[DnD 3E] prestige classes

[paladin2019]

I have a couple of prestige classes I'm looking to eventually include in a game. Anyone want to take a look and critique 'em here?

[Bethyaga]

Damn you... don't ask... just post.

We'd love to see.

[Cazmonster]

Get on with it!

[paladin2019]

Two prestige classes based on Greyhawk organizations. Exerpts from the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer included. Apologies if the tables come out FUBAR.

Bard of the Old Lore

The Colleges of the Old Lore are an order of bards appended to the druidic society of the Old Faith. Very few of these archetypal bards are left, as their traditions are primarily those of the ancient Flan. Bards of the Old Lore are distinguished from today’s common bards and minstrels by their noble origins, tradition of scholarship, and their use of druidic magic. The prospective Old Lore bard must be of human descent and noble birth, although half-elves are permitted, as well. Tradition demands that each candidate have proven skill in warmaking and stealth, in addition to surpassing grace, in order to receive druidic training. The Old Lore legacy also includes a small number of magical, stringed instruments specifically for each of the seven colleges of the Old Lore. Recovery of any such instrument is of prime concern to the remaining members of these colleges, and the true enchantments worked by the ancient craftsmen come alive only at the touch of a bard of the Old Lore.
-from the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, © Wizards of the Coast, 2000

Far more than simple performers or historians, Bards of the Old Lore are the living repositories of the legends, histories, and accumulated knowledge of the Flan peoples. It is their destiny to travel the Oerth seeking the deeds of heroes and lore that should not be forgotten.

Bards of the Old Lore are often drawn from those adventurous enough to be worthy of song themselves. The order knows that the path it walks is a dangerous one. It would not allow those unprepared to walk it. To this end, probationers to the Colleges of the Old Lore must demonstrate their skills in defending themselves both by knowing the blade and when not to use it.

Note: In the following class description, the term bard refers specifically to Bards of the Old Lore and not to the bard class of the PHB.

Hit Die: d8

Requirements
To qualify to become a Bards of the Old Lore, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Alignment: any neutral combination; lawful neutral, neutral good, etc.
Race: Human or half-elf
Base Attack Bonus: +8
Hide: 8 ranks
Move Silently: 8 ranks
Climb: 4 ranks
Perform: 4 ranks (must include a stringed instrument)
Innuendo: 4 ranks
Speak Language: Must speak at least 3 languages besides automatic languages
Knowledge (Religion): 2 ranks
Feats: Any four from the list available to fighters as bonus. These feats need not have been earned as a fighter, but they must appear on that list.
Special: Evasion, sneak attack, and uncanny dodge class abilities. Must be accepted for training. Must own a stringed instrument.

Class Skills

The bard’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Alchemy (Int), Animal Empathy (Cha, Exclusive), Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int, Exclusive), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intuit Direction (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (all skills taken separately, Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Pick Pocket (Dex), Profession (Wis), Scry (Int, Exclusive), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (Int), Spellcraft (Int), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), Use Magic Device (Cha), Wilderness Lore (Wis). See chapter four of the Player’s Handbook for skill descriptions.

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier
Class Features

The following are all class features of the Bard of the Old Lore.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Bards are proficient with all types (including exotic) of the following weapons: club, dagger, dart, javelin, scimitar, sling, spear, and staff. They are also proficient with the bastard sword, long sword and short sword. Bards are proficient with light armor but not with shields. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket, and Tumble. Also, Swim checks suffer a –1 penalty for every 5 pounds of armor and equipment carried. They are released of the restrictions placed on a druid’s weapon and armor selection.

Spellcasting: When a new Bard of the Old Lore level is gained, the character gains new spells per day as if he had gained a level as a druid. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained, though the druid class feature does allow this. This essentially means that he adds the level of Bard of the Old Lore to the level of whatever other class with the druid class feature the character has, then determines spells per day accordingly. For example, if Cwell the Fine, a 12th-level druid, gains a level as a Bard of the Old Lore, he gains new spells as if he had risen to 13th-level as a druid, but uses the other Bard of the Old Lore aspects of level progression such as base attack bonus and save bonus. If he next gains a level as a druid, making him a 13th-level druid/1st-level Bard of the Old Lore, he gains spells as if he had risen to 14th level as druid.

College: College is an important distinction to bards; they will not willingly associate with a bard of a lesser college. The exceptions are the Magna Alumnae, as those bards of epic level are known, who will happily aid (by advice and suggestion) any bard of any level.

