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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nifft" data-source="post: 4195754" data-attributes="member: 6562">The balance issue comes up when you get a Bard with Melodic Casting and Subsonics -- and gets worse when it's a Bard who doesn't need to sleep, such as a Warforged. Then the balance issue isn't that he's stronger than a Cleric or Druid, it's that he's a no-brainer. He's turned a tactical choice into a permanent buff effect. This would be a boring PC to play, but would be a very convenient Cohort. ("What's your Cohort's name?" -- "I call him +2 to everything.")To put it another way: the balance issue isn't that this Bard would be stronger than a Cleric Archer. The balance issue is that this Bard would be a perfect Cohort to make the Cleric Archer even more broken. The basic thrust is: you can't use one "slot" for two things. You can't hold a sword and a wand in one hand, you can't sing and gargle, you can't climb and play an instrument -- not at the same time.The idea that contrapuntal music, "singing in the round", etc. somehow allows two simultaneous uses of the Perform skill isn't supported by the rules. You make a single Perform check, and abide by the result, no matter how you structure your music.However, the rules seem to omit any link between starting a discrete song, and starting to use Bardic Music. I'd still argue that only one use of Bardic Music should apply to a single song, but that's not something the rules explicitly state. That's just my default position on handling "the rules don't say I can't", when the rules also don't say that you can.Cheers, -- N</blockquote>

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