College of Spirits Bard Handbook: DnD 5e Subclass Guide – RPGBOT

College of Spirits is a typical, casting-focused bard that adds some unpredictable spell-adjacent options via Tales From Beyond and access to expanded spell options using Spirit Session. Challenges in the core rules make some of the subclass less powerful than intended, but when things work as intended it’s a fun subclass with some cool ideas, though the unpredictability of Tales From Beyond can be frustrating.

The whole subclass is built around Tales From Beyond, which allows the Bard to generate a randomly-selected magical effect from a list. This provides a fun but unpredictable mechanic which can be either wildly effective or barely impactful depending on the situation and the Tale drawn. This unpredictability helps to balance some of the more powerful options which amount to save-or-suck effects at the cost of a Bardic Inspiration die.

Managing Tales From Beyond and Spirit Session introduces some new bookkeeping to the Bard, which was already a complex class to begin with. I don’t recommend this for new players or players who already find spellcasters to be a challenge, but veteran players comfortable with managing their character’s resources won’t find College of Spirits any more complex than playing a wizard.

Unfortunately, while there’s a lot to like about College of Spirits, its unpredictability makes it difficult to use to great effect, and Spiritual Focus (which is intended to make your core spellcasting effective enough to carry you when Tales From Beyond isn’t helping) is almost non-functional due to the Bard’s limited spell list and 5e’s rules on when you actually use a spellcasting focus. This appears to be due to the feature assuming that the bonus would apply more broadly, but the RAW rules for how focuses are used limit the spell’s benefits to a vanishingly small number of bard spells.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Disclaimer
• College of Spirits Bard Features
  • Spirit Session Spell Options
    • 1st-Level Spells
    • 2nd-Level Spells
    • 3rd-Level Spells
    • 4th-Level Spells
    • 5th-Level Spells
    • 6th-Level Spells
    • Ability Scores
    • Race
    • Background
    • Skills and Tools
    • Feats
    • Levels

    Disclaimer

    • Red : Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
    • Orange : OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances. Useful sometimes.
    • Green : Good options. Useful often.
    • Blue : Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character. Useful very frequently.

    We will not include 3rd-party content, including content from DMs Guild, in handbooks for official content because we can’t assume that your game will allow 3rd-party content or homebrew. We also won’t cover Unearthed Arcana content because it’s not finalized, and we can’t guarantee that it will be available to you in your games.

    The advice offered below is based on the current State of the Character Optimization Meta as of when the article was last updated. Keep in mind that the state of the meta periodically changes as new source materials are released, and the article will be updated accordingly as time allows.

    College of Spirits Bard Features

    1. Guiding Whispers : Guidance is really good even with the limitation of Touch range. With this, you can help your allies from a safe distance, such as by shouting encouragement to a rogue while they disarm traps or sneak behind your enemies. Verbal components need to be spoken clearly and aloud, so “whispers” may be a misnomer, but we don’t have an official ruling on just how loud verbal components need to be (Jeremy Crawford says it’s up to the DM), so maybe whispering is fine.
    2. Spiritual Focus : At this level you get the ability to use some extra objects as spellcasting foci. This notably includes crystal balls and skulls, neither of which are options for wizards, so you can rub it in the faces of any diviners or necromancers you come across. Mechanically it has almost no effect, though you may accomplish some shenanigans by using the skulls of tiny creatures like mice so that you can hide your focus easily.
    3. Tales from Beyond : College of Spirits’ signature feature. This is really fun, but it’s unpredictable, and unpredictability in class features makes me nervous. You generally don’t want to use this in combat because you could spend your Bonus Action to draw something that’s not helpful. Instead, you’re more likely to use this after a Short Rest and hang onto your Tale until you can use it or it expires.

    Since this costs an inspiration die and expires when you take a Short or Long Rest, it’s costly at levels 3 and 4, but it gets much much more manageable at level 5 when you pick up Font of Inspiration. Even then, some of the effects may not be worth the inspiration die to get them.

