[Cosmos] Subclass - Bard - College of Mass Media (Patreon)

Wield Influence Built From Extracted Knowledge

Bards of the College of Mass Media are keenly aware that media technology has largely supplanted the ancient beguiling powers once mastered by the fey—an experienced media personality can charm the hearts of millions with naught more than a simple smile and a flick of a wrist. These Bards leverage connections to gather devastating data on their enemies and the most cunning of them can use it to recursively amplify their magic. Their vast and often subtle influence bends crowds, rivals, and even entire institutions to their will.

Here's some bonus content that I got inspired to work on after finishing those Technomancy spells earlier, in between drawing Astranaphora for Giant's Wake. Fun subclass, occupying an intelligence-forward Bard build that opens up your combat tactics. I don't know how well it plays in practice, but it's a unique enough that I'm happy with it. I think I might do subclasses for the remaining classes I hadn't put into the book.

Why not give this master of media a try?

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Design Commentary

This Bard is (in many ways) linked to technomancy, inspired by savvy influencers and corporate overlords who use mass media to their advantage. It shares some overlap with the Glamour Bard in the way it “exerts influence”, so it was important to ensure it didn’t mechanically play the same. This Bard is meant to use technology well, so it should make good use of its Intelligence, hence the Opposition Research feature. It’s ultimately meant to feel tactical and rewarding.

Let’s take a walk through the Mass Media Bard and see how it compares to the other Bards.

Broadcaster

This feature is a ribbon at this level, but is backpacked upon later in the progression. The Broadcast cantrip is very appropriate to a master of Mass Media and the extra effect of summoning a screen just ensures a screen is always available. Mechanically, just a roleplay cantrip; it’s up to the GM to decide what else can be done with Broadcast.

The secondary feature grants a niche bonus to Performance, like College of Dance. In this case, however, Performance could apply to other social checks like Persuasion or Deception, so it’s up to the GM.

Opposition Research

This feature is a Rider on any expenditure of Bardic Inspiration, so it’s mechanically like College of Dance’s extra Unarmed Strikes. The knowledge gained allows for a very tactical playstyle. Your mileage will vary due to the diverse nature of any game’s combat, but the last option of identifying the most dangerous trait/action pretty much ensures that it’ll always be effective whether on a map or playing just in the theater of the mind. Knowing that can save an encounter. Since this doesn’t cost anything in the action economy, it’s at least always a net gain.

Compared to the other subclasses

Some of the Opposition Research options should allow allies to deal damage more tactically/judicially to somewhat equal the bonus damage from College of Dance, or perhaps tactically impose effects that can equate to College of Glamour’s conditions, or just identify weaknesses in general like that of the Lore Bard.

A DC of 5 + CR is very doable at this level: DC 8 at level 3 (ish), DC 15 at level 10, and DC 20 at level 15 are attainable. This roll was designed to mechanically dovetail with other character features and effects, as well as offer an out for disguised creatures (so that the Bard doesn’t immediately identify a disguised villain).

The other two College of Dance features aren’t listed compared here since they are ribbons that permits a thematic playstyle.

Magical Broadcast

This offers two bonus effect options for Broadcast. Since Broadcast can be cast as a Bonus Action, these are quick effects that will complement whatever tactic you currently employ, buffing allies or debuffing enemies.

Enrapturing Broadcast is a quick exploration effect to distract patrols or prevent enemies from advancing on allies. Notably it’s not a Charm effect, which mechanically would overlap a bit with Glamour Bards and thematically is meant to be a distracting image like Enthrall.

Inspiring Broadcast grants ever-useful Temporary Hit Points. It’s not my favorite feature, but this subclass needed some baseline mechanical ally buffs.

As you progress, the range of this feature also scales alongside the cantrip

The Bonus Action cost and Bardic Inspiration expenditure allows for activation of Opposition Research again.

Improved Research

This adds more options that become relevant at higher levels. Seeking out a creature’s worst save grants immense tactical advantage in combat. The last option is entirely up to the GM and is included mainly as a roleplay opportunity or for tables with more fluid rules. Overall, this is a small decent benefit, just an improvement to an existing feature.

Echo Chamber

This feature is designed to be used against clustered enemies, particularly minions, imposing a penalty that scales with the enemy count. This makes it very dangerous against single villains with a cluster of weak minions, but it shouldn’t happen often. Overall, it opens up some fun gameplay decisions like using Magical Broadcast’s Enrapture (or some other repositioning effect) to keep minions in place to set up for this feature, or having allies intentionally fail the save to impose those penalties.

The last reason is why only failures contribute to the save, since we don’t want resistant allies to contribute to the penalty without suffering the consequences.

This is a debuff akin to Lore Bard’s Cutting Words with an average expected debuff of 1.5 other creatures failing their saves, down to -3 penalty for AoE spells and multi-target upcast spells. We won’t count allies. Spells are generally measured as affecting two creatures that fail their saves, so the minimum number is 1 other creature. Also, enemies only tend to cluster in 2s or 3s at most, more rarely within 10 feet.

This feature originally cost Bardic Inspiration, but was deemed too resource-heavy and later exchanged for a persistent version.