Lawful, chaotic, good and evil spells: Bards cannot cast spells of an alignment opposed to their own.

Bonus Languages: Bards speak Druidic. This secret language is known only to the druidic cults and their members are forbidden to teach it outsiders. Druidic has its own alphabet. Bards also learn a new language at every level after first. Bards normally have no restrictions when choosing languages though the DM may prohibit them from learning exceptionally obscure languages until they have heard it once.

Bardic Lore: Bards pick up a lot of stray knowledge while wandering the land and learning stories from other bards. A bard may make a special bardic lore check with a bonus equal to the bard’s character level + Intelligence modifier to see if some relevant information is known about local notable people, legendary items, or noteworthy places. This check will not reveal the powers of a magical item but may give a hint as to its general function. The bard may not take 10 or 20 on this check; this sort of knowledge is essentially random. The DM will determine the Difficulty Class of the check by referring to the table below.

Once per item as a spell-like ability, a bard may make this check and also receive information as if casting an identify spell (page 216, PHB).
Bards may also, once per day as a spell-like ability, make a bardic lore check and receive information as if casting a legend lore spell (page 219, PHB). The bardic lore check will treat rumors as detailed information for the purposes of determining the completeness of the lore gained as outlined in the spell description.
This ability satisfies any pre-requisite, requirement, etc of Bardic Knowledge.

Table 2: Bardic Lore
DC Type of Knowledge Examples
10 Common, known by at least a substantial minority of the local people A local mayor’s reputation for drinking, common legends about a powerful place of magic
20 Uncommon but available, known only by a few people in the area A local priest’s shady past, legends about a powerful magic item
25 Obscure, Known by few, hard to come by A knight’s family history, legends about a minor place of mystery or magic item
30 Extremely obscure, known by very few, possibly known only by those who do not know the significance of the knowledge A mighty wizard’s childhood nickname, the history of a petty magic item.

Bardic Music: Once per day per character level, bards can use their song or poetics to produce magical effects on those around them. Depending on ranks possessed in the Perform skill, they can inspire courage in allies, sing a countersong to protect those around them from sound-based magic, fascinate a creature, make a magical suggestion to a fascinated creature, help others perform skills better, or inspire greatness. While these abilities fall under the category of bardic music, they can include reciting poetry, chanting, singing lyrical songs, singing melodies, whistling, or playing an instrument in combination with some spoken performance. As with casting a spell with verbal components (see Components, page 151, PHB,) a deaf bard suffers a 20% chance to fail with bardic music. If failed, the attempt still counts against the daily limit.

Inspire Courage: Bards can use song or poetics to inspire courage in allies, bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities. To be affected, an ally must hear the bard sing for a full round. The effect lasts as long as the bard sings and for 5 rounds after the bard stops singing (or 5 rounds after an ally can no longer hear the bard.) While singing, the bard can fight but cannot cast spells, activate items by spell completion (such as scrolls or activate magic items by magic word (such as wands.) Affected allies receive a +2 morale bonus to saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 morale bonus to attack and weapon damage rolls. Inspire courage is a supernatural, mind-affecting ability.

Countersong: Bards can use their music or poetics to counter magical effects that depend on sound (but not spells that simply have verbal components.) As with inspire courage, a bard may sing, play or recite a countersong while taking other mundane actions, but not magical actions. Each round of the countersong requires a Perform check. Any creature within 30 feet of the bard (including the bard) who is affected by a sonic or language-dependent magical attack (such as sound burst or command) may use the bard’s Perform check result in place of their own saving throw if, after rolling the saving throw, the Perform check result proves to be better. The bard may keep up a countersong for 10 rounds. Countersong is a supernatural ability.

