Ever play with a non-bard performer? (skill reference)

[Driddle]

Ever play with a PC (yours or otherwise) that was loaded up with performance skill ranks ... but wasn't in the bard class?

Didja have fun with the combination? Was it something you could play up in the campaign?

And if you had a bard in the party, how did the player handle the professional competition?

 

[Crothian]

Not loaded up because only the monk and rogue get it as a class skill and neither I feel gets enough skill points to do what the class does and get a lot of perform skills. But I do like to give my characters some perform skill. But as a cross class skill for classes that get crap skill points it is just sometimes too hard to do.

THe only example I've seen of this was an Akashic who did have like three or four differetn perform skills. And if worked great.

 

[Sound of Azure]

I've had two examples of what you asked, although in both cases they weren't really "loaded up" with perform ranks.

The first case was a character I created in conjunction with another player. I was to play the bodyguard and loyal friend of the other player's Swashbuckler/Rogue "Princess" character. Meanwhile, I was playing a Monk/Rogue with a lot of non-traditional rogue skills, as well as the movement/mobility skills. This character kept her Perform (Dance) and Perform (Sing) skills high, in addition to Tumble, Balance, and various Knowledges and Crafts (it was house ruled to allow all knowledge skills).
In this example, there was no bard in the party until near the end of the game. There wasn't enough time to get a reaction from the actual bard.

The second case was a cleric PC I had several years ago. The concept was of a holy Chorister type. I was allowed to take Perform as a Class skill, and exchanged turn undead for bardic music. It was pretty spiffy, IMO and loads of fun. There was an interesting relationship between the party bard in this campaign as the two PCs discovered different means of expression, as well as that of the Paladin (who eventually took some cross-class ranks in Perform (Sing) as well). So, between the LG Paladin, my NG Cleric, and the CG Bard, there was a lot of interesting roleplay and performances.

All in all, the bard was the more open minded, while I initially played up that my PC's music had a "higher purpose" as opposed to the bard's less structured approach. It worked out in character eventually, so it wasn't exactly a "Competition". Eventually we were known as much by our music as by our heroic deeds. A "Heroic rock band", perhaps?

The only bad thing to happen as a result of all this musical goodness was that the party was captured by a certain music-loving Blue Dragon lifted from the FRCS.

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In both cases though, it wasn't too hard to get a "performance" out of any of the other PCs, as most were only too happy to share a story of their youth, their people or culture. All it took was examples of how it can flesh out PC and their place in the world.