Guilds for Bards & Entertainers

Guilds and Factions

1.The Startfall Assembly

2.The Harmonic Fellowship

3. School of Reasonant Harmonics (Bard Subclass)

The Starfall Assembly

A vibrant and influential guild for bards, performers, and ambitious entertainers seeking fame, fortune, and recognition. This guild operates as both a network for artistic collaboration and a regulatory body to maintain the quality and ethics of public performances.

• Values: Creativity, expression, and excellence in performance. Members are expected to uphold the dignity of the craft while entertaining the masses.
• Structure: Governed by a council of renowned performers called the Gilded Stage, with a guildmaster as the public face.
• Headquarters: A grand amphitheater in HighMoore known as The Luminous Hall, which hosts prestigious performances and auditions.
• Purpose: Foster talent, provide resources for performers, and establish ethical standards for entertainers across Thalindor.

Key NPCs:

Guildmaster Amira Lyrasong:

• Role: Leader of the Starfall Assembly.
• Background: A legendary bard who once performed for kings and commoners alike, now retired from touring.
• Personality: Charismatic, insightful, and occasionally dramatic.
• Motivation: Elevate the arts to greater prominence and cement the guild’s cultural influence.

Maestro Rynald Velthane:

• Role: A renowned conductor and talent scout for the Assembly.
• Background: A perfectionist known for turning obscure talents into household names.
• Personality: Ambitious, demanding, and often critical of others’ work.
• Motivation: Maintain his reputation by discovering the next great star.

Songstress Calyn Veyra:

• Role: Rising star and the face of the Assembly’s newest generation.
• Background: A prodigy with a mysterious past, adored by audiences for her voice and stage presence.
• Personality: Humble but fiercely protective of her reputation.
• Motivation: Inspire others while carving out her legacy.

Dramaturge Halvor Nask:

• Role: Guild enforcer and handler of disputes.
• Background: A former playwright who joined the Assembly after his works were banned for inciting riots.
• Personality: Pragmatic, persuasive, and adept at navigating scandals.
• Motivation: Protect the guild’s reputation at all costs.

Guild Dynamics and Role in the Kingdom

• Recruitment: The guild is open to anyone with talent, but rigorous auditions ensure only the best rise to prominence. Those who fail may still find support as crew or apprentices.
• Guild Benefits: Members receive access to exclusive performance venues, legal representation, and training resources.

The Harmonic Fellowship

A guild dedicated to musicians, actors, performers, and artists of all kinds. Membership guarantees access to exclusive venues, patrons, and protection against exploitation. However, it’s also a hotbed of rivalries, jealousies, and dramatic egos.

• Values: Creativity, fame, and freedom of expression. However, some members prioritize wealth and recognition over artistry.
• Structure: A council of renowned performers governs the guild, with a rotating "Grand Virtuoso" acting as its public face.
• Headquarters: The Starfire Amphitheater, an opulent venue in HighMoore that serves as the guild’s meeting place and stage for premier performances.
• Purpose: Support and elevate entertainers while managing their reputations and connecting them with influential patrons.

Grand Virtuoso Aelira Moonwhisper:

• Role: Current head of the Harmonic Fellowship and its most famous bard.
• Background: A half-elf bard whose enchanting voice and harp-playing earned her a noble patron and widespread fame. Now she leads the Fellowship with charisma and flair.
• Personality: Charming, self-assured, and a little vain.
• Motivation: Maintain her legacy as the greatest performer in Thalindor while ensuring the Fellowship’s influence grows.

Maestro Gavrin "The Golden Lute" Brightstrings:

• Role: An elder member of the Fellowship and a mentor to new bards.
• Background: A legendary performer in his youth, now semi-retired. He teaches aspiring musicians and is known for his patience and insight.
• Personality: Wise, gentle, and nostalgic for the old days of the guild.
• Motivation: See the next generation of performers surpass his own achievements.

Lyssa "Shadowrose" Varryn:

• Role: A daring playwright and poet who pushes boundaries with controversial works.
• Background: Born to a poor family, Lyssa joined the Fellowship to challenge societal norms and stir emotions with her art.
• Personality: Passionate, rebellious, and a little reckless.
• Motivation: Use her art to inspire change and provoke thought—especially in the aristocracy.

Jester Trixel "The Prankster King" Fenwyk:

• Role: A comic performer and chaos agent within the Fellowship.
• Background: A gnome whose absurd and daring comedy has made him wildly popular among commoners but controversial among nobles.
• Personality: Mischievous, clever, and surprisingly insightful.
• Motivation: Push the boundaries of humor and gain the favor of the people.
• Secret: Often uses his performances as cover for spy work on behalf of a hidden patron.
• Interaction: Could involve players in elaborate pranks or covert missions disguised as performances.

