College of Dirges

Dirgesingers voice melodies not of celebration and joy, but of sorrow and grief. They seek to spread this melancholy outlook far and wide, believing that only those who give in to their sadness can truly understand the world.

Dirgesingers hold high positions in death-obsessed cultures. Serving as members of a secret guild or as part of a hierarchy of death priests, they are entrusted with the serious responsibility of composing suitable laments for the dead. The more important the deceased, the more sorrowful and moving her lament is expected to be. No one will remember the dead queen in a few short generations, but a great lament might be sung a thousand years hence.

However, most dirgesingers do not belong to any special hierarchy or guild. Instead, they are rootless wanderers who travel from place to place, wrapped in inconsolable grief from some personal tragedy. These sad wanderers seek to express their grief through songs that teach the hearts of their listeners the meaning of true sorrow.

Anthology of Death By 3rd level, you have developed a morbid fascination with death. You learn one Necromancy cantrip from any spell list. This spell counts as a Bard spell for you. Additionally, when your Spellcasting feature lets you learn or replace a bard cantrip or a sorcerer spell of 1st level or higher, you can choose the new spell from the Necromancy spell list or the bard spell list. You must otherwise obey all the restrictions for selecting the spell, and it becomes a Bard spell for you.

Haunting Melody By 3rd level, your music has been known to take a sombre and menacing tone. As an action, you may spend a Bardic Inspiration Die and select a single creature within 60 feet that can hear you and start performing a Haunting Melody. When first activated, the creature takes an amount of Psychic damage equal to the result you rolled on your Bardic Inspiration Die. If a creature has to make a concentration check because of this damage, it is made with disadvantage. You can choose to maintain this melody by using your bonus action on subsequent turns, repeating the effect. A target can escape from your Haunting Melody by ending its turn in a place where it can't see nor hear you, or if you don't use your bonus action to maintain this feature. You can only have one Haunting Melody active at a single time. A single use of this ability can maximally last a number of rounds equal to your Charisma modifier (not including the round when the ability was first activated).

Don't Fear the Reaper As you reach level 6, you have developed a strange connection to the other side, seemingly growing stronger as your life force fades. You gain resistance to Necrotic damage and proficiency in Death saving throws. Additionally, when you are bellow half your hit point maximum, you may add your Charisma modifier on all damage rolls of spells from the school of Necromancy, as well as to the damage dealt by your Haunting Melody archetype feature.