New skill: perform gladitorial

Kahuna Burger · Mar 13, 2005

Officially proposing perform: gladitorial. This use of the perform skill differs from the standard sub skills in a few ways.

class skill
In addition to those classes normally having perform as a class skill, perform: gladitorial is available as a class skill to fighters and barbarians.

number of performers
Attempting to use perform: gladitorial as a single performer (such as through weapon drills or sword dances) incures a -5 penalty to the check.
Two performers working together can either use the aid another manuver (if they are playing out a mock battle with a predetermined winner) or make competeing checks (or a series of competeing checks) to determine the outcome of a stylish and non lethal competition.
A performer attempting to simultaneously make a gladitorial performance and engage in a lethal battle (whether it is agaisnt another gladiator or a non performing opponent) takes a -1 penalty to all attack rolls and to AC as she must balance effectiveness with entertainment.

synergy
a character with 5 ranks in perform: gladitorial gains a +2 bonus to intimidate checks to demoralize an opponent.

bardic music
As a non auditory performance, perform: gladitorial cannot be used to activate a bardic music ability.

circumstance bonuses
factors which give static bonuses to attack rolls (such as masterwork or magical weapons, feapon focus feats etc) add the same bonus to perform: gladitorial rolls. Temporary or variable factors to attack rolls (such as spells, power attack or two weapon fighting) have no effect on the perform roll.

Timeboxer · Mar 14, 2005

I am tempted to suggest obtaining your BAB as a circumstance bonus, as Perform (Weapon Drill) in Complete Warrior.

Also:

Kahuna Burger said:
A performer attempting to simultaneously make a gladitorial performance and engage in a lethal battle (whether it is agaisnt another gladiator or a non performing opponent) takes a -1 penalty to all attack rolls and to AC as she must balance effectiveness with entertainment.

Just wanted to note that that's not really a disadvantage for anyone unless one opponent is performing and the other isn't.

Pbartender · Mar 14, 2005

Amy Kou'ai said:
I am tempted to suggest obtaining your BAB as a circumstance bonus, as Perform (Weapon Drill) in Complete Warrior.

The Perform (weapon drill) skill from CW also allows bonuses at times, if you have certain feats, like Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse or Weapon Focus.

Also, I think you should specify that this skill cannot be used to activate Bardic Music abilities... Though a PrC that let's you do something similar (Inspiring Courage and/or Fear) through Perform (gladitorial/weapon drill) might be neat.

Jdvn1 · Mar 14, 2005

Pbartender said:
Also, I think you should specify that this skill cannot be used to activate Bardic Music abilities... Though a PrC that let's you do something similar (Inspiring Courage and/or Fear) through Perform (gladitorial/weapon drill) might be neat.

That'd be cool for a Gladiatorial Bard sort of PrC. In the future. If this passes.

Kahuna Burger · Mar 14, 2005

Pbartender said:
The Perform (weapon drill) skill from CW also allows bonuses at times, if you have certain feats, like Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse or Weapon Focus.

Also, I think you should specify that this skill cannot be used to activate Bardic Music abilities... Though a PrC that let's you do something similar (Inspiring Courage and/or Fear) through Perform (gladitorial/weapon drill) might be neat.

the gladitorial prc I was shaping up in my mind would use the "performances" for stunts rather than to effect others. Didn't want to load on too much into the proposal at once.

I wasn't sure if the "no bardic music" bit went without saying - they have to be able to hear you, and like dance, this is a (mostly) non verbal performance style.

I can definitly see weapon focus adding its bonus to perform rolls with that weapon as well. One question is if a masterwork weapon should add +1 as to attack rolls, or +2 as a "masterwork instrument"?

Amy K said:
Originally Posted by Kahuna Burger
A performer attempting to simultaneously make a gladitorial performance and engage in a lethal battle (whether it is agaisnt another gladiator or a non performing opponent) takes a -1 penalty to all attack rolls and to AC as she must balance effectiveness with entertainment.

Just wanted to note that that's not really a disadvantage for anyone unless one opponent is performing and the other isn't.

Which could come up quite commonly in gladitorial combat (gladiators fighting beasts or condemned prisoners) and would be relevant to someone showing off in an adventure based combat where everyone else was serious (esp later on if a prc made certain stunts or abilities available only when performing.)

kb

Kahuna Burger · Mar 15, 2005

editted to reflect some of the comments. I'm leary of giving a bonus for BAB, as that would make it very easy to get this use of the perform skill much higher than most others.

kb

Manzanita · Mar 15, 2005

This proposal doesn't seem overpowered. It doesn't seem very useful, really, except in an actually gladitorial arena. In the traditional sense, two people with this skill could play-fight on the street for money. Sounds OK to me.

How do you see it working if it were used by gladiators, KB? And how else?

Jdvn1 · Mar 15, 2005

I got the impression that he wasn't looking for usefulness, but that this was mostly for color.

Looks neat, though.

Kahuna Burger · Mar 15, 2005

Jdvn1 said:
I got the impression that he wasn't looking for usefulness, but that this was mostly for color.

Looks neat, though.

"she".

thanks, tho.

Manzanita said:
This proposal doesn't seem overpowered. It doesn't seem very useful, really, except in an actually gladitorial arena. In the traditional sense, two people with this skill could play-fight on the street for money. Sounds OK to me.

How do you see it working if it were used by gladiators, KB? And how else?

outside the arena it provides flavor and the potential synergy to intimidate. I'm also considering a gladitoril prestige class that would use the skill for various purposes outside the ring (such as substituting for bluff in a feint attempt.)

Within traditional gladitorial combat, the performance checks would indicate how much money a winning gladiator makes. (oftentimes this may be reflected by gifts rather than direct payment.) A gladiator who wins all his or her fights but fails to entertain the crowd would swiftly be relegated to a support role and have little to no chance of becoming a star. A gladiator who loses a battle may well find that his life depends on the performance check that was made - if he consistently entertains the crowd they will not want to see him coup de graced, and the 'management' will be more likely to devote resources to his healing and rehabilitation.

kb