College of silhouettes

Bards of the College of silhouette are poets and storytellers that enthrall audiences by weaving their magic into lifelike creatures. These bards will spend time in the wilderness studying creatures so that they may learn to recreate movements and behaviours.

Book of Creatures

At third level you have a book of creatures, which you can use to conjure Shadow Puppets based on a non-humanoid creature in your book. As an action, you can expend a spell slot to create a shadow puppet for one hour, and you may maintain two Shadow Puppets at any time, both of which must be different creatures. You may create a puppet based on a non-humanoid creature you have seen with a challenge rating of an equal or lower level than the spell slot expended (for example, to summon a Tiger with a challenge ratio of 1, you may expend a level one or higher spell slot). Creatures with a challenge rating of zero in your book may be summoned without expending a spell slot. Shadow puppets act on your initiative score and obeys your verbal commands.

To add a creature to your book of creatures, you must spend one hour observing the creature in order to take notes on the creatures mannerisms. This process is similar to copying a spell into a Wizard’s Spellbook, but does not require material components. At level three, your book starts with notes on two creatures that you have seen.

Shadow Puppets are not an exact copy of the creatures they are based on. Although they share ability scores, health points, movement, armour class and actions as the creature they are based on, they lack senses of their own, they do not speak a language, and lack any of the special traits a real creature would have (a Shadow Puppet Troll for example would lack the Regeneration ability, but may still make a multi-attack using the same statistics seen in the Monster Manual). Additionally, as shadow puppets are made of magical darkness, they gain a vulnerability to radiant damage, but are immune to psychic damage. Shadow Puppets are treated as Constructs for the purpose of spell effects.

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Supporting Words

Also at third level, you may use your bardic inspiration dice to restore health points to your shadow puppets. As a bonus action you can roll your bardic inspiration dice and restore that number of hit points to one shadow puppet.

Shadow Swap

From level six, as a reaction to being successfully hit by an attack, you may use your reaction to swap places with a Shadow Puppet within 30 feet of you. This puppet takes the damage from the attack instead of you. Once you use this ability you may not use it again until you complete a short or long rest.

Shadow Bomb

From level 14, you have learnt to weave destructive magic into your puppets. As an action you may detonate one of your puppets, causing necrotic damage to any creatures within a 30 foot radius. Creatures must make a dexterity saving throw, on a failed save they take 3d6 necrotic damage, plus 1d6 additional damage for every spell slot spent on creating the Shadow Puppet. The puppet is destroyed using this ability. You may use this ability a number of times equal to your charisma modifier, after which you may not use it again until you complete a long rest.