College of Satire
Bards of the College of Satire are called jesters. They use
lowbrow stories, daring acrobatics, and cutting jokes to
entertain audiences, ranging from the crowds in a rundown
dockside pub to the nobles of a king’s royal court. Where
other bards seek forgotten lore or tales of epic bravery, jesters
ferret out embarrassing and hilarious stories of all kinds.
Whether telling the ribald tale of a brawny stable hand’s affair
with an aged duchess or a mocking satire of a paladin of
Helm’s cloying innocence, a jester never lets taste, social
decorum, or shame get in the way of a good laugh.
While jesters are masters of puns, jokes, and verbal barbs,
they are much more than just comic relief. They are expected
to mock and provoke, taking advantage of how even the most
powerful folk are expected by tradition to endure a jester’s
barbs with good humor. This expectation allows a jester to
serve as a critic or a voice of reason when others are too
intimidated to speak the truth.
For the duchess with a taste for strapping young laborers,
such tales might serve to warn the targets of her affections
and force her to change her ways for lack of willing partners.
Striking back at the jester only ruins her already damaged
reputation, and might provide the best evidence that the
jester’s satires have hit their mark. But if she is kind and
generous to her conquests, the jokes and stories cast her as a
kind of folk hero, while drawing even more potential partners
to her.
Jesters are loyal to only one cause: the pursuit and
propagation of the truth. They use their comedy and
innocuous appearance to break down social barriers and
expose corruption, incompetence, and stupidity among the
rich and powerful. Whether revealing a con artist’s treachery
or exposing a baron’s plans for war as driven by greed and
bloodlust, a jester serves as the conscience of a realm.
Jesters adventure to safeguard the common folk and to
undermine the plans of the rich, powerful, and arrogant.
Their magic bolsters allies’ spirits while casting doubt into
foes’ minds. Among bards, jesters are unmatched acrobats,
and their ability to tumble, dodge, leap, and climb makes
them slippery opponents in battle.
Bonus Proficiencies
When you join the College of Satire at 3rd level, you gain
proficiency with thieves’ tools. You also gain proficiency in
Sleight of Hand and one additional skill of your choice. If you
are already proficient with thieves’ tools or in Sleight of Hand,
choose another skill proficiency for each proficiency you
already have.
Tumbling Fool
At 3rd level, you master a variety of acrobatic techniques that
allow you to evade danger. As a bonus action, you can tumble.
When you tumble, you gain the following benefits for the rest
of your turn:
You gain the benefits of taking the Dash and Disengage
actions.
You gain a climbing speed equal to your current speed.
You take half damage from falling.Fool’s Insight
At 6th level, your ability to gather stories and lore gains a
supernatural edge. You can cast detect thoughts up to a
number of times equal to your Charisma modifier. You regain
any expended uses of this ability after completing a long rest.
If a creature resists your attempt to probe deeper and
succeeds at its saving throw against your detect thoughts, it
immediately suffers an embarrassing social gaffe. It might
loudly pass gas, unleash a thunderous burp, trip and fall, or
be compelled to tell a tasteless joke.Fool’s Luck
Jesters seem to have a knack for pulling themselves out of
tight situations, transforming what looks like sure failure into
an embarrassing but effective success.
At 14th level, you can expend one use of Bardic Inspiration
after you fail an ability check, fail a saving throw, or miss with
an attack roll. Roll a Bardic Inspiration die and add the
number rolled to your attack, saving throw, or ability check,
using the new result in place of the failed one.
If using this ability grants you a success on the attack,
saving throw, or ability check, note the number you rolled on
the Bardic Inspiration die. The DM can then apply that result
as a penalty to an attack or check you make, and you cannot
use this ability again until you suffer this drawback. When the
DM invokes this penalty, describe an embarrassing gaffe or
mistake you make as part of the affected die roll.SUB-CLASSES | BARD COLLEGES