College of Echoes
Tyn’s partner unleashed an explosive spell, blasting the vault door off its hinges. However, the sound of the explosion was dampened thanks to Tyn’s abilities, and the guards a floor above heard no more than a small rumble…
Tyn, Bard of the College of Echoes
Bards of the College of Echoes have learned about how sound changes as it moves and encounters obstacles. Inspired by the effect walls, alleyways, caves and tunnels have on sounds, they have learned to manipulate sound with their magic, curving it and altering it as it moves. They can silence the most violent explosions, make whispers seem to reverberate forever, and can even change the sounds of music and words as they are created.
Building a College of Echoes Bard
Bards of the College of Echoes gain access to several sound-based abilities that can greatly enhance their prowess in both combat and subterfuge:
Echolocation grants you blindsight to a range of 10 feet, as long as you can hear.
Alter Sound allows you to manipulate both your own voice as well as the sounds around you.
Resounding Strikes enables you to imbue your melee weapon attacks with thunder damage by expending a spell slot.
Reverberating Strikes enhances your Bardic Inspiration to empower weapon attacks with thunder damage and knock enemies prone.
With the first two abilities, you can make an excellent forward scout for the party, even if you are playing a race without darkvision. The latter two can also allow you to act as a front-line support caster, dealing a surprising amount of damage with your melee attacks. Your resounding strikes are particularly effective against creatures made of stone, crystal, or metal, so consider that when facing golems or other constructs.
As with all classes, any race is suitable for playing a College of Echoes bard, but there are certain races that synergize particularly well with their abilities. Shades have an ability, ghostly flesh, that allow them to become translucent and pass through solid objects. This ability in combination with echolocation would allow you to easily escape from a sticky situation if caught scouting ahead. The martial excellence trait possessed by delver drow would allow you to take a proficiency with a martial weapon, and your blindsight could somewhat dampen the drawback of their sunlight sensitivity.
Roleplaying Tips
Bards of the College of Echoes have a keener ear than most, and this may influence their personalities. It could result in a character that is shrewd and cunning, careful to always watch their own tongue, and mindful of prying eyes. Or it could allow them to expertly meld in to any social situation, scoping out personality traits and quirks from afar before entering the fray. A playful bard might use their alter sound ability to cause a bit of mayhem wherever they go, starting bar fights or lovers’ quarrels. When it comes to backgrounds, their unique abilities could allow them to excel as a politician, using their manipulation of sound to stir crowds to either passionate support or angry discontent. They might also be a fugitive, having been locked up for using the abilities on the wrong person at the wrong time. Whatever background you choose, you may want to consider where you gained your powers from, whether it was in the quiet halls of a bardic college, the crisscrossing alleys of a distant city, or the endless caverns deep below the surface.
How to Access this Content
The College of Echoes was created by our partners at Kobold Press, and it is one of the many subclasses available to subscribers, along with others like the Soulspy or the College of Entropy, as well as races such as the Shade or Spindrift Dwarf. Build your own College of Echoes bard and tell us about it in the comments below or on any of our social channels. Join us on 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.