Fascinate: Bards can use their music or poetics to cause a single creature to become fascinated with them. The creature to be fascinated must be able to see and hear the bard and must be within 90 feet. The bard must also see the creature. The creature must be able to pay attention to the bard. The distraction of nearby combat or other dangers prevents this ability from working. The bard makes a Perform check, and the target can negate the effect with a Will saving throw equal to or greater than the bard’s check result. If the saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot attempt to fascinate that creature again for 24 hours. If the saving throw fails, the creature sits quietly and listens to the bard for up to 1 round per level of the bard. While fascinated, the target’s Spot and Listen checks suffer a –4 penalty. Any potential threat (such as an ally of the bard moving behind the fascinated creature) allows the fascinated creature a second saving throw against a new Perform check result. Any obvious threat, such as casting a spell, drawing a weapon, or aiming, automatically breaks the effect.
While fascinating (or attempting to fascinate) a creature, the bard must concentrate, as if casting or maintaining a spell. Fascinate is a spell-like, mind-affecting charm ability.
Inspire Competence: Bards with 6 or more ranks in Perform can use music or poetics to help an ally succeed at a task. The ally must be able to see and hear the bard and must be within 30 feet. The bard must also see the creature. Depending on the task that the ally has at hand, the bard may use bardic music to lift the ally’s spirits, to help the ally focus mentally, or in some other way. The ally gets a +2 competence bonus on all skill checks as long the bard’s music is heard. The DM may rule that certain uses of this ability are infeasible- chanting to make a rogue move more quietly, for example, is self-defeating. The bard can maintain the effect for 2 minutes (long enough for an ally to take 20.) Inspire confidence is a supernatural, mind-affecting ability.

Suggestion: Bards with 9 or more ranks in Perform can make a suggestion (as the spell) to a creature already fascinated (see above.) The suggestion does not count against the bard’s daily limit on bardic music performances (once per day per character level,) but the fascination does. A Will saving throw (DC 13 + the bard’s Charisma modifier) negates the effect. Suggestion is a spell-like, mind-affecting ability.

Inspire Greatness: Bards with 12 or more ranks in Perform can use song or poetics to inspire greatness in another creature, granting extra fighting capability. For every three levels the bard has, the bard can inspire greatness in one additional creature. To inspire greatness, the bard must sing and the creature must hear the bard sing for a full round, as with inspire courage. The creature must also be within 30 feet. A creature inspired with greatness gains temporary Hit Dice, attack bonuses, and saving throw bonuses as long as it can hear the bard continue to sing and for 5 rounds thereafter. (All these bonuses are competence bonuses.) The target gains the following boosts:
• +2 Hit Dice (d10’s that grant temporary hit points)
• +2 competence bonus on attacks
• +1 competence bonus on Fortitude saves
Apply the target’s Constitution modifier, if any, to each bonus Hit Die. These Hit Dice count as regular Hit Dice for determining effects such as sleep spell. Inspire greatness is a supernatural, mind-affecting enchantment ability.

Additionally, some magic items have increased efficacy when used by the bard:
• Drums of Panic (add half the bard’s level to the DC to save)
• Horn of Blasting (blasts do 150% damage)
• Lyre of Building (effects are doubled)
• Pipes of the Sewers (twice the rats are summoned in half the usual time)

Druid: Bards of the Old Lore are considered druids whenever the distinction is called for. Any levels they have in the druid class or another class with the druid class feature stack for these purposes. Their level for this purpose is equal to their caster level as a druid.

Bards also continue their studies throughout their careers. Their effective druid caster level determines the level of druidic abilities they gain from Table 3-8: The Druid, page 34, PHB. The table for this class summarizes druidic abilities using only this class’s levels.

Nature Sense: Bards can identify plants and animals (their species and special traits) with perfect accuracy. He can tell whether water is safe to drink or dangerous (polluted, poisoned, or otherwise unfit for consumption.)

Woodland Stride: At 2nd level, bards may move through natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain at normal speed and without suffering damage or other impairment. However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that are enchanted or magically manipulated to impede motion still affect the bard.

Trackless Step: At 3rd level, bards leave no trail in natural surroundings and cannot be tracked.

Resist Nature’s Lure: At 4th level, bards gain a +4 bonus on saving throws against the spell-like abilities of feys.

Wild Shape: At 5th level, bards gain the spell-like ability to polymorph self into a Small or Medium-size animal (but not a dire animal) and back again once per day (see the polymorph self spell, page 237, PHB.) Unlike the standard use of the spell, however, a bard may only adopt one form. As stated in the spell description, a bard regains hit points as if having rested for a day. Note: the creatures available include some giant animals but not supernatural beasts. A bard may wild shape into a dog or giant lizard, for example, but not into an owlbear. A bard does not risk the standard penalty for being disoriented while in this wild shape (see polymorph other spell, page 236, PHB.)
A bard can use this ability more times per day at 6th, 7th, and 10th level, as noted on Table 1: The Bard of the Old Lore. In addition, a bard gains the ability to take the shape of a Large animal at 8th level and a Tiny animal at 11th level. At 12th level, they can take the form of a dire animal.

