This is part of my Inspirations series: works that will potentially be forever untested or incomplete, but serve as ideas or inspiration to players and GMs of D&D and other TTRPG systems.
Today's article focuses on a psionic archetype for the bard class, similar to the way the
Circle of the True Communion adds psionics to the druid class.
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| Photo by Ozan Safak on Unsplash |
College of Treachery
The College of Treachery is not likely a real or formal name, but rather is the common term for one or many hidden organizations that teach these secret techniques. Rumors abound of hidden psionic houses or lineages that demand a heavy price to learn such talents.
These bards often specialize in spycraft and lead double lives. For some, it is a calling to king and country. For others, perhaps their roots tie back to the hidden masters that trained them. More sinister bards of this college may be surface agents for ancient mind flayer cabals. While bards of this "college" may not fare well in a physical fight, you are unlikely to ever get them in such a position.
They are terrifying and merciless, and are not to be underestimated.
| Level |
Cantrips |
Psi Points |
Psi Limit |
Disciplines Known |
College Powers |
| 1 |
2 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| 2 |
2 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| 3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
Psionics, Talent, Sleeper Agent, Thought Spy |
| 4 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
-- |
| 5 |
2 |
8 |
2 |
1 |
-- |
| 6 |
2 |
13 |
2 |
2 |
Talent, Beneath Notice |
| 7 |
2 |
15 |
3 |
2 |
-- |
| 8 |
2 |
18 |
3 |
2 |
-- |
| 9 |
2 |
18 |
3 |
2 |
-- |
| 10 |
3 |
22 |
4 |
3 |
Magical Secrets or Psionic Secrets |
| 11 |
3 |
22 |
4 |
3 |
-- |
| 12 |
3 |
22 |
4 |
3 |
|
| 13 |
3 |
22 |
5 |
3 |
-- |
| 14 |
3 |
27 |
5 |
3 |
Talent, Persona Immersion, Magical Secrets or Psionic Secrets |
| 15 |
3 |
27 |
5 |
4 |
-- |
| 16 |
3 |
27 |
6 |
4 |
-- |
| 17 |
3 |
27 |
6 |
4 |
-- |
| 18 |
3 |
36 |
6 |
4 |
Magical Secrets or Psionic Secrets |
| 19 |
3 |
36 |
7 |
4 |
-- |
| 20 |
3 |
36 |
7 |
5 |
-- |
Psionics:
Upon choosing this archetype at 3rd level, your mind awakens to its psionic potential. All the aspects of psionics described in the Mystic class now apply to you. You gain the ability to apply a psionic focus and to learn psionic disciplines. As your mystic powers come through a deep understanding of your own self and your relationship to others, Charisma is your relevant ability score for determining save DCs and psionic attack rolls.
Talent:
Upon choosing this archetype, you learn a psionic talent. Your talent selection is limited due to the specialized nature of your training. You can choose one talent from the following list:
- Blade Meld
- Blind Spot
- Delusion
- Mind Meld
- Mystic Charm
- Mystic Hand
You do not learn a new bard cantrip at level 4. You continue to know two cantrips until 10th level, at which point you learn a third cantrip. You do, however, learn a second psionic talent at 6th level and a third talent at 14th level. (For a lower-powered version of this archetype, consider one new talent at around 10th level, and none beyond that.)
Disciplines:
Due to your specialized training, you can select psionic disciplines only from the following list:
- Aura Sight
- Crown of Despair
- Crown of Rage
- Intellect Fortress
- Mantle of Awe
- Mantle of Command
- Mantle of Fear
- Nomadic Chameleon
- Nomadic Mind
- Precognition
- Psychic Inquisition
- Psychic Phantoms
- Telepathic Contact
- Third Eye
- Treacherous Truth*
*New discipline, available to bards of the College of Treachery, detailed below.
Sleeper Agent:
At 3rd level, you begin to lead a double life and can alter your mind to help you blend in. You gain proficiency with the Disguise Kit and in a skill of your choice. When you finish a long rest, you can lose proficiency in that skill and exchange it for proficiency in another skill.
Thought Spy:
You learn to use a variant of the spell detect thoughts at 3rd level. Add the spell to your list of spells known; it does not count against your normal amount of spells known.
If you choose, you can cast a lesser version of detect thoughts that only detects surface thoughts.
