College of Whispers
Inspire Paranoia and Use Social Sabotage
Most folk are happy to welcome a bard into their midst. Bards of the College of Whispers use this to their advantage. They appear to be like other bards, sharing news, singing songs, and telling tales to the audiences they gather. In truth, the College of Whispers teaches its students that they are wolves among sheep. These bards use their knowledge and magic to uncover secrets and turn them against others through extortion and threats.
Many other Bards hate the College of Whispers, viewing it as a parasite that uses a bard's reputation to acquire wealth and power. For this reason, members of this college rarely reveal their true nature. They typically claim to follow some other college, or they keep their actual calling secret in order to infiltrate and exploit royal courts and other settings of power.
Level 3: Psychic Blades
When you hit a creature with an attack roll or when a creature fails a saving throw against one of your Bard spells,, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to deal extra Psychic damage to that target. The damage equals two rolls of the Bardic Inspiration die. You can do so only once per round on your turn.
The Psychic damage increases to 3 rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die when you reach level 6 in this class, and to 4 rolls when you reach level 14.
Level 3: Words of Terror
You have learned to infuse innocent-seeming words with an insidious magic that can inspire terror. As a Magic action, you can attempt to seed paranoia into the mind of a creature within 5 feet. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or have the Frightened condition for 1 hour. You can choose for the source of the fear to be yourself or another creature of your choice. The condition ends early if you or your allies attack it, damage it, or force it to make a saving throw. If the target succeeds on its saving throw, it has no hint that you tried to frighten it.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a Short or Long Rest.
Level 6: Mantle of Whispers
You gain the ability to adopt a humanoid's persona. When a creature dies within 30 feet of you, you can take a Reaction to magically capture its shadow. The creature must be a Humanoid, or it must have the general appearance and size of a Humanoid (for example, a Night Hag). You retain this shadow until you use it or you finish a Long Rest.
You can use the shadow as a Magic action. When you do so, it vanishes, magically transforming into a disguise that appears on you. You now look like the dead person, but healthy and alive. This disguise lasts for 1 hour or until you dismiss it as a Bonus Action.
While you're in the disguise, you gain access to all information that the creature would freely share with a casual acquaintance. Such information includes general details on its background and personal life, but doesn't include secrets. The information is enough that you can pass yourself off as the person by drawing on its memories.
Another creature can see through this disguise by succeeding on a Wisdom (Insight) check against your spell save DC, but it suffers a penalty equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum penalty of -1).
Once you capture a shadow with this feature, you can't capture another one with it until you finish a Short or Long Rest.
Level 14: Shadow Lore
You gain the ability to weave dark magic into your words and tap into a creature's deepest fears. As a Magic action, you can whisper a phrase that only one creature of your choice within 30 feet of you can hear. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. It automatically succeeds if it doesn't share a language with you or if it can't hear you. On a successful saving throw, your whisper sounds like unintelligible mumbling and has no effect.
On a failed saving throw, the target has the Charmed condition for the next 8 hours or until you or your allies attack it, damage it, or force it to make a saving throw. It interprets the whispers as a description of its most mortifying secret. You gain no knowledge of this secret, but the target is convinced you know it.
The charmed creature obeys your commands for fear that you will reveal its secret. It won't risk its life for you or fight for you, unless it was already inclined to do so. It grants you favors and gifts it would offer to a close friend. When the effect ends, the creature has no understanding of why it held you in such fear.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a Long Rest.