Covering Up Bardic Spells

Wolfspirit · Sep 14, 2002

Hey, I just had a thought about the bard's spell casting ability. Since for all intents and purposes it seems like the spell comes from the performance that they're doing, wouldn't it be nearly impossible to tell that the bard is actually casting a spell if they were allready, say, singing and playing the lute?

This would make spells like Detect Thoughts and Charm Person a WHOLE lot easier to pull off than if they were cast by a wizard. (Town guard: Why did you just cast a spell near me? Wizard: No reason, and I do NOT know that you were just thinking about your standing orders to capture my party. Good day.)

Chun-tzu · Sep 14, 2002

Officially, no, bards don't cast spells through their music. There's a feat (I'm pretty sure it's in Song and Silence) called Disguise Spell that does exactly what you're talking about, disguises the verbal and somatic components as music.

I think it's fair to house rule this is how it works for all bards, though.

silvertable81 · Sep 15, 2002

You can hide the Somatic components in a dance at DC 10+Spell level

Kae'Yoss · Sep 15, 2002

Wolfspirit said:
This would make spells like Detect Thoughts and Charm Person a WHOLE lot easier to pull off than if they were cast by a wizard. (Town guard: Why did you just cast a spell near me? Wizard: No reason, and I do NOT know that you were just thinking about your standing orders to capture my party. Good day.)

That's what those nifty metamagic feats are for. Also, you don't have to scream those incantations at the top of your lungs: If there's a crowd, you can stand 30 feet away from that guard, utter the verbal stuff, trace those symbols in the air (maybe your friend stands before you, so the guards won't see you gesticulating) and bob's your uncle.
If there's only you and the guards, a bard may have to explain why he sings so funny......

Covering Up Bardic Spells

Wolfspirit

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Chun-tzu

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silvertable81

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Kae'Yoss

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