College of Tactics
Zanna saw an opening in the enemy’s formation, and as she changed the tempo of her drumbeat, her allies took the cue and quickly moved to take advantage of the momentary weakness…
Zanna, Bard of the College of Tactics
Bards of the College of Tactics are calculating strategists who scour historical records of famous battles for tricks they can use to give their own troops, and those of their patrons, an edge on the battlefield. Members of this college travel from war zone to combat site and interview the veterans of those engagements, trying to discern how the victors won the day and leveraging that information for their personal glory.
Building a College of Tactics bard
Bards of this college receive far more martial training than many others, and learn how to help command the battlefield with a unique set of abilities and an enhanced bardic inspiration. Keep the following traits and abilities in mind when building your bard:
Bonus Proficiency - You gain proficiency with medium armor, shields, and one martial weapon.
Setting the Board - You can use your bardic inspiration to allow your allies to move without drawing opportunity attacks.
Song of Strategy - Allies who receive your bardic inspiration can take an additional benefit when using a variety of actions, such as making an attack as part of their dodge action, or being able to disengage as a bonus action.
Ablative Inspiration - You can use your bardic inspiration to automatically succeed on a saving throw against a spell that affects an area. This benefit is extended to any nearby allies.
With these abilities, a College of Tactics bard is able to act in a variety of roles on the battlefield. They can focus on using their Song of Strategy to grant the front-line fighters some additional defense, or a quick escape if things start to go south. Their proficiency with medium armor and shields gives them a decent amount of survivability, allowing them to hold their own if an enemy breaks through to the backlines.
There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to picking your race, especially if your gamemaster allows the optional rules variant to customize racial ability modifiers. However, some races may possess certain racial features that grant them an additional edge when it comes to particular classes.
Half-elf is a highly effective choice, given their natural increase to charisma. Additionally, their skill versatility trait combined with the bard class’s own access to skill proficiencies means you can start off with a minimum of five skill proficiencies, even more depending on your background. The Urban Halfling (available in Shard’s Core Content Pack) is another great choice, as their Lost in the Crowd ability can offer you an additional exit strategy if you’re ever in a tight spot.
Roleplaying Tips
When it comes to roleplaying as a College of Tactics bard, a great question to start off with is why you chose to pursue this college over the others. What drew you to the study of battle tactics and military history, over the more fantastic songs and folk tales studied by so many other bards? Was there a particularly battle that affected you or your family in some important way? Were one of your parents a renowned military hero, or a disgraced deserter? Did you hope to reunite with a lost love conscripted into the army? How you answer these questions may help you in deciding how to roleplay with others. A grizzled war veteran may not approach a situation in the same way a more whimsical or bawdy performer might.
Your roleplaying may also be informed by the background that you choose. Infantry or Mercenary Recruit both make a logical choice if you imagine your character as having served in the military prior to or as part of their training with the College of Tactics. If you want to take a somewhat battle-adjacent approach, an Elite background works great, with the idea that your training prepared you for advising military leaders on battle tactics or nobles on the defense of their estates. Vaudevillian works well for anyone who wants to lean more into the musical aspect of their bardic abilities, though you should consider why a performer would dedicate their time to the study of the military. Whatever path you choose to follow, be sure to ask yourself why it is you’ve sought out the company of an adventuring party, and use that to guide your roleplaying in the future.
How to Access this Content
This subclass was created by our partners at Kobold Press, and it is one of the many available to subscribers, along with others like the Way of the Dragon Spirit or the Elementalist, as well as races such as the Shade or Spindrift Dwarf. Learn about these and others by checking out the rest of our Character Choices series.
Build your own College of Tactics Bard and tell us about it in the comments below or on any of our social channels. Join us on Discord, Reddit or Facebook to meet other members of the community and take your game to the next level, or follow us on Twitter @shardtabletop for regular updates.
