College of Gravitas (5e Subclass)
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College of Gravitas[edit]
Bard subclass
The solemn tones of history echo through, often glamorized with tales of valor and smatters of flowery emotion. What stories carry should not be lenses of passion, but rather the true canvas of life. Much of it is moderate, tempered, and not all too shocking. The bards of gravitas are not as eloquent or dressy and showy as the typical bard. They commonly collect lore and stories from normal lives. In worlds where monsters and disasters from the gods can occur often, these lives are grounded in struggles and solemnity. Reality is not as glorious as tales of heroes always make it sound. Gravitas bards are therefore often unknown and seen as somewhat antithetical to bards, who are best known for utilizing showy magic through song and story to bring imagination to life. However, gravitas bards are hiding a great power within their songs of straightforward life and reality. It is believed to create a sort of longing that is almost like a void. This void effectively devours the fantastical and reveals what is serious and dignified despite its seemingly dull sheen.
This college's members gather in similar fashion to that of lore bards. However, they are not bound to libraries or locations of academia. The gravitas bards find a simple tavern or cafe to be an apt place to discuss the low-octane stories they collect. It is very similar to an anonymous meeting's mood, almost. Their numbers are few, as most do not find such things interesting. Gravitas bards appreciate the reality of each other's stories. They point out what they see as possible exaggeration to correct it and are blunt and simple to one another.
- Bonus Proficiencies
When you join the College of Gravitas at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with abilities that allow you to better discern the world around. You gain proficiency in the Investigation and Perception skills. You also have come to appreciate certain mundane aspects of everyday, like the workingman's toil. You gain proficiency in one artisan's tool of your choice.
- Grounded Senses
Also at 3rd level, your senses are honed through gravitas to see through frivolity and fantasy. You gain immunity against being charmed.
- Versatile Simplicity
Starting at 6th level, the solemnity of a spell's power is amplified, if only temporarily, through your simple methods of casting. You gain the following options to "simplify" spells when casting:
- When you cast a spell with a spell slot higher than its lowest level, you can reduce the slot level by 1 and have the spell only deal damage and have no other effects. You can only use this option for spells that deal damage and have an attack roll.
- When you cast a spell that requires material components, you can double the casting time to bypass them. However, any permanent effects the spell has is reduced to lasting only 1 hour.
- When you cast an enchantment spell that requires a saving throw, you can forgo adding your Charisma modifier to the save DC and instead double your proficiency bonus in the DC calculation.
- Dearth Which Follows
Starting at 14th level, your magic becomes antithetical to the normal magic's whimsy. When you cast a spell, you can expend one use of your bardic inspiration. Roll a Bardic Inspiration die. A special gravity field forms around you and lasts for a duration depending on what you rolled. Rolling 1-4 means the field lasts until the end of your next turn. 5-8 is 1 minute. 9-12 is 10 minutes.
For the duration of this field, any magic that is not yours that comes within 30 feet of you has its potency halved. Spells that cause damage within this range deal half as much damage. This includes spells whose trajectory passes through this area. Additionally, any magic that targets you, of a spell level equal to or below your highest slot, is automatically "grounded" and absorbed, giving you a gravitas counter, and you take no effect from the spell. While this field is active, you can choose to dispel it as a bonus action. When you do, you can expend all your gravitas counters as the field collapses to make a devastating burst of deadly energy.
The burst reaches in a 60-foot sphere out from your space, and all creatures in range must make a Charisma saving throw. On a failure, they take damage and are unable to cast spells until the end of their next turn. This burst deals force damage equal to Xd20, where X is equal to your expended gravitas counters. On a successful save, they take half as much damage and are not blocked from using spells. You can use this feature once, regaining usage when you finish a long rest.
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