You may cast this lesser version a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1). If you are concentrating on this lesser version and you wish to probe deeper, you must expend a spell slot as if you were casting detect thoughts. When you cast the spell detect thoughts, or use this lesser version, the duration of the effect doubles and you can concentrate on the ability for up to two minutes. You regain all uses of lesser detect thoughts when you finish a long rest.
You treat the spell (and this lesser version) as if it were a psionic discipline, meaning that you can invest your psychic focus and psi points into the spell as long as it is active. Any time you invest psi points into an ability of detect thoughts or its lesser version, you are still considered to be concentrating on detect thoughts. If your concentration is broken, both abilities end.
Psychic Focus. While you are focused on detect thoughts or the lesser version granted by this college, you can read the surface thoughts of targets without your targets being aware. Your target may make a Wisdom saving throw; if they succeed, their surface thoughts are prevented from being read, but they are still unaware that you attempted to probe their mind.
If you use your bonus action to invest your psychic focus in this way, you may do so on the same turn that you activate detect thoughts or lesser detect thoughts, and this benefit takes place when the spell is cast and supersedes the normal "surface thoughts" effect of the spell.
Mass Detect Thoughts (1-7 psi, conc. spell duration). When you cast detect thoughts or use the lesser detect thoughts ability granted by this college, you can spend psi points as a separate action to read the minds of multiple creatures at once. If you are reading surface thoughts, you can choose to affect one creature plus two more for every psi point you invest in this power. If you are probing deeper, you can choose to affect one creature plus one more for every psi point you invest.
Telepathy (1-5 psi, conc. 1 hour). When reading the thoughts of a target, you can spend one psi point to open a two-way telepathic link with the target. If the target can see you, they are able to identify you as the origin point of the link. This telepathic link can be sustained even beyond the duration of detect thoughts or the lesser detect thoughts ability.
If you are using the above mass detect thoughts ability, then every one psi point you spend allows you to establish a telepathic link with up to three targets of your mass detect thoughts. The effect of telepathy supersedes the effect of mass detect thoughts; you cannot concentrate on both abilities.
Psychic Inspiration (2 psi). If you are in telepathic contact with a target, regardless of the source of that telepathy, to whom you have granted Bardic Inspiration, you can use this ability. When that creature uses its Bardic Inspiration die, you are made aware of the result of the roll. You can choose to use your reaction (before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails) and spend 2 psi points to allow that character to re-roll the Bardic Inspiration die. The character does not have to re-roll, but if they do, they must accept the result of the second roll.
Beneath Notice:
At 6th level, your mind generates a kind of psychic feedback, and your target begins to see what they expect to see. If you maintain psychic contact (via the detect thoughts spell or the lesser detect thoughts ability) for one minute with a target or targets, you pick up surface thoughts and subconsciously understand what they expect to see, even if they are not actively thinking it. The target or targets must make a Wisdom saving throw. If they fail, they forget your previous appearance and instead see something that conforms to their expectations. If you are standing among a crowd of peasants for example, you will likely look like a peasant. If you are entering into a dwarven village and you engage with the dwarves at the gate, they will likely perceive you as a dwarf. If the target succeeds on its saving throw, it is not aware that you attempted to influence it.
Against any target affected in this way, you have advantage on Charisma checks, and the target has a disadvantage to saving throws against your enchantment spells, illusion spells, or psionic powers. This effect lasts for 1 hour. If a target succeeds on a saving throw against your enchantment, illusion, or psionic effect, this ability ends for that target immediately. If you fail a Charisma check against a target who is currently affected by this ability, then this ability ends immediately for that target.
Psionic Secrets:
If you wish, at 10th, 14th, and 18th level, you can choose (each time) to learn psionic secrets instead of magical secrets. If you choose to do so, your number of spells known does not increase by two, but instead you learn two powers from any psionic discipline, and potentially from separate disciplines. These powers must have a cost less than or equal to your psi limit.
Alternatively, one or both powers can be exchanged for a new psionic talent or a psychic focus ability.
Persona Immersion:
At level 14, you gain the ability to re-write your own mind and aura to avoid detection. First, you have advantage on saving throws against the charmed condition and against enchantment and divination spells. Advantage also applies to any effect that would sense your emotions or read your thoughts.
