College of Counsel (5e Bard Subclass)

Bards of the College of Counsel are healers of the mind and soul. Through their keen insight and knowledge of psychology, they can identify traumas, stresses and insecurities in others that are causing distress. Words are their medicine of choice; the informed advice they offer leads others to life-altering epiphanies and guides them through their most difficult trials. 

The College of Counsel is a bard subclass for 5e that lets you be the literal team therapist. Psychoanalyze your friends and enemies alike, offer words of encouragement, and gut-punch monsters with insightful bombshells that will leave them re-evaluating their entire life. 

Mechanically, the College of Counsel leans into the bard's support role, with a focus on bolstering the toughness and willpower of your allies. You can spend your bardic inspiration dice to give your friends temporary hit points, and you have abilities to help them resist charm and fear, reduce psychic damage they take, and boost their concentration saves. At 14th level, you can use your Stunning Breakthrough ability to incapacitate a creature while simultaneously charming them into being honest about their feelings. 

The download includes both the PDF, and a plain text file for easier copy/pasting into your program of choice. 

And remember: your friends are not your therapist! If this subclass is at the table, everyone should do their best to keep things in-character. If someone is taking advantage of this to make their fellow players work through their real-world problems, it may be time to have a talk about boundaries at the table. 

(Though it has been reviewed for balance, the College of Counsel has not be thoroughly playtested. If adjustments need to be made, new versions will be uploaded.)