College of Brutality Remastered
Ever played a bard, but thought, why am I not eleven times as loud as this? If your quest is to give tinnitus to every monster and bar patron you meet, then the latest version of College of Brutality is the subclass for you. A devotee of noise and violence, this bard is much more interested in dealing thunder damage than buffing your ability checks, and often as much use for a battleaxe as a flute. To help it along, and to give some rock and roll style to other classes as well, we’ve included a new cantrip and magic item as well. If you need more metal for your next campaign, let us know!
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College of Brutality
The College of Brutality houses bards who use loud, outlandish, and thrilling performances to inspire both fear and wonder. Though members are not inherently evil, they co-opt macabre themes and aesthetics taken from the world around them as a means of their expression. These bards use their pounding music and dark appearance to signal power and aggression, but they are rarely loners, holding intense bonds with those that face the brutalities of the world alongside them.
Bonus Proficiencies
3rd-level College of Brutality feature
You gain proficiency with battle axes, greataxes, medium armor, and shields. You can spend a long rest converting your battleaxe or greataxe into an instrument of your choice, allowing you to use it as your bard spellcasting focus.
Bardic Demolition
3rd-level College of Brutality feature
Rather than aid your allies, you can use your bardic magic to purely destructive ends. You can use your bonus action to expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration feature in order to propel thunderous force in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in the area must make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, a creature takes 2d6 + your Charisma modifier thunder damage. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage.
A nonmagical object that isn’t being worn or carried also takes the damage if it’s in the feature’s area.
The thunder damage dice increases when you reach certain levels in this class, increasing to 2d8 at 5th level, 2d10 at 10th level, and 2d12 at 15th level.
Blast Beat
3rd-level College of Brutality feature
You can use thunderous magic to create a steady, damaging rhythm alongside your companions. When an ally that you can see within 30 feet hits a creature that you dealt thunder damage to on your previous turn, you can empower that attack. The attack deals additional thunder damage equal to a roll of your Bardic Inspiration die.
You cannot empower an attack in this way more than once each round.
Mosh Pit
6th-level College of Brutality feature
You can use hellraising melodies to sow moments of brutal chaos amongst others. As an action, you can create a 10-foot radius cylinder within 60 feet of you. The ground within the area begins to give off a fiery glow. Each creature that starts its turn in the area or enters the area for the first time on a turn must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, that creature becomes charmed by you. A creature charmed in this way is swept up in the ferocity of your performance. It cannot willingly leave the area and it must use its action to attack if able. When it chooses a target for that attack, it must choose the target at random from among the creatures it can see within range of the attack. If an enemy provokes an opportunity attack from the affected creature, the creature must make that attack if it is able to do so.
On your subsequent turns, you must use an action to continue your enchanting performance, or the effect ends. You can do so for up to 1 minute, at which point the effect ends. Additionally, each time a charmed creature takes damage, it can repeat the Wisdom saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
Bat Out of Hell
14th-level College of Brutality feature
When a Large or smaller creature that you can see within 60 feet drops to 0 hit points, you can use your reaction to briefly ignite and reanimate that creature’s corpse. That corpse runs up to 60 feet towards a point of your choice, and then explodes in a spectacular blast that destroys the corpse. Each creature within 10 feet of the corpse when it explodes must make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC, taking 6d6 fire damage and 6d8 thunder damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend a spell slot of 5th level or higher to use it again.
Additional Options
The following cantrip and magic item offer supplemental materials to use on their own or alongside the College of Brutality.
Thunderous Push
Evocation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
Classes: Artificer, bard, druid, sorcerer, wizard
You create a thunderous burst next to a creature within range. That creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take 1d8 thunder damage and be pushed 5 feet in any direction (your choice).
This spell’s damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 5th level (2d8), 11th level (3d8), and 17th level (4d8).
Battle Lute
Weapon (any axe), rare (requires attunement)
This impressively-crafted axe is strung from blade to the end of the haft with metal strings that allow it to be played normally as a lute. It can be used as a spellcasting focus for bards.
You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls with this magic weapon.
The axe has 7 charges and regains 1d6+1 expended charges daily at midnight.
Heavy Metal. When you hit a creature with this axe, you can expend 1 charge to deal an additional 1d8 thunder damage to the target. When you do, the strike can be heard up to 300 feet away.
Spells. While holding this axe, you can use an action to expend 1 or more of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it (spell save DC 15): thunderwave (1 charges), or shatter (2 charges).
You can also use an action to cast thunderous push from the axe without expending a charge.
Smashing Finale. As an action you can smash the axe, causing it to break and release an explosive chord which can be heard up to a mile away. You and all creatures within 30 feet of you must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, a creature takes 6d8 thunder damage plus an additional 2d8 thunder damage for every charge the axe has and is thrown 15 feet away from you and knocked prone. On a successful save, a creature takes half the damage and is not moved. You automatically succeed the saving throw.