Second, you gain the ability to don a new persona, a psychic mask that displays false information. You can create two alternate personas, or masks, at the end of your next long rest. Each persona has a name, an alignment, and other information such as desires, goals, and emotions that are separate from your own. You can change personas when you complete a short or long rest.
If you are subjected to a divination spell or other effect that would sense your emotions or read your thoughts, and you succeed on your saving throw, you can choose to project the false information of your persona and make it seem as if you had failed the saving throw.
If you invest your psychic focus into a given persona, you gain a partial mind blank effect, as per the spell. You are immune to divination spells as well as any effect that would sense your emotions or read your thoughts. You are aware of any attempt to magically gain information from you, and you can instantaneously choose to relay the false information of your focused persona, which includes a false image/location if you are fooling a scrying spell.
You can create new personas by "erasing" old ones. "Erasing" an old persona and "writing" a new one into your mind and aura takes a total of one week, during which time you must spend at least 4 hours each day in meditation. At the end of the week, you create a name, alignment, personality, and other information for the persona.
Treacherous Truth
Psionic Discipline
You hone your mind against the weapons with which you are most familiar: enchantment and illusion magic. This discipline helps you shatter illusions and break free of enchantments.
Psychic Focus. While focused on this discipline, you gain advantage on Intelligence (Investigation) checks.
Psychic Backlash (1-7 psi). As an action, target one creature who is exerting control over another via an enchantment spell or similar effect that causes the charmed condition. The target creature need not be actively issuing commands to the charmed creature.
The target creature must make a Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, it takes 1d8 points of psychic damage per psi point you spend on this ability, or 1d10 points of psychic damage per psi point if the target was concentrating on the enchantment/charm ability, which forces the target to make a Constitution check or lose concentration on the power. On a successful save, the target takes half damage.
If, instead, the target is concentrating on an illusion spell or effect, it takes 1d6 points of damage per psi point spent on a failed save and must make a Constitution check to maintain concentration. On a successful save, the target takes half damage.
If you are mistaken, and the target is using neither an enchantment/charm effect or an illusion effect, the target must make a Wisdom saving throw or be incapacitated until the end of its next turn (or until it takes damage) as it stands dazed by your psionic effect. If the target succeeds on this saving throw, it suffers no effect.
Pierce the Veil (2 psi; conc. 1 min). As an action, you can use this power to create a 30 foot field around you. Any spell of the illusion school (of a level equal to or lower than your highest level of spells) that is active within that range triggers your awareness. If the spell is an illusion spell of a higher level than you are able to cast, you do not become aware of it unless you are within 10 feet of it. In either case, you are not aware of the location or the exact nature of the illusion, just that it exists. As an action on your turn, you can make an Intelligence (Investigation) check as if you were examining the illusion. On a successful check, you become aware of the illusion, the location of the illusion, and the nature of the illusory image or sound.
If there is an illusion active within range when you activate this power, you immediately recognize it and may make an Intelligence (Investigation) check as part of activating the power. You can only attempt to examine one illusion per round, if there are multiple. The DM should have your rolls apply to the closest illusions first. If two or more are equidistant from you, the DM should choose one at random.
Break Enchantment (4 psi). As an action, target a creature that is under the effect of a spell from the school of enchantment, such as charm person, enthrall, or suggestion. This ability also functions against non-spell effects that induce the charmed effect. You immediately grant this creature a new saving throw with advantage, against the enchantment spell or charmed effect. If the creature succeeds, the enchantment is broken as if dispelled, or the charmed effect ends immediately.
Overpower Enchantment (5 psi). This ability functions as Break Enchantment, but can be used as a reaction, and can be used if you yourself are under the effect of the enchantment spell in question. If you use this power on yourself while you are charmed or otherwise affected by an enchantment spell, you immediately gain a new saving throw against the spell or effect. If you fail this second saving throw, you cannot use this ability again for the duration of the effect.
Seize Enchantment (7 psi). As an action, target one creature who is exerting control over another via an enchantment spell or similar effect that causes the charmed condition. The target creature need not be actively issuing commands to the charmed creature.
The target creature must make a Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, you gain control over the enchantment spell or effect, and the target loses control as if the spell or ability was dispelled. For all intents and purposes, you are the caster or originator of the effect, and anyone charmed or otherwise controlled by the effect is now under your control. This ability is subject to all the benefits and restrictions of the original spell or ability.
