Inspired by Singularity, I made a gamemode for my favorite champ: Singing Spires

Singing Spires would be a game mode in which all 6 characters (3v3) play as Bard. The map consists of 6 separate, unconnected spires in a star shaped pattern with one at the center. Each spire is a round platform with a pillar in the center, and they are separated by the cosmos, through which there is no way to travel except for Bard's Magical Journey. Stars twinkle and galaxies shift and breathe in the background of the map.

Now for the gameplay. Singing Spires is a game mode about collecting chimes, chaining together efficient pathing between spires, avoiding hazards, and assisting teammates, all while disrupting your enemies' ability to collect chimes. It is a fast-paced gamemode, with a lot of potential for clutch moments and big plays.

In order to win a game of Singing Spires your team must be the first to collect 100 chimes between all 3 players. As a result, chimes will spawn at a significantly increased spawn rate of 3 every 15 seconds, but they will only last for 45 seconds, forcing the player to plan carefully in order to maximize their chime accrual.

The effect of the chimes also changes drastically in this game mode. First and foremost, each chime a Bard collects reduces the cooldown on their Magical Journey by 2 seconds. This means that a Bard cannot simply wait for one platform to have a huge amount of chimes, and then harvest that platform, because they'll be wasting the mobility potential those chimes provide. Additionally, for every 15 chimes that a Bard collects that Bard gains a charge of Tempered Fate, which rather than effecting a specific area, will in Singing Spires effect the entirety of one spire, freezing it for 2 1/2 seconds, and removing both allied and enemy chimes from it. Lastly, at 0 chimes Bard's meeps will deal damage in a small cone (equivalent to 15 chimes in normal gamemodes). At 10 chimes the size of the cone will increase (equivalent to 35 chimes) and at 25 chimes it will increase again by about 50% to a massive cone. Meeps will spawn only every 30 seconds for each Bard, but their power is greatly increased in that any chimes belonging to a Bard are instantly collected when hit by their meep cone, and any chimes belonging to enemy Bards are destroyed. Bards can of course not attack chimes directly, however, and must line their attack up with an enemy Bard in order to make use of it.

Just like in Singularity, Bards can take damage, but cannot die from damage. Instead, a Bard's movement speed scales with their remaining health, scaling from 60% at 1% health, to 125% at 100% health. Caretaker's Shrine heals for 25% health if used instantly, or for 100% health if charged. Bard's Cosmic Binding works as normal, being able to stun enemies on each other, the edges of spires, or the pillars at the center of spires.

The final mechanic of Singing Spires is what makes it the Singing Spires. While playing you will hear the whispers and singing of the meeps in the background. Over the course of 60 seconds meeps will begin to gather around a single platform, with more and more arriving. Their song will grow louder and louder, which will attract more and more chimes, significantly increasing the chance that chimes will spawn on the platform they are surrounding, and greatly reducing the chance that chimes will spawn on platforms that are far away. However, the platform they surround will also begin to crack and waver, and at the end of the 60 seconds their song will crescendo, breaking the spire, and sending it tumbling into the cosmos, along with any Bards and chimes that were left on it. Any Bards that fall into the cosmos will be placed on a 10 second respawn timer, and the spire itself will reform after 15 seconds. The meeps will then begin gathering around another platform.

The combination of the ever increasing chime spawns on the platform promotes conflict between teams of Bards, while forcing caution with the ever-impending collapse of the spire. It also allows for clutch plays; such as getting a key stun or Tempered Fate on the platform just before it's going to collapse, and trapping enemy (and potentially allied) Bards on it as it falls away into the cosmos, just as you Magical Journey away to safety.

All in all, Singing Spires is a gamemode that accentuates the best aspects of Bard; the chime collecting minigame, the ability to make clutch plays saving yourself, your teammates, or damning enemies, the ability to travel quickly and smoothly, all while allowing for both incredible amounts of teamplay and coordination, as well as individual clutch play.

TL;DR Bard gamemode in which one plays Musical Chairs on platforms, collects chimes, fights and denies enemy Bards, and feeds into the incredible mystical mystery that is the almighty Bardo.

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