D&D General Shower Thoughts: If a harpy sings badly on purpose, does her entrancing song still work?

[Libertad]

How much of a harpy's magically charming song comes from sheer skill, and how much is from supernatural power overwriting how the harpy would "normally" sound?

Beyond just asking for curiosity, it does make me wonder if a harpy can voluntarily "turn off" this power when singing, should they have any reason to.

 

[GMMichael]

The harpy's charm comes from will, not skill. Shrill or chill, the song would still charm. In fact, since music quality is subjective, it might well sound horrible to those outside its magical range, but amazeballs to those within range. If the harpy didn't want to charm, the song would be harmless. And maybe sound better.

 

[borringman]

GM's call, but that's a cop-out, innit?

If it's my game, without checking the MM for clarification, my default assumption is that special powers can be turned off "at will". So "singing badly on purpose" is just a variation of turning off the ability.

An ability you can't turn off more fits the definition of a curse. See: the parable of King Midas.

 

[Fanaelialae]

Yeah, I would say that a harpy could turn off the charm if they wanted to. A friendly harpy bard might make an interesting NPC.

 

[MGibster]

Under the description for Harpy, the Luring Song is described as a "magical melody," so it's supernatural not based on skill. I'm going to assume a harpy can sing without luring people in if they really wanted to. I'm also working under the assumption that the sound is pleasant when luring people in, but for fun I might mix it up. Maybe the harpy's song works by being so annoying people track it down to get it to stop.