College of Names
Contents
Bard: College of Names
Bards of the College of Names learn the art of drawing power from fragments and echoes of true names. Every creature, regardless of its nature, possesses a unique true name, a singular term that encapsulates its essence. This college teaches bards to perceive and manipulate these true names, gaining insight and power over the beings they identify. Through a combination of musical resonance and intuition, bards of this college glimpse fragments of these names and utilize them to great effect.
Echo of Identity (3rd Level)
Upon joining this college, you gain the ability to attune your senses to the hidden essence of creatures around you. As a bonus action, you can strum an instrument in an attempt to discern a fragment of a creature's true name. The creature must make a Charisma saving throw against your Bard spell save DC. On a failure, you learn a fragment of the creature's true name, granting you insight into its nature and vulnerabilities for 10 minutes. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once) and regain all expended uses after a long rest.
Additionally, on success, you also learn the creature's chosen and given names.
Soul's Satire (3rd Level)
Your understanding of the creature's essence allows you to twist your Vicious Mockery cantrip to pierce deeper into its psyche. When you cast Vicious Mockery on a creature whose name fragment you know, you use a d8 for the damage roll instead of a d4.
Essence Twisting (6th Level)
When you use your Bardic Inspiration on a creature whose name fragment you know, instead of the regular benefits, you can attempt to charm or frighten the creature by warping its name. The creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your Bard spell save DC or be charmed or frightened (your choice) by you for a number of rounds equal to the roll of your Bardic Inspiration die. At the end of each of its turns, the affected creature can make another Wisdom saving throw. On a success, the effect ends for that creature.
True Naming (14th Level)
Your mastery over the College's teachings allows you to dive deeper into the true names of beings. With thorough research, investigation, and understanding, you can discover the full true name of a creature you've previously discerned a fragment from. This process typically requires weeks or even months of study, meditation, and investigation. Knowing a creature's true name grants you power over them.
Learning a True Name
To learn the True Name of a creature, you must complete a rigorous and involved ritual. This is not a matter to be taken lightly, as knowing a creature's True Name grants significant power over it. Here's how the ritual unfolds:
1. Possession of a Name Fragment
Before attempting to learn the full True Name, you must have already discerned a fragment of the creature's true name through the methods provided by your subclass abilities.
2. A Personal Relic
You need an item that once belonged to the creature whose True Name you wish to learn. This can range from a personal possession they valued or used regularly, to something as intimate as a lock of hair or a drop of blood. The closer and more personal the item is to the creature, the stronger the connection it will provide during the ritual.
3. Research and Ritual
The crux of learning the True Name lies in deep research and a subsequent ritual. This research involves delving into ancient texts, consulting with wise sages, and even potentially risky endeavors like communing with otherworldly entities who might possess such knowledge. Once the research is done, the ritual is the final step.
- For creatures with a CR/Level of 1-5
- Requires 1 week of dedicated research and a ritual costing 500 gold pieces in rare materials.
- For creatures with a CR/Level of 6-10
- Requires 1 month of dedicated research and a ritual costing 2,000 gold pieces in rare materials.
- For creatures with a CR/Level of 11-15
- Requires 3 months of dedicated research and a ritual costing 5,000 gold pieces in rare materials.
- For creatures with a CR/Level of 16 and above
- Requires 6 months to a year of dedicated research and a ritual costing 10,000 gold pieces in rare materials.
Upon completion of the research and the ritual, you gain the full knowledge of the creature's True Name, granting you the powers and abilities associated with such knowledge as per your subclass features.
Commanding Voice
By invoking a creature's True Name, you can cast the spell Command on it at will, without expending a spell slot. The creature has disadvantage on its saving throw against this effect.
Ward or Welcome
You can either protect an area or object from the creature by invoking its True Name, making it impossible for the creature to approach or touch the warded area or object. Alternatively, you can make an area or object welcoming to the creature, making it feel a strong urge to approach or stay near it.
True Insight
When conversing with a creature whose True Name you know, you have advantage on all Insight checks against it, and it has disadvantage on any Deception checks it makes against you.
Soul Laid Bare
When using your Soul's Satire feature on a creature whose True Name you know, the Vicious Mockery damage die is increased further to d10.
Summon by Name (14th Level)
Starting at 14th level, you've become so adept with the intricacies of names and their power that you can discern the True Name of a fiend without ever having crossed paths with it. By tapping into the infinite possibilities of the multiverse and employing your vast knowledge, you can deduce the existence and True Name of a fiend. You can choose from the following:
- Barlgura (Demon)
- Vrock (Demon)
- Barbed Devil (Devil)
- White Abishai (Devil)
As an action, you can summon this fiend. The summoned fiend is under your control for 1 hour (much to its chagrin -- the fiend will hate you), after which it returns to its plane of origin. You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
