D&D 5e Homebrew: The Bard College of Ballet

My daughter Emma gave me this idea a few weeks ago when she told me that she has become a Level 1 Ballerina.  I asked her what happens when she levels-up, and she replied, “I learn more tricks and stunts and stuff.”

Okay.  I can work with that.

The College of Ballet

Bards of the College of Ballet are elite dancers and athletes, using their physical prowess to entertain through a highly stylized form of dance.  Unlike most other bards, ballerinas do not typically perform in common festhalls or taverns.  Instead, ballet is an art largely reserved for the nobility.  Ballerinas most often perform in noble keeps or in large performance halls in the better parts of town.  Many nobles consider knowledge of ballet to be a sign of sophistication, and for this reason, ballerinas often form personal relationships with wealthy would be sophisticates.  IN many cases, these lead to sponsorships or even formal patronages.  

Ballerinas typically form dance troupes to put on group performances.  Such troupes might tour the realm, taking their art to nobles throughout the kingdom, or have an established presence in a specific host city.  A successful ballerina may even seek to form his or her own dance troupe once she has accrued enough acclaim, either through the good offices of a noble patron or using the earnings from her own adventuring career.  A ballet troupe has need of more than just a few dancers, however, so a traveling troupe leader had better have a few friends around to help manage the noble crowds and keep her dancers safe from unruly, oft-entitled well-to-do patrons.

Bonus Proficiency: Ballet

When you join the College of Ballet at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with ballet.  Ballet is a demandingly physical form of dance involving leaps, twirls, and superhuman grace.  

As a ballerina, you may use the Performance skill through dance rather than with musical instruments, and because of your physical mastery, you gain Advantage on ability checks involving jumps or leaps.  Because your art is visible, you may also use your Bardic abilities and cast Enchantment spells through either dance or song.  When you cast using dance, targeted creatures must be able to see you rather than hear you.  You can cast spells and make use of spell-like effects (such asSong of Rest or Countercharm) without the usual vocal and/or musical components or cues.

Pirouette

Starting at 3rd level, you can use your natural grace and beauty to distract and confuse your opponents in battle, causing mayhem.  When a creature that you can see and that can see you within 60’ makes an attack roll against you, you can expend one of your uses of Bardic Inspiration, rolling a Bardic Inspiration die and subtracting the total from the creature’s attack.  You can choose to use this feature after the creature makes its attack roll against you.  If the attack misses, you may then choose a new target for the creature’s attack within 5’ of you.  The creature’s attack roll stands, but now it adds the result of your Bardic Inspiration die to its attack roll in order to determine whether or not it hits its new target.

Contretemps

Starting at 6th level, your physical training and mastery of dance allow you to strike and disengage before your enemies can react.  When you move and make a melee attack on the same turn, you can use your bonus action to Disengage.  If you move more than 10’ and hit with a melee attack, you can also add your Charisma modifier to your damage roll.  

Prima Ballerina

When you move at least half your speed and make a melee attack roll, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration.  Roll a Bardic Inspiration die and add it to your attack roll.  You can choose to do this after you roll your attack but before the DM tells you whether or not the attack succeeds.

New Feats 

Ballerina

Prerequisite: Strength and Dexterity 12 or higher; Noble background

En pointe

You have learned the dance style called ballet.  You gain training in the Performance skill and may make use of this skill solely through dance.  You increase one ability score, either Strength or Dexterity, by one point and increase your speed by 5’.

New Feat: Pointe

Prerequisite: Strength 13; proficiency with ballet

You gain training in Athletics and can add your Strength modifier to your Armor Class when you are wearing light armor or are not wearing armor.

New Magic Items 

Wings of the Swan

Wings of the Swam come in two varieties, White (rare) and Black (very rare).  Both wings enable the wearer to polymorph into a large swan (use statistics for a Vulture).  White Wings let you cast Enchantment spells while in swan form.  Black Wings make your bite poisonous and give you a bonus to melee attack rolls equal to your Charisma modifier while you are in Swan form.  The save DC for the poison is equal to your spell save DC.  On a failed save, the target takes 3d6 poison damage and is poisoned (save ends).

New Magic Item: Pointe Shoes (Rare)

To use these shoes, you must be proficient with ballet.  While you are wearing these shoes, you have Advantage on attack rolls for Enchantment spells that you cast through dance, and the targets of these spells have Disadvantage on saving throws.  You must continue dancing for these effects to continue through additional rounds.  While dancing, you cannot make melee or ranged weapon attacks, but you can cast additional Enchantment spells, use spell-like effects such as Bardic Inspiration, Pirouette, and/or Countercharm.