1. Political Ties: Nobles often sponsor performers, creating opportunities for intrigue or manipulation.

School of Resonant Harmonics (The Soundbreakers)

“Sound does not soothe. Sound shapes. Sound destroys. The world is held together by vibrations—we are here to break them.”

While most bards charm and inspire, Resonant Bards do neither and are often considered Anti-Bards.

They study sound as a physical force: something to rupture, manipulate, and weaponize. Born from the cold stone halls of the College of Resonant Harmonics in Wintershade, these Soundbreakers abandon art for power.

They break the world’s balance and shape their foes’ destruction through calculated dissonance.

Abandon charm and music for weaponized resonance, sound ruptures, and battlefield vibration control.

Membership Titles:

Practitioners known as Resonants or Soundbreakers.

1. Neophyte Whisper – lvl 0 - initiates who learn to listen, not speak, learn how to create and tune your fork.
2. Vibrationist – lvl 1 - practitioners who first master Resonant Pulse.
3. Soundbreaker Initiate – lvl 3 - those who weaponize sound as their art.
4. Echo Warden – elite members who safeguard the Vault and its secrets.
5. The Reverberant – leader of the College.

Subclass Features

3rd Level – Soundbreaker Initiate

• Vibration Echoes: You lose Bardic Inspiration and instead gain Resonance Charges equal to your Charisma modifier + proficiency bonus (minimum 2). You regain all expended charges after a short or long rest.
• Resonant Pulse: As a bonus action, spend 1 charge to unleash a 15 ft. cone of vibrating force from your tuning fork. Creatures must succeed on a Constitution save (DC = 8 + Prof Bonus + Charisma mod) or take 2d8 thunder damage and be pushed 10 ft. away. Success = half damage, no push.
• Anti-Bard Role: You create your personal tuning-fork that acts as your focus.

3rd Level – Echo Attunement

Your control of frequencies grows:

• Spells you cast that deal thunder or force damage ignore resistance to those damage types.
• When casting a spell with a verbal component, you may choose for your voice to echo unnervingly, causing creatures within 10 ft. to have disadvantage on concentration checks until the start of your next turn.

6th Level – Shatterform

You partially phase between sound and matter.

• As a reaction to taking damage, you can spend 1 Resonance Charge to reduce the damage by your Bard level + Charisma modifier and teleport up to 15 ft. to an unoccupied space you can see.
• While in this “shatterform” state, your next attack deals an additional 2d8 thunder damage.
• You can use this reaction once per round.

10th Level – Frequency Severance

You can destabilize a creature’s connection to the material plane by targeting their resonance.

• As an action, choose one creature within 60 feet. That creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or become out of phase for 1 minute. While out of phase:
• The creature takes double damage from thunder or force attacks.
• The creature's movement speed is halved.
• Its spoken communication is garbled and unintelligible.
• It can repeat the save at the end of each of its turns to end the effect.
• You can use this feature once per long rest.

14th Level – The Echo Eternal

When you drop to 0 HP, you immediately activate a devastating burst before falling unconscious.

• Every enemy within 30 ft. takes 6d8 thunder damage (Con save for half).
• Allies within 30 ft. regain 4d8 hit points.
• The environment shudders violently; glass, fragile stone, and wood in the area may shatter at DM’s discretion.
• Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest.

Resonant Spell List

When you join the College of Resonant Harmonics, add these spells to your bard spell list:

Cantrip: Piercing Note
You emit a focused sonic spike.

• Range: 60 ft. / Spell Attack
• Target takes 1d8 thunder damage and must succeed on a Constitution save or have disadvantage on their next attack roll.

1st Level: Resonant Dissonance
You destabilize the frequencies of a creature.

• Target within 30 ft. makes a Constitution save.
• On failure, takes 3d6 thunder damage and must move half its movement away from you immediately.
• No effect on a successful save.

2nd Level: Sonic Grasp
You create a vibrating field of sound that locks onto a creature.

• Range: 60 ft.
• Target must succeed on a Strength save or be restrained by oscillating sound waves (lasts 1 minute, concentration).
• Target can repeat the save at the end of each turn.

2nd Level: Vocal Mask

You mimic any voice you’ve heard for up to 10 minutes.

• Perfect replication (DC 20 Insight check to detect fraud).
• Works for social deception, infiltration, or sabotage.

3rd Level: Silent Veil
You and up to 5 willing creatures enter a perfect zone of silence for up to 1 hour.

