Dungeons and Dragons released a new set of playtest subclasses last week, and the internet has been busily testing and discussing the new character options ever since. One subclass, however, has been suspiciously absent from online conversations: the College of the Moon Bard. Having spent serious time analyzing and theory-crafting the new Bard, I have my suspicions about why that might be – this subclass is boring as hell.
Flavor-wise, these DnD Bards are storytellers from the Forgotten Realms Moonshae Isles. This version of the DnD class taps into Fey magic and the power of the moon to bolster their Bardic abilities. This brief description doesn’t give the Moon Bard many ways to stand out – we already have a Fey subclass in the form of a Glamour Bard, and the power of storytelling is already wielded by the College of Spirits.
Now let’s talk mechanics. The Moon Bard’s most interesting feature is front-loaded at level three. Moonshae Folktales lets you use a magic action to invoke one of three folktales, which offers you a buff that lasts until you next use this subclass feature. Your folktale options are:
- Tale of Life – Once per turn, when you use a spell to restore a creature’s hit points, you can spend a Bardic Inspiration die and increase the HP restored by the number rolled.
- Tale of Gloam – When you use a bonus action to give away a Bardic Inspiration die, you can Disengage or Hide as part of the same bonus action.
- Tale of Mirth – When an enemy you see within 60ft passes a saving throw, you can spend a reaction and a Bardic Inspiration die to subtract the number you roll on said die from the monster’s save.
Also at level three, Primal Lorist lets you learn Druidic and one DnD Druid cantrip (Guidance is my preferred choice here). You’ll also pick up proficiency in Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Nature, Perception, or Survival.
From level six, you always have Moonbeam prepared, and you can cast it as a bonus action without a spell slot. This can only be done once per long rest, but you can instead spend a spell slot of level three or higher to restore the feature.
You’ll shed five feet of dim light while concentrating on a Moonbeam cast in this way, and when a creature fails its save against the spell’s effects, another creature of your choice within 60ft can heal 2d4 hit points.
Lastly, at level 14, Bolstered Folktales upgrades your Moonshae Folktales options. You can now roll 1d6 instead of spending a Bardic Inspiration die when using Tale of Life or Tale of Mirth, and you can teleport up to 30 feet as part of your Tale of Gloam bonus action.
My first issue with this subclass is how similar it feels to previous Bard options. Moonshae Folktales and Primal Lorist create a Bard that is, in concept, alarmingly similar to the Spirit Bard. Assuming you used Primal Lorist to learn Guidance, your gameplay options basically mirror the Spirit Bard’s third-level features, Guiding Whispers and Tales from Beyond.
Admittedly, this new option feels more effective than Tales from Beyond. Moonshae Folktales is a much-improved version of that idea, as your gameplay mechanics aren’t determined by a random roll, and it’s much more generous in terms of action economy.
It doesn’t help that Tale of Mirth is almost identical to the Eloquence Bard’s Unsettling Words feature. Again, it’s an improvement on the old model, allowing Bards to use the feature and spend their Bardic Inspiration after they know the result of a monster’s saving throw. However, the point still stands that the Moon Bard’s flagship feature has been done before – multiple times.
Originality aside, the Moon Bard doesn’t seem overly competent in the roles it’s trying to fill. There’s a clear push for your Bard to lean into healing, but the abilities that allow you to do so scale poorly and lack synergy.
Tale of Life scales with the size of your Bardic Inspiration die, so you’ll be handing out an extra 3.5 HP with each healing spell at level three. That increases to 4.5 at level five, 5.5 at level 10, and 6.5 by level 15. Basically, by the time you reach level five, casting Healing Word now offers twice as much healing on average.
That’s not bad, but the scaling is totally thrown out the window when you reach level 14. Bolstered Folktales lets you use 1d6 instead of your Bardic Inspiration die, taking your average extra HP back down to 3.5. Why would you choose to do this, when your level-14 Bard likely has six or more Bardic Inspiration die to spend per short rest?
