Identity
Stars Bards are the cosmic register of the Bard tradition. Their instruments are tuned, where possible, to the resonance of the local star or a familiar constellation. Their performances are best at certain hours, certain altitudes, certain conjunctions; they will not play under heavy atmosphere if they can help it, and they will play at the open hatch of a docked freighter at three in the morning because the angle is correct. Where the Stars Druid stands for the constellation, the Stars Bard sings to it — and asks it to sing back, briefly, through them.
Features
- L3 Star-Sight
You carry a stellar focus — an inscribed sky-disc, a stellar-resonant tuning fork, a holo-lens — that lets you read the sky as a working instrument. You gain darkvision out to 60 ft if you do not already have it, and your existing darkvision range increases by 30 ft. Additionally, you can spend 1 minute observing the sky (or the unobstructed local star or constellation, or a sufficiently detailed stellar projection) to gain one of the following benefits, your choice, lasting until your next long rest: • Advantage on Perception checks made at ranges beyond Near, and on Investigation checks made to recognize landmarks, ships, or objects at long distance. • A specific named constellation pattern you can mentally overlay on the battlefield as a tactical aid: allies within 30 ft of you may add your CHA modifier (minimum +1) to a single attack roll once per round, choosing to do so after the d20 is rolled but before the result is declared, a number of times per day equal to your proficiency bonus. Only one Star-Sight benefit is active at a time.
- L7 Constellation Inspiration
Your Bardic Inspiration gains a constellation rider, chosen at the moment of granting from the following list (choose one per grant): • **Archer's Inspiration:** The rolled die may also be used to add to the damage of one successful ranged attack the holder makes within the next 10 minutes. The rider does not consume a second Inspiration use; the same die may be used for the standard Inspiration purpose OR the rider's purpose, the holder's choice. • **Chalice Inspiration:** When the rolled die is used (for any purpose), the holder also regains hit points equal to the die's result. • **Wyrm Inspiration:** When the rolled die is used on a successful saving throw or ability check, the next attack roll against the holder before the start of your next turn has disadvantage. • **Wanderer Inspiration:** The rolled die may be used to add to a Dexterity, Wisdom, or Intelligence check related to travel, navigation, or finding a hidden creature or object; if used in this way, the holder also moves up to half their speed without provoking opportunity attacks immediately after the check is resolved. You may grant Constellation Inspiration to the same number of allies as standard Bardic Inspiration; the rider does not cost additional uses.
- L11 Astral Channel
When you cast a channel under unobstructed sky (open atmosphere with stellar visibility, low-light environments where stars are visible, or any vacuum environment outside a solid hull), you may, once per turn, channel through starlight: the channel's damage rolls deal an additional 1d8 radiant damage per channel level (cantrips deal +1d8), or, for non-damaging channels, the channel's save DC increases by 1 for that casting. Additionally, you may, as a 10-minute ritual, attune a portable Astral Lens to the local star or constellation pattern; while the lens is on your person, the unobstructed-sky requirement is treated as met indoors as well, for 24 hours. You may carry one Astral Lens attunement at a time.
- L15 Voice of the Spheres
Your performance can carry the resonance of a constellation across a battlefield. Once per long rest, as an action, choose either Mass Charm or Mass Alert. • **Mass Charm:** Each humanoid within 60 ft that can hear you and understand a language you speak must make a Charisma save against your channel save DC. On a failure, the target is Charmed by you for 10 minutes or until you or an ally harms it; on a success, the target is unaffected and is immune to this feature from you for 24 hours. The Charm effect is broken if you ask the target to take an action that is obviously and seriously harmful to itself or a close associate; otherwise, charmed targets are friendly and inclined to comply with reasonable requests for the duration. • **Mass Alert:** Each ally within 60 ft that can hear you gains advantage on their next initiative roll, and rolls a number of additional bonus dice equal to your CHA modifier (minimum 1), each die being a d4, added to their next attack roll or saving throw within the next 1 minute. The dice are used per ally and may be split among multiple rolls if multiple dice were granted to that ally.
- L18 Singer of the Stars Capstone
You have become a stellar resonator — when you sing, a star sings with you. Once per long rest, as an action, you begin a Stellar Resonance performance, lasting up to 10 minutes. The performance ends early if you are incapacitated, silenced, or end it as a free action. Sustaining the performance after the initial action requires a bonus action each round. While the performance is sustained, all allies within 120 ft of you who can hear you (or receive transmitted communication from you, in vacuum or otherwise comm-only environments) gain the following benefits: • +2 to attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws. • Resistance to radiant and necrotic damage. • Whenever an ally finishes a turn within the performance's range and has fewer than half their hit points remaining, they regain HP equal to your CHA modifier plus their proficiency bonus (this triggers at most once per ally per turn). • Once per round per ally, when an ally would be reduced to 0 HP by an attack, the ally is instead reduced to 1 HP and gains a Bardic Inspiration die (your current die size) immediately. This effect can trigger only once per ally per casting of Singer of the Stars. Additionally, while sustaining the performance, you may cast bard channels of 5th level or lower as a bonus action once per round, in addition to your normal action.