Venom Immunity: At ninth level, the bard gains immunity to all organic poisons, including monster venoms but not mineral poisons or poison gas.

Code of Conduct: A bard of the Old Lore will never serve as a cohort for longer than one to four months. As their people’s historians and keepers of knowledge they must continue seeking new songs and stories of heroics. They are also unable to employ cohorts other than humans, elves and half-elves with druid, fighter or rogue levels. Only epic level bards, the Magna Alumnae, may settle down and construct a stronghold of any sort.

Ex-Bards of the Old Lore
A Bard of the Old Lore who ceases to revere nature, who changes to a prohibited alignment or who grossly violates the code of conduct loses all spells and Bard of the Old Lore special abilities and cannot gain levels as a Bard of the Old Lore until he atones (see the atonement spell, PHB, page 176.)

Like a member of any other class, a Bard of the Old Lore may be a multi-class character but Bards of the Old Lore face a special restriction. A Bard of the Old Lore who gains a new class or raises another class by a level may never gain raise his Bard of the Old Lore level, though he retains all his Bard of the Old Lore abilities. The Colleges of the Old Lore are most adamant in this, and only the Magna Alumnae are free of their judgement (and this restriction.)

Table 1: Bard of the Old Lore
Level Base
Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special College Spells
1 +0 +2 +2 +2 Bardic lore, bardic music, druid, nature sense (Probationer) +1 level of druid
2 +1 +3 +3 +3 Bonus language, woodland stride Fochlucan +1 level of druid
3 +2 +3 +3 +3 Bonus language, trackless step Fochlucan +1 level of druid
4 +3 +4 +4 +4 Bonus language, resist nature’s lure Mac Fuirmidh +1 level of druid
5 +3 +4 +4 +4 Bonus language, wild shape (1/day) Mac Fuirmidh +1 level of druid
6 +4 +5 +5 +5 Bonus language, wild shape (2/day) Doss +1 level of druid
7 +5 +5 +5 +5 Bonus language, wild shape (3/day) Canaith +1 level of druid
8 +6 +6 +6 +6 Bonus language, wild shape (large) Cli +1 level of druid
9 +6 +6 +6 +6 Bonus language, venom immunity Anstruth +1 level of druid
10 +7 +7 +7 +7 Bonus language, wild shape (4/day) Ollamh +1 level of druid


Hierophant of the Old Faith

Those adventurous enough to ascend to the rank of Grand Druid are often dissatisfied with the position given that it is primarily a political achievement. Others recognize the post of Grand Druid for what it is and avoid it altogether. These elder druids seek knowledge and experience elsewhere, abandoning their post and wandering the world as a hierophant, becoming more and more a living force of nature.

Note: In the following class description, the term hierophant refers specifically to Hierophants of the Old Faith and not to the hierophant prestige class of the FRCS and 3.5 DMG.

Hit Die: d8

Requirements
To qualify to become a Hierophant of the Old Faith, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Alignment: True neutral
Race: Human, half-elf, elf
Spells: Ability to cast 7th level divine spells including ice storm, control weather, fire storm, and wind walk.
Knowledge (Nature): 15 ranks
Wilderness Lore: 15 ranks
Concentration: 10 ranks
Knowledge (Religion): 8 ranks
Speak Language: Must speak the following languages: Draconic, Druidic, Elven, Giant, Gnome, Sylvan, and Treant
Special: Nature Sense and Woodland Stride class abilities. Must contact the Druids of the Old Lore and pass through their “Nine Circles of Initiation.”

Class Skills

The class skills of the Hierophant of the Old Faith (and the key ability for each skill) are Animal Empathy (Cha, Exclusive,) Climb (Str,) Concentration (Con,) Craft (Int,) Diplomacy (Cha,) Handle Animal (Cha,) Heal (Wis,) Hide (Dex,) Intuit Direction (Wis,) Jump (Str,) Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int,) Listen (Wis,) Move Silently (Dex,) Scry (Int, Exclusive,) Search (Int,) Spellcraft (Int,) Spot (Wis,) Swim (Str,) Use Rope (Dex,) and Wilderness Lore (Wis.) See chapter 4 of the Player’s Handbook for skill descriptions.

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Intelligence modifier.