Plus, this extra HP is only applied “when you restore Hit Points to a creature with a spell”. That means multiclassing and feats that offer new healing abilities don’t play super well with the Moon Bard. Plus, I’m not even sure if Tale of Life applies to the subclass’ own features.
Blessings of the Moonwells specifically says “as a bonus action, you can cast Moonbeam without spending a spell slot. Whenever a creature fails its saving throw against the effects of this Moonbeam, another creature of your choice that you can see within 60 feet of you regains 2d4 hit points”. Presumably, then, this Moonbeam counts as a spell, even if it doesn’t use a spell slot. But is the healing classified as part of the spell or part of the Bard’s subclass ability? If the latter, then Tale of Life doesn’t apply – no bonus HP for you.
The wording here leaves a lot of room for confusion. I’d like to think that the modified Moonbeam counts as a healing spell for the purposes of Tale of Life, but I could be easily swayed by counter-interpretations.
Alright, so we’re not impressed by Tale of Life – there are still two other Folktales to choose from. The second of these, Tale of Gloam, is very cost-effective in action economy terms. You were going to spend a Bardic Inspiration die anyway, and now you get to Disengage or Hide!
However, those are both incredibly situational freebies. And since Moonshae Folktalkes takes an entire action to set up, you’ll probably choose your Folktale at the start of an encounter or adventuring day. It feels bad to choose Tale of Gloam on a day when you never need to sneak or slip out of melee range.
Once you get Bolstered Folktales at level 14, Tale of Gloam leaves an even more sour taste in your mouth. 30 feet of teleportation is an ability you could get at level one by choosing the right DnD races or feats. Even if Misty Step isn’t a priority for you that early on, Magical Secrets gives you another opportunity at level six. This ‘upgrade’ is weak and disappointing.
That leaves Tale of Mirth, an objectively pretty useful feature. Yes, it costs a precious Bardic Inspiration die, but it makes an enormous difference to the damage output of an AoE Dex-save spell. Alternatively, if someone in the party has spent a precious spell slot on a save-or-suck spell like Banishment, your interference could make or break the results. Just maybe don’t use the d6 that Bolstered Folktales gives you if you want to make much of a difference to high-level monsters.
It feels like shoddy design to have three options where only one feels viable. And, remember, that one feels like an ability that other Bards have had access to for years.
I’ve spent a lot of time mulling over the Moon Bard’s very first subclass ability, and that’s because it’s by far the most interesting feature. Things go downhill with additional DnD level ups. We’ve already covered in detail how dull Bolstered Folktales can be, but let’s return to the subclass feature sandwiched in the middle – Blessing of the Moonwells.
Moonbeam as a bonus action is pretty nice, but this isn’t a DnD character build that has many non-spell things to do with their action (other than switch their Folktales around, which seems like a waste of time mid-combat). Still, you could slam a Vicious Mockery and a Moonbeam out at the same time.
Once per long rest, that is (or in exchange for a precious level-three spell slot). The bonus action Moonbeam has limited uses, and it’s the only version of this spell that heals allies, so you’ll want to choose your casting time carefully.
The amount of variables involved in this modified Moonbeam makes me a little nervous. You’ll need to maintain concentration on it for a decent amount of time to get serious value out of its healing properties, which limits the amount of buffs and debuffs you can apply to battle with other spells. You’ll also need enemies to consistently fail their saving throws against it (another feather in the cap of Tale of Mirth), and you’ll need your most hurt friends to stay within 60 feet.
The word ‘situational’ comes to mind again. Blessing of the Moonwells needs the perfect setup to be worth using. Considering this, and the fact its healing doesn’t scale, you might just be better off casting a healing spell and a damage cantrip once your Bard reaches higher levels.
Overall, I’m pretty non-plussed by the Moon Bard. Still, this is only a playtest – Wizards of the Coast will likely make plenty of tweaks before it’s printed in future DnD books. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that later versions have a bit more sparkle.
For more on the recent playtest, here’s what I think of the re-worked subclasses in the same document. Or, for tools you can use in your own character builds, here’s all you need to know about DnD 2024 backgrounds.
Source: Wargamer
