68
votes
Accepted
How to explain Bard getting College education suddenly?
Bardic Colleges are not modern Colleges.
A "college education" means something specific in the modern world: it means that someone has gone to a specific kind of educational institution to get a ...
- 63.4k
57
votes
Accepted
Can a Lore bard's Cutting Words feature cancel a critical hit?
Apparently, you cannot. At least not any more.
Jeremy Crawford, the lead rules designer of D&D 5e, was asked in December 2015:
@JeremyECrawford Can I cancel a "Natural 20 Critical Hit" ...
- 27.5k
55
votes
If a College of Creation bard created 829 tons of iron on top of a guard shack, how much damage would it to do to people inside?
Either 0 damage, or you cannot create the object.
The Performance of Creation feature states:
The item must appear on a surface or in a liquid that can support it.
Therefore, either the guard house ...
- 144k
53
votes
Accepted
Bards acting as rogues?
Class names and in-universe terms don't need to be the same
What, really, is a 'bard'? It's somebody who earns their living by entertaining people with music and song. This doesn't require any form of ...
- 36.3k
51
votes
Accepted
Can a bard cast Vicious Mockery without passersby thinking it's an attack?
Debatable: but it's still insulting
The general rules for spellcasting suggest that when a spell has a verbal component, this may be more than any common speech you must make to cast the spell. As an ...
- 38k
47
votes
Accepted
Is Bard level 20 utterly worthless, mechanically?
Yes, it is particularly underwhelming.
Suppose your table actually runs what the Dungeon Master's Guide calls The Adventuring Day:
Assuming typical adventuring conditions and average luck, most ...
- 144k
45
votes
Accepted
WotC Pre-rolled Level 1 Bard Character - Can't get it right in D&D Beyond
It looks to me like you may have missed out adding character background
A 'background' adds two extra proficiencies to your character, so missing that out would account for the shortfall you've ...
- 25k
42
votes
Accepted
What are the consequences if I allow a Bard to use Bardic Inspiration on himself?
Allowing a bard to inspire himself is giving him a close variation on the level 14 ability of the Lore bard (Peerless Skill). The timing is a bit weaker, but the bard would be able to use the die on ...
- 2,392
38
votes
How does Jack of All Trades interact with Reliable Talent?
As of 2019, the new Sage Advice Compendium clearly states that they don't interact.
These aren't allowed to work together on a single check.
Can the rogue’s Reliable Talent feature be used in ...
- 5,955
38
votes
Do Bard and Rogue expertise stack?
No, they specifically do not stack
From the basic rules:
Occasionally, your proficiency bonus might be multiplied or divided (doubled or halved, for example) before you apply it. For example, the ...
- 9,422
37
votes
Can College of Lore magical secrets be traded at level up?
Well, there's good news, and there's bad news. The good news is that you can trade away the spells from Magical Secrets. The bad news is that you can only trade them for bard spells.
The rules on ...
- 144k
37
votes
How many spells does a Bard have at 20th level?
Magical Secrets is a base bard ability that grants you two choices at level 10 , 14 and 18.
You are missing this important part of 'Magical Secrets'
"....the chosen spells count as bard spells and ...
- 18.6k
37
votes
Is Bard level 20 utterly worthless, mechanically?
It's useless, if you mainly use Inspiration in combat
This might seem like a strange statement, since Superior Inspiration triggers upon entering combat, but it's important to keep in mind how this ...
- 6,412
36
votes
Accepted
Can a bard use a greatsword?
Well technically you could wield anything as a weapon, you just wouldn't have much success with it (you do not add your proficiency bonus to attacks, which is a +2 at 1st level). To be competent with ...
- 61.3k
34
votes
Accepted
How does multi-classing Sorcerer/Bard total spell slots work at lv 20/20?
You're on homebrew territory
Multiclassing a character to maximum level in multiple classes is not possible under the base rules. The maximum character level is 20, so the total levels you have in ...
