Bevel Deformer
Even Text Objects can be beveled (albeit only very discreetly).
The settings of the Bevel Deformer are amazingly similar to those of the 
Bevel tool. In fact, the functionality is the same (primarily rounding points, edges, polygons), but here it works procedurally by means of a deformer, i.e. you can round basic objects non-destructively, for example. The deformer can use Selection Tags and angles to decide which points, edges and polygons are to be bent:
The columns are still primitive Cylinder objects. Splines can even be used to create any edge shape (far right).
In the following video you will see a short summary of the most important Bevel functions in the various component modes:
Also take a look at the Phong settings of the Bevel object, generators etc. to eliminate visible phong edges or optimize phong shading.
As practical as the Bevel deformer is in many cases, it should not be concealed that it can and will reach its limits depending on the geometry used/created.
With this admittedly difficult project setup, mesh errors occur depending on the position of the sphere.
If there is no flawless, clean mesh, faulty bevel processes can quickly occur. This is particularly the case with imported meshes from CAD programs (here it is often helpful to export as N-gons if possible) and generators/modeling objects in Cinema 4D, which, due to their meshing algorithms in combination (s. Illustration) naturally encounter difficulties.
The Bevel deformer can conjure up interesting functionalities in conjunction with Subdivision Surfaces. (see also Selection).