• No sound escapes; immune to sound-based detection and tracking.
• Creatures inside can only communicate by telepathy (range 30 ft., shared by spell effect).

3rd Level: Echo Mirage
You split your image into shimmering sound reflections.

• Enemies have disadvantage on attack rolls against you for 1 minute or until you are hit.
• Your movement leaves afterimages that distract foes.Reveals traps, hidden doors, or weak points.

3rd Level: Banshee Wail

You emit a terrifying, piercing shriek that echoes through the minds of those nearby.

• Range: 30 ft. radius centered on you
• Effect: All creatures of your choice in the area must make a Constitution save or take 5d8 psychic damage and fall frightened for 1 minute. On a success, they take half damage and are not frightened.
• Add 2d8 for every spell slot above level 3
• Creatures that fail the save can repeat it at the end of each of their turns.
• Non-magical glass and fragile objects in the area shatter.

3rd Level: Siren’s Pull

You weave a hypnotic, luring melody that wraps around the minds of your targets.

• Range: 60 ft. (up to 3 creatures of your choice)
• Effect: Targets must make a Wisdom save or become charmed by you for 1 minute. While charmed, they are compelled to move toward you on their turns.
• If they reach within 5 ft. of you, they stand entranced and take no action unless harmed or commanded.
• Targets can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of their turns.

4th Level: Shatter Pulse
You unleash a wide, deafening shockwave.

• 30 ft. radius burst centered on you.
• All creatures must make a Constitution save:
• Fail: 6d10 thunder damage + fall prone.
• Success: Half damage, no prone.
• Non-magical objects in the area take maximum damage.

4th Level: Reverberating Curse

You infuse a target with unstable echoes, causing their body and magic to betray them.

• Range: 60 ft.
• Effect: One creature of your choice must succeed on a Constitution save or suffer the following for 1 minute:
• Disadvantage on concentration checks.
• Whenever they cast a spell or make a melee attack, they take 2d8 thunder damage as the vibrations backlash internally.
• The target can make another saving throw at the end of each of its turns.

4th Level: Sonic Tether

You create a resonant cord of sound that connects two creatures.

• Range: 60 ft., connect any two creatures (can include yourself)
• Effect: Until the spell ends (concentration, up to 1 minute), if one creature moves, the other is pulled in the same direction, sharing movement.
• If one creature takes damage, the other takes half that damage as well.

5th Level: Vibration Curse
You curse a creature’s internal resonance.

• Range: 60 ft.
• Target takes 4d10 thunder damage and suffers disadvantage on all attack rolls, concentration checks and Dexterity saving throws for 1 minute.
• Target can attempt a Constitution save (DC19) at end of turns to end the effect.

5th Level: Resonant Rift

You rip open a pulsing seam of pure sound energy between planes.

• Range: 120 ft. (point you can see)
• Effect: Creates a 30-ft. diameter zone of howling resonance for 1 minute (concentration).
• Creatures entering or starting their turn in the area take 4d8 thunder damage.
• The zone counts as difficult terrain.
• Spellcasting inside requires a successful Concentration check (DC 17) or the spell fails, swallowed by the rift.

5th Level: Sonic Lockdown

You create a resonant cage of vibrating sound around a creature.

• Range: 60 ft. (affects one creature per action, up to three creatures maximum)
• Effect: The creature must make a Dexterity save or become trapped in a sonic prison.
• While trapped, they cannot teleport, move, or pass through walls.
• They can attack or cast spells normally but take 2d10 thunder damage each time they attack or cast.
• Lasts up to 1 minute (concentration).

6th Level: Resonant Implosion
You collapse sound into a deadly focal point.

• 20 ft. sphere within 60 ft.
• Each creature inside must make a Constitution save:
• Fail: Pulled to center, takes 10d10 thunder damage.
• Success: Half damage, no movement.
• Destroys fragile objects and heavily damages structures.
• If inside a building those creatures must also make a Dexterity save:
• Fail: Building collapse doing 3d6 damage.
• Success: Half damage, move 10 feet away.

7th Level: The Sonic Maw
You open a churning rift of pure sound.

• 20 ft. radius area within 120 ft. becomes an audible vortex.
• Creatures inside take 6d10 thunder damage at start of their turn and have disadvantage on all attacks and ability checks.
• Lasts for 1 minute (concentration).
• Area is heavily obscured by vibrating distortion.

9th Level: The Worldbreaker Chord
You unleash a single, perfect, world-rending tone.

• 120 ft. cone.
• Every creature and object must make a Constitution save.
• Fail:
• Creatures: Take 20d10 thunder damage, are deafened permanently (can be reversed by Regenerate or Wish).
• Structures: Automatically destroyed or severely fractured.
• Success: Half damage, temporary deafness for 1 hour.
• The sound can be heard up to 100 miles away, and fissures form in the earth along the path.

