Disciple of the Forked Tongue (Bard Archetype)
(Art by Azurasstarr on Artstation)
The ability to communicate.
The word.
It’s easy to forget the power that this has, since most days, we communicate all the time. We share information, and it affects us, whether it be a rousing speech, a moving passage in a book, or malicious words spread online.
In a world of fantasy, words can go beyond being metaphorically magical to literally magical, and not just in the “I said a funny-sounding word and that affected reality” sense. The idea of words of power, that not only describe, but literally invoke a concept into being, is a common thread. (Heck, Pathfinder both has Power Word spells and an entire alternate magic system based around combining words, as well as guidelines for spontaneous curses placed by non-casters who feel strong enough negative feelings to invoke the forces of magic without realizing it.)
Today, we’re looking at a bardic tradition that revolves around using magic with a particularly vicious vocabulary, using magic to invoke curses, as well as bringing doubt, fear, and otherwise tear down their foes emotionally, or even twist their behavior to darker ends.
These are your cunning manipulators that sow dissent to bring their enemies low, often while presenting themselves as an ally to them, but they can also be found among insult comics, particularly vicious satirists, and instigators that either rile the rabble up against the leaders, or turn them against each other.
This archetype, commonly associated with vishkanya, but not necessarily exclusive to them, is by nature amoral, but not necessarily evil. Regardless, their power to cripple their foes emotionally, or even semi-permanently with magic, cannot be denied.
These disciples gain two new performances, both of which replace more benevolent ones. The first sows discord into the thoughts of their foes, causing their defenses against mental and curse-related effects to weaken, as well as disrupting their concentration.
The second allows them to sow discord and doubt into the mind of an individual, causing them to choose to not provide said allies with access to their beneficial abilities, and to resist the beneficial abilities of their own allies for fear of them being disguised treachery.
In addition to this, they also can learn curse spells from any tradition, not just those common to bards, giving them an arsenal of powerful and often hard to remove magic to debilitate their foes.
This archetype makes a great villain, but also can be useful to a player that wants to debuff and debilitate foes all day. In particular, they prove strong against spellcasters due to their performances that disrupt concentration or cripple their foes’ ability to work together. With that in mind, you can go with a build that focuses on debuffing and disrupting foes, or mix that with some more general-purpose abilities as well.
I feel like this archetype neatly straddles the line between “These bards could be actual performers” and “These are magically gifted individuals that just happen to use a similar power set to a bard” quite nicely, but it does beg the question: is there an actual group or following that these individuals are disciples of? If so, do members interact as an organization, or simply on a teacher/student basis, and in that case, do those that use it to perform interact with those that use it for political or power-focused machinations?
After centuries of dealing with malenti infiltrators, the aquatic elves of Shora’s Gulf have learned a thing or two about deceptive magics. Their Murkwater Cabal specializes in pinpointing potential spies and saboteurs, and using their magic to cut them off from their support networks in all manner of ways, even if said allies are right next to them. Just don’t ask them to go on a diplomatic assignment.
When the king learned that the infamous assassin called The Isolator would come after him, rather than despair, he commissioned the crafting of an animate waxwork body double, not only to throw the magical killer, but also surprise them with a target immune to his mental predations, hopefully just long enough to capture the killer. However, in a shocking turn of events, the king is injured in the process… and also revealed to be made of wax!
Many shop owners and businessfolk all suddenly end up being cursed, particularly with magic that compels them to repeat specific phrases when they would otherwise reveal information about the one that cursed them. If it hadn’t been for its rampant usage, nobody would have noticed aside from odd behavior, but the perpetrator is either an amateur with no concept of restraint, or something else is at work here.