College of Beasts

Far from a traditional college, bards of the College of Beasts have a powerful, inherent bond to the natural world. Through song or personality, you befriend and charm all kinds of animals, easily making lifelong companions amongst the wild lands of the world. Many bards discover on their own that they have a natural aptitude for these abilities, though sometimes the arts employed by this college are formally taught. Wood elves, forest gnomes, and circles of druids are especially keen to pass on knowledge of the College of Beasts, as such bards make stalwart allies in defending the natural order.

Level 3: Beast Whisperer

You gain proficiency in the Animal Handling skill. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make using this skill.

In addition, you know the ways and thoughts of beasts as if they were your own. You always benefit from the effects of the Speak With Animals spell, and you have advantage on any ability check you make to persuade a beast to share information or to do a favor for you, given that the beast isn’t hostile to you or any of your companions.

Level 3: Tiny Companion

You gain the services of a tiny beast companion, tamed by your wits or music, and bound to you by magic. You can cast the Find Familiar spell as a ritual. When you do, it counts as a bard spell for you, it doesn’t require material components, and it conjures a beast rather than a celestial, fey, or fiend. A familiar conjured this way also gains the following traits:

Bardic Companion. While your familiar is riding a creature, such as on the creature’s shoulder or in its pocket, the effects of your Bardic Inspiration are improved on that creature. You can give such a creature a Bardic Inspiration die even if the creature is further than 60 feet from you and can’t hear you. Additionally, when such a creature uses a Bardic Inspiration die you gave it, it adds your Charisma modifier to the result of the roll.

Empowered. The familiar’s hit point maximum increases by an amount equal to twice your bard level + your Charisma modifier, and it gains a bonus to its AC and to any saving throw it makes equal to your proficiency bonus.

Evasion. If the familiar is subjected to an effect that allows it to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, it instead takes no damage if it succeeds on the saving throw, and only half damage if it fails.

Level 6: Animal Allies

Wild creatures know you as a friend, and will jump to your aid. You learn the Conjure Animals and aSummon Beast spells, which count as bard spells for you and don’t count against the number of spells you know. You can also cast either spell once with this feature without expending a spell slot or requiring material components, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest.

Level 6: Call Familiar

Also starting at 6th level, if your familiar has perished or is simply elsewhere, you can instantly call it to your side. As an action, you can expend a use of your Bardic Inspiration to cause your familiar to appear in your space as though you had cast Find Familiar as a ritual.

Level 14: Mighty Companion

When you cast find familiar as a ritual, you can communicate telepathically with the familiar and perceive through its senses (as described in the spell) as long as it is on the same plane as you, instead of only when it is within 100 feet of you. The conjured familiar also gains the following traits:

Improved Bardic Companion. If the familiar is riding a creature when you cast a bard spell that targets only a single creature and that doesn’t have a range of Self, you can choose that creature as the spell’s target, ignoring the spell’s range and any requirement the spell has of you being able to see the target or the target being able to hear you.

Helpful Distraction. When the familiar takes the Help action to aid a friendly creature in making an ability check or attack roll, the creature also adds your Charisma modifier to the affected roll.

Soulbound. When a creature uses a Bardic Inspiration die you gave it, the familiar regains hit points equal to the result of the Bardic Inspiration die roll. If this healing would restore the familiar above its hit point maximum, it gains temporary hit points equal to the surplus.

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