    1. Clever Animal : Situational. You’re most likely to use this in social situations, but it might also be useful for Dispel Magic and Counterspell. If you can get this running before a social situation, the benefits are absolutely massive.
    2. Renowned Duelist : Decent single-target damage, but it’s not much better than just casting a cantrip, especially once you add the damage bonus from Spiritual Focus at level 6. Weirdly, this works at range but still calls for a melee spell attack. That usually doesn’t matter, but sometimes there are things which affect melee and ranged attacks differently, like Tale of the Avenger.
    3. Beloved Friends : Nearly always useful. The temporary hit points don’t have a specified expiration time, so they last until you rest. If you roll this, use it early when it’s easy to hit two targets and consider getting another Tale.
    4. Runaway : Reposition your entire party. Escape grapples, bindings, and dangerous positions. You do need to be able to see the destination, but that’s still enough to solve a lot of problems.
    5. Avenger : Throw this on your party’s Defender. It only works for melee attacks, unfortunately, but the damage from this can add up very quickly.
    6. Traveler : Trade the second target from Beloved Friends for a +1 AC bonus and some extra speed. Given the choice between the two and no other information I would likely take Beloved Friends, but in situations where enemies are making large numbers of attacks a +1 AC bonus can make a big difference.
    7. Beguiler : Rob a single target of the important parts of their turn. I’d be excited about this even if it didn’t deal damage.
    8. Phantom : Being invisible will give your target Advantage on their attack, which is always welcome, and may allow them to avoid things like Opportunity Attacks. Your best bet is to put this on a rogue, but even if your party doesn’t include a rogue, the extra damage and Advantage are welcome for any character who relies on attacks. Making the target of the attack Frightened without a save is great, too.
    9. Brute : Turn an ally into the center of a fireball. The AOE is big, the damage type is good, and your target can pick which creatures take damage. This can’t match the spell Fireball, but three Bardic Inspiration dice is still a decent pile of damage for the cost to get this. If you have melee allies acting soon after you in initiative, knocking foes Prone will also provide Advantage on their attacks.
    10. Dragon : The damage is slightly higher than Tale of the Brute, but the AOE is much smaller, doesn’t omit your allies, doesn’t provide a status condition, and does a much worse damage type.
    11. Angel : Lesser Restoration plus a bit of healing. Not always required, but always handy.
    12. Mind-Bender : Literally just Beguiler but better (unless the target is immune to being Stunned).

    If you want to simplify this, you can just do the ritual after a Long Rest to learn the same spell every day (Revivify and Summon Undead are good examples), but at that point just play College of Lore. This is great for things like Lesser Restoration or Raise Dead, but don’t forget that the spell level is capped at your Proficiency Bonus.

    The problem is easy to overlook (I did it on my initial read): Spiritual Focus’s bonus only works for spells which are cast through the focus, which means that it only applies to spells with inexpensive material components that aren’t consumed by the spell. RAW you can’t choose to use a focus when it’s not needed, so for most spells Spiritual Focus simply doesn’t apply (see the Sage Advice on Spellcasting Rules). Spells like Shatter work, but spells like Cure Wounds and Healing Word don’t since they don’t have inexpensive material components and therefore can’t be cast through a focus.

    Spirit Session Spell Options

    Spirit Session is a great way to get short-term access to spells which are only situationally useful, but it’s also a great way to get access to some powerful staples from other classes’ spell lists.

    1st-Level Spells

    • Beast Bond EEPC : For rangers with animal companions.
    • Cause Fear XGtE : Great crowd control, and it scales well with spell level.
    • Comprehend Languages PHB : Helpful, but upgrade to Tongues as soon as possible.
    • Detect Evil and Good PHN : Helpful if you’re worried about being surprised by extraplanar creatures, but you won’t need it consistently enough to take it ahead of time.
    • Detect Magic PHB : You really want this available as a ritual within the party if you can get it, but sometimes you don’t get a choice.
    • Detect Poison and Disease PHB : Very rarely useful, and even when it is useful most players rarely think to use this.
    • False Life PHB : A welcome buff on any character, and the spell level scaling is decent.
    • Gift of Alacrity EGtW : If your DM allows Wildemount spells in your game (Chronurgy/Graviturgy aren’t available to most spellcasters by default), this is a decent buff. It’s especially useful for characters who depend on acting early in initiative like bugbears, assassins, and bugbear assassins.
    • Hunter’s Mark PHB : Only impactful for serious weapon users, and that’s not you.
    • Identify PHB : Only useful when you encounter new magic items. Handle the new items with care and wait until the next day so that you can learn this spell.
    • Inflict Wounds PHB : Among the highest damage you can get from 1st-level spells. Since you cast it as a bard spell, you get to add the bonus d6 damage from Spiritual Focus starting at 6th level, and the scaling is decent.
    • Ray of Sickness PHB : Bad spell.
    • Speak with Animals PHB : Only situationally useful. Hopefully you can wait a day to learn this.

    2nd-Level Spells

    • Augury PHB : I love Augury, but if it’s the best spell you can get from Spirit Session, either Spirit Session doesn’t matter right now or you’re making a horrible mistake.
    • Beast Sense PHB : Where are you going to get a willing beast that you can justify using this on?
    • Blindness/Deafness PHB : Decent save-or-suck, but Con saves tend to be high.
    • Borrowed Knowledge SCoC : Normally a great way to cover skill gaps, but you already have Jack of all Trades so the benefits are significantly reduced. Add Enhance Ability, and you’re pretty good at any skill even if your ability score is poor and you’re not proficient.
    • Detect Thoughts PHB : Great for interrogations. Take someone captive, keep them comfortable but harmless until you can have a Spirit Session, then ask them not to think about that thing you want to know about.
    • Find Traps PHB : Borderline useless in the best of cases.
    • Fortune’s Favor EGtW : Dunamancy may not be available in your game, but if is this is a decent buff. Just watch out for the 100gp material component.
    • Gentle Repose PHB : Extremely situational, but when you need it you generally have enough time to use Spirit Session to get it.
    • Locate Animals or Plants PHB : Very situational, but great to access via Spirit Session if you ever need it for some reason.
    • Locate Object PHB : Very situational, but great to access via Spirit Session if you ever need it for some reason.
    • Mind Spike XGtE : Extremely situational and terrible damage.
    • Ray of Enfeeblement : Garbage.
    • See Invisibility : A staple counter to invisible enemies with a nice, long duration.
    • Wither and Bloom SCoC : Learn Healing Word.

