.
Items created with Performance of Creation can fulfill the material requirements of certain spells. For example, Heroes' Feast requires a gem-encrusted bowl worth 1,000 gold–something a College of Creation bard can create after reaching level 14.
A College of Creation bard also learns improved Bardic Inspiration abilities at level three.Mote of Potentialadds three different effects to Bardic Inspiration depending on how the die is used.
If used on an ability check, the Bardic Inspiration die can be rolled twice, with the roller choosing which die to use.If used on an attack roll, the target and each creature within five feet of it makes a Constitution saving throw or takes thunder damage equal to the number rolled on the Bardic Inspiration die.If used on a saving throw, the roller gains temporary hit points equal to the number rolled plus your Charisma modifier.
At level six,Animating Performanceallows the College of Creation bard to animate a large or smaller nonmagical object into a Dancing Item. The object lives for one hour, has a number of hit points equal to five times your bard level plus 10, and can be ordered to take certain actions in combat using your bonus action.
Although the itemcan be ordered to attack, simply being within 10 feet of the item can cause yourmovement speed to increase by 10 feetuntil the end of the round or can cause an enemy’s speed to decrease by 10 feet.
The Dancing Item has aflying speed of 30 feet, allowing the College of Creation bard tofly simply by standing atop it.
Best Species For A College Of Creation Bard
You can choose to play any species and still be reasonably effective as a College of Creation bard. However, there are a few species that offer unique perks that synergize well with the College of Creation bard’s abilities.Here are a few suggested species.
Autognome
Armored Casingwill often outperform light armor for your AC.Built for Successgives you your own smaller Bardic Inspiration die, and Healing Machine lets you regain HP from an easy-to-cast cantrip.Immunity to disease,advantage against being paralyzed and poisoned, andremaining conscious during sleepare all nice bonuses.
Deep Gnome
Disguise SelfandNondetectionare two great spells for a bard to know and frees up some spell slots.Gnomish Magic Resistanceoffers excellent protection against spells, andstealthandDarkvisionare two more great bonuses that all bards can use.
Elf
All elves haveDarkvision,charm resistance, and only need to sleep half as long as other species. There are two elf subspecies that are particularly good for bards.Drow(dark elves) learn the spellsDancing Lights,Faerie Fire, andDarkness, whilehigh elves can learn any wizard cantrip.
Fairy
If you want tofly all the time, fairies are a good choice. Fairies also learn theFaerie Firespell andEnlarge/Reduce, freeing up spell slots for other potential spells.
Firbolg
Detect MagicandDisguise Selfare two phenomenal spells, and being able to turn invisible in combat can keep you out of harm’s way.Being able to talk to beasts and vegetationis also nice and saves you from needing to learn Speak to Animals and Plants
Fire Genasi
Produce Flameis a better damage-dealing cantrip than Vicious Mockery.Burning Handsis also a nice AOE damage spell, but you’re probably not going to get much use out ofFlame Blade.Darkvisionandfire resistanceare both groovy.
Githrezai
Bards don’t learnShieldon their own outside Magic Secrets, andDetect Thoughtsand Mage Hand are also nice to have.Resistance to psychic damageandadvantage against being charmed or frightenedare good combat bonuses.
Goblin
Fury of the Smallworks on spells.Darkvision,charm resistance, and being able tohide or disengage as a bonus actionare all great reasons to play a goblin.
Half-Elf
Half-elves canchoose the high half-elf subspecies to gain access to a free wizard cantrip. Other than that,charm resistance,some skills, andthree stat boostsare good, but not as useful as on other bard subclasses.
Variant Human
Pick the Magic Initiate featto gain access totwo more cantrips. There’s no other reason to play this species.
Kenku
Kenku gaintwo skill proficienciesandadvantage on any skillthat has proficiency. Become your team’s skill-based character as a Kenku.
Kobold
Draconic Sorcerygives you access to a sorcery cantrip, which will provide you with a better source of damage than Vicious Mockery.Darkvisionis always good, andDraconic Cryis nice to have, but you’ll more than likely be away from the front line as a bard.
Tiefling
Tieflings provide spell-hungry bards withmore spells. There are a number of subspecies that offer a spell for every occasion, although the base tiefling’sThaumaturgy,Hellish Rebuke, andDarknessare just fine.Darkvisionandfire resistanceare also good to have.
Water Genasi
You’ll eventually be able to fly on the back of an animated broom as a College of Creation bard, but you may’tswim or breathe underwater. Water genasi can, and they also learnAcid Splash,Water Walk, andCreate or Destroy Watertoo.
If you decide to go as kobold, elf, half-elf, or variant human, consider taking eitherFireboltorToll the Deadas your cantrip. Both are great damage options that will scale well into the late game.
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Best Ability Scores For A College Of Creation Bard
College of Creation bards should lean into their magicmore than other bard subclasses. While you have proficiency with simple weapons, light armor, and rapiers, you don’t get any additional attacks, which means your physical damage will always lag well behind martial characters or bards of theCollege of SwordsorValor.
Make Charisma your top priorityas a College of Creation bard, withConstitutionandDexterityasyour secondary stats. Charisma empowers your spells, while Constitution improves your hit points and Dexterity improves your AC.Strength,Intelligence, andWisdom can all be safely ignored.
If you’re using D&D’s point buy system,a decent starting ability score spreadfor a College of Creation bard might look something like this.
10(0)
14(+2)
16(+3)
8(-1)
Best Starting Equipment For A College Of Creation Bard
Therapieris your best option for physical damage when necessary, so pick that over other simple weapons. Anentertainer’s packhas a few more useful items than a diplomat’s pack, so pick that too.
Choose whatever instrument you like as your spellcasting focus. A lute is suggestion, but it can really be anything, so get creative.Leather armorand adaggerare fine to start, butyou’ll want to find studded leather armoras soon as possible.
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Best Spells For A College Of Creation Bard
As a spellcaster, your spells are your most important tools. Bards, unfortunately, don’t get the ability to refresh their spell list every long rest, so picking the right spells is doubly important.Here are a few spells we’d recommendas a College of Creation bard.
Ninth Level
Magical Secretsoffers a few more spells from other classes which a College of Creation bard should consider.Counterspellis a staple that all spellcasters should have, andHealat level 14 is the best single-target healing spell in the game before Power Word Heal. At level 18,Wishis by far the strongest thing you may get.