- 53.8k
33
votes
Accepted
Can Zombies be Inspired?
Yes.
As you point out, the text of Bardic Inspiration does not exclude any creature types, which means that RAW, zombies can be inspired.
This is not weird
The MM entries for zombies explicitly ...
- 63.4k
33
votes
Can a bard cast Vicious Mockery without passersby thinking it's an attack?
Everyone knows that bardic tongues get vicious.
It would entirely reasonable to figure that Vicious Mockery could be done without obvious spellcasting, but by the same token, in a world where that was ...
- 25.4k
33
votes
Accepted
Does a kenku bard need an instrument, or can they use Mimicry for one?
Your DM does not get to make determinations like this in Adventurers League play.
The rules are quite clear on spell components. As far as material components goes:
Casting some spells requires ...
- 48.2k
33
votes
How many skill proficiencies do I choose as a Triton Bard?
You should have 5
There are three possible sources to skill proficiency upon character creation: race, background, class.
Tritons don't give proficiency in any skills, so aren't relevant.
The folk ...
- 48k
31
votes
Accepted
Does Jack Of All Trades allow me to keep the bonus after I become proficient in the skill later?
You cannot gain the bonus from both Jack of all Trades and Proficiency, they are mutually exclusive.
You're misunderstanding the way ability checks work. An ability check is:
To make an ability ...
- 144k
31
votes
Accepted
Does Jack of all trades affect AC?
No. Armor Class is not an ability check.
The PHB does not describe armor class(AC) as an ability check. Armor class is its own in-game thing.
Armor protects its wearer from attacks. The armor (and ...
- 142k
30
votes
Accepted
Does Bard's Jack of all Trades increase passive checks?
Yup, you halve-and-add your proficiency bonus to even passive checks.
Jack of all Trades. ...add half your proficiency bonus, rounded down, to any ability check you make that doesn't already include ...
- 101k
30
votes
Accepted
Vicious Mockery on non-humanoid targets?
By the rules, you are correct. The spell affects a creature (a rat qualifies) you can see (which you could) that can hear you (which it could).
However, DMs do have the ability to change the rules ...
- 175k
30
votes
Accepted
Possible issues of a player switching Bard archetypes randomly with long rests?
Mechanical complexity
Even playing a normal caster, the mechanical complexity of the spell library is not trivial to manage. With the subclass swapping, one'd effectively be doubling the difficulties ...
- 53.8k
29
votes
Accepted
What specifically does the bard's Jack of All Trades feature apply to?
Just as it says, Jack of All Trades applies to all ability checks. For the purposes of your character sheet, that means adding it to your skills, so your Athletics 0 + 1 is correct. Remember that it ...
- 144k
29
votes
Accepted
Can a Valor bard Ready a bard spell, then use the Battle Magic feature to make a weapon attack before releasing the spell?
Yes.
The Ready action specifies that
When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but hold its energy, which you release with your reaction when the trigger occurs.
So when you take the Ready ...
- 7,105
29
votes
Are you saving 'against' an effect if that effect applies when you successfully save?
A really strict reading of just the stats block implies that countercharm cannot help in this case.
A Bard's countercharm grants advantage to saving throws against being charmed or frightened. The ...
- 24k
28
votes
Accepted
Can Bardic Inspiration be used on a roll replaced by Portent?
Yes, in fact you can.
5e rules designer Jeremy Crawford, gives an unofficial ruling in this tweet:
@IgnatiusJRiell The portent die is intended to replace a d20 roll only, not any modifiers applied to ...
- 260
28
votes
Accepted
Can a Bard use the Spell Glyph option of the Glyph of Warding spell and cast a known spell into the glyph?
Yes, if it's a Bard spell.
For Bards, learned spells are prepared spells, according to the general rule for Spells Known and Prepared:
Before a spellcaster can use a spell, he or she must have the ...
- 29.4k
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