    3rd-Level Spells

    • Animate Dead PHB : A great way to get some permanent minions, but you’ll need to re-cast Animate Dead every day to maintain control, which is a tragic way to spend Spirit Session. Use Magical Secrets for this one if you want it.
    • Bestow Curse PHB : A great single-target debuff at any level, but it’s also on the Bard’s spell list. If you like this enough to cast it, learn it permanently.
    • Clairvoyance PHB : A great way to scout dangerous or inaccessible locations. It’s already on the Bard’s spell list, but it might not be useful enough in your game to know permanently.
    • Feign Death PHB : Very situational.
    • Life Transference XGtE : Cast Healing Word.
    • Revivify PHB : If you need this and don’t already have it, Spirit Session won’t help you. If your party doesn’t have someone who knows this permanently, it’s a good idea to bring this almost every day.
    • Speak with Dead PHB : Consistently useful, but corpses are generally happy to wait around for a day so that you can use Spirit Session to learn this.
    • Spirit Shroud TCoE : Your attacks are bad unless you’re getting Eldritch Blast somehow.
    • Summon Undead TCoE : A go-to option on any day where danger is possible. Tasha’s-era summons are great and scale well with spell level, so this remains a potent option even as your maximum spell level outpaces your Proficiency Bonus. Not on the Bard’ spell list.
    • Tongues PHB : You are almost certainly your party’s Face, so the ability to cross language barriers is essential. This is great to know permanently, but if you can’t do that for some reason, Spirit Session is a great way to get it.
    • Vampiric Touch PHB : Damage and self-healing is nice, but this certainly isn’t essential. For the same spell slot cost you could cast Summon Undead to get a disposable pool of hit points that lasts an hour, does comparable or better damage, and doesn’t eat your Action every turn to use it.

    4th-Level Spells

    • Arcane Eye PHB : One of the best and safest magical scouting options, and it’s not on the Bard’s spell list.
    • Blight PHB : Garbage.
    • Divination PHB : A great way to ask the DM for information, and it’s not on the Bard’s spell list.
    • Locate Creature PHB : Only situationally useful, but a great candidate for Spirit Session when you do need it.
    • Shadow of Moil XGtE : You don’t attack in a way that can capitalize on being Heavily Obscured. The defensive benefits are nice, but at that point just cast Improved Invisibility.

    5th-Level Spells

    • Commune PHB : A powerful divination option. Not on the Bard’s spell list.
    • Commune with Nature PHB : A very odd divination option that’s usually not very useful.
    • Contact Other Plane PHB : Very powerful, but you don’t have the Intelligence to make the save safe. Stick to Commune.
    • Contagion PHB : A decent debuff, but I’m not certain that it’s impactful enough to justify a resource as precious as Spirit Session.
    • Danse Macabre XGtE : Too difficult to use.
    • Enervation PHB : Garbage.
    • Legend Lore PHB : Too situational to learn permanently, but a very powerful option when you can get it temporarily.
    • Negative Energy Flood XGtE : Poor damage, it hurts your friends, and it’s rare that you’ll be in situation where you conveniently have a bunch of low-hp enemies in the AOE to turn into zombies.
    • Raise Dead PHB : You will only rarely need this, but access to it is essential, which makes it perfect for Spirit Session.
    • Rary’s Telepathic Bond : Really great, but not always impactful so you can’t justify taking it daily.
    • Scrying PHB : Great for occasional spying, but watch out for the expensive focus cost.

    6th-Level Spells

    • Circle of Death PHB : Better area damage than the Bard can usually do unless you learned Fireball via Magical Secrets.
    • Create Undead PHB : An upgrade from Animate Dead, but you still need to cast it daily to maintain control, which feels like a waste. Use Magical Secrets instead.
    • Eyebite PHB : One spell turns you into a save-or-suck machine for a full minute.
    • Find the Path PHB : Garbage.
    • Harm PHB : Single-target damage on a Con save.
    • Magic Jar PHB : Risky and complicated.
    • Soul Cage PHB : Potentially very powerful against humanoid enemies, but you have other options to solve the same problems like Healing Word to heal, Speak with Dead to question dead creatures, and Enhance Ability for buffs to ability checks.
    • True Seeing PHB : Essential anywhere that you encounter illusions, but not always useful, so it may not be useful enough to know permanently.

    College of Spirits Bard Ability Scores

    College of Spirits Bard Races

    College of Spirits Bard Feats

    Mostly the same as a typical bard.