College of Ventriloquism (5e Subclass)
College of Ventriloquism[edit]
Bard Subclass
Bards who belong to the College of Ventriloquism learn how to use their skills to manipulate others, or put on a phenomenal show. Using their dolls, they can weave magic from a distance.
- Ventriloquist’s Doll
When you join the College of Ventriloquism at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with woodcarver’s tools. Using these, you may create a Ventriloquist’s Doll out of 25GP worth of wood and paints as an hour-long activity. This doll is an arcane focus for you.
- Uncanny Tongue
Also at 3rd level, you have learned how to project your voice so that it may sound as though it comes from any point within 60 feet of you, and sound like any creature you have heard speak before.
- Unseen Strings
At 3rd Level, you have learned how to puppet the doll from a distance using your magic. As an action, you may place the doll on the ground and cause it to animate: when you take this action, the doll may move up to its movement, and you may attempt to hide as a bonus action.
The animated doll functions as a tiny construct, with hit points equal to your Charisma modifier + your Proficiency Bonus, an Armour Class equal to 10 + your Charisma modifier + your Proficiency Bonus, and a movement speed of 30 feet. If the doll must make a saving throw, it automatically fails Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saves, and any Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma saves use your modifiers. The doll has immunity to necrotic, poison, and psychic damage, but if it takes psychic damage, you take the damage instead. The doll is also immune to the charmed, exhaustion, poisoned, and frightened conditions. If the doll is reduced to 0 hit points, it is destroyed, and if it is ever more than 60 feet from you, it falls inert.
When the doll is inanimate, you may fix it with woodcarver’s tools to full hit points in 1 hour. While the doll is animated, you may, as a bonus action, expend a use of your bardic inspiration, rolling the dice and adding the total to the doll’s hit points, which cannot exceed its original total.
On your turn as a bonus action, you may control the doll, causing it to move up to its speed, and take the dodge, dash, or hide actions. You may cast spells through the doll.
- Doll’s Refrain
When you reach 6th level, you have learned how to make the doll seem endearing or terrifying. As an action when holding the doll, or when it is animated, you may expend a use of your bardic inspiration to attempt to charm or frighten a creature that can see the doll within 30 feet of it. The creature must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, the creature is charmed or frightened by you through the doll. On a successful save, the creature does not know if you attempted to charm it, but does know if you tried to frighten it. When it is charmed by the doll in this way, it views the doll as a friendly and interesting living creature, and will follow any non-harmful instruction you issue through the doll. The charm ends on a target after 1 hour, if it takes any damage, if the doll attacks it, or if it witnesses the doll attacking or damaging any of its allies. The frightened effect ends after the creature makes a successful saving throw at the end of one of its successive turns.
- Master of Puppets
At 14th level, you learn how to affect groups with your doll’s refrain: you may now charm or frighten a number of creatures equal to your Charisma modifier when using this feature. Moreover, when these creatures are charmed or frightened by the doll, you may cause them to bring harm to themselves or others. When charmed, you can force each of the creatures to attack another creature of your choice without breaking the charm, though it still ends if they take damage. If the creatures are frightened, you can force them to attack themselves or any other creature within their reach. While frightened in this way, they move as though dragged by strings at their joints, puppeted by your invisible fingers.
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