Bardic Music Ability

[EricJones]

I'm looking for a RAW interpretation of this situation. Suppose a bard has 4 ranks of Perform(Woodwind). Unfortunately, he doesn't have time to draw his flute, so he decides to try to inspire courage by singing. The bard as 0 ranks in Perform(Sing).

On the one hand, he has at least 3 ranks in a perform skill, so he can inspire courage. However, he doesn't have at least 3 ranks in the perform skill he is trying to use.

I think the rules are unclear on this issue, and I'm not even sure what common sense dictates. Just because I can play a flute doesn't mean I can sing. However, jack-of-all-trades is the nature of a bard, so maybe for Bardic Music purposes being able to use one perform skill ought to be good enough.

Thoughts?

 

[smootrk]

My common sense says he must have the perform ranks with the specific technique that he intends to use to produce/invoke the bardic music with. I have not checked RAW but I would call it that way regardless.

 

[the Jester]

Inspire Courage (Su)
A bard with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use song or poetics to inspire courage in his allies (including himself), bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities.

Looks to me like you can have Perform (piano) and still sing to inspire confidence. The underlined text should make clear why I think this.

 

[Infiniti2000]

Looks to me like you can have Perform (piano) and still sing to inspire confidence. The underlined text should make clear why I think this.

I'm in agreement with that. And note that it makes much more sense to rule it that way. Otherwise, no bard on the planet would ever take Perform (something other than sing) unless he or she was drowning in skill points and had to use them on another Perform skill. The actually choice on the type of Perform should merely be a matter of flavor and the use of Bardic Music (a magical thing) should not be rendered useless in a Bard who made a flavorful character decision.

Additionally, let's face it, bards need all the help they can get.

 

[F.C.Desoya]

Originally Posted by SRD
Inspire Courage (Su)
A bard with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use song or poetics to inspire courage in his allies (including himself), bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities.
Ok...so I am interpreting that to mean a bard can only inspire through the spoken word. What about a bard with ranks in flute ir acting (mime), would he be prevented from using that ability?

 

[Xath]

Song is just music. Song doesn't just apply to singing.

Personally, I use the 3.0 rules for Perform, because I think it's silly to spend that many ranks on an otherwise useless skill. But that's another issue.

On a side note, make sure to check the Complete Adventurer to check out benefits for using certain instruments with Bardic Music. Certainly, singing allows you to use a weapon at the same time, but there are some really cool benefits to using the alternatives.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Ok...so I am interpreting that to mean a bard can only inspire through the spoken word. What about a bard with ranks in flute ir acting (mime), would he be prevented from using that ability?

While these abilities fall under the category of bardic music and the descriptions discuss singing or playing instruments, they can all be activated by reciting poetry, chanting, singing lyrical songs, singing melodies, whistling, playing an instrument, or playing an instrument in combination with some spoken performance.

A bard with 3 ranks in Perform (Mime) can use song or poetics to inspire courage in his allies.

It won't be particularly outstanding song or poetics, but it will have the same mechanical effect as a bard with 23 ranks in Perform (Poetics).

A bard with 3 ranks in Perform (Mime) can use his music or poetics to counter magical effects that depend on sound. He can activate the ability by miming in combination with some spoken performance, so he can use his Perform (Mime) modifier, rather than an untrained Perform (Sing) check, to determine the effects.

-Hyp.

 

[jeffh]

Song is just music. Song doesn't just apply to singing.

Not true, though lots of people these days use the word incorrectly. Anything that does not involve singing is not a song, it is some other type of musical piece.

 

[Xath]

Not true, though lots of people these days use the word incorrectly. Anything that does not involve singing is not a song, it is some other type of musical piece.

But as far as the rules go, a song is a song, regardless to whether it is sung or not. You can still inspire courage with Perform (Mime) or Perform (Drums). It's poorly worded, I agree. But it doesn't mean that these types of perform aren't usable.

 

[Hypersmurf]

But as far as the rules go, a song is a song, regardless to whether it is sung or not. You can still inspire courage with Perform (Mime) or Perform (Drums).

Yes and no. You can inspire courage with Perform (Mime), but that's not a song. You can only use Perform (Mime) in conjunction with some spoken performance to inspire courage, and it's the spoken performance that is the song/poetics.

You can't inspire courage, even by miming, in an area of silence, for example, because the spoken performance is also required.

-Hyp.