Table of Contents
Expanding the Bardic Repertoire, Part II
Presented here for your Summer gaming enjoyment are three more new bard cantrips, hot off the imagination.
Playtest Material
We humbly present three new bard cantrips for your playtesting pleasure. Feel free to use these in your own games and let us know what you think of them if you do. Our aim is to publish a magic compendium of new spells and magic items for 5E in the coming months, so we’d like the spells and items we include to be as “battle-tested” as possible. So, without further ado, we present the new spells, which you can read below or download in handy PDF format using the link below:
Amplify
Enchantment cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M (a howler claw)
Duration: 1 minute
Performers of years gone by created this cantrip to improve their ability to be heard in the open air and to give them the upper hand when trying to influence members of an audience. For the duration, the spell has one of the following effects, specified at the time of casting:
- Your voice can be heard clearly out to a radius of 120 feet. You may suppress or resume this effect as a bonus action for the duration.
- You may increase the volume of a single sound source (an instrument, a clanging piece of metal, the wind, etc.) so that it can be heard up to 120 feet away. The objects cannot be targeted if they are worn or wielded by another creature.
- You may use your reaction add 1d4 to your next Intimidation, Performance, or Persuasion check against a single creature you can see within range. This spell then immediately ends, whether the check was successful or not.
- You may use your reaction to add one additional damage die to a spell you cast that successfully deals thunder damage. The die type is dependent on the spell cast. Using this effect ends this spell.
You may not have more than 2 non-instantaneous instances of this spell active at the same time. Casting the spell a third time causes the oldest effect to immediately end.
Forceful Words
Evocation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V
Duration: Instantaneous
You speak a string of words imbued with magical power and direct it toward a single creature you can see within range. Make a ranged spell attack. On a hit, the target takes 1d6 force damage and is pushed up to 10 feet away from you in a straight line.
The damage from this spell increases by 1d6 at 5th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6), and 17th level (4d6).
Gloomsight
Transmutation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (an owl’s or cat’s eye)
Duration: 1 round
Until the end of your next turn, a single willing creature you touch is able to see in nonmagical darkness as though it were dim light or in dim light as though it were bright light to a distance of 15 feet. Only one casting of this spell can be active at any time. If you cast this spell again before the duration, the effect of the previous casting ends immediately.
As always, feel free to use these in your own game and let us know what you think.