Class Features
The following are class feature of the Hierophant of the Old Faith.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Hierophants are proficient with the following weapons: club, dagger, dart, longspear, quarterstaff, scimitar, sickle, shortspear, and sling. Their spiritual oaths prohibit them from using weapons other than these. They are proficient with light and medium armors but are prohibited from wearing metal armor (thus they may wear only padded, leather and hide armor). They are skilled with shields but may not use metal ones. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket, and Tumble. Also, Swim checks suffer a –1 penalty for every 5 pounds of armor and equipment carried.
A hierophant who wears prohibited armor or wields a prohibited weapon is unable to use any magical powers while doing so and for 24 hours thereafter. (Note: A hierophant may use wooden items that have been altered by the ironwood spell so that they function as though they were steel. See the spell description, page 218, PHB.)

Spells: At each level, hierophants gain a level of spell-casting ability in the druid class. This stacks with any levels of druid the hierophant already has.

Druid: Hierophants of the Old Faith are considered druids of their level in this class whenever the distinction is called for. Any levels they have in another druid class stack for these purposes.

Hierophants also continue their studies throughout their careers. Their effective druid caster level determines the level of druidic abilities they gain from Table 3-8: The Druid, page 34, PHB.

Prime of Life: Hierophants gain extra longevity expressed as a number of decades equal to character level. The hierophant no longer suffers penalties due to aging (this includes penalties already assessed, they are now ignored) and cannot be magically aged. Bonuses still accrue and hierophants still die of old age when their time is up.

A Thousand Faces: Hierophants can change appearance at will, as if using the spell alter self (p 172, PHB.) Note, however, that this alteration is non-magical and so cannot be detected short of true seeing or the like.

Venom Immunity: Hierophants gain immunity to all organic poisons, including monster venoms but not mineral poisons or poison gas.

Conjure Elemental: As a spell-like ability, the hierophant can summon an elemental as if a casting a summon nature’s ally spell (page 260, PHB) of the highest grade the hierophant could normally cast.

Enter Elemental Plane: As a supernatural ability, hierophants can enter the appropriate plane, survive there and return. The plane is treated as the hierophant’s native plane and there is no limit to the amount of time the hierophant may remain there. The transfer takes one round and is usable at will.

Hibernate: Hierophants can hibernate, suspending animation for the same amount of time as their increased longevity from the Prime of Life ability. While hibernating, hierophants do not age.

Ex-Hierophants of the Old Faith
A Hierophant of the Old Faith who ceases to revere nature or who changes to a prohibited alignment loses all spells and Hierophant of the Old Faith abilities and cannot gain levels as a Hierophant of the Old Faith until he atones (see the atonement spell, PHB, page 176.)

Table 1: Hierophant of the Old Faith
Level Base
Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Spells
1 +0 +2 +0 +2 Druid, Prime of Life, A Thousand Faces, Venom Immunity +1 level of druid
2 +1 +3 +0 +3 Conjure Elemental (1/day), Enter Elemental Plane of Earth, Hibernate +1 level of druid
3 +2 +3 +1 +3 Conjure Elemental (2/day), Enter Elemental Plane of Fire +1 level of druid
4 +3 +4 +1 +4 Conjure Elemental (3/day), Enter Elemental Plane of Water +1 level of druid
5 +3 +4 +1 +4 Conjure Elemental (4/day), Enter Elemental Plane of Air +1 level of druid
6 +4 +5 +2 +5 Enter Para-Elemental Planes +1 level of druid
7 +5 +5 +2 +5 Enter Plane of Shadow +1 level of druid
8 +6 +6 +2 +6 Enter Plane of Concordant Opposition +1 level of druid
9 +6 +6 +3 +6 Enter Inner Planes +1 level of druid
10 +7 +7 +3 +7 Enter Inner Probability Planes +1 level of druid

[paladin2019]

Here are some of those magic items I mentioned for the Bards of the Old Lore.

Instruments of the Bards

(Important note: Throughout the following, the term bard refers specifically to Bards of the Old Lore)

The Instruments of the Bards are all minor artifacts. As such, it is not possible to craft one in the current age.

Each Instrument requires a minimum level of skill to safely use. The measure of this skill is membership in a College at least as high as that the Instrument is named for. Lesser bards and characters of other classes may use the Instrument with the lesser effects described and also risk dangers to themselves when attempting to play.

All Instruments of the Bards share the following properties:
Any character able to play one of these instruments can sing so as to do one of the following for 10 minutes times their level as a Bard of the Old Lore, once per day:
1. magic circle against evil as the spell;
2. invisibility (although the summoning and singing can still be heard distantly, the exact location is impossible to discover unless detection of invisibility is possible);
3. levitate; and
4. fly

Each ability takes 1 round to activate. All the abilities of these items, except the perform check modifiers, function as spell completion items.

