How Long Can A Bard Sing For?

[Chimera]

Subsonics feat nullifies that issue however.

How many Bards have you seen in play that have taken the Subsonics feat?

 

[Artoomis]

How many Bards have you seen in play that have taken the Subsonics feat?

My 18-th lvl bard does not have it. It's always tempting, but I always find somthing more useful.

Our group figures we make so much noise walking around anyway, that it would not make much difference.

 

[taliesin15]

A half hour is a "long" set?! Maybe for American Idol contestants...how long are operas? I've seen jazz saxophone masters play continually well over an hour. There's a real world person performing the Beowulf saga (in the original old English) with a medieval harp, and I've seen him play and sing (with the audience completely wrapt) for 90 minutes.

One of the few texts by the Romans about Bards in Gaul speaks of one of their initiation rituals involving the bard being put inside a stone coffin filled with water for hours and told to create a new song/poem on a theme they give him before shutting the lid for hours.

Surely, fantasy bards would be something more like the latter, rather than someone used to doing soundbite style snippets for people with short attention spans downloaded from YouTube.

 

[Nifft]

A half hour is a "long" set?!

Look at entertainers who perform as energetically as fighters in a pitched melee -- and they're not impossible to find -- and tell me they could continue doing that for hours while putting on a good show.

The D&D Bard is maintaining his performance while stabbing trolls in the face, and while dodging the attacks of aforesaid trolls. (Not while sitting quietly in a marble bathtub "for hours".)

IMHO 30 minutes is generous.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Doug Sundseth]

The appropriate comparisons, I think, are with chanties*, bagpipers, and fifes and drums. All of those can continue for very long periods through strenuous exercise. I don't think I'd have a problem with 30 minutes at a crack.

*Chanties are probably most appropriate for Inspire Competence.

 

[Ruslanchik]

From a game mechanics standpoint, I'd still go with my original recommendation of 1 minute/rank of the Perform skill being used.

I agree.

I am a musician and have played in several "jam bands" so I know that it is possible to play for hours without taking a break or stopping, really. That requires great concentration, but not nearly as much as the pianist playing a concerto that can last 45 mins. Many classical pieces are super intense, never allowing the musician to rest to even for a few seconds, though they are sometimes an hour long. That is relevant as I imagine a bard would have to put a similar level of effort into Bardic Music.

However, this is DnD. Allowing a bard to play for an hour is unbalancing because it would allow a bard to have Bardic Music active pretty much all the time. You just start a song and only stop when you have to do something that requires you to speak or whatever then start back up immediately.

Basing the length per use on the number of ranks in Perform makes sense because the ability to play for a long time is dependent on a player's skill with an instrument. The 1 min./rank is simple and requires no math. Bards usually have high ranks in at least one skill so they will be able to play for 10 minutes are so at mid levels, which is not totally realistic but also not game-changing.

 

[Jhaelen]

The D&D Bard is maintaining his performance while stabbing trolls in the face, and while dodging the attacks of aforesaid trolls. (Not while sitting quietly in a marble bathtub "for hours".)

Is this really the situation that's been discussed in this thread?
I can think of no combat in 3E D&D lasting even remotely as long as 30 minutes. Most combats will not last longer than 1 minute. Isn't the question rather: How long can the bard continue performing after the combat is over?

 

[Nifft]

Is this really the situation that's been discussed in this thread?
I can think of no combat in 3E D&D lasting even remotely as long as 30 minutes. Most combats will not last longer than 1 minute. Isn't the question rather: How long can the bard continue performing after the combat is over?

The OP says "between encounters", so we can assume there's more than one encounter in that duration, right? I mean, it hardly matters how long you can have an attack and damage bonus if you're not in a combat during that time.

Anyway, IMHO it's perfectly sensible from a gamist perspective to just say one use of Bardic Music lasts one encounter, and once the adrenaline wears off, the music stops.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Elethiomel]

There is no real need to add in any new rule for this.

I agree.

 

[Jhaelen]

Anyway, IMHO it's perfectly sensible from a gamist perspective to just say one use of Bardic Music lasts one encounter, and once the adrenaline wears off, the music stops.

Agreed.