The College of Resonant Harmonics

A Bard College unlike any other: aggressive, terrifying, almost anti-bard in that it rejects music for weaponized sound energy and battlefield manipulation.

Location:
The Echo Vault, deep beneath the black marble streets of Wintershade, Thalindor’s harsh northern kingdom.

• The Echo Vault is an underground labyrinth of smooth basalt chambers and perfect acoustics. Walls hum faintly at all times.

Unique Features of The Echo Vault

• The Tuning Chamber: a perfect sphere used to test experimental frequencies. Entering it unprotected can rupture lungs or cause madness.
• The Hall of Silence: an anti-magic zone where no sound exists; used to punish reckless members.
• The Choir of Stone: an ancient, sentient formation of geodes that sings dissonant warnings of impending doom.
• Resonance Forges: enchanted workshops where Resonant Bards craft deadly tuning forks, harmonic blades, and Echo Amulets.

Reputation:

• Loathed by traditional bards and distrusted by many arcanists.
• Rumored to have once been an offshoot of the Starfall Assembly, before they “fell to madness.”
• Members are feared “Soundbreakers” who use resonance to silence, rupture, and devastate rather than inspire.

Key NPCs

The Reverberant Kael Vox (male tiefling, LN)

• Current master of the College.
• Speaks only when necessary; his words carry literal vibrational force.
• Believes ultimate truth can be found in breaking the world's harmonic balance.
• Wears a black obsidian mantle and carries The Fork of Unmaking, a legendary resonance staff.

Echo Warden Syla Marrow (female half-elf, CN)

• Overseer of training chambers.
• Coldly pragmatic; views students as “instruments to be tuned.”
• Known to have ruptured an enemy’s heart with a single note during the Siege of Wintershade.

Chord Reaver Jannick Hollow (male human, CE)

• Unstable genius obsessed with perfecting the Worldbreaker Chord.
• Body partially scarred and warped by his own failed experiments.
• Commands terrifying experimental sonic constructs called Vox Revenants (golem-like beings of living sound waves).

There are three signature magic items of the College of Resonant Harmonics, these are used by echo wardens of the highest ranks (ofcourse all these are registered at the Jussum Octavius).

Vox Fork (Unique item)

“The Fork of Unmaking” is the legendary prototype wielded by The Reverberant Kael Vox.

Requires attunement by a bard of the College of Resonant Harmonics.

A beautifully crafted tuning fork of black iron and meteoric ore.

• As an action, you can strike the fork to emit a pulse of destructive resonance:
• Vox Pulse (2/day): All creatures in a 15 ft. cone must make a Constitution save (DC = 8 + Prof bonus + Charisma mod) or take 5d8 thunder damage and be pushed 15 ft. Success = half damage, no push.
• While attuned:
• Your thunder spells are treated as one spell level higher for damage purposes.
• You can use the fork as a spellcasting focus.
• The fork vibrates constantly; only its wielder hears the sound.

Echo Amulet (Wondrous Item, Very Rare)

Common among senior members of the College; shaped like a swirling spiral of silver wire.

Requires attunement by any spellcaster.

This amulet stores and rebounds sonic energy:

• You gain resistance to thunder damage.
• Once per long rest, when you cast a spell that deals thunder or force damage, you may immediately cast it again (same target or new target) without using an additional spell slot.
• The second casting happens instantly as an overwhelming sound echo.
• After this effect, the amulet falls silent for 24 hours.

Resonance Blade (Weapon, Very Rare)

A signature weapon of Chord Reavers. Appears as a curved black metal sword or dagger with etched vibration runes.

Requires attunement by a bard of the College of Resonant Harmonics.

This finely balanced melee weapon hums faintly with unstable energy.

• Counts as a +1 weapon (Rare) or +2 weapon (Very Rare).
• When you hit with it, you can choose to activate Resonant Slash (1/turn):
• Target takes an additional 2d6 thunder damage and must succeed on a Strength save (DC = 8 + Prof bonus + Charisma mod) or be knocked prone.
• If you reduce a creature to 0 hit points with this blade, you regain 1 Resonance Charge.

Signature Set Bonus

If a bard wields all three (Vox Fork + Echo Amulet + Resonance Blade):

• Once per long rest, they can invoke Worldbreaker Echo (lesser version of Worldbreaker Chord):
• Emit a 30 ft. radius burst of sound, dealing 10d8 thunder damage to enemies (Con save for half).
• Creatures killed by this ability dissolve into pure sound, leaving no corpse.