If the bonus of the instrument plus the bard’s perform check modifier exceed +20, the target suffers an additional +1 to the save DC for each point the perform check modifier exceeds +20.

The individual instruments follow:

Fochlucan Bandore: If this small, 3-stringed instrument is played by a first-level bard (Probationer) or a non-bard, it has a 50% chance of casting a faerie fire spell, but there is a 10% chance that the musician will be limned by the glow, if the spell is so cast, rather than the desired target. A bard of Fochlucan or higher college casts the faerie fire spell at base 50% per level of bard experience above 1st, reducing the reverse effect by 2% per level above 1st. Furthermore, the bandore also has the following song properties when properly played:
1. add +2 to the bard’s Perform check modifier;
2. cast entangle once per day;
3. cast shillelagh once per day;
4. enable the bard to speak with animals once per day.
If a 1st level bard attempts these powers, there is a 30% chance that they will work, but a 70% chance that the character will take 2d4 points of damage.
Caster Level: 6th Weight: 3lbs.
MacFuirmidh Cittern: This lute-like instrument is 50% likely to deliver 3d4 points of damage to any non-bard, or bard who has not progressed to the MacFuirmidh college, who attempts to pick it up and play it. A bard of the MacFuirmidh or a higher college who uses the cittern adds +3 to the bard’s Perform check modifier and can sing the following songs once per day which:
1. cast a barkskin spell;
2. cast cure light wounds;
3. cast an obscuring mist spell.
Lower level bards may not use the cittern even if they do not harm themselves.
Caster Level: 9th Weight: 3lbs
Doss Lute: This instrument is 60% likely to deliver 4d4 points of damage to any non-bard, or bard who has not progressed to the Doss college, who picks it up and attempts to play it. A bard of the Doss or a higher college who plays the lute adds +4 to the bard’s Perform check modifier and can sing magical songs once per day which:
1. cast a hold animal spell;
2. neutralize poison;
3. cast a protection from elements spell granting protection from fire to a 10’ radius from the lute.
Caster Level: 12th Weight: 3lbs
Canaith Mandolin: The mandolin is 70% likely to cause 5d4 points of damage upon any non-bard, or bard who has not progressed to the Canaith college, who picks it up and attempts to play it. A bard of the Canaith or higher college who plays the mandolin adds +5 to the bard’s Perform check modifier and can sing magical songs once per day which:
1. cure serious wounds;
2. dispel magic; and
3. cast a protection from elements spell granting protection from electricity to a 10’ radius from the mandolin.
Caster Level: 15th Weight: 3lbs
Cli Lyre: The lyre is 80% likely to cause 6d4 points of damage upon any non-bard, or bard who has not progressed to the Cli college, who picks it up and attempts to play it. A bard of the Cli or higher college who plays the lyre adds +6 to the bard’s Perform check modifier and can sing magical songs once per day which:
1. control winds;
2. transmute rock to mud; and
3. create a wall of fire.
Caster Level: 18th Weight: 3lbs
Anstruth Harp: The harp is 90% likely to cause 8d4 points of damage upon any non-bard, or bard who has not progressed to the Anstruth college, who picks it up and attempts to play it. A bard of the Anstruth or higher college who plays the harp adds +7 to the bard’s Perform check modifier and can sing magical songs once per day which:
1. cure critical wounds;
2. create a wall of thorns; and
3. cast control weather.
Caster Level: 20th Weight: 3lbs
Ollamh Harp: If the Ollamh Harp is played by any non-bard, or bard who has not progressed to the Ollamh college, it will inflict 10d4 points of damage upon such an individual. A bard of the Ollamh or higher college who plays the harp adds +8 to the bard’s Perform check modifier and can sing magical songs once per day which:
1. cast a confusion spell;
2. cast a control weather spell; and
3. cast a fire storm spell.
Caster Level: 20th Weight: 3lbs

[Cazmonster]

I really like the Bard of the Old Lore - it reminds me of the original bards, the ones who had to advance as fighter, then as thief, and finally as druid - and the druid levels were their bard levels.

The Heirophant needs looking into in detail, but I think me lik-ee.

[paladin2019]

Yep, that's what the bards are based on. The hierophant was an attempt to do the hierophant druids from the AD&D Unearthed Arcana.