Bardic Music

[Belbarrus]

How long can a Bard keep up the Inspire Courage Bardic Ability? The book says that it *lasts* for as long as the Bard sings and +5 rounds afterwards.

A coworker says that the Bard in his game plays his Bardic Music *all day* just in case they get ambushed, they get the benefit of his inspirations.

I would think that something like 1 minute/Bard level (then the +5 rounds after he stops) would be sufficient.


B

 

[Iscariot]

How long can a Bard keep up the Inspire Courage Bardic Ability? The book says that it *lasts* for as long as the Bard sings and +5 rounds afterwards.

A coworker says that the Bard in his game plays his Bardic Music *all day* just in case they get ambushed, they get the benefit of his inspirations.

I would think that something like 1 minute/Bard level (then the +5 rounds after he stops) would be sufficient.


B

And I'm sure it's quite easy to be ambushed too, what with that bard making all that racket. *grins* Really, though, your co-worker's DM should set a limit if one is not found.

 

[two]

There is no stated limit in the rules, but common sense should prevail.

Plus, if you are a slightly mean DM, you could have enemy spellcasters (who hear the bard a million miles away) cast "silence" on him first thing. I mean, he's asking for it, right?

 

[isoChron]

In our group the bard wouldn't survive the first two hours. The own group would kill him to have a joyful silence . It's really odd to imagine a bard running through the country and crying for an ambush just in case he could be ambushed ...
BYE

 

[Zad]

That's just silly. No singer could sing all day, no musician could play all day. Their fingers would be sore and bleeding.

Rather than put a limit on it, I'd just start imposing penalties for long-duration playing/singing. Not to mention the racket is a huge advertisement of the group's presence.

 

[Christian]

I can't help but think of the first Warner Brothers' cartoon that featured Daffy Duck with the Tasmanian Devil. Daffy was trying to capture Taz to return him to the zoo for a cash reward, and heard on the radio that music would make the thing docile. So you get a sequence of scenes of him singing, followed by a vacant-eyed Taz, passing signs that say 'Zoo-10 miles' ... 'Zoo-6 miles' ... 'Zoo-1 mile' ... By the end, Daffy sounds like John Lee Hooker after six packs of Marlboros.

You've gotta at least get a cumulative minus on your Perform check, I'd think ...

 

[Dandu]

That's just silly. No singer could sing all day, no musician could play all day. Their fingers would be sore and bleeding.

Warriors can't fight all day in real life, so we should definitely impose limits as to how many rounds combatants can remain in combat for consecutively, as well as an overall limit for the day. After all, no one can fight for five minutes, rest five minutes, and then repeat a five minute combat all day. Their fingers would be sore and bleeding, probably.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

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Reported.

 

[shadyizok]

Mehm I'dd call it a streneous activity and make him roll con checks eventually to keep on going. Maybe some forced march damage and a small period of not being able to sing/play after.

Just finger it, if your player is an ass, he deserves it. I mean come on!

 

[coyote6]

Yeah, borrow & adapt the mechanics for running more than 1 minute for hours of singing. You can run for a # of rounds equal to your Con score, then have to make a series of Con check to continue, with the DC starting at 10 & going up by 1 per round.

So, instead of "round", substitute another reasonable interval of time. A minute or 10 minutes, maybe, depending on how long you think someone can sing or play continually. I'd probably go with 10 minutes; I'm pretty sure the average person can sing for 100 minutes straight, but people give speeches that long, and it's more awesome for the bard to sing/play continuously for hours. And who else would bother, except a bard?

PS: You can use the same or similar rules for people fighting, too, if you wanted. Real people do get worn out from fighting continuously. I've always thought it was kind of too bad you couldn't use the rope-a-dope in most RPG fights.