D&D 5.5E: The new Bard College of “Dancing” is actually all about hitting
Of the three new subclasses introduced in the D&D 5.5E Player’s Handbook, the Bard College of Dance is the most striking (unarmed).
College of Dance? More like School of Hard Knocks. But in this case, you’re the one who deals the hard blows. That’s how I would describe the new subclass for bards. In the new D&D 5.5E Player’s Handbook, bards have a total of four subclasses, the College of Lore, the College of Valor, which originally came from the PHB, and the College of Glamour from Tasha’s Cauldron of Space. But instead of the College of Swords from Xanathar’s Guide to EverythingBards receive a new subclass: the College of Dance.
This stunning new Bard is all about the majesty of movement. The dance here refers to the swirling cosmos dancing across the heavens. It is the movement of creation itself. And that celestial, cosmic majesty, that universal language that needs no mouth to speak or sing, translates for Bard into punching someone really hard in the face. All the time.
Fosse would never.
Bards can dance and if they want, they can slap someone on the butt
But how does it work? It’s an interesting subclass for bards. Because bards in 5.5E are first and foremost wizards, as they were in 5th edition. They’re also inspiration engines. And like the other bard subclasses, the College of Dance gives you new options to use when handing out those friendship dice.
At level 3, the function Dazzling footwork grants you four key abilities. The first is a small band that gives you advantages on performance checks with Dance. But more importantly, you get a Bardic Unarmored Defense, which means you can use your Dex And Your Charisma modifiers to your AC when you’re not wearing armor. Because you look too pretty and graceful to get hit.
Most importantly, though, you get Agile Strikes and Bardic Damage. These two abilities allow you to hit people with Inspiration. Literally. Bardic Damage lets you use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of Unarmed Strikes, in addition to dealing damage equal to your Bardic Inspiration die (starting at 1d6 and going up to 1d12). And, crucially, this doesn’t use up any of your Bardic Inspirations. That’s good, because Agile Strikes means that every time you use your Bardic Inspiration, you can perform an Unarmed Strike as part of using the Inspiration.
In other words, you can hit people really well. And every time you use Bardic Inspiration, which you can do as a bonus action, you can hit people really well for free. It’s a weird mechanic, but one that means you want to be there, both in melee and when casting bardic spells.
At level 6 Inspiring movement allows you to spend a reaction to spend a Bardic Inspiration (which triggers a free unarmed strike thanks to Agile Strikes) when an enemy ends their turn within 5 feet of you, allowing you to move at up to half speed without provoking attacks of opportunity, and then an ally within 30 feet can also spend a reaction to move at half speed without provoking attacks. This is how you become a master of positioning and striking.
You will also receive Tandem footwork at level 6, which allows you to spend Bardic Inspiration when you take initiative (this does not trigger your agile strikes) and adds your Bardic Inspiration die to the initiative of all party members as long as they are within 30 feet of you.
Finally at level 14, Leading Dodge gives you and everyone within 5 feet of you dodge, meaning you take no damage on a successful Dexterity saving throw instead of half damage.
All in all, this is a fun new way to play bards. I love that your unarmed strike is used primarily in conjunction with your bardic inspiration, as this frees up your action and, especially when you reach 6th level, your bonus action for casting spells. Because the dance bard is ultimately a wizard who can also punch things. And if you can cast spells like Heat Metal or Fount of Moonlight, you can do even more in the middle of combat while still punching things. It’s an interesting take on the melee wizard.
Will you be trying out the College of Dance from the new PHB, out September 17th?
